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Hi all, I'll try and do a quick post while the little man is sleeping...
Storm, try not to worry too much about the cold. When I took Ash to the GP with his she told me to expect it to take a week to ten days to clear. In the end it took just over a week. Have you tried a vaporiser? I found that really helped and also propping up the cot mattress so they're not lying flat iykwim? I think that just helps stop then from getting so congested. GL I hope it goes away soon x
Cate, wow can't believe Zac is in size 1's already. I've been thinking I need to go out and get Ash some warmer clothes, but not sure if it is worth buying the 0's cos I'm sure he'll grow out of it soon. I'd also love to do a Melbourne meet up. I'm pretty flexible with days and times, so why don't you ladies let me know what works for you.
Jetta, sounds like things are going great with Sam. Maybe we should swap babies for a few days, I'd love to have you work your magic on Ash LOL.
MamaPan and Sloane, I hear you on the exhaustion front. I've just started doing a log of Ash's sleep as I start the No Cry Sleep Solution. The other night he had to be resettled 8 times! I think I've created the problem myself cos I've got into the habit of rocking him to sleep. So over the last 24 hours I've started patting him in the cot and am wrapped to say that I haven't rocked him to sleep once! He still woke up 4 times last night, but at least I feel like we're making a little bit of progress!
Jasp, I hope all went well with the PIL... Hope life is getting a bit more manageable for you.
Anyway, better run... Hope you are all doing well x
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Hi all :)
Miss E good luck with the NCSS, I have read good things about it here & might give it a look for AR...will be keen to hear how you go.
Sloane, SJ is indeed a very doting sister... she has actually asked if she can have AR in her room tomorrow night :o so I can get some rest... I love the idea but don't know how it will go, I feel a bit unnerved by the idea of having Arlea away form me for the night, even if it is across the hall! But SJ is Arlea's favourite person apart from me & DH - and sometimes she will even prefer her over us - if she's going to settle for anyone, it will be her big sister. It's so sweet to see the relationship between them.
Storm, I hope Hayley feels better soon, it's yuck when they are sick. It can take a week or two to clear, but you could always take her back to the Dr if you're worried. Apparently Demazin / Dimetapp is either not available for under twos or you need a script, not sure which. Anyway I hope she feels better soon :hug:
We are going out in sympathy here, another cold...the kids bring a lot of germs into the house!
Cate sounds like Zac is doing fantastic! In size one already! Good to hear he's better now the tooth is through :) I am wondering whether we might have some arriving finally...her bottom gum is a bit bumpy. But then I have thought that before, lol.
Good to hear from you Jetta, glad everythign is going so well. I second what you said about watching them learn about the world...it is an amazing age to be , and to be around :)
AFM, I am still struggling... we have had rough sleep this week, always worse the night before I have to work! - murphy's law - and last night she came down with the same cold DS1 & DH have got. She didn't sleep more than 40 minutes at a time last night or today - TG today is my day off - but I am worn out! DS2 is upstairs right now trying to settle her so I can finish pumping, I am lucky to have so many helpers.
PIL's visit was good, I am lucky I get on very well with my PILS, I always say half the reason I married DH was he had good parents :lol: BIL is still living here so they got to see both babies which was lovely for them.
I had better go ... she is not settling & I have just about finished expressing...
Hope eveyone is well.
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hi everyone
just a quick one from me... J also has that nasty cold - poor little man has seemed so unwell... vomiting etc. it really knocks them about hey...
we are also having a v rough time w sleep and the lack of feeding inm the day... i have booked a nurse to come and spend half day on monday with us so hope she can come up with some ideas... i think we need to break the night time all night feeding to sleep associations.. but since iw ont do cc that may be hard... lets see! all i know is it is getting to be a desperate situation here - i have too many balls in the air so i need to get onto it. i have been feeling like the worst mum ever with going back to work in such a full on job and he is rejecting all milk, water, food (which he never eats even for me) at creche... so i think whatever strategies she has for me will help
Jasp - J also has nop teeth yet! i love the gummy smiles so i am ok with it! DS1 got teeth at 6.5 months... but app i didnt get any til i was 1 so i guess it may be a while yet
J is in such an adorable phase trying to explore the world... he still doesnt try to crawl but he rolls everywhere and has just learnt to pull himself up to sit (he has been sitting unaided for a while) - he pivots around and wriggles all over the place... wants to be mobile but i think still along way off the crawl...
oh better go... btw Jasp i cant believ you are still expressing - AMAZING SUPER WOMAN!
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hi everyone. things are going ok here. anton is sleeping all night from about 7.30pm till 5.30ish am, his not crawling or sitting up yet still just rolling everywhere. Anton has 1 leg slightly shorter then the other so he will be of to see dr to make sure his hips are fine.
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Wow, we are getting quiet, aren't we :lol:
Mamapan :hug: thanks :)
How did you go with the day nurse? I hope you can get his feeds sorted out soon, it must be stressful for you :hug:
Jess, good to hear Anton is doing well, I hope everything is ok with his hips.
Pie has a doctor's appt today, we had her head re-measured last monday & it had moved up on the charts again, it is over the 97th percentile now so we had it scanned on Friday.
Poor little Pie screamed the whole way through, she did not like having her head held still! The sonographer said the fontanelles are usually too closed at this age to see anything, but she had a bit of a look & said it all seems clear, no fluid that she could see.
So back to the docs today for the report, also she has a lump under her nipple which is really weird, I noticed it last Tuesday & freaked out just a bit (as I am prone to do) but calmed down & just waiting to see what the dr says now.
Everythign else is good, she is getting into everything & has to be watched like a hawk atm :p
She has also started displaying a real preference for DD2 (much to the boys digust, lol) and cracks it if she can't go to her, luckily Panda has more patience with her than anything else in the world & will always take her unless she has to go & do something - shower etc. Very cute.
We still have BIL living with us :wall: it is getting a little close here - in our 3brm townhouse there are 7 of us now, 8 when he has his DS - but hopefully he will be gone Wednesday & we can give DS2 his bedroom back.
Does anyone have special plans for Easter? We are just looking forward to 4 days of nothing to do... ahhh bliss...
Hope you are all well :grouphug:
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we def are very quiet! i think we've lost quite a few people along the way as well :( might have to start PMing them all to try & get them to come back :lol:
mamapan - hope J is feeling better. how did the nurse go? please don't feel like the worst mum in the world, i think you're amazing for looking after two babies, let alone working as well! have you seen the dr jay gordan site? he has a way of night weaning that seems really gentle. it's meant for over 12mths but i reckon if you're desperate, it'd be worth a try. he is mainly focussed on families that co-sleep but i think it could be adjusted for a cot sleeper (can't rem if you co-sleep, but i don't think so) or pinky has a nice strategy for breaking the initial feeding to sleep for nighttime & that hopefully helps with further night wake ups. let me know if you'd like details of either :)
jas - poor arlea having her head scanned. you must have been hopping from foot to foot wanting to just give her a cuddle. hope the results are all good today & so is the lump. i just knew panda & arlea were close! such a beautiful bond for them to have :hug:
miss e - how are you going? i hope ash's sleeping has improved even more for you :)
jess - hope anton's appt about his hips went well. sounds like he's sleeping well though!
afm, corey is still crawling everywhere & cruising along the furniture (or legs, arms etc!). his 7th tooth has just come through & i don't think number 8 is far behind. at the moment he has eczema all over his cheeks, poor little man. all the teething dribble has given it to him :( we've been to the doctors & have cream so hopefully it'll clear up soon.
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Just a quick one before I go back to bed...just put Hayley back to bed after a bottle.
We have a little tooth starting to appear!!! Bottom front tooth on the left. It's only just broken the surface but is so sharp, can't let her chew on my fingers anymore! Lol. She's also starting to pull herself up on the coffee table, so will have to take everything off there tomorrow as she just tries to grab everything and pull it off.
Still not crawling properly, just dragging herself around the floor. It's amazing how far she can get though, she's gone down the hallway to the front door once, into the bathroom twice and in/out of her bedroom.
We are having a big easter here...MIL flies to Canberra Wednesday night and DF is picking her up and bringing her here until Monday when she flies back home. SIL & her bf will be here Thursday/Friday and my parents and little brother will be here from Friday until Monday, so we are going to have a house full of people, luckily my family are staying in the motel over the road!
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Hi all,
Just wanted to pop in quickly and say Hi! The last couple of days have been awful for us, Ash picked up a gastro bug which DH and I then got :wall: DH and I are feeling better today but poor little Ash is still battling it. He hasn't vomited in close to 24 hours, but does still have the runs. He also won't eat anything so I am trying my best to get him to bf as much as possible so he doesn't get dehydrated, so far so good...
We have however has a bit of a break through with the sleeping :dance: Last week after I was seriously considering signing up for a sleep school program I agreed with DH that we should give CC a go at home before we decided to go to a sleep school. Our thinking was that that is probably what they would do at sleep school anyway and that perhaps it would be better for DS if we were going to do it to do it in his own environment where he feels safe and comfortable. So we had agreed that we would start on Friday and give it 3 days over the weekend.
I first started on Friday afternoon for DS's afternoon nap. It was horrid, he cried for an hour before going to sleep, but his crying was more an angry cry than a distressed cry iykwim? Then we kept him up a bit later that night to wear him out so he would hopefully go to sleep a bit faster, he fell asleep after 30 minutes. He woke a couple of times (this is huge for us, he was waking at least 5 times a night) where I went in and fed him, gave him a cuddle and then put him back to bed, each time he grizzled for two or three minutes then went back to sleep. By his afternoon nap on Saturday he went to sleep without a peep :dance: I can't believe it, I was expecting a hideous weekend, but it all went pretty smoothly and his night sleeps have been so much better since. Even though he has been sick the last couple of nights he has still been settling easily by himself. I've actually been waking him up to feed him!
Anyway, don't want to get to excited prematurely but I think we might of turned a corner (even though I still feel mean for doing the CC).
Sorry for lack of personals, will try and pop back later to say some proper hellos x
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Miss E - that's fantastic about the sleep break through!! I know what you mean about feeling mean re the CC. I think it was a great idea to do what you did at home to try it out, because I'm sure that's exactly what they would do at a sleep school, but the distress would be compounded by unfamiliar surroundings and people. I also figure it's a bit different when the crying is more of an angry cry than a distress one. I don't like to hear them cry at all, whether it's angry or sad, but I guess it is good for them to learn how to cope with different emotions? Obviously you've got a happier, better rested baby, mum and dad :dance: Especially considering you've all been sick.
ss_storm - those teeth are super sharp aren't they? It sounds like you will be having a very full on Easter too.
Sarah - my god Corey is powering ahead! all those teeth, cruising around... I used to roll my eyes a bit when 'old' people said "they grow so fast" but now I know what they mean! ;-)
Fleur/Jasp - 7 or 8 people in a 3bdrm townhouse?!?! Good lord. I hope you have slightly more space to enjoy your Easter weekend. Sometimes having nothing planned is just what you need.
Jess - hope Anton is ok?
Mamapan - I'm also curious to know how you went with the nurse?
AFM - Zac had his first swimming lesson on Saturday with his daddy. He was a bit overwhelmed by it all, but seemed to be enjoying himself thoroughly by the end. However, he now has a cold, which I'm sure is not a coincidence... BUT, his first cold, so we've done alright. So far he seems pretty much his usual cheery self, just can't breathe through his nose. I've tried doing the saline drops etc but he won't let me near his nose, so he just has to snuffle.
He is still commando crawling, but man he goes fast! My back is really suffering from constantly chasing after him and picking him up. With a fairly open plan house over three levels, we have barricades and gates all over the place! He has started pulling himself up to standing, but only by using people - doesn't seem to have worked out that he can use the furniture yet ;-) Still doesn't put himself into a sitting position, but I'm guessing that's not too much of a problem. He sits fine if I put him in that position, but the MCHN said not to do that much as then he won't learn for himself...
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Hello girls!
I haven't been in here for awhile but I love to stop in and see how all of belly buddies are. Sophie is just about 9 months now. She can sit up and crawl. She can stand by holding onto things.. no steps yet. She sleeps 12 hours through at night and is officially onto sippy cups... no bottle. She weighs 15 lbs and is 26 inches long.
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Finally have time to breathe a little bit after our fairly hectic easter! House feels so quiet now, especially since Hayley started yelling really loudly while everyone was here. Thankfully she has quietened down back to her normal self now. I don't know if it was the excitement of having so many new people here, or just yelling for attention but she did it loudly and often! Lol
Just wondering what everyone does with their bubs in regards to playtime...I'm starting to feel like i'm just doing the same things over and over again and don't want her to get bored, and I want to make sure i'm stimulating her mind as much as possible. She loves peek-a-boo and flipping through books, but I don't really know what other different things I can do with her?
Jessica- great to hear Sophie is going well. Love the night sleeps!
Hayley still wakes up once during the night, between 1 & 3am, and lately has been waking very early, this morning it was 5.30! FInally managed to get her back to sleep in bed with me at about 6.30am then she woke up just after 8. But she has been waking up around 6/6.30 and won't go back to sleep...my mum just rolled her eyes and said 6.30 is fine, but it's awfully early to start our day when we aren't going anywhere! Even 7am I could deal with...just don't know if there is anything i can do to stop her waking up quiet so early.
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hi, hope everyone had a lovely easter!
Jessica - great to hear from you! sounds like Sophie is doing really well.
ss-Storm - lol @ Hayley yelling :-) re playtimes, I don't know either. Zac loves it when I get down on the floor with him and he can use me as a jungle gym. He also quite enjoys chasing games (crawling) - it keeps changing who is chasing who, but it is very funny! um, what else... "guided tours" going around the house or anywhere and telling him what he can see and what things do and letting him touch things. babycenter.com.au has some really good suggestions for games to play based on different ages.
AFM - warning LONG! we had the most appalling easter. seriously awful. Our main car blew up last week so we're using the Jeep (and a 2-door soft-top is not ideal for baby transport!); I came down with gastro overnight on Friday which was hideous. Sunday night was so bad that neither DH or I got any sleep so we shunted Zac off to his aunty first thing in the morning. DH took me to the Dr and while we were there had to get a tetanus shot for a bad cut. He mentioned that he had been having some heart palpitations so she sent him for an ECG while we were there. We had been home for about two hours (fortunately I'm feeling a million times better by now) when the Dr rang with the results of the ECG and told Nigel to ring an ambulance and get to hospital immediately as the ECG suggested that he might be having a heart attack!!!
I had to stay home with Zac, but after a couple of hours Nigel got sent home - no heart attack thank god, but something's not quite right and he needs to have a whole heap more tests.
Zac now has the gastro and is amazingly cheerful about it - most of the time. We thought Nigel had got it too as he was vomiting but we think that was just a stress reaction.
because Zac is mainly formula fed I had to stop giving him any formula yesterday for 12 hours (because it's dairy based I think). Before I knew about that I gave him his first bottle yesterday morning and it 'bounced' :lol: - our first ever projectile vomit. Started up again last night and thought he was doing well - until about 4am :shakehead: Hopefully it's like mine and he's over it within 2-3 days total.
Sorry for the pity party, but good lord it has been truly miserable. On the upside, I've lost a few kilos ;)
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Saw the message on facebook and sorry for not being on for so long!
Miss E - that is excellent! I am so glad Ash is making progress as far as sleep is concerned. I feel bad as Sam has been sleeping through since about 5 months so I feel really lucky. He goes to be at 6am and we don't hear a peep from him til 6am the next morning. It is nice that we get that time at night to ourselves. However, this means that becuase he is so use to settling himself in his cot, he is a complete nightmare when we go out. He doesn't like settling at other people's places unless it is night time as he can't see anything anyway so may as well go to sleep! Hopefully he will get more use to the porta cot we just got and that might help. He has a favourite toy but just doesn't want to do it and somtimes he is a nightmare in the car, othertimes he is fine! Good for you getting more sleep too and I hope Ash is feeling better.
Lovecate - I saw on facebook how sick you were, so glad you are feeling better. That must have been really scary with Nigel too. I can't imagine dealing with that while you have such terrible gastro. Gastro is awful, you just feel like curling up and dying. I hope everything is okay and hope NIgels test results come back okay. Terrible isn't it how we are pleased about the weight loss though!
SS Storm - I am a few weeks behind you guys so Sam probably isn't as developed as some of your babies. I know exactly what you mean though about feeling like you are doing the same things. We are going to buy Sam a swing for outside, he has a cubby that he isn't old enough for yet, the ones with the slippery dip and stairs as a friend gave it to us, but at the moment he just loves sitting in it and then I put him on the slippery dip. Inside - toys such as putting things in things (like blocks into a tupperware container), put things under things (Blocks under containers), reading books that are touch and feel with him, trying to show him his ears and nose etc and songs that involve clapping he seems to like. I also have a few new toys that are pushing on things to make sounds like little piano and a telephone.They also say, take them around the house with you while you do stuff and explain what you are doing. All these new actions are learning for them and showing them new things. I worry that he isn't learning anything new, but really everything they are doing is new. Hope that helps!
Jess - great to hear that Sophie is doing so well! So great when they sleep through isn't it! You feel like you have a bit of your life back!! Great to be off the bottles too, they are growing up too fast!!
AFM - we are doing well. Working 3 days a week and having 4 days off so feel like I have a great balance. Our business has been doing okay, but we are finding it so hard to find good workers! I am enjoying being at work a little but not too much and then having 4 days with Sam. Sam is doing well - crawling is a one arm, one leg pushing on tummy style - I don't know why he doesn't think to use the other leg and arm!! He is loving exploring. He is quiet little boy that is quite sensitive to new things but he is enjoying learning about the world around him. We have started going to a play group which will be great for him to meet other kids as well. He is starting to make more noises now and babble a bit more. I just can't believe that they are almost 1!!! Wow, we have friends about to have their first and it bought back so many memories and how nervous I was!! It is so great watching them learn. Sam is eating toast and bananas and cruskits all by himself now - for some reason won't pick up a piece of carrot though! He has 7 teeth too!!!
Hope you ladies are all going well, it is great seeing some of the new photos on facebook too!
It is great to all still keep in touch, I hope you melbourne ladies are organising a catch up. It is a shame that we don't live closer, it would be really nice to meet the people I have chatted to for almost 1 year now!!!!!
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Hi Everyone! Hope you are all well, sorry I have been slack with the posts of late, these days with Ash crawling around and into everything it seems so hard to find the time!
Jetta, Sam's crawling sounds gorgeous! I've been meaning to find a playgroup for Ash too. I'm finding now that he goes a bit stir crazy if we spend the day at home, so I'd like to have another thing to do each week with him.
Lovelycate, so sorry to hear about your Easter. We all had gastro the week before, it was the most awful thing, I can't remember being that sick before and it took Ash a good 5 days to get over it and then a few more to start eating properly again. What a scare with your DH, has he had the tests done? I hope everything is okay, it must be quite a worry for you.
Storm we're having the early wake ups here too. I think it must take their body clocks awhile to readjust to daylight savings, Ash is waking at 5am most mornings at the moment, yesterday it was 4.15am. I feed him and put him back to bed, but so far he isn't going back to sleep, just hoping he catches on soon. In terms of playtime I don't really do that much with Ash, I'll often take him around the house and talk to him about what we're doing, and he loves to climb the stairs at the moment. But generally I just have a heap of toys out for him and he goes exploring, he loves pulling stuff out of shelves!
Jess good to hear from you and I'm glad Sophie is doing so well!
AFM we're doing pretty well at the moment (touch wood). Ash has started sleeping through again, I hate to say it but the CC really paid off. Mind you with the end of daylight savings he is waking up at around 5am, but getting a solid 10 hours sleep which is great! His naps are still really short, usually only 30 mins, if we're lucky on the odd occassion he might go an hour, but I don't think there's much I can do about that. We've also turned the corner on solids, he's become a real guzzle guts now that he's over his gastro which is great. He's also having grown up poos ;) I am starting to wonder how I'll go about weaning though. I think I would like to stop bfeeding at 12 months, or at least only have a morning and night feed because I'll be going back to work a few days a week. But at the moment he is boob mad and having at least 5 bf's a day if not more. So know idea how we're going to do that...
I've also started looking at child care centres. There are a couple near me which I really like and think he would enjoy, when we went for a tour the other day Ash just wanted to get into everything, so I'm hoping he will transition well when the time comes. But the waiting lists are ridiculous around here, I've been on them since I was 3 months pregnant and at this stage it's not looking good. I have no idea what we'll do if we can't get a place, Oh well just have to keep our fingers crossed.
Hope everyone is well! x
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Hi ladies,
Sorry I've been MIA again... I can't believe its been "months" since I last posted! Where does the time go?
We had a series of visitors at the end of Feb & throughout March... and as much as it was loads of fun... it was sooo very busy and terribly exhausting at the same time.
Eve - I now appreciate how draining your month of visitors must have been earlier in the year! How did you find time to keep up with the things online?
We had the added challenge that two lots of our visitors in March had come with the expectation of seeing a bit of Brisbane & Qld (friends from Perth & friends from Switzerland), so we were also playing tour guides as well, which was not always easy, with an 8 month old!
Anyway, I need to catch up on lots of posts, to get all the latest from you all. I've missed so much; & I'm sure some of you might even have some of the answers I've been looking for, when it comes to the various things we experience with our little people.
AFU - Miss Annie is doing really well... happy & healthy, although we are in the throws of her very first cold... If only they could blow their little noses! I do wish there was a magic decongestant!
She's crawling faster than her little hands can move; & surfing the furniture every chance she gets... She's also started some serious babbling that's sounding more & more like attempts at words... Things seem to be happening all so fast at this age!!!
Hope you are all well & your little ones are making you smile. Keen to catch up with you all properly over the coming days & weeks.
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hi everyone
welcome back Debbee! sounds like you have been really busy! Annie sounds like she is doing well. It's horrible when they're unwell though isn't it?
Miss E - thanks for your thoughts. DH is still in the process of having tests, but we're hoping that an improvement in our lifestyle (ie better diet and more exercise!) will be the only thing needed. I'm curious to know a bit more about the CC as Zac seems to have regressed lately, although that could be the aftermath of being sick I suppose. Will also be interested to hear how you get on with child care.
Suzy - I'm so impressed with how you're managing work and home, it sounds like it has worked out quite well for you. WTG Sam with all those teeth!!
AFU - well, it has been a pretty hard couple of weeks, but we are (hopefully) coming out the other side of it now. Zac seems to be over his gastro now - it took a while, but he has definitely got his appetite back! (I'm dreading the teenage years already based on how much he can put away now!)
Unfortunately the last couple of nights have been pretty bad - he wakes up a lot and completely cracks it - the most awful crying. I'm assuming it's teeth, but who really knows? One night in particular he would only sleep if he was in bed with me, but then wanted to party at about 4am :wall:
Does anyone else's bubba bite? Zac's really keen on biting atm. OUCH!!! those little teeth are damn sharp! and then he looks at me with such a cheeky little face it's hard to be cross ;)
Keen to know if anyone has strategies for nappy changing - it's kinda funny that I've coped with diarrhoea, projectile vomiting, etc, but the extreme sport of changing a nappy just about has me in tears at the moment! all I want is 30 secs to make sure it's on properly :pray:
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Cate- nappy changes are a bit of a nightmare here too, sometimes she is fine, but more often than not starts crying as soon as I put her on the change table and trying to roll over. giving her a toy works for about 30 secs until she chucks it off the change table, so I have a few I pick up and give to her. I've found singing (even though my singing is terrible!) helps to stop her crying. She loves the Wiggles "Rock a Bye your Bear", and there are a few other silly songs I sing..my mind does tend to go blank though and I end up singing the same song over and over or sing the Playschool tune..LOL
Hayley has had a big week, she can go from tummy to sitting and sitting to tummy quite easily now and is starting to pull herself up. she chatters away a mile a minute so think she will be talkative like her dad!
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Cate when we did the CC I made a point of talking to him about it in the few days before. I would say things to him like 'remember when you used to go to sleep all by yourself, well you will need to start doing that again soon, you're a big boy now and mummy and daddy can't keep rocking you to sleep'. I do think they understand a lot of what you say to them now and I really believe it helped to prepare him for it. I also made a point of starting to say 'it's time to go sleep' when he was getting really sleepy so that he learned to associate that with going to sleep. We also have a good pre-bedtime routine which is a bf (so I know he's not hungry) and a cuddle while we sing to him, which I think makes a real difference.
When we actually got to starting it, I began with his afternoon nap. I let him get over tired and had prepared myself mentally for the fact that he was more than likely going to cry himself to sleep (I figured the more tired he was the less time he would spend crying). I also spent some time thinking about why he would be crying, that he would be angry and frustrated with me for not doing what he wanted. So, the first afternoon that we started he spent an hour crying. After the first 3 minutes I went in and stroked/patted (whatever it took to calm him down in the cot) and repeatedly said 'it's time to go to sleep'. Of course the minute I went to leave he started crying again, which was hearbreaking. But, then I went in again after 5 mins, then 7 mins and then 10 mins. For me 10mins was the maximum amount of time I was prepared to let him cry because I didn't want him thinking that he had been abandoned, I wanted him to know that I was there, loved him, but that I was no longer going to rock him to sleep. I could tell by his cry that it was an angry and frustrated cry, rather than an overly distressed heartbroken cry iykwim.
That night we did the same thing, but it only took 30 minutes for him to go to sleep. He woke up a couple of times during the night. DH or I went in to him straight away and comforted him in the cot and told him that 'it's time to go to sleep'. Each time it only took a couple of minutes for him to go back to sleep himself. This was a huge break through because before this he was waking up to 7 or 8 times a night and having to be rocked back to sleep which took at least 15 or 20 minutes.
The next morning he went to sleep after only 15 mins and then that afternoon went to sleep without any crying. Since then he has been sleeping wonderfully. It's been a few weeks now and I think I have only had to go in and comfort him once 2 or 3 times since we did it. For the last couple of weeks he's actually been sleeping for 10 hours straight and waking up at around 5am. The last couple of nights he has woken up at about 2.30am and I have then fed him and he's gone back to sleep without any problems. When we decided to give the CC a go I made a decision that I would only bf once through the night so that he didn't start relying on it for resettling.
Anyway, that's how we did it. It's not for everyone, and TBH I really didn't think it was for us either. But I had gotten to a point of desperation and was trying to get into a 5 day sleep school program. But then I figured that they were probably going to do some form of CC and that it would probably be better for Ash if we were going to do it for him to do it in his own room where he feels safe and comfortable in his surroundings. I really think that the reason it worked for us is because we prepared for it, we decided when we were going to start and that we would give it four days, no exceptions, and we talked to him about it beforehand so that he was ready for it.
As for the nappy changes, they're also a major PITA here. I have a few different things in reach of the change table that I give to him to try and keep him on his back. But inevitably he rolls over and sits up at least 3 or 4 times with each change. I think it's just the age...
Ash is also a biter. He really only bites me and I think it is an affectionate thing. I've tried a few things to stop it but nothings really worked. He actually constantly does it, if I'm sitting on the floor he'll come over and bite my leg, arm, whatever he can get. I always say 'no biting' and move him away, but we're not really getting anywhere with it. I guess I'm just hoping he'll grow out of it.
Anyway, that was a bit of a marathon post... Hope everyone is doing well x
