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Oh Shona you poor pet! A has come good but I can so sympathise with you!
Going to make a HUGE assumption so tell me to shut up and out me back in place if you feel I am a twat! To me it sounds as though DH is a tad resentful about going back to work! To have him be so supportive to this point than turn on you at what seems like the time you need his support more than ever seems a wee bit coincidental!
got to run - funeral to go to at 10 poo! Continue to vent, I may not reply but always read! Sending super sleepy vibes Elliot's way!
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Tanya: There is probably some element of that I suppose, I know that he is particularly unhappy about having to sleep in the spare room. It is really not like us as a couple to not be in agreement on parenting. Sorry about you having to attend a funeral, that sucks.
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huge hugs shona!! i was blessed that although william didnt sleep during the day and screamed for a few hours (pre diet) he then slept well at night. Also now, even though he has short sleeps during the day he sleeps thru sleep cycles fine at night...You also have my symathy on the unsupportive husband...but I do hope that maybe Matt is just frustrated and ready to try something different. Because what you have done isn't working and hes just at a point that he is really frustrated...i'm sure it's nothing against you at all. hang in there love xx
How are you going on the diet?
Is Elliot actually hungry do you think? Like are his crys hunger cries/tongue poking out etc (feeding cues)?? do you do a dummy? Prehaps he just likes to suck? William will wake up during the night for his dummy sometimes but then usually settles back pretty quick once its in his mouth....i also gave up changing his nappy at night (unless it was pooey); and that made him sleep a bit better cuz i wasn't waking him right up.
Are you swaddling still? Maybe his startle reflex is waking him up?
I doubt there is a problem with your milk supply and stick to your guns about solids......cuz if he has been growing fine and putting on weight fine up until now then clearly your milk isn't the problem! ;)
xxx
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Hey everyone
Just back from a magic week away in the far NW of Tasmania with DH and Louis. It rained the whole time which was great! We stayed inside in front of the fire playing with Louis, reading books, and talking like we hadn't in months! DH also did basically all of the settles with L too, so I feel like I have also had a great holiday. For your mainlanders - we also got trapped in a snowstorm driving home! Imagine!!!
SL - I feel like we are just coming out of the horrible sleep regression phase. L went from sleeping through to waking about 4/5 times per night and super cranky during the day. My experience may help. Ignore it if you want.
First, we parted with the dummy. He was waking for it and totally addicted to it (as was I). We decided that if we went through with getting rid of it now while he was feral anyway - then at least it would all be over with. Better than trying to blackmail a 3 year old. He was a little more unsettled for about a week I would say. And when I say unsettled - he would cry before he went to sleep. Now he cries only about half of his settles. Others he goes down eyes wide open and sometimes smiling. We do the 3 minute test. Leave him for 3, then go in a comfort etc. I guess it might be controlled crying by some. But he isn't crying, just grizzling. We actually find being around him when he falls to sleep stirs him up more. Two weeks later, his day sleeps are longer and he settles far more gently than with the dummy.
Second, I took fenugreek tea. It was amazing. My milk supply noticeably increased within 24 hours. I also made sure he was very hungry for his evening settle so he had a HUGE feed. This often meant a slightly grizzly last 30 minutes of the day. Again, defo not crying - just grizzling. He was easily distracted by a walk and during his bath. The brew I had tasted DISGUSTING. It was made by a nautropath and I had to soak a mix of fenugreek and fennel for an hour on simmer and then drink a litre of it through the day. It tasted mildly better with honey. Now I didn't feel like my supply had dropped much. But after 2 weeks I was OVER feeding every hour in the day to get my supply up for his growing needs.
And finally, on the matter of DHs. Mine was also keen, after seeing me exhausted and V glum, to put L on a top up feed (so he could do it). He also was v keen on getting rid of the dummy - I was basically scared to. In the end, luckily the fenugreek solved the feeding problem, and we agreed the dummy would go if he did all the settles for the 3 days following (so we started on a Friday night). By Saturday arvo I was back to settling Louis as it was far less painful than we both thought it would be.
So now L is still not sleeping as well as he was, but he is back to 3 hourly day feeds, 3 sleeps of about 1-1.5 hours, and two feeds during the night - 1 and 5am. I think the tea giving my supply a nudge was the tipping point. Getting rid of the dummy is definitely helping his settles and extending his daytime sleeps. As I type this, he has been asleep for about 90 minutes.
But you know. Who knows. It may have all happened anyway. As they say, everything is just a phase.....;)
Hugs to you anyway. It sucks. But for us it was about 4 weeks long and it does settle!
xxxx
Oh. PS. The babylove woman recommended that you do all changes to routine or sleep patterns (like kicking the plastic fantastic) for the evening settle rather than day settles. As during the evening you know that sleep will eventually win. Whereas in the day they have the energy to keep going for hours! It seemed to be the case for us.
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Maranui we have been sleeping with the AC on up our end of Aus and there you are getting caught up in snowstorms WOW! I take Fenugreek capsules when I feel like the milkbar is lacking and swear by them, that and super yummy lac cookies mmm! I asume the tea would be a lot more concentrated?! My iridologist/natropath passed away this week so now we have to drive to cairns for our herbal fix - I did wonder if she saw it coming when she looked in her own eyes?! Funny you've gotten rid of L's dummy and I am trying to grey A to take one he is a shocking thumb sucker and after much humming and harring made a choice to give him one but he is not interested in it *sigh* glad he doesn't need it to sleep which brings me to poor Shona...
Any improvement yet? A has gone from doing what Elliot has been to to two days of 4 hour sleep plus an additional two single sleep cycles! Guessing this wonder week (read about them online, do you have the book would you reccommend its?) is over - thank Christ! Didn't change anything he just slept and slept and slept, I cheched on him at least a dozen times. How is hubby doing after his first week of work? Guess we are lucky that when Wayne is home we don't have to worry bout him losing sleep and tackling work tired!
Happy Anniversary Kirsty - date night will be awesome I am sure! I 2nd the comment on Facebook bout being lucky that Will takes ebm in a bottle! A won't go there - been using my frozen stash to make mango smoothies for Coop because I don't want it to go to waste!
Both boys are sleeping - coop crashed on the lounge room floor just as I was playing up dinner so goodness knows what lies ahead tonight! Going to have a bath all on my own = bliss!
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Hey ladies seems we are back to thead 1...
Very much over packing - Archer is having his first non driving related sleep for the day thanks to big bro - seems I cannot sort, pack, clean and watch him like a hawk all at the same time - the peaceful parent in me is struggling to keep things peaceful! GAH!!
The kitchen is calling - yet another meal to prepare - kinda over this merry go round that is life at the moment same thing day in day out for the next month - poo!!!
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Looks like our last thread has been wiped but hey ho.
Tan: good luck with the packing and the impending move, when do you go? Why Scottville? Would you not prefer Hamilton Island, not too far for DH to commute from the mines!
we had a great few nights and days but today has been rubbish oh well. Things are certainly getting better but we have a long way to go! My Elizabeth Pantley books have arrived, they are a but like Pinky with solutions to try, all no cry stuff. Just printing out logs so we can keep track over the next 3 nights to see where we're at, should be interesting!!
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hhmmmmm whats going on? I am confused!
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Helllooooo out there?
Where is everyone? Hope you are all well
Not much new happening with us. I can't believe our bubbas are close to 5 months old! Lewis is Doing well, we finally had his 4 month check a week ago and he is going well, weighing 7.6kg now. Can you believe the mchn advised me to hold off on solids until at least 6 months! Not many mchn do that from what ive heard in here!
Anyway hope everyone is going well and getting lots of sleep!!
Talk soon
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hey everyone,
kel our last thread was wiped cuz they reformated the site/swapped servers or something...lost two weeks worth of posts...
i didn't get the subscription for this thread so i didn't realise you guys were posting...i just thought i'd search it myself since i had some time! and lo and behold you are here already!
Tan that must be soo hard trying to pack with two littleys - i dont evny youin the slightest...prehaps you could pack coop up for a couple hours in a box - with a few airholes of course :P would that help you out...haha
So William is awesome at pulling himself up (with us holding his hands) from laying to sitting and from either laying or sitting to standing :) ...he still hates being on his tummy haha so i think he's guna walk before he will crawl!! lol.
love my ergo coocoon wraps! definately recommend. guna buy from newborn for next bub. saves even trying to wrap them in anything else.
having up and down days with day sleeps....William has realised how to throw tantrums this week - like 40minute tantrums where nothing or no one can calm him down....usually happens when i am out and trying to put him to sleep and not in a rocking chair *sigh*...so i've got to put a stop to it.
so starting yesterday i am laying on the couch with him in the crook of my arm so he can wriggle around and putting him to sleep. he has a little whinge and cry but not even five minutes worth and he is asleep. also because i only have to move him once (to get my arm out) slightly he stays asleep. yay... also much easier to put him back to sleep at the end of his sleep cycle cuz i'm not moving him by walking into another room for the rocker. so yesterday we got an almost 3 hour nap...today i've had two 1.5hour naps so far yay about to try for a third sleep cycle in a row in 5minutes.
so hopefully guna progress from couch and holding, to just couch and him just laying there not wriggling (and me still patting)...then to my bed (may as well make it comfy for me)...and then if i can progress to no pats that would be awesome.i'm quite happy for him to sleep on my bed during the day and just avoid the cot...
he goes to sleep feeding at night so i dont have any problems putting him in bed then.....
i have also mastered laying down and feeding now! yay for me. its easy now cuz he can attach himself and wriggle into position where he is comfy (even when wrapped - love the coocoons).
well gota run and try to settle him into another cycle before he wakes up....shona glad to see you got a 3hour sleep from elliot again today too ;)
oh and i've decided on baby led weaning...what are you guys guna do?
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Kirley: the ergo cocoons look great, I looked at woombie before Elliot was born and was talked out of getting one, I wish I had done now! Glad William is playing ball on the day sleep.
Tan: also don't envy the task you have ahead of you. You seem to be very organised so i'm sure it will all work out fine! Good luck with persuading DH to buy Ergobaby!
Kellie: where has the last 5 months gone?! Elliot is still certainly behind all the other boys in weight gain, 6.6kg now. I don't know how cos he feeds 3 hourly still! Sorry to hear about your cubby house dramas!
We are going good ATM. Elliot is improving with his day sleeps which is bringing better night sleep but still having to be fed 3-4 hourly. I'm glad to say that we have managed to stick with our gentle parenting techniques and it's a slow process but feel that we are respectful of Elliots needs. He is still a happy and sociable little chap, I would like him to play with toys a little more but cannot seem to spark his interest in anything. He has done a couple of back to front rolls but is in no hurry to really develop, seems to have lost the ability to roll from front to back in return and now cried when having tummy time instead of rolling over! Does lots of push ups and can sit for short periods against something but nowhere near pulling himself up. I try and ignore my wonder weeks book that would have me believe that he should be undertaking chemical equations and astrophysics by now and that he is slow! Well not quite, but the stuff they say they "may" be doing about now, he's not really doing much of it at all! Oh well his time will come!
I have a job interview this week, been trying to do some studying which is interesting with a baby! I've been told there are 7 people being interviewed and they all have experience in the area the job is for and I don't :( Hoping that as I know the Manager and the Educator it will stand me in good stead but i'm not too confident! I have also applied for a job in my old emergency department, would hope to get that one but not sure I want it! Busily trying to get business plan sorted for DH but we're gonna take our time getting it off the ground. He is looking forward to finishing work and spending more time with Elliot, he has missed him while he's out working.
Hello to everyone else, hope all is well :)
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hi again everyone
Kirley - my little man still hates tummy time too! Just a quick question, if Will gets used to having his day sleeps on the bed, how will you keep him there when he starts crawling? I havent yet decided on the solids approach for Lewis, with DD I made purees and it worked well with her, but she is a very fussy eater now. I've got no idea!
Shona - good on you for sticking with your gentle parenting techniques! Well Done! and good luck with the job interview!
AFU - nothing much new happening, Lewis has started waking again overnight around 3 am so Im wondering if he is starting to get ready for solids... still going to wait till 6 months though? The teething could also be whats waking him. I feed him and he usually falls asleep drinking and stays that way when I put him down, so its not too bad.
He has been sleeping well during the day too as long as we stay home (which isnt always easy with a toddler!). Fingers crossed his good day sleeps continue!
Hope everyone else is well!
Come in and say hi!
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ahh kellie i didn't think of that *doh* prehaps i can nap with him?? :)
or he can just learn no! i guess i'll come to that when it gets here.
had one of the worst nights last night and a crappy day today! the mornign started off well but the arvo was well just crap.
i gave william some farex today cuz he has been watching us eat every mouthful lately. guna stick with that for most of the month though and maybe every second day. then move onto baby led...still have to take it slow anyway cuz of what he might be intollerant to. was going to wait till six months exclusive but he gets such a sad little face when he is watching us eat. it's pretty cute.
neway gota run.
hope you are well
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Kirley - the only reason I thought of it was because I remember when Tahlia started crawling, she would wake up after 1 sleep cycle and practice crawling by doing laps of her cot! Same thing when she started walking too... would walk around and around the cot
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Hiya Mamas
Hadn't been getting notifications despite having already subscribed - odd!
Kirsty definitely be careful with having him on the bed even if he isn't crawling, rolling off or inching off is just as easy for them! Will attempt to upload photos to fb of A making his way across our bed, quite the determined lad! It can happen when you least expect it like when Coop who wasn't even at standing stage and somehow ended up on the tiles from out of his cot! That was the day it was lowered to the next level!!! Will do a mixture of both spoon fed and baby led. A already grabs random things of our plates and shoves them in his mouth but he also shoves my purse, the mail, his foot and various other objects so not taking it as a sign of readiness. Hope tonight sees the two of you getting some rest.
Kellie I cannot believe Lewis is only 7.6kg he looks a darn sight chunkier than A who weighed in today at 7.9! Tis hard to stay at home with a toddler hey or harder still to stop the toddler from waking them - this gets me so cranky because I know A is a good day sleeper! When daddy or nonna have Coop, A will sleep so soundly often 2.5 hrs plus! He is lucky to get half hour stints with big bro lurking around the house!
Shona I commend you for sticking to your peaceful parenting ways! You shall be rewarded in due time for all your preservence! A is the same as E with little day sleep - still such a happy chappy! Best of luck with your interview!
AFM I am surrounded by more testosterone, the four legged variety. Not overly happy about it being sprung on me the way it was "can cooper have a dog when we move" "um maybe" "oh well there is a dog in my truck" "you are f*cking kidding" "no" - silent treatment commences! He is cute but very whiney as to be expected having just left his own mama =( Have had some boob refusal with my leftie again. Same thing happening as with the refusual about 2 months ago. Has led to an extremely engorged breast and blocked ducts - have been doing all I can to try get rid of them - I soooo don't want it to develop into mastitis. Been there, done that with Cooper and it is not something I want again! I think I got up about half a dozen times last night to reheat my wheat pack all while the chidlren slept *sigh* There seems to be a slight improvement but way off being back to normal - ouchie! Packing slowly slowly (oh so slowly) - ant issues today *gah* big day of washing all the insect spray drenched clothes tomorrow! A is continuing to get up on all fours and has started the 'rooting the floor' motion. There will be no stopping him shortly - eeep!!!
Trying to stay awake to watch parenthood - I love that show!! Til next time xo
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Can I just ask whether Elliot is the only boy to have discovered his "boy bits"? Every time nappy comes off he grabs a handful and won't let go!! Typical male me thinks!
Tan: good luck with the move, ants and the dog. Your life is so busy, I don't know how you do it! Elliot is also grabbing at food and has started staring intently when we eat and mimicking us chewing.
Kirley: i'm not sure exactly what baby led is. We'll just take it as comes and introduce small bits of rice cereal with ebm first then puree fruits and veg I think. Elliot will still be mainly on breast milk for some time yet I think.
Kellie: good luck with the night wakings, hope it settles down some.
Thanks for all your good luck wishes, I fear I may need it. I am so desperate to get back to work, I am finding full time motherhood somewhat of a struggle and am getting increasingly frustrated at the lack of adult company I have from day to day. I don't think I anticipated how hard it would be and as much as I love Elliot to pieces, I need some time away from the house. That sounds terrible but with BF i've only had a total of about 4 hours away from him since birth and whilst I know that I will miss him like crazy, work may well just preserve some of my sanity. It's 12 hour shifts so only 3 per week so i'll be home a lot which will be great. I am hoping that with having EBM some nights he may even start to sleep better, well that's if I can express enough (fingers crossed).
Anyways i'm off to bed. Goodnight.
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not just elliot...william has been doing it for a couple weeks now too ;)
baby led is basically skipping puree stage...or letting baby feed themselves from a spoon not an adult doing it. up until 12months its all about exploring, tasting, playing etc rather than trying to get them to be eating meals by 12months. i like it for a few reasons 1)i think i'm guna be too lazy to make up lots of purees at this stage. lol...that sounds bad but i'd rather spend that time doing something else. 2)gives them a healthy attitude to food rather than me forcing him to eat things. he is more inclined to like things (John is a fussy eater and i want to avoid that problem). 3)I have to introduce new things more slowly to him cuz of his tummy so this way he is still eating things that appear the same as what we are eating rather than something 'different' and hopefully if he always has to avoid dairy and egg etc then it won't be so noticeable that he is eating differently? and lastly also because of his tummy it means my chances of him being bf longer are greater if i let him just 'explore' food till hes older than 12months rather than make him be more dependant on solids than milk by that age and prehaps we will avoid this 'intollerant' status if he says bf for longer *fingers crossed*....does that make sense?
Tan good point about the things in the mouth etc....just curious other than being six months is there any particular cue you wil look for in Archer?
I tried again this morning but he totally wasn't interested so i didn't bother pushing the issue. i was just going to buy him teething rusks but all the ones in woolies have milk powder in them *sigh* do you know of any dairy free ones? so i decided on the farex instead to see how he went....
b bak later running late for morning tea with friends...will reply to the rest of you then :)
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Kirley: i had a look at baby led weaning after I posted and it certainly makes sense. I hadn't really considered that puree was from back at a time when they started solids much earlier than 6 months and that it can make then fummy shen you introduce lumps. I was reading about letting them hold stuff with handles like lamb chops, there is certainly not enough money in this household to allow sucking on lamb chops, lol. Mentioned broccoli too, perhaps we could stretch to that! Might buy a baby led weaning book, Gill Rapley seems to be the most popular and I have found it for about $16 so might get it ordered so I can prep.
Pinky put a great link to the Dr Sears stuff on starting solids, i've put a link below but if it gets removed have a look on her FB page, goes through all the things you should be looking for to suggest that they are ready
STARTING SOLID FOODS
