MSE Parents Club Part 16

delain

Monday nights are a nightmare for me. My older lot go to girls brigade 2 between 5.15 and 6.30, one between 6.20 and 7.30, and tonight there's a meeting after the last one. It's not far, but it means I'm backwards and forwards all night. It's even worse because we don't even get home till just before 4 (bus is due at home 3.45) and if the traffic is bad and we miss that bus it's 4.20, then we have an hour to get the 2 changed and back out :eek:

I dread trying to fit dinner around it, quite often the 2 will have pizza or something and DD1 will have tinned soup. Might do spag bol tonight so the 2 can eat after theirs when DD1 is out and she can have hers when she gets home (at almost 8pm )

pigpen

I hate after school stuff.. tuesday is the only day they do nothing..
monday we have dance, wednesday art club and explorers, thursday, netball and dance friday football, pathfinders and sunday mark 2... I practically disappear up my own existance!

OH gone to shop for milk, food and post a parcel for me.. Squeak won't stop whining so i've put her in bed.. sounds like she has stopped screaming so that's a bonus!

I still cant' find the pain killers so I'l nag OH to look when he gets back and i'll go make a start on cuppas!

Tiddles on the xbox.. loving she can hog it!

It is FREEZING in here today.. I wish we had some logs or coal or something burny I'd light the fire!

delain

You could always set your notes on fire, save you shredding them later

pigpen

the only note i have is a £5 note!

rach

Thanks for that site Jennynoo, it's helpful. I am really trying to try gentle approaches and have read all the no cry books and others several times over. we do cosleep sometimes but dh is really not comfortable with it, in fact from 5am today was the only time we've coslept with him in the bed too. ds is so much happier and better on a flexible routine, they're all different i guess.

We had an awful night. slept 7-11 and then up every hour or so i think...lost track lol. He has a cold and i think his teeth are bothering him though he did have calpol at bed time and again in the night. of course when he came into our bed he was suddenly fine and trying to grab us both, roll around and say dada and nana etc.

All the books i read etc are all about babies not settling to sleep at bedtime. We have no problems with this, bedtime routine and then he goes off without a peep about 7 usually. it's in the night we have problems when he will feed and then not resettle. He's not his happy self this morning, not surprising as he missed his morning nap despite me walking round for 40 mins in the pushchair before our singing group to encourage it!

i have a meeting at 1230 for my self employed work, hope i can blag it as i'm woefully underprepared. we'll be having a walk and then a coffee just hope ds sleeps. Need to give him an early lunch and then set off about 1145 i think as i don't want to be late.

Metranil_Vavin

Morning everyone.

Pah to Monday all round!

I'm going to a 'weaning workshop' this afternoon with some of my NCT lot. Hoping it will inspire me a bit as I think Josh is nearing being ready to have something other than milk. I have no clue how to start/what to give him though.

A friend of mine came over last week and told me to avoid baby rice as it apparently can have quite high levels of arsenic in it??:eek:

She suggested baby porridge instead as a start, so may try that in the next couple of weeks.

Josh has been really grizzly the last couple of days, and this morning he would not stop crying. Eventually I think he tired himself out and has now fallen asleep in his rocky chair. Hoping he won't kick off in the middle of this weaning thing later.

It's his final jabs tomorrow. Was so not looking forward to taking him for those, that I persuaded OH to take the day off so he can take him! I think it's important to share these things!

I also have to find out where I can take him for a BCG jab. I turned this down when it was offered to me in hospital after he was born. I just thought 2 days old was a bit young for being injected!

PP sorry your OH is being a bit of a lamo. men huh?

I had to pay a non-refundable deposit of £25 too for my nursery jenny. It must be a London thing..what a rip off eh?? They really coin it in the barstewards!

wendz86

Sorry to hear everyones Monday blues,

Another one here with a rubbish night sleep. She went to sleep at 12 , woke at 3 then didn't really settle down after that. She didn't have a long nap yesterday like she usually does and is still awake now! i thought newborns were meant to sleep loads...

Digital - my little one eats a lot of the time so i know how you are feeling. You are doing a great job by the sound of it. Also about registering we madean appointment on council website.

Delain - yay for squeak clapping hand, awww!

dustystar02

sir_monster wrote: »

Dusty t was like that for what seemed like a long time (but prob only a couple of months) was very unsettled after 7 till about 9, we did everything bath/bf/bottle, but just seemed to click after a while (sorry), I remember driving round at about 10 on a number of occasions as just wouldn't settle!! However now he goes down at 7:30/8 and sleeps till 6 or 7 and he really started d settling better around 4 months. I know this doesn't help you now, but just to say things do improve.

Sammy sounds lovely re your evening.

My little one is developing so quickly is creeping backwards and pulled himself up tonight!

Thanks SM, it isnt every night so im hoping its just a phase that will pass. I've not had to resort to the late night drives just yet lol!

Becles wrote: »

Dusty - is it colic? Charlotte went through a twisty evening phase for a while, but Infacol and massaging her tummy sorted it out.

Up early and off to boot camp this morning, then got tickets for the match later. Hope we win

Have a good day all xx

I dont think it is as it isnt every night and he is perfectly ok at all other times. I just think he gets restless. When I'm pacing with him he usually settles

MERFE wrote: »

Morning

dusty you can get gina ford from the library, I did for Bob but the routine couldn't fit with school runs but some of it was helpful. Bob would scream when he was that age whenever he was awake and not feeding - the only time he was quiet was in the bath so I used to give him the longest baths ever in the evening, luckily he slept loads and I knew it got better or I'd have been tearing my hair out. I did loads of pacing with him in the evening too - up and down the lounge, still do now sometimes but at least its nice and we can go round and round the garden - good exercise too lol.

J screams in the bath, he hates it . We are in and out very quickly. I wasbathing him every other night but am now doing it every night in the hope he will grow to love it :rotfl:

*BigBird*

I'm back at work now, so have more time to check in on the MSE forums

You might remember me coming on here a few weeks ago, in one of my neurotic moments, because Joe was 5 months old and had never had a cold... well, after his first week with the childminder, he was all snotty and bunged up at the weekend :rotfl: He's fine today though, it's me that's snotty and bunged up now

£25 to register for a nursery sounds like a bargain. I'm having to pay £50 and I live in the sticks! (And another £100 on top of that, though that does come back when he leaves the nursery)

I hope you crack your sleeping issues soon, rach. It must be awful for you.

And for those of you with the Monday blues - it's half over now :)

dustystar02

Sammy_Girl wrote: »

Dusty - Actually I have a spare Gina Ford book if it helps? Its the same as one that I have, but it came as a freebie with a preg magazine. I can send it over to you no probs. But as a summary, our routine is generally as follows:

7am - Nappy change and feed. Then just have a cuddle on the sofa and generally wake up
8am - Get DD dressed after about 10 min of nappy free time. I then grab a shower and get dressed
9am - Nap time. I put DD in her pram and take the dog for a walk and she naps for most of the walk
10am - Awake and playtime. Generally on her playmat with her toys and some tummy time
10:30am - Nappy change and feed. Again, a bit of a cuddle on the sofa and This Morning!
11:45am - Lunchtime nap in her cot. Blinds shut.
14:15 - Wake DD up and change nappy and feed
15:00 - Playtime again. As above and I put the nursery rhymes CD on and we have a bit of a sing song! This time fits well with us as DH is out of bed by this time so he has a bit of daddy time as well.
16:30 - Afternoon nap - but just 30 min. I normally take her for a walk in the pram around the block
17:00 - Feed but not a full bottle. eg at the moment she is taking around 5oz per bottle, but at this feed I give her 4oz, so that she is still a little peckish after her bath
17:30 - Strip clothes and nappy free time - kick about on her mat
17:45 - Bath
18:00 - Baby massage and PJs on.
18:15 - Feed again with around 2-3 oz
19:00 - Sleeping in her cot
22:15 - I wake her for a feed
22:45 - Sleeping in her cot
Whenever in the middle of the night she wakes, she gets a nappy change and feed - all done in dim light with no interaction or stimulation. After about 30 min shes back to sleep in her cot
7am - The day starts again!


I know the above will seem rigid to some but it works really well for us. I use lunchtime to get housework done and evening time is me time.

Obviously the above is for days when we are at home. But days when we're out and about I can plan accordingly. If I'm going out shopping I'll go at lunchtime when she can nap in her pram. If we're visiting friends and rellies I'll go in the afternoon when I know she'll be awake for lots of cuddles and interaction.

Of course, the above is flexible. Like today, I had my SIL around in the afternoon and she gave her the 2.30pm bottle, and afterwards DD was fast asleep and really didn't want waking - so I'm not going to force it! I just made sure she was awake at 5pm for her feed and bedtime routine.

Wow that is some routine Sammy, sounds exhausting lol!
I'm trying to adapt it for us today. But we have been out this morning and J fell asleep in the car, he is still asleep now but I'm going to try and wake him soon. I have the book you are talking about, it came free with a magazine, no idea where it is now but i will dig it out. I also got Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, but the problem with all these books is getting the chance to read them

Sammy_Girl wrote: »

Sorry, should add to the above that with our routine she is currently only waking once in the middle of the night, usually around 2-3am .

But last night was different. She was still super sleepy at 22:30 and only took 2oz. So I put her back in her cot and said to DH we best go to bed now as I know she'll wake in an hour or two hungry. So when she woke up I looked at the clock and it was 4.25am! I couldn't believe it!! 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep was lovely! So I fed her and I thought she might stay awake then, but no she was happy go back in her cot to sleep until 7am.

What I have learnt in the past couple of weeks is to make sure that at the night and middle of night feeds is to literally pick her up, change her nappy, give her bottle and put in cot. No fussing about or talking.

Oh, and one more point. We use sleeping bags which I'm sure helps as she's such a fidget she always used to kick her blankets off.


Sorry, for the lengthy posts - just typing as I'm thinking!

I'm going to dig out the sleeping bag tonight to see if it helps. He was fed at 10pm last night and woke at 2am which is fine but he is wide awake then and its very hard trying to get him back off.

Metranil_Vavin wrote: »

Afternoon gang.

Nursery's - I have visited a couple already and put Josh's name down for one that I really want for January 2012 when I (supposedly) return to work. The nursery is so popular however that I have been warned there is a good chance a place may not be available by Jan :eek:
Keeping my fingers crossed though as it is a lovely one, and the other I saw just didn't have as good a vibe IMHO.

On sleeping patterns, we have been really lucky with Josh. He has generally been sleeping through since he was about 11 weeks old (he was 17 weeks on Friday).

Our routine is very basic. We give him a bath at about 6.30pm, get him into a babygro and then I give him a feed. He then goes into his rocky chair and falls asleep. He occasionally will wake up maybe once and have a little grizzle but a quick cuddle and rock and he generally goes back to sleep. This is brilliant as it means OH and I can have an evening/dinner.

Up until about 12 weeks he would have his 'witching hour' from around 7pm, and wouldn't let us eat! Thank goodness he seemed to grow out of that!

I normally head off for bed at about 10pmish so I can have a read of a book, and OH will change Josh's nappy and give him his final dream feed (expressed breast milk in a bottle) at around 11pm.

He then puts him into his cot in the nursery, and that is that. Josh will then generally sleep till around 6-6.30am, when I'll give him a big morning feed and then express 5oz of b.milk for that nights expressed feed.

Interesting to hear about the 4 month growth spurt PP mentioned, as a week or so ago, a couple of nights he woke up at around 3am crying and wanting an additional feed. Must have been what that was..seems to have stopped again now.

I keep expecting things to change as he has been so good in terms of sleeping, but at the moment I am really happy with how it is going.

That sounds like a decent routine MV. I think I let J sleep too long during the day so I'm going to try and keep him awake a bit more til bathtimt at 5.30