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

[Tamdin]

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

night ginger, sorry for your mega cranky day. hope LO feeling her better self tomorrow. last week i was just thinking how LO's naps have really gotten sorted lately, and then the morning naps sat, sun and mon have all been 1/2 hour, and todays effort was just totally poor! maybe better tomorrow too.
xx

Morning all. Baaaad night for us (multiple wakings including 3-5am ). Think I will be enforcing a 3rd nap tonight even if it means he goes to bed late!

Off to see the paed today about his eczema, which is having a flare-up at the moment, so hopefully we may get some ideas of how to improve it...

Morning all!

Meg - for your night. I do hope that your appointment today is helpful for you and your poor DS.

Amber - hope that DS remembers how to take longer naps today! I know what you mean about needing the naps for you to get a break and recharge.

Ginger - sorry to hear that DD was so cranky yesterday. Maybe it's the phase of the moon, as my DD was mardy all day yesterday too. Hope that she had a nice refreshing sleep and is back to her usual lovely self today.

Tibs - a belated happy birthday to your DD! Hope you all had a fantastic day.

Good night here. Took ages to settle but eventually properly asleep at 8. Slept til 2. fed and back til 4.30. then 5.30, 6.30, and up for the day at 7.15. She settled really quickly with a dummy each time, so the wakings weren't too stressful.

Hope to hear of some decent nights .

ps - Meg - we've got that tricky 3rd nap thing going on. She misses it most nights, then gets really cranky by 5.30ish, and needs bed by 7 at the latest. On Sat, when she had a nap 5.30-6, she didn't end up going to bed until 9 .

I guess being up 'til 9pm doesn't sound like such a hardship, but DH often works very late in the evenings, so I wouldn't get any tea, never mind 5 mins' peace! So we're trying to ride with missing the nap, but it's pretty testing. I'm hoping that things will get better when she can sit up a bit better, as she might be able to play independently for a tiny bit longer.

IBS, how old is she now?
i know what you mean, i need LO in bed by 7.30 otherwise i'm going mad. just want to sit down with my dinner and glass of wine.
Meg for your night, do the nights seem better when there is a third nap?
well, i'm so proud of myself, i got up and went to yoga. we had a decent night, feeds at 12 and 5.30. i was meant to be getting up at 6.15, so i just stayed up from 5.30. i feel tired, but in a good 'i've done something useful kind of way'. now waiting for LO to have his nap, so we can head out for coffee or if the timing is right (prob won't be though) we could go to the cinema to see bourne ultimatum.

Hi, I'm back in London and connected to the laptop! Decorating is well under way, but florr still not done and piles of Stuff everywhere (DS is of course getting into everything). Off to buy some storage boxes today with good strong lids.

Baz: sounds like your nights are improving rapidly . Amber: hope your night wasn't too bad after the short naps.

DS's routine has been all over the place thanks to trips away, so our aim this week is to get back on track. He has got used to coming into bed with me for most of the night, which I'm fine with but DH not so keen. So trying to get him to stay in the cot for longer. He satys tehre till the early hours at the momnet, which is a bit of an improvement.

Have to day that not worrying about sleep (or lack of it) for a week or so was very liberating! Another argument for ditching the books.

Tam: hope your DS has settled down, I'm worrying a bit that DS is going to be one of those hyper kids as he has speeded up massively over the past couple of weeks - he's on the go constantly, crawling , climbing, shouting and its a real struggle getting him to calm own enough to get to sleep! Partly being a boy an d partly having lots of grandparents to play with him. Hopefully he'll settle down once he's back in his usual routone (and back with our cm who id dead fierce and tires him out!).

Ginger: DH and I have had the conversation about no. 2 - we def want more than one if it works out. I'm in my early thirties as well so suppose we ought to get a mov on. Planning to move house first and think about it then. Typically, we had a 5 mion chat on the way back from the shop and decided on the sole girl's and boy's name we can agree on .

Ginger: DS is teething madly, dirbbling and biting but no sign of a tooth. Have held off on the baby drugs but might try some calpol this evening. He's having a wakeful period at about 2-3 am where he's feeding constantly (this is the point where I usually drop off and he ends up staying in bed with us). It Will Pass

i feel it's going to be another bad nap day. LO is screaming about having one. should i get him up? maybe he just doesn't want to sleep yet. sigh. i wish i was a mind reader.

Amber - that's a thought I often have! Last night when DD wouldn't settle, I spent an hour thinking "too hot? too cold? too tired? not tired enough? still hungry? windy? I wish you could tell me.". BTW, DD is 6 months at the beginning of Sept.

Hi EP - glad you had an enjoyable break. for DS having longer spells in his cot.

LOL at everyone talking about having more children! Circumstances dictate that we will be having a big gap (4+ years) between bambini, if we do have another!

Amber, is it the Everyman you go to? (I know they do mother & baby screenings). Would love to get out to the cinema...

i can't imagine having another bambino just yet. don't you people ever want to get any sleep!?!?
well i had to get LO up, because he wont' nap. what on earth is he up to. he was doing so well before this weekend.

Meg, it's the holloway odeon. we're not going now as LO has only just started his nap now. maybe dh will let me sneak out one night to see it then.
am going to attempt to make these for LO.
quinoa burgers he liked my chickpea dumplings the other day, so hopefully he'll like these too.
i really think quinoa is a wonder food, must try to eat it more.

morning all and meg, i was joining you on the crap night front last night, only 2 wakings, but they were looooong ones. i thought i was going to throw myself (or dd) out of the window at one point. nothing seemed to settle her think it was 1 of 2 things. i introduced a bottle in place of a boob feed during the day or she was walking nonstop on the little wooden walker my folks bought her for her birthday. hell, it might have even been both things lets hope we get some respite today
oh and the baby idea is definitely on the back burner now

anyway, ibs, for your nights, they seem like theyre getting better

hi amber and EP

amber, that recipe looks yum, hope lo likes it

tibs, how is it going with the bottle in the day? sometimes i want to give LO a bottle because his fussiness about breastfeeding drives me nuts in the day. but then i don't actually know if he'd be any better with a bottle.
just had an episode at waitrose where he was having a breakdown due to hunger. so i got through the checkout and fed him on the bench. he fed for about 2 minutes, enough to get my super fast milk flowing, and then pulled off and refused to eat. cue milk squirting all over his face and all over me and him crying as i'm trying to get him to feed so the milk doesn't go everywhere! hmmm. i'm sure the shop assistants were impressed with that

Tibs, while you were away my Dd was bought one of those walkers too and i made comment about it wearing her little legs out. DH reakons she had tight muscles after all the excersise

Amber, little monkey. not napping and also causing embarrassment in public. Just wait until he's a teenager. Ten you can get your own back embarrassing him in front of his friends and not letting him lay in.

EP, nice to see you back.

Meg, hope you have some success with the paed. Let me know how you get on.

Bazza, think you had a good night(?) wel done.

DD had another mega awake session and after and after an hour and me cursing, DH took over. Took him another hour to settle her then she was up at 5.45. I really hope this phase passes.

Today has been a bit distressing because not only did i have to leave DD at nursery for an hour for a settling in period and she cried, and was crying when I collected her. We went to a friends for lunch and DD was sitting on her DS's high chair which has been adjusted for a toddler (the wooden types where you take the bar off) and fell off. She was wearing reins and they seemed tight enough but she toppled off the side and was dangling, smacked her head and bit her tounge so I feel like a terrible mummy today. Poor little munchkin. Back at work tomorrow. Probably the best place for me!! I've just found out that a friend is pregnant again and I'm a little . My DH raises his eyebrows at me though because I'm such a flake after the one. He's worried what he'd come home to if we had a baby and a toddler!!

your poor little ninja! i'm sure she's fine though. it's a shock when they hurt themselves, but i think they are made with hard (or soft) heads, so it doesn't seem to affect them as much as you'd think!
hope nursery goes ok.

Just got back from the hospital where we had to wait 90 mins to see the consultant and that was only after we saw the registrar doctor, who said she was going to give us stronger steroid creams and that we had to get rid of the cat .

Then the consultant came in and basically contradicted everything she'd said, said NOT to increase steroids and that it was unlikely to be cat allergy! Instead I have to go completely egg and dairy-free for 3 weeks -- going to be fun for a vegetarian who lives on cheese sarnies!

I'm also starting to get slightly cold feet about BLW... I know it's technically easier than spooning in purees but I feel like I could do with some certainty at the moment (as BLW still seems in an experimental phase) so wonder if I should start with purees but offer finger foods alongside.

Xposted Ginger, hope DD has recovered from her bump!

poor baby ninja! hope she's ok. they're tough little cookies really.

Meg for your delayed appointment. Poor you - I guess houmous and crudites are beckoning!

Re: the weaning thing. I know it's not the fashion right now, but I intend to do purees and finger foods when I start next week. Thing is, DD has no teeth, whereas some of her peers do. That coupled with her decidedly dodgy hand-eye co-ordination means she's perhaps not best suited to "pure" BLW right away. And sadly I can't really wait much longer as I have half an eye on going back to work at the start of October, and want to be sure of a few things she'll eat before she starts nursery.

Tibs for your night - at least you have a couple of potential excuses though .

Amber please can I have your chickpea dumpling recipe? Need to think of some dairy-free lunch options, fast! (and if LO can have them too, so much the better!)

That quinoa one looks nice too, I love quinoa.

Baz, I think what I might do is give DS the choice -- spoon in a bit of mashed food for him to taste but encourage him to pick up the finger food version. At least for the first couple of weeks until he gets the hang of feeding himself. I guess it's like anything else, there's no 'right' or 'wrong' way, just what works best for you and LO!

Also hi Tibs and EP! Seems busy round here now everyone's back...

Also hi Tibs and EP! Seems busy round here now everyone's back...

for appointment and giving up cheese. sigh.
go with what feels right for you with BLW/purees. sometimes i think BLW does take a lot of patience, but i'm started to see results now, so i think twas worth it. i've got a friend who just couldn't handle it because she was so worried her ds would choke, so it wasn't worth the stress to her.
and another friend is doing mainly BLW, but spoon feeds her dd with yoghurt and the occassional puree when she feels like it. to me there's no right way, whatever feels and works best.
i probably would have given LO a few spoons of stuff (at least yoghurt) but he won't have a bar of it. closes his mouth tight if i even go near him with a spoon. so BLW it is for us.

the recipe is chunky chickpea and herb dumpling soup. the recipe didn't put chickpeas in the dumplings, but i wanted LO to eat some chickpeas, so what i did was put one can in the dumplings, just blended them up in magimix. and one can straight in the soup iyswim.

1 tablespoon oil
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 x 300g cans chickpeas
3.5 cups veg stock
2 x 425 cans chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon chooped fresh coriander
1 cup SR flour
25 g butter
2 tablespoons parmesan
2 tables spoons mixed herbs (coriander, parsley chives, whatever)
3 tablespoons milk

soup: heat oil in saucepan and cook onion over med heat for 2-3 mins until soft. add garlic, cumin, ground coriander, and chilli and cook for 1 min or until gragrant. add chickpeas stock and tomato, bring to boil then simmer for 10 mins. stir in coriander.

dumplings: sift flour into bowl and add the chopped butter. rub together with fingertips until mixture resembles bread crumbs. stir in cheese and herbs (and blended chickpeas - my addition!) make a well in the centre, add the milk and mix with flat bladed knife until just combined. bring together into rough ball, divide into 8 portions ( i think i made about 12)
add dumplings to soup, cover and simmer 20 mins or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into centre of dumpling.

oh ps. on teeth and BLW. LO has no teeth and does perfectly fine gumming all his food. its surprising what they can gum or suck to death. LO's current favourite is cucumber. there is seriously not much left when he is finished with it.
i think i read somewhere that the first teeth they get at the front are no good for chewing anyway, only good for biting