Holy Moly...........tired Mumma!

[Willow]

Oh Ange...how I feel your pain!!

Our nights haven't been toooo bad (not as good as usual though) this week but last week SHEESH! Days this week have been a nightmare, he's averaging about 1.5 hours sleep a day, depsite me trying and trying to get him to go down.

I also gave in to temptation and tried CC for a night or so (and yeah, I feel pretty crap about it now) - it didn't work for us either. If anything, things are worse now than they were before, so it doesn't always work out.

I've just taken all three of us to the GP, ABs for me, DD seems OK so just sticking with the Brauer's Cold and Flu Relief for her but after checking his gums, GP reckons L is teething again....ahhhhhh, that kinda explains it then I was starting to suspect it because this is exactly what he did when he cut his first two teeth - day sleeps went to pot.

I must have been very lucky with DD, I remember weeks of bad nights when she cut her first teeth but then she cruised through it after that. DS seems to suffer a bit more.

PS I've got the Hylands tabs too, going to try them tonight.

[Erin_25]

Have you tried a teething gel? That can take the pounding away...I would say it is just teeth. In my experience there is always a reason for constant waking away from the norm & in this house it's mostly been teeth. And yes I didn't notice the first 4 teeth but the rest really made their mark...Charlie gets the worst cold when he teeth's & it's not much chop at all. I've been looking on the bright side...he's just over 1 and only has one more to go!!!
Teething gel, some panadol or nurofen & a feed is what's done it in this house...that gets us a couple hours between wake ups LOL....I hope it gets better for you soon.
The good thing is with Charlie, once the tooth is through he's back to norm sleep again like nothing happened. I used to stress I'd given too many night cuddles that he'd wake for them all the time - but not so.
The other thing...just a thought - if not teeth could bubs be cold?? We had a few wakings before we realised we needed the heater to take the chill off.

[Willow]

Charlie gets the worst cold when he teeth's

Funny that, DS has one too...

[Olive]

awwww ange hope tonight is better

[sunshine_sieben]

Lulu, I love the holy molars!

Ange, no, my user name is not pronounced Sabine. It is actually the German word for the number 7 (my favourite number).

Erin has a very good point. Your DD could be either too hot, too cold or too sweaty. I know it's hard figuring out the right stuff to put on them for the night...

Sasa (by the way, my name is pronounced Sasha)

[Janie]

It's unlikely she's too hot or sweaty ATM, hey Ange

[~Belinda~]

Ange, I think my DD is teething, her top two are coming through I am sure of it. Have posted numerous things on here and in teething section, want to know what's going on with my DD! She will toss and turn all night and it's driving me insane. I have tried Nurofen as Brauers Teething Relief was not working...but the Nurofen did nothing last night. Have no idea what to do and hope it gets better soon

Good luck with your little one and hope you get some sleep soon

[Junglemum]

Thanks for all the replies lovely ladies.

Janie- I am scared of her good sleeping spiraling out of control too. Maybe i need to have a coffee with you and get some tips! Will try those teething tablets, Gracie has mentioned them before, but i keep forgetting. And whadda-ya mean? Is it cold here???

Willow- you poor thing, here i am whinging, and all i have is one baby who wont sleep. Not two as well as you being sick! Hope things are looking up round your parts.

Erin- i am a bit nervous about teething gel. MCHN recommended it only as a last resort. The reason being, apparently it can numb the back of the throat and effect the gagging reflux. With all the snot from her cold and a little cough, i am reluctent to use it. I would hate for her to choke on snot!

She might be cold, we live on a freezing part of Vic, we only have a wood fire as a heater. But she has a singlet, a long sleeve top, a wondersuit then a warm wool sleeping bag. If she feels cold i put a blanket on top. She's never sweaty and hot, sometimes her hands feel cold, but the back of her neck is warm........ it's so hard to know!

Room temp is 13-16 degrees. What would you guys dress your baby in that temp?

Evening star- i know what you mean about the tossing and turing, she seems so restless. That's what makes me think she is in a bit of pain...... Hope your DD is sleeping better......

Thankks for the cyber Jols.


Last night was a little better, we had two 3 hr stretches. But woke every 45 min from 7pm until 12am. Hopefully tonight will be better. *fingers crossed*

[Olive]

ange on the temp thing, sophies room is around 16 degrees, our heater turns on if it gets below that, she wear a singlet then long sleeved spencer and either flanny pjs or wondersuit them a blanket sleeper and blankets!
i think whats she's wearing is fine especially with the wool sleeping bag!

[sunshine_sieben]

It certainly has been bloody freezing, even here in Queensland. Last night it got down to 8 degrees. It's not much warmer inside due to laughable building and windows so flimsy that my curtains move on a windy day, even when all windows are closed (sorry, I grew up in Europe and for me this is just ridiculous). DD is wearing a singlet suit, Flannelette PJ or Growsuit and a fleecy sleeping bag with sleeves (although I am in the process of making a woollen one as I find the fleece gets sweaty, even when she's not too warm, it just doesn't breath). On cold nights like last night I throw a blanket over her, too.
It's fine for her hands to be cool as long as her torso feels warm (not hot). I tend to feel the back of her neck, too. Sounds like she's wearing the right stuff. Wool is meant to be better at regulating body temp anyway and reducing the incidence of too hot/too cold.

Sasa

[Janie]

Ange, hope you're sleeping soundly as I type! Would love to have a coffee sometime....let me know when you're heading to Chirnside or somesuch, and you can pop in here too, or I can meet you up there (I'm only 5 minutes away). Not that I have any sleep tips (I wish *sigh*) but it would be nice to catch up We can talk food and let the ferals conspire against us in baby lanuage

[zabel]

Hi, ha ha, there's much mirth in my Mum's group about Robin Barker's suggestion in her book Baby Love that teething pains are a bit of a myth.

We are having similar night-waking problems with DD, 8 months. it's very hard when you're at the end of your tether. this is what SEEMS to be working for me, or at least, it's the path that I have started to follow and will keep following. but it aint for everyone.

I don't want to do controlled crying.

However, I am trying to encourage her to sleep longer than 2 hours at a time overnight. If i cd get it to 4 hours i'd be happy.

So her cot is in my room (sorry DH! But between his snoring and her waking, I'd get no sleep if I were with the both of them) ) I stay with her and pat either her bottom (if she lets me) or the cot mattress beside her, to let her know that I am there, though I'm not giving her the boob if I know she's had a feed (sometimes she'll wake up half an hour after the last feed).

I tried co-sleeping with her for a while. this was great in the first 3 months of her life, it felt right in my gut. But this time round, at 7-8 months, it just made her increase the frequency of feeds and made me even more sleep deprived. i know it works for many mums, but it's no longer right for me.

I am seeing a psychotherapist for PND. she suggested that by comforting her in other ways but not giving her the boob when she has recently been fed, but importantly, BEING there, it's widening her world. I'm not sure what that means except maybe that babies do have a surprisingly strong capacity for learning. It's hard when she'll cry for an hour or 40 minutes. I've gone back a few times after this and thought, no, this can't be right. But I know she doesn't need a feed every 2 hours EVERY night (if she's sick, that's different). and while i was prepared to do this in the newborn phase, I don't think it's a good idea for my sanity now.

I've also been advised that food is extremely important in sleep/waking, so we try to fill her tummy with a meal as soon as poss before bed, followed by a BF.

We rang my husband's aunt who is a pediatrician o/s, and she was full of all sorts of advice that just sounded wrong - make the last feed around 7pm a formula feed (no way! that's our special time!), and space feeds - whether BF, formula or solids - four hours apart. i thoguht this was lunacy, apart from jeopardising my milk supply.

anyway, the results of weaning her off boobie for that 1,30am feed that we want to cut out, have been dramatic at times and others, disappointing.

But I guess Rome wasn't built in a day, and we've only just started. last night she settled herself to sleep after a time playing in her cot, as we sat down to dinner. we were in shock because this is unprecedented. it made me think that maybe she's learning that going to sleep is something she can do for herself (we weren't deliberately leaving her alone to get that outcome - i was just hungry and knew she was reasonably happy playing on her own for a while).

but then tonight has been a nightmare prob because we had a huge day in town - lots and lots of stimulation. we'll see how it goes.

I am dying to read Elizabeth Pantley. I really enjoyed Pinky McKay when my bub was a newborn, but now I think her advice is a bit vague for older bubs ... their needs are quite different from a newborn's and I really wish her book would break down her recommendations by stages of infancy.

I have a question. When she's clearly tired and arching her back after I've put her down, she'll often jam herself right up against the short side of the cot. should I just let her settle where she settles, or should I move her into a more comfortable position?

[fionas]

Just to answer your last question about leaving her in whatever position she puts herself in ... my DD does exactly the same. She will jam her head up against the short side or another favourite position is to lie horizontal in the cot with her head jammed against the long side LOL. Or she will fall asleep with her legs out of the bars. Or with her head on the mattress and her knees up against her body with her bum in the air. I leave her to it. I think it's because she slept in a bassinette until she's 6 months old so she actually likes feeling a bit hemmed in.

Even when we put her in bed with us she will sleep horizontally and push us both to the side of the bed with her head against my back and her foot in DP's face. Or with her back jammed up against the bedhead.

[Janie]

I've been told that as long as it looks safe, leave them in whatever possie they make for themselves. It's obviously where they're comfortable, even if it doesn't look that way. Like we go to bed and toss and turn a bit to get comfortable, babies do the same thing.

HTHs

[Junglemum]

I leave her where she lies too.

Sorry been MIA! Had a funeral. Not much on-line time.

So..... next thursday, did we say food court ladies? 11am