Babies Born~May 1st-15th 2009 #2

[tattoo_mama]

Nelly: day sleeps I wait for tired signs, swaddle her and dummy. Cover her pram hood(she's in the prams caus we at mum n dads still) with a sheet so no light gets in caus she's such an alert lil girl, she falls asleep (with no crying) then I can take the sheet off. Sometimes if she kicks up a bit of a fuss I rock her for 5 mins til she's sleepy looking then pop her down. Or the papasan swing is the best, swaddle n dummy and pop in the swing, always asleep without any complaining within 10 mins.

And is possibly the only baby in the word who hates car trips...I think its to do with the light hitting her face rather than the motion.

Night sleeps she usually falls asleep during her 8pm bottle and dream feeds at 11pm.

[*Dee*]

Nelly - I always watch for tired signs... rubbing eyes, sucking his thumb, sookie, yawning or getting fidgety and irritated, I use to then pick him up and rock him in my arms till his eyes started to close then put him in pram/basinette/swing/hammock - whatever I'm using at the time (basinette at night), if he woke up as soon as I put him down I found throwing a muslin wrap over my shoulder hiding his face helped as he wasn't distracted by everything else, sometimes it took a few goes though, but I persisted and now I can just put him down either in the hammock or on the couch with pillows and just give him his teddy and blankie and he'll go straight to sleep. I only swaddle him at night, that was my way of teaching hium the difference between night and day sleeps. I wont let him be awake longer than 2hrs coz then he gets over-tired and really hard to settle, unless he's not showing any tired signs when his sleep pattern starts to change. But he is very actve in his awake time - always playing or in the Jolly Jumper or I play with him and wear him out.
Last night we had a terrible sleep, Ethan went down at 8pm and was restless the whole time, I didnt get to bed till midnight coz I was on the phone to DH then Ethan woke at 1.30 then 2.15 then 3.30 and was restless until 6am!!! Though we have got the dribbles bad over here too I'm suspecting a tooth as he bites down on my finger when I put it in his mouth. And although he was in a great mood thismorning all playful and chatty, he's all whingy now after his nap!

[nelly]

Dream feeds - who does them and if BF do you use EBM? What "results" do you get from them? We seem to be in a 7-8ish bed time sleep to anywhere between 2-4 and then until about 8ish. Do I need to do it - what is the logic behind doing them?

[Toomanytoomany]

Nelly, I do dreamfeeds at 10.30-11ish, depending on when dh comes to bed (I try to get to bed by 10 so that I'm really sleepy when it's time to feed Tom and then I'm well asleep by 11). That buys me sleep until between 2 and 4ish and means I'm only up once before 5 or 6am. If I didn't do the dreamfeed, he'd be awake at midnight, and then I'd be up again anyway at some point.

She rejected a dummy (several times) so he has decided that he needs one - have told him it's ok if he wants to ba baby but I'll need to pack away his big boy toys like his train bcos they aren't safe for babie to play with. Hmmmm so far so good

Nelly, I love a good old fashioned choice and consequence. Hope it goes well fo ryou!!

Dee it sounds like you've done a great job getting Ethan to settle himself - I'm going to have to take a leaf out of your book, I think. Mind you, a few times this week Tom has been great about settling himself (he went through a period of doing it and then stopped) so I'm determined now to put him to bed with his eyes a little bit open, and see how we go. His sleepy signs are getting very obvious, and his daytime routine is really, really good now. He sleeps in my bed or the pram during the day, his bassinette at night. He's still completely swaddled for sleep, although he did fall asleep the other night after he wormed his arms out.

Tom made me cry today (in a good way). We were coming home from going shopping and he was getting whingey. When I got him out of the car, I notice that he had poo-ed. It was also three and a half hours since his last feed which is a LONG time for him. I had to put him down though when I got in so I could go to the loo as I was busting and I heard him crying in my room. When I got in there, although he was uncomfortable and hungry, as soon as he saw me he stopped crying and started smiling and I realised that was because he trusted me so much, he knew that when I was there, I would do what needed doing and he didn't have to cry any more. That really struck my heart and made me tear up What a precious gift these little people are.

[*Dee*]

Nelly - I dreamfeed if Ethan gets sleepy around 7-8pm... I'll dreamfeed him around 10-11pm but if he doesnt get sleepy till 9-10 then I dont worry about it. All depends on his day sleeps and what time he wakes in the morning, but I have him in the habit now that swaddling means night sleep, so I can swaddle him anytime from 7pm and he'll go to sleep and he'll sleep anywhere I put him and stay asleep if I move him. Like he normally starts off in the hammock in the lounge room then I move him to the basinette in our room when we go to bed, even if he starts to wake up as soon as he's put into the basinette he goes back to sleep no hassles. It's also great if we're out for dinner or something, coz if he's swaddled and put in the pram he'll stay asleep when we move him to the car and then to bed so we still have some sort of a life! lol. I just found that worked for him, you could always try it out and see how bub goes, but all babies like different things.
And I still havent bought a breastpump yet, so it's all boob for my boy.... made it a bit hard when I was sick last week and my milk reduced, but it's back up again now after eating heaps of veggies and drinking bucket loads of water.... lol I do want to get a pump though, just so he doesnt think I'm the only one who can feed/comfort him, he's been getting a bit clingy. He cries when other ppl hold him, though today he sat with my girlfriend for an hour quite happily!

TMTM - Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww That is what makes it all worthwhile, so precious! Makes you feel appreciated!!
Ethan started crying when I left the room, but he's not as bad now. i think he's worked out that if I go I always come back! hehe

[nelly]

TMTM - do you boob ro EBM dreamfeed? So you dream feeders - If I am only getting one wake up is it worth me changing our routine?

Dee I am back in single mode again - when is DH back? Mine is in Melb / Syd today and tmrw; flies to Melb Sun arv home Tues; off to Syd Thurs back Fri; off again the following week. I hope this travel achieves a decent bonus or I will no longer be a supportive wifey. Jake has just gone down and it's getting harder every night - am thinking is it time to drop day sleeps but then our days are full on and the afternoons spastic... at least a late bed time is ok compared to a crappy afternoon if I have no repsite coming with DH late or away.

[tattoo_mama]

Nelly: even though Jade is FF i thought id tell u bout our dream feed, which is about 1030 or 11pm: she feeds about 8pm, if i DONT do dream feed she wakes up at 2am for a feed, then again at 6am. if i DO do the dream feed, she sleeps thru til 5 or 6am. so IMO id rather stay up til 11pm and sleep til 5 or 6am than go to bed at 9ish and wake up at 2am and then again at 6am. KWIM?

my friend came and did pro fotos of 4 generations (my nanna, my mum, me and Jade), the same girl who did my black and white pg ones on FB, and should get them back Tuesday. I almost fell over backwards when i rung pro places to get quotes, $200 for shoot then $200 PER PRINT. anything bigger than A4 size was $700 a print. i hung up on them lol....so my friend did the shoot, will photoshop the fotos, will print out as many copies as big as we want and give us a disc with all the fotos on, for $150. So nerrrr Viva photography u big rip off merchants!!

TMTM: thats so sweet about Tom, Jade did the same the other day, she was crying and fussing when my mum tried 2 feed her and i walked in and she smiled and took the bottle fine from me hehe. Shes just found her voice and has decided her 5-6am feed is a great time to begin laughing and oohing and aahing...hmm not a happy mummy!!

[nelly]

Thanks Emma - I'm the opposite of you lol. I'd rather go to bed early and get a block at the beginning of the night so maybe it won't suit us?

Mind you last night I put her down for the first night without feeding to sleep purely by accident - I had to put her down to grab Jake and she fell asleep on her bouncer - at about 6or 630 she went down but for the first time in months she woke at 1130 for a feed??? I am guessing that is what you guys were talking about. And this was after Mr Toddler Procrastination too an hour and half to go to sleep - he was in and out like a bloody rabbit on heat. Will be so glad when DH lands this arvo.

[*Dee*]

Nelly - It's tough with 2 young ones. I know how you feel and sympathise with you there.
DH came home yesterday but isnt well, seems the gastro bug got him bad afterall. I dont think I'd be happy if DH was away as often as yours. It makesit harder to get a runtine going too coz you just work out a routine with DH there then when he goes away you have to change everything you do!!
All I can suggest is to dreamfeed her just before you go to bed, regardless of what time her last feed was, just keep it really quiet and dim so she doesnt wake up. If she does start to wake up it may take a few nights till she gets whats going on, but it should work.
I don't usually feed Ethan to sleep, I feed him when he wakes up. Unless he is really restless or distressed (and it's not wind) then I comfort feed him so he'll sleep. At bedtime (night) I feed him 30-40 mins before I settle him for sleep and he tends to sleep that little bit longer, personally I think it may be coz he's normally upright and having his back patted for that whole time so his tummy is more settled at bed time, I started doing this coz how bad his wind was. He still gets wind now, just not as bad or as often. I dont know if any of these methods would work for Sophia, but if you need more sleep, anything is worth a go. He's still in the basinnette, and I still have a wedge under his mattress to keep it on a slight angle, I tried taking it out but he hardly slept so I out it back.
I usually get up with every stir he does (as it's usually 2-3hrs or longer between) thinking he was always hungry. I would put the dummy back in first off and if it put him back to sleep I'd leave him but if he kept stirring I'd feed him, but since putting him to sleep on his side with the anti-roll pillow he rarely wakes up and I also dont wrap him tight anymore so he can get his arms free if he wants and last night he re-settled himself by sucking his thumb, so I went back to bed lol.

Tatt - Good luck with the move! I'm glad things are working out for you and you're much happier!
It's nice that XP's mum can babysit Jade on the weekend to give you some well deserved 'me' time!

I cant believe Ethan puts himself to sleep everytime now. I swear by this hammock!!! It's made my life sooo much easier! Now as soon as he yawns I put him in and he's off to sleep. Tonight I swaddled and fed him, burped him and put him in there while I went to the toilet and when I came back he was sound asleep!

His latest trick is pulling his feet over his head! hahaha
Have a great weekend everyone!

[Toomanytoomany]

Sorry for the selfish post. We're back to feeding every two hours around the clock. It's worse than when he was a newborn. What the heck am i doing wrong??? Argh! I'm going to make some more lactation cookies today and see if that helps - I wonder if it is any coincidence that he slept really well the nights after I made them last week.

[nelly]

Jane I think it is his reflux. Looking at your pics there is no way he is a starving baby and Jakey had silent reflux and did exactly the same until his meds were sorted. I just found feed / sleep charts I used to do - made me feel like there was something I could control when everything else was out of control - and he was basically 2hrs until 8wks when his dosage was sorted properly then 3hrly with a 5hr blcok at night. Doesn't help you get any sleep but hopefully will reassure you that your boobs are still working fine and you are not a failure.

We are off to a 40th tonight.... gosh you know you are an "adult" when your friends start turning 40! Jake is having a sleepover at a friends house but we are taking Sophia with us. It's a "frock up" party but I have nothing to wear that is BF friendly and fits, & my bum and jelly belly are still reflecting 9 months of great baking

[*Dee*]

TMTM - I'm right there with you... 7 nights straight now!! Started off frequent day feeds and he would sleep from 9pm till 4am then feed again at 6am and 8 am, which I could handle but now it's 2hrly feeds round the clock!!! I think it's partly growth spurt/wonder week and teething. He hardly slept all day and was crying in pain when I tried to put him to sleep tonight so I had to give him panadol. He had a slight temp yesterday but after having panadol it went back to normal and he was happy again. He is still a happy chatty baby, just every few hours or so he screams in pain but gets over it quickly and feeding constantly through the night. I dont think it's low milk supply coz he always seems satisfied after his feed (with day feeds he likes to talk to me with my nipple still in his mouth... lol) and he has great depth to his burps and passes wind ok... Though his wind and dirty nappies smell REALLY REALLY bad and he had foamy yellow stools today and LOTS of it! But was much happier once he got it all out. I find through the day he's generally very happy but before bedtime at night the past 2-3 nights he has been pretty unsettled. Yesterday from 3:30pm till about 7pm he was extremely sleepy, I couldn't keep him awake! I wasn't worried at first thinking he was making up for lack of sleep the night before till I checked his temp... It was only slightly over but when I checked again 15 mins later it had gone up 2 points so that's when I gave him panadol and his temp reduced and he perked up again... (wondering if that and the foamy stools may suggest a tummy bug? As I had it last week and DH was quite sick Thurs-Sun).

Hope you found something nice to wear Nelly and had a great night!

I'll be babysitting my friends 5 month old little girl next week... Think of me when I'm dealing with 2 teething babies at once! haha!

[Pandora]

Well, we have had 11ish hours sleep over night so far this week, yay
Im not goign to get too excited as it can all change with a moments notice but it has been good to get some rest and very well timed as I put my back out so DH was having to get up for night feeds to lift Oscar ina nd out of his cot etc - so he's very impressed!

We are going to a work 'do tonight so my parents are babysitting the boys and will be doing Oscars feed/bed - I hope. He has had some bottles of EBM for mum during the day over the past few weeks so I hope he remembers what to do. It shouldnt matter too much though it only goes til 9pm so we'll be home early - he's not going to starve if he wont drink it.

Now to organise what Milo and my parents will be having for dinner. Any suggestions?

[sryan]

Hi guys,

Thought I would drop in to see how you all are going. Looks like all is well and you are doing the normal baby things.

Lily is growing way too quickly and she is such a happy baby.

We are the same as you guys..... sometimes she will sleep through the night and sometimes wakes every 4 hours!!!!.

BF is still going really well and I love having that time with her.

xxx Sue xxx

[Toomanytoomany]

Dee that just sounds so exhausting for you... My kids always got disgusting nappies when they were teething too so I reckon you might be onto something. Is Ethan slobbering a lot? Tom has got a drool rash from slobbering so much (dh likes sicking him on the other kids to get him to slime them ) but his nappies have been okay so far. How is the babysitting going? You are very brave!

Rayray, what wonderful sleep!! We count "only" getting up twice overnight as a good sleep now. I can't complain though, really - Tom is in bed and settled from 7.30pm to 6am every night, even if he is waking up a lot for feeds in between times. As for dinner, I'm making tray baked sausages with potatoes, cherry tomatoes and rosemary, which always go down a treat and it's easy.

Sue so glad things are going well for you. It's a sunny time of their lives right now, isn't it? But they grow so fast, don't they??

Nelly you were right re the reflux. Tom is only on Gavison, not losec or zantac, but we upped his dosage to three times a day instead of once, and it's made a big difference. Night before last (when I was away at my sister's and had only given him one dose) he was awake every.rotten.hour. Argh! Last night wasn't too bad though, 2am and then 5am.

My big news is that I've taken on some freelance work for a few hours a week, and I'm putting Tom in daycare one morning a week so I can do it. We are really struggling with money and some big expenses coming up plus it's a firm I've really wanted to work with for a long time. The daycare centre is literally next door to our home, so I'll be able to just go and breastfeed him when he needs it, which is great!

[helle]

When I got in there, although he was uncomfortable and hungry, as soon as he saw me he stopped crying and started smiling and I realised that was because he trusted me so much, he knew that when I was there, I would do what needed doing and he didn't have to cry any more. That really struck my heart and made me tear up What a precious gift these little people are.

Cos I'm not clucky enough already XD

Still popping in and stalking you guys You're all doing such wonderful jobs, I hope I can be half the mummies you girls are! xx

[*Dee*]

Ray - Oh I am SOOOOO envious right now! haha 2 hrs sleep in one block is good for us at the moment! Hope your back is better and have a great night!

Sue - I'm so glad everything is going so well for you and you're enjoying your little princess!

TMTM - Wow Congratulations on scoring the freelance work in the company you wanted! That's great! So good that the daycare is right next door too Sounds like a great thing for you!
I'm gald Toms reflux is sorted, cant be nice for him at all, poor little guy!

Yeah he's definately teething, everytime I hold him my arms and shoulders end up soaking wet from drool... lol That's a good point about the nappies - I hadn't connected the two... hmmmm
When he gets really upset I put my finger on his gums and gently press and he stops crying, so I bought some SM33 gel and that has done wonders! He is fussy at the breast in the evening when it hurts him more but we're getting around that with the gel now He's still sooky and wanting to sleep on me through the day but right now he's on the playmat on the floor with his teddies and teething toys having a great time watching Go Diego Go... lol He loves it!
He has started rolling from his front to his back now too, so now he can roll both ways - soon he'll put the two together and roll right through! Then I'm going to have to tie him up so I dont have to baby proof the house yet! lol I want him to stay put a little longer! I'm not ready for the 'put the baby down and he's not where I left him' yet!
He's pretty knowing too, like he knows what a face should look like, I was watching Airline and a girl wore a gorilla mask and he cried till I turned him away, then I had on the fairies and everytime they had the eye masks on he screamed but would stop inbetween when there was a different scene... lol
He just loves music - I notice the TV really gets his attention when the end credits come on after shows coz of the music and moving writing... lol

Still not getting any sleep around here. DH is getting me a breast pump so he can do some night feeds and give me a break... I was a little disappointed yesterday, I rang my mum and told her I was having a hard time and was exhausted and all she said was 'it's coz u hold him all the time' HUH???? My mum has seen him 5 times since he was born - once in hospital, twice at my place for 20 mins, once shopping and once at her place when there was at least 10 other ppl there passing him around!! where would she get that from?? How would my house be so clean if I was always holding the baby and did she not hear me when I told her that 'he puts himself to sleep now'??? I'm so annoyed that this was her response, and no offer to come and help me at all..!!! It's like a 30 min drive is too far to see her grandson and help her daughter!! Thankfully I have great friends! Oh well, not much I can do about it coz if I say anything - "I'm just hormonal' or "not coping" or "trying to blame someone" or SHE gets offended! I wish that she would think that maybe parenting doesn't end when your kids leave home... It just becomes part-time!
YOU CANT CHOOSE YOUR FAMILY BUT WHO SAYS YOU CANT STICK THEM IN A SUITCASE AND LEAVE THEM AT THE AIRPORT???

Some good news here too, DH has been promoted to State Manager now - in just 3 months!! I'm so proud of him. He works hard and he deserves it!

Awww Teagz you will be a fantastic Mummy - I can tell I got my itti bittis too... soooo cute!!!

[helle]

Awww Teagz you will be a fantastic Mummy - I can tell I got my itti bittis too... soooo cute!!!

I knoooowww - careful, they're addictive I went to a PBC expo on the weekend and got a few cushie tushies... unfortunately i ran out of money before i could make it to the ittibitti & BumG stand. Ooops!