SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK PART 8 -- Pack the bags under your eyes and join us!

[RoRoMommy]

Well...I had to think of something! DH's suggestion "Eyes wide shut--the art of sleepwalking"

x post meg. good to 'see' you too.

Hello Tam, we miss you (but not iyswim) Welcome back Amber and hi Meg and everyone else.

Happy New Year to you all. I'm back at work which I'm quite pleased about. Last night DD was fine, woke once I think but not bad either side. Night before was another matter but we're back to teething.

Hope you're all ok and had a restful time over the holidays.

Hello Everyone! We're back...

Happy Belated to Beal!

Welcome back Amber--good luck with the jetlag and please take notes on recovering from it as we'll be in the same position after our trip home to see family in April/May.

Meg, DSs top teeth came in the same way! So funny, we called him snaggle tooth for a while, but the others were just under he gumline when the first broke through (to the left of the top middle), you could see the shiny white under the pink. He's had the WORST time with the last of those four, which came in much more slowly, the one to the right of the top middle two. WEIRD!

Ginger, good luck with the teething, but well done on the good sleep.

Hello Tamdin...we've missed you!

So, things here in the sleep arena are the same as always...great from 8-11, then unsettled from 11 to about 2am, then great from 2 until 7am. WEIRD child. He's started sleeping on his face with his bum in the air, which is hilarious. He's also rolling around A LOT which is making it difficult to share a bed with him. Any advice on that would be greatly appreciated, particularly from Tamdin who managed to co-sleep and get a full night's rest, which we still haven't managed.

DH is back on the couch.

DH and I are fighting a lot these days, but mum's just arrived to live with us so I am thinking it must be the transition (we were doing really well before she got here). Trying to be patient (like if I could be as patient with DH as I am with DS, who was up for an hour last night at 2am and needed lots of rocking (while standing, wouldn't tolerate the chair)).

My mum is doing great and loving the time with her grandson, though I am growing quite tired of all of the advice related to less breastfeeding, more solids, stopping co-sleeping and the like. .

So there you go, hooray for 2008. I am resolving to get my identity back. Maybe take up a hobby during all of the free time I have when I am not at work, taking care of Ronan, fighting with DH, arguing with mum over parenting, pumping, and trying to sleep. Wow, I didn't actually mean to make things seem that dire...

Quick hello, can't read posts as DS currently having a paddy with DP (horrendously bad guts, can't work out if he really is bad with dairy and it was the cream in MIL's mushrooms yesterday, all the chocolate I've eaten, or the mandarin but anyway, sure it's all my fault and he's bloody miserable and sore). Anyway, things OK here, hopefully snoozeful with you guys

Wow, got a minute to myself but doubt it will last - anyway - ::wave to Tamdin:: welcome back Amber and Ro, and also Beal from your surprise trip - wanna swap DPs?! Happy tooth vibes to ginger and Meg

A definite upturn here - DS seems to have grasped that sleep is not an evil adversary to be fought tooth and nail. So although he still takes up to an hour of settling, he's put-downable earlier, and pat-back-to-sleepable if we're quick. On Christmas Day he shocked us all by allowing DP to rock him back to sleep then put him down! I almost cried - 5 months of flying solo with this tiresome child and I finally have help!

Having said all that he's still tied in knots with wind and tummy upsets which is really frustrating because now he's actually trying to sleep, nodding off on our shoulder, and yet he's being woken again by pain.

Anyway, I love him more than ever for being so good (in spite of spending thwe last week sleeping in 3 different houses and travelling hundreds of miles and having his routine shot to bits). It won't last (lots of dribbling and gnawing again but I'm enjoying it while I can. He's still waking around 2-4 times a night but I can deal with that for now.

Sending best wishes for you all for 2008

HELP i'm desperate ladies. ds2 had me up every 45mins last night. wouldn't settle in with me (df banished to sofa) so it was in with me then back in his bed, in with me then back in his bed. i'm absolutely shattered, this tiredness is never ending. should i give up breastfeeding and give him bottles, would that help? i'm at the end of my tether and have no idea what to do or how to do it..........HELP

Oh Beal

Sounds like you are having a rough time of it. TBH I don't believe that bottles = better sleep, plus you have got the faff of making up a bottle in the night.

Could be teething, illness, growth spurt? Does he settle to sleep by himself at the start of the night? And what are his naps like?

Poor Beal, sounds like teething hell. My DD gets very unsettled at night when teething, not necessarily upset just fussing. Poor you. Forget all that is non essential and get some rest. I think the only way bottles would help is if your DF took over the nights, otherwise, as Meg said, they're more hassle. (However, because you're preg as well you must be totally exhausted so I don't know, maybe it's worth considering)

CSB, poor you but bless the little fella for doing so well. Have you tried to lay him on his tummy, might help. My DD settled much better once she slept on her front. If you did it for naps and kept an eye on him would it help do you think?

DD slept OK last night. Solid until 4 then fussed about until 5.15 then asleep until 7.30! I had to get up at 6.30 for work tho but really feel progress has been made.

poor you Beal. hang on in there. i second meg about bottles. won't necessarily make a bad sleeper into a good one. and i'd hate for you to give up BF and then found down the track it made no difference and you wished you kept going. stay sane hun. xx

hi ladies and happy new year!

just popping in quickly to say hi(while my 2 boys are sleeping!

ds2 is lovely (as most newborns are!) and has settled in well...he goes to bed at 7pm, feed at 11, 4 and then up at 7 (scarily GF like!) and doesn't need much attention during the night - lovely!

ds1 still sleeping thru and earliest he rises is 7am, which is great (except over xmas when he decided to get up at 6am - combination of teeth/excitment and grandparents!)

i'm still totally exhausted but it's bearable!

beal totally agree with everyone - i have put ds2 on formula and it made no difference to his sleeping patterns, so don't do it if you don't want to!

amber - how was oz? so jealous of you lapping up the sunshine (snowing/sleeting here now!)

hope everyone else is well and rested (yeah right!) and managing to get some sleep

oh...and just to have a little boast about ds2 - he can roll from his front to his back - he's just over 7wks!!! took ds til he was about 7mths to do that!!

he settles himself at around 7 and then has started waking at 11, where this used to be 2. and then fafs from there. his naps in the day are great, 2-3 time for 1 and a half - hours, self settles.

i'm at the end of my tether, i know i'll regret it if i give up breastfeeding, i'm a breastfeeding ffs so i'm sure deep down i know that cows milk wont help it's jsut that ds1 was bottle fed from 3months and has always slept through llike a dream since then! grrrrrrrr......

skirmish - sorry was being totally selfish, thats really good that ds2 is so fantastic at night, on the ro0lling front i found that ds2 progressed far quicker than ds1, he was rolling both ways at 6weeks, crawling at 13weeks, sitting at 17weeks, standing at 20weeks and walking at 6 and a half months (dont know weeks)

some babies just develop quicker and its usually coz they've got a bigger one to follow, ds2 follows ds1 EVERYWHERE

skirmish LOL at your GF baby - you deserve it!! hope you are having a wonderful wonderful babymoon.
we had such a good time in Aus. the best part was being around family, having a shower in peace, nipping down the shops without a bub in tow, seeing ds develop at an amazing pace - is about to walk now. we also ate up a storm in sydney at amazing restaurants most lunches and we would all just take turns entertaining ds (well the grandparents did the most entertaining - we had to fight them off!
i'm kind of glad to be back home to settle again, but i really miss having family around, i think it really does make a huge difference. also ds just really hit it off with his granddad, most of the time i just got rejected if granddad was around
it was really sweet to see such a special bond between them. i look forward to one day being back and having that as part of our lives.

it's ds' 1st bday today. happy birthday ds. slept like a horror, up at 3.30am after a billion wakings. but there you go. must change nappy as ds stinking down the house

beal, hope things improve soon. i've been through some horrid times with BF when i just wanted to give up. i just try to grit my teeth and get through it, and always when we come out the other end, i'm glad we kept going because it's so enjoyable for both of us. i also think it's a quick fix in a way that a bottle can't be because if they are sick or fractious or just a bit hyper, boobs can make all the difference

hang in there, i feel your pain.

i am f...ing shattered. ds2 was awake every hour and half, so improvement. but df kept me awake with coughing and general moaning about being ill so i've had precisely 47mins sleep!!

also gtting married now on 2nd feb, as oppsed to 6th sept, so have sh*t loads to do! anyone want to buy 2 children? £20 EACH O.N.O.

i'll give you £20 for both.

feeling shattered too beal. ds sleeping in 1 1/2 hour spurts interspursed with 1 1/2 hour wakings. ALL NIGHT. blerrgh. suggest you invest in some earplugs to deal with df. that's my tactic along with nudging him and kicking him a lot.

ok it's a deal, shall i send them first class, or 2nd to give you a break before receiving them? maybe i should put them on ebay!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO IMP, how sweet. Amber, your post made me long to have family and friends close by (and to live in Australia but that's another thing entirely!!) mine only live a couple of hours away but I hardly ever see them. Too tangled up in lives, work etc.

Beal, bless you, you're a marvel and are doing so well. Hopefully, hopefully this will be over soon. Can you get a break at all soon? Is your mum able to offer any help?

Skirmish, how lovely. I'm getting quite keen on the idea of having number 2 but part of me feels scared as I don't want anything to 'spoil' my relationship with DD. I feel so incredibly close to her and I value the time we have together. I'm also worried that I wouldn't have any of that one on one time with a second. How have you found that?

Hi everyone, hope you others are sleeping soundly.

Hi all, not much time to post this morning but wanted to say happy birthday Amber's DS!

WB Amber, sounds like a fab time was had by all and happy birthday to your LO!

Beal you're wonderwoman you are - and a wedding on top of it all! Credit to you, hang on in there - and I second the advice to stick with your boobs, they're so handy apart from anything else!

Wave to everyone else (and Skirmish's new LO)

Sleep is tough at the mo, still got tummy trouble, but currently asleep face down on the duvet on our bed ... my pre-baby self would have kittens at the very suggestion but he seems to rest easier there during the day and if I'm around to make sure he can breathe then .... . We got the cot set up in his room at last because he wasn't ever using it in its sidecar incarnation - now to brave getting him into it!

Hello and happy birthday to the Imp! Have been off visiting in-laws and stuff so no access to computer - will try and catch up on posts later. Boiler has packed up so pottering away while plumber tries to resuscitate. No heating or hot water until it's done (eek). We'd be crap in a real power cut: I retreated to bed with DS and a hot water bottle yesterday afternoon.

Sleep? Er, looks like DS is teething AGAIN after popping out 4 molars and 2 eye teeth over the festive period. Have stopped feeding during the day and planning to stop at night (after first feed) once teething is over or we're feeling strong enough - wish us luck!

Cot sleeing not happening due to visit to inlaws - he also refused to go too bed at all until at least 10pm. The first day back, he slept in the car, in the afternoon for a couple of hours and was in bed by 7. I think he associates our bed with sleep and nowhere else!

Right, off to try and catch up...

Phew! Not to much.

Meg: I've been butting back on bfing mainly due to DH tbh. I stopped day feeds at about 10 mo when I got fed up with expressing at work, but they've been creeping back in for naps when I'm at home and early evening feeds when I get in. The priob is that when I'm late back or not here DS goes into complete meltdown and DH can't settle him. So no day feeds (although the odd feed-to-sleep for naps has stayed). The next stage is to try and stop feeding at night... I want to keep the last feed and possibly a morning one as well, but we'll see how it goes. I think DH would actually prefer me to stop altogether but I disagree! It'sa tricky one: he does have the right to his opinion but I still feel I have the casting vote!

RoRo: hope you manage to sort things out with DH. Could you get some regular time together sans DS and your mum, like an evening a week? I'm also thinking I need to do something for me this year: was considering joining out local gym now the leisure centre is FINALLY open again, but we can't really justify the fees so am thinking about hauling back an hour or so at the weekends so I can go for a run (lurch) in the park.

Amber: welcome back . Hope the jetlag improves. How are you managing with the freezing weather and loss of babysitters? Must be nice to be you, DH and DA again though. I love visiting family as they're keen to play with DS and give me a bit of peace but it's always nice to be home as well (preferably with heating and hot water, but hey).

Beal: sounds rough . Re the bfing, I'd go with what you feel comfortable with, whether that's stopping or carrying on. Congrats on the wedding! Have you found a dress etc.?

Ginger: I feel for you on the teething! They could have had the grace to hold off over the holidays. I'm back at work on Monday: took my last couple of days of holiday so I could have a full fortnight.

CSB: DS sleeps best with his head buried in one of our pillows . I think as long as you keep an eye on them... also one of the few advantages to having lightly sleeping LOs is they'd wake themselves up if there was a real problem (or so I tell myself).

Skirmish: DS2 sounds gorgeous

Hello all. I haven't time to reply to all the posts so I just want to say Happy New Year and I hope you are all well.

I haven't posted for a while because I have been having a rough time with DS2 (again!!). I thought you might all be bored of hearing me winging on. He is sprouting his 4 front teeth and has been super unsettled. Some nights he has latched on and sucked for hours. It was a bit better last night. 2 are through now so hopefully the end is in sight. We are also having problems getting him to eat anything during the day and to sleep for more than 1/2 an hour at a time. Sorry to sound so miserable.