SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK PART 5....... God have mercy!

[Tamdin]

Can't believe we're onto another new thread already!

Tam: DS's year jabs aren't far away and am dreading the effects on sleep!

EP: move to Enfield! It's cheap-ish and very nice, and we can meet for cake

Well, last night didn't really improve til we gave him some Calpol... eventually he went to sleep about 1.30 and made it through til 6, fed then up 7.30.

But no wonder I felt so stressed last night... woke up this morning and period had returned!

Amber and Baz for your nights. Tam hope LO doesn't get too disrupted by jabs.

meg amazing how stressed before period I am now too. was never like that.

EP well done for ds staying in cot until 5.
We've given up on cot for now while we try to cut out a feed. plus his jab will screw things up and then we're on hols 25th august we always have him in with us on hols as it's a strange place etc. I'm so soft it's ridiculous isn't it

EP - it's none of their business how his sleep is. don't tell em!
Meg for period return - i stillreally hope mine is NOT returning any time soon.
tam, hope the jabs don't stuff things up too much
for your improvements IBS

LO is having a long nap after this morning's early start. still feeling a bit sniffly, but been in bed reading for a bit while LO is napping. then i got a delivery. i ordered this musical giraffe thing from a seller on amazon, and instead i now have 6 giraffe teething rattles. 6?? anyway. anyone need a teething rattle?

Amber hope you're getting some rest. lol at your 6 rattles. sounds like something i would do!

morning all
meg, i was with you last night dd woke 4 times before 10.30, then woke as we went to bed dp and i decided to bring her straight in with us for ease as we were both so knackered. didnt do much good tho as she woke many times after ..... on the bright side tho, she did let us lie in til 9am
oh and for return of your periods. i hate them now, not that i loved them before pleased you had a more successful 2nd half of the night

amber for your good night and you too ibs hope you get the longer naps soon....bedside cot, is that one with the one side off, so it fits to the bed [duhhh emoticon] only ask cos i asked dp to take the one side off ours as the bed just aint big enough for the 3 of us anymore

EP, avoid the topic of sleep am very of you managing to keep lo in cot til 5am

tam - hope lo ok with the jabs, think dd will have some coming up soon too? shes 1 on the 27th where did the time go? you're not soft at all, just a lovely, nurturing mamma

ginger, hope you had a good night. am also very of veg patch and greenhouse. ours isnt big enough, but have managed to grow some peas in pots, lettuce in window box and toms in hanging basket!! one day.... hows it going keeping lo in her room. i'm quite looking forward to dd having her own room, as i'm sure shes waking every time we go to bed just for a bloody cuddle

Hi Tibs,

Yup - bedside cot has detachable side. It works for us because for some reason DD's not into co-sleeping. I think she thinks the bed's too small . So this way she still gets her own space, but I am able to sleep with a arm draped round her when she's fussing. To be honest she sleeps best of all in her own room, but I'm too lazy for running about in the dark, so she starts the night in her room, and comes in with us later.

ibs, sounds like a good idea. as dd wont be moving out of our room in the near future until bedrrom get sorted, i think thatll be t'next best thing. i have visions of me feeding her, then just rolling her over into the cot for someone so little, she sure does take up a lot of room
have you managed to cut out the last feed through the night yet, or are you still giving one? i know you were cutitng back werent you? i did hold dd out last night, but its not easy when shes in such close proximity to my boobs

i find it funny that we now have tibs and ibs here.

i swear i didn't order 6 teething rattles, that's just what they sent me!!

Tibs, it's much easier for me to drop night feeds, as we're ff, so DD is not next to the all-night diner, as the lovely Dr. Sears puts it . We're now only feeding on first waking, as DD was taking such a pathetic amount at any subsequent feeds. She's not waking any more or less (her longer stretches are before 1st waking). So there's no difference really, apart from one less trip to the kitchen in the middle of the night for me !

Ooh, lots of posts. we've been out at the swings and the library but lo is now in bed and i've got some time to faff!

EP and bazza, sounds like real improvements.

Ahh Meg, the dreaded period. I think mine returned at about 5 months even tho still fully bf'ing.

Tam, you're not soft, you're a lovely nurturing mummy. (just read that Tibsy said exactly the same so there you go. That's proof).

Tibs, I've had more nights like that than I care to remember. Given that your lovely DD did so well that week recently it's hard to imagine why she's waking isn't it? Same here. I can only imagine there really is something wrong.

We had an ok night although a slight regression. DD woke a couple of times before I went to bed then nothing until 1. Wouldn't go back to sleep so put her on the matress next to me, gave some calpol and back to sleep. She breifly woke a couple of times but up for the day at 5.50 so don't feel too bad. Now, I know that she has another tooth making an appearence as yesterday I spied the tell tale grey line in the gum. That's two teeth in two weeks. We have the final matching tooth to come through then we'll have 6! I'm not worried too much that we ended up co-sleepng because we were still in her room and to be honest it was lovely because she slept pretty well but we were doing so well at keeping her in her cot I just hope this is just a phase that will pass.

Has the hot weather sent anyone elses lo doolally? The last 3 nights have been odd to say the very least. DD almost always goes to bed around 7 - 7.30 but the last 3 nights she hasn't settled until 8.30-9. Now I don't mean she's been upset, quite the opposite she's been blinking bonkers. Crawling around the cot, throwing herself this way and that way, singing, pointing, chewing her dummy and throwing it. Quite odd. I couldn't work out if she was itchy and therefore couldn't lay still, if the teeth were giving her jip or if there was a full moon. Anyway, she's been really restless.

Well, enjoy the snshine everyone

Hi Ginger,

I don't think sharing the mattress counts as regression. You were in DD's room, which is part of the Grand Plan. And surely the rules go out of the window for teething anyway?

The weather has been casting strange spells here too. DD hasn't had a late pm nap since it's been warm, but doesn't seem any grumpier, so we're still trying for a 7pm bedtime (which usually results in 7.30 resettling and 8pm bedtime ).

We've just had another lunchtime nap. DD did go down a bit better than tomorrow, but only slept for 30mins before waking for the arm flapping game. Tried to resettle her as she will normally have 1.5-2.5 hours when swaddled. But only got one further 20 min stretch, after the millionth attempt at resettling. Still, it's only day 2 of Operation Grobag, and the fact that we're still swaddling at night means things will go really slowly.

thanks Bazza, you're probably right. Have you tried putting your lo on her tummy for naps? she can't flap then and you can keep your eye on her if you're worried about having her that way up. Mine always slept better on her side and now sleeps better still on her tum.

Ginger, I am thoroughly blaming the heat for LO's current unsettledness at nights. Having said that, he has been napping like a trooper today, I had to wake him from lunchtime nap to get to mum & baby group, and now he has been asleep for an hour for last nap -- usually this is 30-40 mins tops. Not sure if I should wake him soon or let him sleep on! I guess he might be super-tired from last night... I know I am...

evening all!!!

ginger - we've been to the library today too!! with regard to the mattress thing, def, not regression. you're doing really well, keep it up sista

ibs - you too, keep at it! as you say, its only day 2. you'll get there

meg, i too am thinking of blaming the blooming heat!!! yey for the naps and hope you manage to get some rest tonight

oh yeah, for a reasonably intelligent woman, i can be a little bit dim sometimes. As i was trying to dismantle the cot today, i realised that the one side folds down to insert under the bed mattress. i guess thats what you call a bedside cot??? 13 bloody years i've had that cot and i didnt have a clue it did that what a numpty

i hope you all have good nights tonight. i shall enjoy the extra space in bed, yippppeeeeeeeee

haha, about the cot discovery tibs - hilarious. at least your dh won't have to get all handyman!
sadly, i think i might have thrush, breastfeeding incredibly painful at the moment and can't think of any other reason. sigh. am in tears from the bedtime feed. sigh. will have to see dr tomorrow if poss.

amber, my love, poor you hope the doc manages to sort you out.
dont know if it helps?

Poor you Amber I had mastitis at Christmas and it was horrid, I had agnonisingly sore niples for about 8 weeks when I started feeding so I know how awful these things are. Hope you get it sorted soon.

Amber ouch, hope you can get it sorted quickly.

Tibs just as well you didn't go and buy a new cot then! Let me know how it goes with the cot alongside the bed, this may also be an option for us although the main bedroom in our new house is actually smaller than the one we have here (we'll gain another bedroom instead) so not sure if we can actually fit the cot in alongside the bed without it being a major squash.

LO's afternoon nap was 1.5hrs in the end -- the first time he has ever had more than 45 mins in his cot at that time of day! Think it was mainly because I woke him a bit early from lunchtime nap. Anyway here's hoping tonight is good for us all. Have given LO some Calpol as it seemed to help settle him a bit last night and I am despo enough to try anything

thanks guys. have started on miconazole tibs, so fingers crossed. didn't get to doc - so just self diagnosed! will speak to BF counsellor on friday.

Hi all

Sorry to be chiming in so late - but this is when i get the time to get online.

EP - I so know why you dont want to mention the 'sleep' issue to your hv - I am still fuming from my visit today. More later....

Meg - sorry youve had such disturbed nights but it sounds like yr LO is starting to have better naps. Hope that translates into better nights for you

Tibs - LOL about your LO just waking up for cuddles. I swear that is exactly what my DD does!

Ginger - LOL at your LO's full moon antics. Mine has also been waking up at around midnight to give us a full cabaret of her latest tricks - songs, jokes, a little jig, crawling session, wrestle with Daddy .. before she conks out completely.

Tibs - Yeah! for the discovery of the bedside cot. This might just be the very break youve been waiting for...

Amber - Yikes about the thrush - really hope that it clears quickly for you. Are you also treating your LO also? Hope you get to see your BFC on Friday.

Now for my update....

I really need to let off steam as I had an awful vist to the HV today. I havent had her weighed in ages and since she is almost one I thought I should at least get a bit of an update. She has floated between the 50th and 90th percentile since birth and I have had no worries about her gaining weight so for me it was just a formality. I almost died of when the HV told me that since february she has put on so much weight that she now is off the percentile chart and is categorised as 'obese'. Now my baby is a big girl - fairly solid, very tall for her age - but in no way could she be called obese. And here's me cooking up the best organic veg that I can find to make sure she has a balanced nutritious diet - as only a neurotic first time mum could. THen the HV called me a 'bad mummy' because my babe isnt sleeping through and launched into a lecture about how I should not be bf'ing at night, or co-sleeping, and how I should just practice a little tough love and let her CIO in her cot. I asked her whether there were any other options for night weaning ... but no she had no other ideas. Ooooh I am mad still, have any of you had this kind of response from your HV's? I have had a good chat with my BF counsellor who made me feel much better for my choices as regards night time issues.

The irony of it is that this week my DD has been sleeping though between 1pm and 6.30 ish - but only if she is in bed in her rightful place between DH and myself. It is difficult in someways, but when it comes to a choice between convenience and a decent night's sleep - I choose sleep every time!

Enough - sorry for yacking on - Ive got it all off my chest now and am going to bed since DD is still asleep!!

Wishing you all peaceful nights

BTW on the bedside cot issue, If you are short on space I can really recommend the Armsreach Co-sleeper. I found mine at an NCT sale for £30 and it was a godsend. DD still sleeps in it although she is a bit big for it now. You can get them relatively cheaply on Ebay if you dont mind itbeing pre-loved!

morning all,

amber- ouch! thrush is horrid, helped put paid to my brief bf-ing. hope you get better soon.

tibs - lol at your discovery! how did the new sleeping arrangements work?

meg - hope the good naps paid off.

Mamahf - where on earth do they find health visitors? those are terrible, and downright wrong things to say. you know you are a fab mummy. FWIW, my DD has crept up the percentiles since birth from 50th to 90th, causing raised eyebrows at our clinic. but no-one ever checks her length. when I measured her I found she's on the 91st centile there. so surely she should be heavy?

Crap night here. I was expecting it though, as DD had the grand total of 1.5 hours' daytime sleep. Bed 7.30. Up 10.30. Hard to settled so into our room. Fed 1am. Up til 2 singing. Didn't really settle for any longer stretch after than. feel grim. must get out ! hoping to hear of good nights!