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

[Tamdin]

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

Hello! Just checking in briefly while MIL takes DS out for a walk. Far too many posts to catch up on, but congratultions on the move Meg . Dh ihas been doing lots of DIY in my absence but we keep findong more stuff that needs to be done before we put the flat on the market. Still, at least we've made a start.

I've had a lovely week at in-laws and parents but not good for sleep routone - much easier to just bring DS into bef with me at night rather than battling to keep him in the cot. A large double bed is about right for one person and a baby . DH arrive today so I may have to rethink that one .

Hope everyone has been havong reasonable nights or at least coping with the nights they have. DS is feeding a lot at night, partly cos he is in with me and partly cos he is growing a lot. He can now say Mama [proud emoticon] and chatters away to himself all day. He can walk pretty well if you hold his hands and stand on his own for a few seconds at a time - think he's nearly on the move...

Ginger: how is work going? I remember running home from my first day to find a perfectly happy DH and DS. I have enjoyed having DS to myself for a week or so, though.

Home next week and sorting out our routine [stern emoticon]. I have to say I'm getting more sleep with co-sleeping though, so don't think I'll be giving up any time soon . Right, off the check the blog now...

choolie thanks for that. my ds has never been in love with the boob for some reason, so i have to feed him only when sleepy, ie. before naps as well. but now he's dropped his third nap, sothere are not many opportunities in the day to feed, and then ifwe are out and about forget getting a proper feed in. it frustrates me a lot. but weird thing he's always put on weight well. somehow i htink he could survive on 2 feeds a day! very different to some babies who hang off the breast all day and night. ah well, we are pretty consistent on 2 wakings atm, so i shouldn't try and fight it or anything.
sometimes i think about giving him a bottle in the day for the times when he's refusing BF. he's never been a great bottle drinker, but occassionally i leave a bit with dh if i go out in the day and he will drink a little bit, but mostly thinks it's a game. i wonder if i could get a bit into him through a bottle if he'd stop tanking up at night? but then it's such a faff, i can't really be bothered.
sorry, thinking out loud!!

yay dressed up, so excited for you!

meg, 'on demand' is a joke in our house. 'force feeding' more like it. yesterday he was so hungry as he went for 6 hours with no milk, he was crying and really distressed, but still couldn't calm down to eat anything! i had to give him his bath then cuddle him in the dark before he'd have a feed. ridiculous!

hope everyone else had good nights.

hi EP, you sound relaxed!

sorry only have a min so morning amber, meg choolie, IBS, dressed up and EP

EP, amber's right you do sound relaxed. funny how you can get that from a computer but you def can. glad you had a good week.

dressedup for your clever dd

ginger so pleased your 2nd day at work was easier. I'm sure you miss dd more than anything

our night was odd.
dh put ds to bed
he woke at 12 and i thought it was 2! so gave him his milk too early (big mistake!!)
he woke again at 4 wanting more milk which he had stopped doing.
ds wasn't amused. Hit me a few times and wouldn't go back to sleep.
eventually at 5 he gave in and went to sleep.
woke at 8 for the day

off to jersey tomorrow morning so am trying to wash iron and pack for all of us. will check back tonight to say bye

afternoon all,

Ginger - I am pleased that things went ok. I hope that it gets easier, and I'm sure it will. How are you enjoying your new role?

EP - glad you're having a lovely break. It must be so heartwarming to hear DS say mama!

Choolie - glad you got a better night in.

Meg - happy 6 month birthday to DS. Was DS in his room for most of the night? I'll be keeping an eye out for you on the weaning boards - DD is 6 months in a fortnight, and I don't really have a clue where to start.

Dressed up - thanks for giving us hope!

Amber- glad you're still on just the two wakings.

Tam - have a wonderful weekend. Hope the weather is good.

Better night here. DD went to bed at 7, resettled 7.30, fed 12(DH did this), slept 12.30-3.30,resettled, woke again 5.10 and into our room for catnaps. This is better than the previous few nights of hourly wakings after 11pm. However, I'm still suffering from the cumulative effects of sleep deprivation, and feel no better. Might try to persuade DH to give me a night off over the weekend .

Hi all, I'm posting during my lunch break and can report that the job is going well. Haven't done a great deal yet however but it's looking interesting. Thanks for everyone who has sent good wishes, it really does mean a lot. I was much less emotional last night but it is hard only seing DD for a couple of hours a day. Thankfully it's only 3 days per week. I think I'll feel happier when I know she's happily settled at nursery.

Tam have a great holiday. 'See' you soon.

We had an OK night. DD woke once before bed. Then again at 2.30. DH went and curled up with her and then up at 5.45 (so wish we could stop the very early wakings but at least it gives me a bit of time with her before work in the morning. Good night by all accounts.

ok, I have a confession. after being told to throw the books yesterday, i decided to count how many i've got. in my defence, i only bought one preg book (well, and a little watch me gro wk-by-wk).
baby books...seven!!!
2x miriam stoppard, 1xGF, 1xjohnsons (all 4 of which were quickly deposited under hubby's chest of drawers ready to e-bay in the nxt few yrs if I ever get round to such things) NCSS, Sears sleep book and what to expect the 1st year. and he still doesn't sleep through. needless to say i have now reverted back to agatha christie, morse etc. oh, and don't get me started on the baby cookery books!!! just as well our local library is just down the road.
am i the only one???

choolie, you're not alone. i'm too embarrassed to count mine. too many bloody sears books thats for sure.
if you want to write any reviews of the books you've got, i can put them on our site useless books

I found all the books useless apart from Miriam Stoppard's 'First-Time Parents' in the early days for the basics on how to change a nappy etc! Even the NCSS is pretty much common sense imo.

Amber, am I recalling right that you have an Ergo carrier? Cause I'm thinking of getting one (he is getting too big for the Mothercare one we've got) but wondered if baby can face out in the Ergo, on their website it's not clear.

Tee-hee!
I am starting to see the benefits of being a library fiend! I've borrowed most of those mentioned, and more, but luckily there comes I time when they have to go back. The only one i give house space to is "Babies!" by Christopher Green (author of "Toddler Taming"). I love this one as he's so laid back - basically saying that there's a thousand and one ways of doing everything, here's a few of the best, do what suits you and your DC. And You know best what that will be.

Meg - sorry to butt in but I've just ordered an Ergo for DD. I read somewhere that no front carrier will be super-comfortable once DC is 20lbs, and the out-facing ones are the heaviest-wearing. We had a Bjorn, and DD loved facing outwards, but when she got to 18lbs a couple of weeks ago I had to stop using it for fear of collapsing in the street under the strain.

So we're hoping she'll get a good view from the Ergo when using it as backpack.

Meg & IBS re weaning DS has just got to the stage of wanting to grab the spoon and feed himself, of course all over the floor, but he thinks the best way is to get the spoon at the front of his mouth, then start talking, spraying it everywhere. great fun!
oh yes! and puree poop is here and stinks.
let us know how you get on!

Meg, the ergo can't face outward. most hardcore sling wearers won't carry babies facing outward as it's not ideal for their hips & spine esp as they get older. also you'll find it's prob more comfy for you when they sit facing you. one good thing though, you can put them on your back with ergo. here's what they say

IBS/Meg, feel free to pick my brain about BLW if you go that route, is lots of fun, a little frustrating too at times!

Thanks Amber, we are going to try BLW, so right now my brain is full of stupid questions like "How steamed should my carrots be" and "How big is a chip shape".

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh

ds driving me mad

Soz Tam, was about to reply but got caught up in bathtime! Hope you're ok?

Hello, I'm back. Tam what's going on?

I have had fun after our honeymoon period of self-settling - she is teething BIG STYLE and now discovered she can get out of her bed . Lots of stern looks and 'back to bed'! But no regrets about the bed (and no supernanny style screaming either - well, maybe from me. in my head.) Think I am going to stay with her a bit longer tomorrow as I think she is just finding it hard to sleep.

Meg, we kinda did BLW (couldn't be faffed to puree then found all the research to back me up? ) and has been amazing success! Dd eats anything (she doesn't eat much but will give anything a go) and is brill at self feeding etc. My mum was sceptical at first but then loved bragging about her granddaughter eating xmas dinner with us at 8mths!

sorry dozed off putting ds to bed!

Thanks meg and MM. I'm ok now was just having one of those hours only a toddler can provide!
trying to pack, tidy up, make dinner etc (dh gone to watch ireland rugby match)and ds was not co-operating.

Have developed a new worry now that sleep seeems to be kind of getting there. wait for it.......that ds is going to be a socailly inept weirdo with no friends
MM hoping you can tell me i'm over reacting.

ds goes to playgroup and i take him out to the park/see friends with dc's every day to make sure he is socialised. He's always been confident and happy playing along side others. That is until i took him to the park yesterday with mum and an older child pushed him on the climbing frame and he bumped his head. we had to leave the park in the end as ds kept screeching at any child that came near him after that! mum told me not to worry he'd forget about it etc

to test the theory i took him to our local park today and he was ok (ish) until a little boy who was nicely trying to play alongside ds got to close and ds started shouting in his face. I treid to explain he only wanted to play but ds looked terrified
has he been scarred for life and not be able to make friends now?

Hi Tam, I'm sure he will forget in time but as an only child he's probably not used to the rough and tumble. At DD's first induction at the nursery she got very upset because a boy pushed her hand of his toy. I guess first borns are treated like china (rightfully so imo) he'll get braver. You definately doing all you can to encourage him to interact so I wouldn't worry about that.

BTW, Ergo and slings. We have an ergo and an ellaroo wrap. The ergo I use as a back carry and DD loves it, she bounces in it and pats my arms and giggles away. One thing I've done tho is bang her head because I've walked too close to something and she was leaning to see in front I use the wrap for the front and DD is well over 20lbs. I find it really comfortable because weight is really evenly distributed but like Amber says, they shouldn't really face outwards. I often see my friend dangling her LO face out in her hugabub and it looks so uncomfortable for the baby. DD enjoys snuggling inwards and I generally only use the wrap when she's fractious anyway.

thanks ginger. Hopefully it's just a phase.
don't you worry either your dd will be figting her corner very soon. Ime nusery really toughens kids up. think i'll look for a place for ds in the new year for a few afternoons a week jsut so he get used to being in a socil setting without me. have a good weekend and be proud of yourself. 1 week of work down

sorry have given up checking my spelling as you can see!

Thanks for the info about the slings... the trouble is that LO only likes being in his if he can look out! So not sure if he'd be happy the other way round. It's impossible to take him far in the stroller as he rubs his itchy hands against the straps and makes himself upset.

Tam, I don't know anything about toddlers but my gut feeling is that Ginger is right, kids without siblings probably get a bit of a shock when they first encounter pushy behaviour from other LOs! (I'm the youngest of three so was used to the pushing and shoving from day one...)

Meg, don't worry, you'll get used to how much to steam things, and as they get older and more experienced they seem better at holding and eating different shapes and sizes and consistencies. the chip shape is grand becasue it means they can hold onto part of the food and eatthe other, but doesn't mean theres any regulation thickness or length or anything. just about making the food grabbable. i loved beans and asparagus in the early days - premade grabbable shapes.
LO now seems to prefer things that are wedge shaped (like chunks of roast potato) or cheek shaped (side sliced off a nectarine) so it's not chips forever!
i'm sure you already found it but aitch's site is a godsend on how to cut things and ideas what to give them in the early days.

Morning all,

Amber - how was your night?

Tam - You are funny! Of course DS doesn't have problems socialising. He's just learning about the world, and now he's finding out about bumps and scraps, he's being careful! He'll get used to it all in no time.

Good night here by recent standards. Dd asleep 7-1. woke again at 3, and 5 when she came in with us for her usual 15 min naps.

DD has only had 15 mins sleep this morning, and she's going to my sister's this afternoon, and she tends to nap badly when there's more interesting things to see. I guess we might pay for this tonight, but it's worth it to have a bit of a break .

Morning all. Baz, 7-1 sounds like a very good stretch. Hope everyone else had good nights too.

Ours wasn't great, had to be resettled numerous times during the evening then slept 11.30-2.30 (sadly I lay awake til nearly 1) but after that woke every hour until brought into bed with me at 5, then slept til 7.

We started BLW today! Which consisted of LO knocking bits of carrot onto the floor, banging the plate with his fist, and eventually managing to suck on a bit for about three seconds before dropping it on the floor. This is how it's supposed to be, right?