Babies Born April 2008 #3

[Clueless]

Hi everyone, I have been away for weeks!!
I hear you girls about the severe lack of daytime sleep. I dont mind during the morning, but by the evening I am really cranky and short tempered to my baby, which makes me feel terrible but its just so draining.
Can I ask you all if you are settling awake in the cot with a dummy or without?
I put her in the cot awake and can sometimes rock her to sleep but she ALWAYS wakes up about 10 mins later. If she falls asleep in my arms and I put her down then, she generally sleeps for about 3 hours. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong??
I am one who had a c-section and have a baby who does not sleep at all during the day! However she was really active in the womb which seems to have continued....

[Leyla]

Hi ladies,

I'm going to attempt to do some personals while Jack is sleeping - sorry it has taken so long! Warning - one handed typing!

Babywrangler - I'm so glad that things have started to settle for BJ, what a relief to have your happy baby back. Hope that things continue to improve. It's all so much trial and error to get thing right.

Grubi/Fire - Hope that you C-section pain starts to diminish. Must be so tough carrying your bubs with the added strength issues from abdominal surgery. I find it hard enough carrying Jack around even after a vg delivery!

Shoegal - Sounds to me like Baxter is doing pretty well. Some babies just move at their own pace. Jack is a little on the small side too, but he is happy and that is the main thing. You know that Jack and Baxter will probably end up being 6 foot 6 footy players!

Sharon - I'm so glad that you got some 'you' time. God knows we all deserve some of that!

mgm - I'm with you on the nap time thing. I keep trying to get things done while he naps, but if I'm not there with him he keeps waking up! And it hurts my back too much to try and do too much with him sleeping in a sling. I tend to keep compensating for my movement to prevent him waking - which stuffs my back! So basically he only gets a decent nap if I'm prepared to hang out on the couch for a few hours! (sound good in theory... must gets a bit old)

Bellelass - POO to your GP! They have no idea obviously! you are doing fabulously, dont let anyone knock your confidence. NOBODY knows you baby as well as you do...

Sarah - I have a jungle theme in Jacks room, but thats just because I'm a huge animal lover!

Jack and I are doing well, but I've had a bit of a sad week. A close friend has lost her baby (18 weeks pg) and is absolutely devistated, I feel so bad for her. I know quite a few of you from the TTCAML group so I know you know what she is going through. I also got a belated baby gift of lullabies and one of them just made me ball my eyes out! It really voiced how special this gift we have been given is. I know its a bit soppy, but here are the words...

I will carry you in my arms
let you see the world
of bright new mornings filled with wonder
songs of mocking birds
i will carry you in my arms
cradle you to sleep
o little lamb in need of shelter
i will watch and keep
so lift your hands up to the sunlight
breathe in every breath
and let god fill you with his peace
and gentle tenderness
and i will cherish every moment
what a gift so true
until you're walking on your own
i will carry you


I dont know about you guys, but with all the stress of having new babies, it's easy to forget how quickly this phase passes and what a blessing these little people are! My friends loss just brought back my own loss, and reminded me of how luck i now am. Sleep deprivation and all!

ok, thats enough sentiment for today!

[alittlegrubi]

BW re ebay and seller taking the risk... the risk is that the buyer can take their money back out of the paypal account if the seller can not prove delivery, which could go for local pickup too. If that happens when the goods were received, the seller has no way of warning anyone via feedback anymore. From the seller's perspective it is not excessive post, it is Paypal's required level of postage service - i.e. track and trace to cover themselves against claims of non-delivery. It is all good for buying if they don't change their posting habits.

Clueless I don't know that you are doing anything wrong, at the new parents group they showed a DVD about how babies self settle, do you stay with her until she is calm? They also said that we tend to go in too quickly at the first cry - listen for how long the cry/pause is if the pauses get longer they are self settling - I can't tell and get upset with the crying too soon to do it - lack of sleep I'd say.
I am really bad - I tend to do what works, like letting her fall asleep on the boob. Greer sleeps during the day, just not without being held most of the time, most of her daytime sleep is in the carrier. Great at night, just not so during the day.

Fire Have you tried putting him down where you co-sleep at night? Sometimes if I lay down with Greer she will go to sleep on the bed during the day for an hour or two when all else has failed.

[kirsty_lee]

Well, Up until today i've had a GREAT day time sleeper! Only wakes every 3-4 hours for a feed and usually has about an hour or two a day of playtime where she's happy and awake. TOday was an absolute nightmare! no more than 15 minutes of sleep all day and crying! oh dear god the crying. I swear i just wanted to run away. I've put it down to bad wind pain, so i went and got some drops and she seems to be alot happier now. I had so much bloody housework to do today it's not funny! BUt i honestly didnt have one moments peace! I couldnt even have a shower until dp got home from work cause she was screaming all day. Hope all you other girls are doing well and had a much better day that what I did today.

[BabyWrangler]

Just thought I'd jump back in and re-iterate that I think my boy is back.
Went out after he slept til 11:30 this morning and had a bottle (no zantac!), and a play on the floor for about half an hour, was quiet til Chiro at 2pm.
Had his adjustment, then when we got home went to bed was asleep by 3:45, and has JUST woken up (mind you he's starving, DH is feeding him as we speak!) Can't wait to see how he goes overnight!

[Beatrix]

hey all

just a flying visit to ask how do you find a chiroprater for a baby??? and how well do they work. Mj seems very cranky and cloicy and am willing to try anything atm

[alittlegrubi]

Beatrix,
I went to an osteopath through the local natural medicine centre.

[BabyWrangler]

Hi Beatrix,
I took BJ to my chiropractor.
He does it through surrogate testing.
Bj sat on me with his spine to my tummy and as with testing me, chiro uses one of my large muscles (in this case my arm), and tests points on BJ, when he gets to the problem area on BJ my arm goes weak as it would if I had the problem area....its weird, I don't fully understand how it works, but given that my son slept 4 hours, had 180ml of formula, a little poo, slept for 30 minutes, had another 60ml of formula and has settled himself for the 3rd sleep in a row...I don't care how it worked, just that it DID!!

Beatrix where in Oz are you? I have a chiro that I can recommend in Melbourne, I'd travel from just about anywhere to see him!

[Sharon19270]

BabyWrangler do you need a referal for a chiropractor? Also, approximately how much would it cost?
kirsty_lee I hear what you are saying honey
Leyla that is very sad for your friend to have lost her baby, it sure does bring back some sad memories of my little angel, and I do feel blessed.
Clueless I was getting Oliver to settle himself in his bassinette all by himself, I would put him in while he was sleepy, but not asleep, and only sometimes would he have the dummy and he would send himself straight off to sleep for between 1.5 to 3 hours, but for some reason it has all gone pear shaped.

I have had an awful day today, that ended with me in tears and shouting at my sweet baby to shut up while he was in his cot? I then walked out of the room and I honestly hated myself for getting cranky at him, and I then proceeded to hit myself in the head. I then cried even more but went in and lovingly cuddled my boy. He had had at the most 1.5 hours sleep, when he used to have 1.5-3 hours between feeds and he was just so grizzly and grumpy and didn't want to be put down for any length of time, how can a baby who has been self settling since birth suddenly start acting this way, it is driving me insane, and this has been getting progressively worse over the last 4 days or so.

[Beatrix]

I am in adelaide!!

i used to use a chiro for my headaches but he doesnt do babies

[BabyWrangler]

Hi Sharon,
My Chiro is I think $45 a visit, but we have private health cover and we get about $18 of that off so we pay about $27.
No referral needed.
My Chiro saw Ben when he was 9 days old also, because birth (and particularly headbutting mummy's pelvis for 36 hours) can put their necks and backs out.

[shellbell]

Hi ladies, I finally have the internet at home so will be able to join in!! Yay!! I am quite excited.

Sharon You don't need a referral to a Chairo - I took Luke to DH's at 3 weeks. He adjusted one vertabrae and Luke has been burping like a champion ever since. It cost $50 and I got $25 back from our health fund. So sorry to hear that Ollie is tryinig your patience. At my mother's group they gave us a handout that set out when to expect unsettled periods (crying more, eating more, wanting more cuddles). There is one at 3 weeks, one at 8 -9 weeks. I have found that Luke is more unsettled during those times and he usually goes back to sleeping really well and being the happy little fella that he is.

Clueless I tend to get Luke to almost asleep in my arms and then put him in his cradle. He then usually goes to sleep on his own. Having said that if I put him to sleep in my arms and then put him down he usually wakes up and I rock him a little and he puts himself to sleep. i have found that the self settling is becoming harder as he is more alert and interested so I seem to spend more time rocking him. I try to avoid the dummy at night, but will use it during the day. My little piggy really likes sucking on stuff!

As for me - things are pretty good. Luke generally sleeps well, last night was my first night feed in about 10 days and came as a big shock to the system. Having said that he is still asleep now and it may be that the night/early morning feed works better when I go back to work. Will have to wait and see.

Looking forward to getting to know everyone!

[Beatrix]

Yay!!! i have got a appointment today with a chiro at 11:30. had to borrow the money cause payday is tomorror but she goes on holidays tomorrow.

please let this help her

[Danielle]

hey everyone!

havnt got much time to read through all of the posts but can anyone help me at all? I have heard some mothers who have given up breastfeeding have been able to start again after a month or so... is this true and if it is how? We gave up breastfeeding for good at 3 weeks, I am thinking I want to give it another try and I still have some milk leaking every now and then.. is it possble to bring in good milk flow after that ammount of time?

Update on me: I am doing ok considering me, my 3 y.o and bubs all have this awful flu! sore throat, aching muscles head feels like its goin to explode! And DD was following me around before I asked her too so she would stay away from Ryley for a bit until I got his bottle sorted cause I dont trust her alone with him... turned my back on her - only to put his botle in the microwave... turned around and she was gone ran into the lounge room theres Ryley screaming on the tiles out of his rocker!!!! Oh my god!!!! It doesnt matter how many times I tell her or how many times I punish her it doesnt bother her! she still does the same naughty things! I need 4 arms to be able to keep an eye on both of them and do things that have to be done at the same time! She is just so full of energy all of the time and doesnt stop it takes 1 second and shes out of one room in another tearing things apart! Shes like a mini tornado! And with ryley crying for a feed as well and trying to get him sorted out oh my its hard to keep an eye on her when she moves so bloody fast! Ryley is ok, but hes booked into the doctors for tomorrow to be checked and i will keep a close eye on him all day now. argh! Im so mad with her!

anyhows hope we are all doing well!

[BabyWrangler]

Beatrix how did you go at the Chiro?!

[kirsty_lee]

Well, After the second day of Ava being totally unsettled and sooky and not sleeping for more than 15 minutes I think i've figured out what it was. The formula i've had her on was the Heinz Nuture Gold and it's based on cows milk so Im thinking it's something to do with that. She hasn't pooed at all today so I think she's consitpated therefore upset/crying/screaming. So instead of having another day of practically pulling my hair out i've decided to just ditch the tin i've got and went and bought s26 gold as i've heard good things so hopefully she'll feel a bit better after that and some infants friend. Hope we are all well. Also, what do you take babies to chiro's for?

[Beatrix]

Chiro went well

She has two adjustment type things (cant remember what they called it)
One in the left side of her neck and the oter in her upper back. The neck one oculd possibly explain why she is so fussy with one boob and not the other. And the upper back one the lady said caould be causing the wind problems therefor the colic problems.

She didnt like havig the adjustments down but afterwards was so relaxed was a real dead weight even though seh was awake. does that make any sense.

Still a bit grizzly this afternoon but after a nice bath tonight has self settled off for a sleep, will wake he shortly to feed her then see how she goes tonight.

Have still got a DR appouintment tomorrow to rule out reflux as she is a very chucky bby, while she does scream after she has chucked she will not sleep without a pillow (bad i know but i do what i have to do to get her to sleep) and will scream if layed down after a feed

If the Chiro doesnt work will consider a osteopath

[alittlegrubi]

Beatrix Osteopath does much the same as a chiro.
Kirsty-lee Formula fed babies can go days without poos and are more "constipated" than BF babies. You might be ditching the formula too quickly only to find she is the same with S26. She could just need more intensity with bringing up the burps after feeding. In answer to your question, Mostly Chiros help adjust the babies backs that can get out of alignment during the birthing process, the theory being that the misalignment causes reflux, colic etc.
Danielle can't answer BF question - but you could always give it a go and see if it works for you. Understand your frustrations with 3yr old. I am so lucky DS has not done anything bad to DD.