MSE Parents Club Part 16

Make-it-3

Tonight I have managed to get my little girl down to sleep in her cot for the first time in over a month :j (OH normally does bedtime and I've given up on daytime naps as no matter how asleep she is in my arms she always wakes and cries the minute I lay her down). Good thing to as OH is out at his works Xmas drinks so don't expect to see him this side of midnight.

I have a job interview tomorrow (scary) so should go and do some prep, firstly I need to find my brain - I think I left it on the maternity ward somewhere ....

mirrorimage0

ok so lo is nearly 10 weeks old now, and im seriously thinking of putting him on the bottle- he does feed well of the breast but is still like every 2 hrs, im so tired,
he has taken the odd bottle of formula well when hubby has stayed up so i can get to sleep about once a week.
i have tried expressing the milk so i know how much he is feeding and the amount isnt a problem so im thinking basically because i dont eat well at all ( i know this and do take the vitamins) that maybe he isnt getting enough "good" milk hence the reason why he is still feeding so often. when he has formula he sleeps longer.

am i right in thinking this or just seriously lacking sleep which has affected my brain lol

hope everone is keeping well.x

Wonder_Womble

Make-it-3 wrote: »

Tonight I have managed to get my little girl down to sleep in her cot for the first time in over a month :j (OH normally does bedtime and I've given up on daytime naps as no matter how asleep she is in my arms she always wakes and cries the minute I lay her down).

Oh that doesn't sound very good!! How old is your LO?


I am having the same problem and hoped it would settle down. LO is a week old today and seems to have some form of seperation anxiety during the night. But when myself or OH put her in her moses basket she will snooze for about 10 mins then wake up crying. OH has been up all night last night with her to let me get some sleep. She will happily sleep in there for about 45 mins to an hour during the day! Someone please tell me that this is normal and it will pass soon!?

The breast feeding support worker came out yesterday and we got LO feeding from both breasts and I was really chuffed. LO seemed so content and it seemed really straight forward while support worker was there. However once she left LO decided she would now use my nipples as a dummy to soothe her to sleep.

I'm combi feeding at the mo until my milk flow increases, but every time I pick her up she is looking for my breast and won't settle until I let her on, she does a couple of sucks and then falls asleep. If I try and dislodge her she screams. We even tried giving her a dummy last night to soothe her but she wouldn't entertain it. Anyone got any hints or tips?

Also her body clock seems topsy turvey, happy to sleep in her basket all day, but won't settle when we go up to bed. Has anyone else had this and got any advice on how to change it?

Thanks in advance ladies

Becles

basscadette wrote: »

Wondering if anyone has any advice - my baby hates his bouncy chair so he is constantly on is back, either in Moses basket or on playmat. I feel really guilty about it but have no idea what else I can do with him in the day!!

Charlotte was like that. I just used to move the play mat around wherever I was and potter on around her. They like interaction, so just dance around and give a running commentary of you doing the dusting or cleaning the bathroom or washing dishes or whatever you are doing! Or you could sing nursery rhymes or other songs. That kept Charlotte amused for ages!

Wonder_Womble wrote: »

Also her body clock seems topsy turvey, happy to sleep in her basket all day, but won't settle when we go up to bed. Has anyone else had this and got any advice on how to change it?

You need to make it clear that night and day are different.

During the day, have her sleep downstairs. Keep the curtains open and make as much noise as you usually do. Talk in normal voices, have the TV/radio on, use noisy things like the hoover etc. Don't let her sleep for hours and wake her for feeds if necessary. Have lots of eye contact and chat/singing while feeding her, and have fun nappy changes with more speaking/singing, eye contact, raspberries on her tummy etc.

At night time, try to manage with as little light as possible so it stays fairly dark. Feeding and nappy changes should be very subdued with no speaking or eye contact and no fun!

It'll be tough for a couple of days, but she'll soon get the hang of it.

Nephthys

Morning! Congrats to all the new mummies.

WW, I had similar problems with mine when he was that size. I must confess to being a bad mummy and making him take a dummy just so I could have time off the sofa! We did have to hold the dummy in for him for a while.

The way my mum explained it to me was that babies are used to having a bottle/nipple/finger etc held in their mouth so they don't have to make any effort to hold it. A dummy is different and they do have to make an effort to hold it so it does take time for them to learn the skill. I would have woken up in the night and found my husband turned the opposite way round in the bed with one arm hanging over into LOs crib holding the dummy in his mouth. It did work. I still feel guilty for making him take a dummy but I needed the break (he was using me for comfort/getting to sleep too).

I know a lot of people don't approve of dummies for little ones but I don't regret it. It is the one thing I will have to wean him from later but at least i got some sleep!

If you are happy then persevere! I know it seems hard now but it will get better I promise. For weeks I kept saying that LO was going on a bottle cos I couldn't take any more but he is now almost 15 months and I'm still feeding him (only twice a day, morning and night). This is probably in part due to laziness!

However, that doesn't mean it is right for everyone and you have to decide what is best for you and your child - no one else can decide that for you. I'm glad you are getting support for it.

Re the wind - that developed on day 3 for us. It was awful and continued for 8 months! That doesn't mean it will be that long for your LO but I wish someone had warned me that it could go on for a while! We used dentinox colic drops until he was old enough to try gripe water. Eventually we gave up using anything - took him off everything and struggled on for about a week until he learnt to wind himself. I found putting him tummy down across my leg sometimes helped, keeping him upright etc. Didn't stop him bringing up milk every feed and crying from the pain. Have you tried tilting her bed (folded towel under mattress) so she's not completely flat?

MI3 - I used to have the same problem. Partly cos I used it as an excuse to sit on the sofa and not move at the beginning. He totally refused to sleep anywhere but on me. Eventually I had to start putting him down after he fell asleep and let him realise he had to sleep on his own. It was really hard for a while.

Mirror - how long does LO feed for at a time? I haven't forgotten the 2 hourly feeds! Usually at a growth spurt which for mine was about 3 months old!

Clothes for sleeping at night? I had an atypical child last winter. We had him in a vest, socks, sleepsuit, scratch mitts (to keep his fingers warm), a 2.5 tog sleeping bag (when he was old enough), a topsheet and a cellular blanket. During the night he would sometimes end up co sleeping with us under the duvet. Not recommended by baby experts but he actually slept much much better and even now prefers a lot of warmth at night. We never covered his head though.

I waffle a lot! I'm not even sure I answered anyone's query! Oops! :rotfl:

Metranil_Vavin

Hope the job interview went well Mit3

I had a job interview last week and got offered the job on Monday :j

Just got to try and sort out childcare now. Does anyone think that splitting 3 days of childcare between a nursery and a childminder is a bad idea in terms of DS settling?

The nursery only has 2 days available at the moment, and the CM only has 2 as well! So I am thinking of putting him into the nursery for 2 days and childminder for 1.

mirrorimage0

nethpys thanks i think you just about managed everyone lol

he feeds well on th breast anything from 20 mins to an hour, and when i express he drinks around 4oz so i think he is getting enough quantity wise im just unsure about quality as i dont eat very well at all and wondering if he isnt getting enough nutrients and thats why he is feeding often?

not sure MV my eldest settled into his nursery straight away aged 8 months and was there around about a month before he kicked off about going in but realised its because they changed his room as he had gone into the next age group.
he was there mon to fri

my middle one was in his nursery 2 days a week and took him a little longer to settle in but he didnt start till he was 2 so not sure if it was because he was older and more aware or because they are just completley different like chalk and cheese

you can only try it or look for an alternative nursery, you will soon know if it works for them or not hun.x

Winnie_in_Pooh

mirrorimage0 wrote: »

ok so lo is nearly 10 weeks old now, and im seriously thinking of putting him on the bottle- he does feed well of the breast but is still like every 2 hrs, im so tired,
he has taken the odd bottle of formula well when hubby has stayed up so i can get to sleep about once a week.
i have tried expressing the milk so i know how much he is feeding and the amount isnt a problem so im thinking basically because i dont eat well at all ( i know this and do take the vitamins) that maybe he isnt getting enough "good" milk hence the reason why he is still feeding so often. when he has formula he sleeps longer.

am i right in thinking this or just seriously lacking sleep which has affected my brain lol

hope everone is keeping well.x

Hi Mirror i'm in exactly the same position with Finn! He's nearly 10 weeks and feeding constantly (anywhere from every 45 mins to 2 hours ) I asked the HV at clinic last week for some advice on getting him onto a bottle and she glared at me and told me to just put up with it needless to say I left in tears because nearly 3 months with next to no sleep is affecting me really badly - GP wants me on anti-depressants, but I'm sure all I need is some sleep!

If anyone has any advice I'd be really grateful

Gillyx

Winnie, you have breast fed for 10 weeks almost, if you feel you need to get baby onto a bottle for your own sanity, DO IT.

You've done the best for your boy and noone can say otherwise, any time spent breast feeding is better than none Please don't get yourself wound up about it, and do not let the HV bully you. I hope you feel better soon xx

Winnie_in_Pooh

Thanks Gilly, have been beating myself up for even thinking it but you are right. It doesn't help that Finn wont easily take a bottle of expressed milk, nevermind formula! I keep trying but yesterday he screamed blue murder for nearly 2 hours and only took 1oz and spat most of that out!

Has anyone got any advice for getting him to take a bottle or is it just a case of perseverance?