MSE Parent Club

[Deleted User]

Thanks for those links, i'll have a look at those in a moment. Need to get another drink first. Jack has gone to his grandparents for a bit as I have felt so exhausted today, its not even a eye/head tiredness its been a whole body, my legs don't want to work and I really can't do anything else tiredness. Which is surprising as I can usually push myself quite far.

Yes CG I aim for him to be in bed by 7pm due to DH not being home until 8-9pm. That gives me a few hours to get dinner, packed lunch, bottles etc and catch up on accounts, other stuff (you know the evening flies by) before I go to bed approx 10pm. I've thought about putting Jack to bed at 8pm, but because he's been going to be at 7pm-7.30 latest he is such a tired bunny and I am knackered. Some nights I long for 7pm just to relax my mummy antenae for a bit.

I realise we are getting from 7.30-8pm till 5am -6am approx out of him but right now my body needs more sleep. I am trying to nap when I can at least once a week, not always practical, and try to be in bed 10pm, asleep by half past, but I am waking at 5am now and CANNOT get back, probably anticipating Jack waking, I've got myself into a cycle.

So I'm getting 6.5 hours sleep a night continuously and although that sounds a lot from what we are all used to, this baby makes me want more. Jack is so active always has been, that its tiring looking after him. Its a good thing of course but not great when heavily pregnant.

Purple sorry to hear about your DH, mine does sound a little better I have to say. He did ring me earlier and asked me what's up, he could sense something and so I told him. He apologised and told me to rest and do the bare minimum today and tomorrow I will get my lie in.

We are not getting any couple time, its work and jobs and due to Jack waking early at the moment, DH commented that we are not even getting our morning cuddle like we used to. My parents have offered to have Jack for a night in a few weeks, providing Cedar rapids hasn't happened by then, so we can just cuddle up on the sofa, watch a film and sleep till we wake up. I'm looking forward to that I can tell you. It will be a treat before the next one comes along.

Its strange isn't it, the sofa, film, lay in till 8or 9am being classed as a treat, we used to do it all the time pre-babies and now its a treat!

Jack has got better with his sleep for which I am grateful but I would love that extra hour out of him, to wake at 6.30-7am. He's not especially hungry although his nappy is very wet, but doesn't seem too bothered by it. He drinks his milk when given it first thing, but isn't looking for it to happen.

Michelle, like you i've said to DH when the new baby arrives and I'm breast feeding, I'll sort her out in the night and he'll have to do Jack, I can't do both, espcially at the same time, as I am sure one will wake the other. Until at least Jack gets used to it.

Becles, I like the bath before bed thing and gradually moving it back, but didnt' that wake up your other children. Jack is light sleeper as I think i've mentioned before, he doesn't like to miss anything. He won't even let himself sleep in the buggy and rarely the car. The only place I can get him to sleep is his cot. I had to abandon day naps downstairs when he could sit up and subseqently move about, as there was no chance of sleep, he fights and fights it. In his cot he has to eventuallyl lie down and go to sleep as he physically cannot race around the lounge and play with his toys. I've tried cuddles on my lap with his blanket and dummy, that lasts for a few mins until he wriggling and fighting me to get away. BOYS!!!!

I'll check out those links now.

Thanks everyone.

[Deleted User]

Purple, meant to say Jack a while back discovered the flip panel on the front of the TV and would often change the settings, so DH sellotaped it down. He hasn't found the on/off switch yet, but probably because we have put our Ikea foot stool that belongs to the poang chair in front of the TV. Its acting like a barrier, the high side faces out, as he can now climb up the lower end.

My parents recently bought a new tv and their off switch is situated on top of the TV, well out of the way of little fingers, Jack couldn't reach that until he is actually too old to care about on/off switches.

HTH.

Snaggles

Bailey, please don't beat yourself up about not being able to get Jack to sleep. Natasha is such an easy baby to get to sleep (this IS going somewhere, it's not just a gloat to make you feel worse, I promise ), I swear even if we were to feed her neat caffeine before bed she would still sleep through.

With Ryan however, we did everything by the book, he had a proper bedtime routine, lovely warm baths, milk and cuddles, low lighting, low noise levels, and he would NOT sleep, not matter what we did. Even now (he's 7), we put him to bed at 7.45pm and he is still awake at 10pm.

Same parents, same techniques used, two completely different results.

You're not doing anything wrong hun, some children are just more difficult to get to sleep than others. Please don't blame yourself.

You are getting to the tiring stage of your pregnancy now, and you are running on empty. Make sure your hubby does do some of the early mornings - I know he's working hard but so are you, and you are NOT superhuman. Find a time when you are both calm and tell him so.

Dormouse

I'll try to type quickly before one of my two start whingeing :rolleyes:

Hopeless Cook, congrats and welcome

Bailey - I remember the stage when they get up at stupid time, I think a lot of toddlers go through that stage at around 1 (the age when they get incrasingly mobile so don't want to be still even when they're tired :rolleyes: ).

My DS1 usually slept 7-7 as a toddler, but there was a phase when he was up just before 6am :eek: (I remember this well as I couldn't even switch the telly on for him as CBeebies doesn't start until 6! ). What I found was... there's pretty much nothing we could do about it. :rolleyes: A lot of my friends with toddlers of the same age went through the same - I remember one mum whose little girl was up at 5am, so the mum got up with her and did the ironing!!! :eek: (Way too organised, LOL - all I can do at that time is switch the kettle on! :rotfl: )

So what I am saying is hopefully this is just a phase and he'll grow out of it.

My DH is usually quite good at getting up at weekends and takes DS1 downstairs while I sort out DS2. In the evenings, we divide the kids between us as well: DH baths them both, then I feed and put DS2 to bed, and DH does DS1 (well not feed , read stories, do teeth etc). It works for us, having clear 'tasks' to do for each of us.

[Deleted User]

Snaggles wrote: »

Bailey, please don't beat yourself up about not being able to get Jack to sleep. Natasha is such an easy baby to get to sleep (this IS going somewhere, it's not just a gloat to make you feel worse, I promise ), I swear even if we were to feed her neat caffeine before bed she would still sleep through.

That made me laugh, thanks a lot. I am hoping for a baby who is a better sleeper this time around, I've decided we deserve an easier sleeper and feeder. Maybe being a girl it might happen? Maybe........LOL

Purple I've read those links really helpful thanks, one I had seen before but I like the idea of trying to put him down earlier. I might aim for 6.45pm for a week and see what happens. He is still tired after his naps, he rubs his eye and yawns, so I know he needs more.

Another thing I've thought of is a baby duvet. Now he's 12 months he is old enough, but I wondered if its worth waiting a few more months.

Grobag - when he's standing up in the cot he is still warmish he can't kick it off, its what he is used too.

Duvet - would keep his arms and shoulders warmer and hands too, I often wonder if this is what wakes him at 5am, his little hands are so cold. But would he kick it off in the night, slide underneath, be able to pull it over himself to settle back down. If we are having a bad night, he's up and down in the cot like a yo-yo and would certainly get cold.

I don't know, what ages did you progress from grobags to duvets? My neighbour said her daughter had one from 14 months and loves it but she is 2 and a bit now.

[Deleted User]

Dormouse, thank you. Jack has been like this since our holiday early Sept. At the beginning of November we started controlled crying and he did sleep around until 6.30-7am which was fantastic, then that slipped about a week or so later and for the last 2 or 3 weeks (feels like longer) its rediculous hour as you say. He is walking independantly now and I stupidly thought using the extra energy for that would tire him out..........Wrong!

We've just got to hang in there and find time for Mummy and Daddy again.

Hopefully moving him into his new room tomorrow will give him something to think about (well it can't get any worse). Watch this space.......

Right I really must get off the laptop and start doing something, shower and then transferring Jack's clothes to his new room.

Thanks for listening guys, I do feel better now.

heather38

oh honey, i'll send you some sleep dust, kennedy went from 7pm last night to 10AM this morning, lazy mare.
saying that she only sleeps about 30 minutes in the day and is knackered by bedtime. she normally goes 7pm-8am.
she still has a grow bag (she's 13 months) i'm still scared to use blankets! don't know why it's daft really.
she's teething atm, she has 3 teeth coming together, not really bothering her just yet but as one is a back tooth i'm really dreading it cutting through, i can only just see it at the moment under the gum.

purplepatch

Lol, Olivia, aged 4, still can't cope with a bloody duvet!!

She went from grobag to duvet at about 2 and a half, cotbed sized. It never stayed on her, always she kicked it off and ended up freezing. Just recently I switched her to a single duvet, still on her toddler bed though, and we've had better results as it is so big for the bed that it is difficult for her to 'lose'. Plus I tuck it in around the bottom of the bed which helps.

Once Izzy outgrows the cot, she will inherit the toddler bed and Olivia will get a proper single. That will be interesting as she falls out of her toddler bed all the time, gawd knows what she will be like in a full sized bed :rolleyes: Perhaps I'll have to get her a double duvet then, so she manages to stay under it

SusanCarter

Sorry to hear about all the illness/lack of sleep going round. We're tired at the moment too due to OH's different working times and Alice not sleeping properly. Normally he gets home around 5.30, baths Alice then I feed her and she's in bed around 7. I express @9 and am in bed by 9.30 and OH wakes Alice up for a feed at ten and then gets to bed by 10.45 (he doesn't need as much sleep as me so he's always tended to go to bed later than me anyway). Now he's going out at 4 so I have to do bath (which is quite nice but I prefer the break while he does it) and then I have to stay up to do the 10pm feed and he gets in at 10.30 so we're both going to bed at 11. To top it off, Alice keeps waking up and screaming her head off with floods of real tears either needing the toilet or with a wet nappy. Some days she'll settle back down but others I've had to feed her at 9 (and then get her up at 10.30 again cos she's screaming for the toilet) as she just won't settle back down. If she was crying for no apparent reason I'd think it was just the change of routine but she is genuinely needing the toilet whereas normally she's dry when OH gets her up. :eek: :eek:

And she decided this afternoon that a good time to start crawling was head first off our bed:eek:

[Deleted User]

Oh Susan, that sounds like hard work for you too. I hope Alice is ok, from what i've heard they do tend to bounce well, i know of plenty of babies who's investigations from a bed have resulted in shock rather than anything else.

I;m sorry I don't konw what to suggest as I know you don't use nappies much with her and i don't know much about the methods you use.

Its interesting that it works though.

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