Questions galore!!

[sweetsammi]

Ok sorry guys but i have tons of questions at the min, i've gotton to the point of motherhood now where i am actually lost and havnt a clue what i'm doing with my bubs!

So firstly:

How do u keep bubs entertained? Used to be easy..but these days Oliver seems unamused at my attempts!

Next:
How do u get them to sleep through the night? Oliver used to..but now he wakes up twice and i cant get him back into routine!

And:
Does your LO sleep in a cot in his/her own room now? And if so how did u get them to do this?
Oliver is still in his moses basket in our room, we cannot seem to get him to sleep on his own his a cot!

And:
Does your LO take naps in the day? Oliver is awake allll day and he gets grumpy, so he clearly needs his naps but he just will not give in! Hr will snooze in my arms quite happilly but wont let me put him down.

Also:
Are you able to leave bubs whilest you do house work/shower/ eat/ etc? I cant leave Oli for more than 5mins before he cries..despite puttin the tele on or givin him toys, puttin him in his door bouncer etc.

Basically i'm at my wits end with him, he's just sooo clingy and i feel at 5months he shouldnt be like this so much? What do you reckon?

Thankyou! x

 

[Helen]

It could just be a bit of a phase he's going through. I seem to remember mine being pretty difficult at that age. It was before they could sit up but all they wanted to do was sit. I spent all day trying to prop them up and handing them toys.

It feels like it's going to last forever and then suddenly they sit up and it gets easier (for a little while).

We moved ours into their own room as soon as they were sleeping through and we haven't really had any problems since. I think that helped with the sleeping. I wonder if Ol is getting into a bad habit when he's waking in the night.

Are you having to feed him to get him to settle? Is he weaned? I'm wondering if maybe he's hungry? We were giving ours a late feed (milk) at maybe 11ish until they really got into the solids and then they slept from 7 to 7.

I've heard of folks putting the moses basket into the cot to help their babies get used to them. Might be worth a go.

Black out blinds are our friend. With it getting light so early these days it's the only thing that keeps them asleep!

I think at Ol's age, ours were going for a nap straight after they had their brekkie so I got showered then and did some jobs. I found a routine in the day helped so naps at the same time and after meals when they seemed sleepier.

Can't help on the snoozing in your arms bit cos I've never really been able to do that and I have to put them in their own cots. I don't really have any problems letting them cry for a little while if need to be to get off to sleep, but I know that's not for everyone.

Hope that helps in some way. There seems to be a lot there, but there were a lot of questions!

 

[sweetsammi]

lol thanks Helen. We do usually have to feed him for him to settle in the night again..we'd started to wean him but he got really constipated and started to only take 3oz of milk and no solids at all so we've decided to hold back as advised by HV. We have tried givin him an extra bottle before we go bed but it makes no difference.

Thanx for ur help hun x

 

[mickey]

How do u keep bubs entertained? Used to be easy..but these days Oliver seems unamused at my attempts!

my main aim is not to overstimulate her! so we have e.g. children songs, classical music, chilling jazz, me singing (watching out neighbour's don't her me though, LOL), playing with my face and fingers, tv if on is silent with subtitles..., I am talking to her a lot and show her things, e.g. pigeons and birds outside! or I have her in the sling and let her watch what adults do, e.g. when I prepare food or clean the kitchen surfaces...

How do u get them to sleep through the night? Oliver used to..but now he wakes up twice and i cant get him back into routine!

I think a few mentioned this already and Juleika wakes several times per night!
I read that they are so busy with their new skills, that they even dream of it and start to exercise whilst sleeping.
and I swear, I saw it happen twice now!!! Juleika started her gymnastics and then she woke from it!
so I am pretty sure, it is something very normal at this age!
I just wait and hope it settles on it's own, I mean there is not much I can do to prevent it from happening anyhow!

Does your LO sleep in a cot in his/her own room now? And if so how did u get them to do this?
Oliver is still in his moses basket in our room, we cannot seem to get him to sleep on his own his a cot!

Juleika still does not go to sleep on her own! she either needs to be rocked to sleep in the sling or on the arm, or to be nursed to sleep! sometimes, if I am too tired to put her in the sling and want to nurse her to sleep, but she is too excited from all the new skills and impressions, I will sing to her to calm her down and then I can nurse her to sleep!
sleeping is still a task in our house

Does your LO take naps in the day? Oliver is awake allll day and he gets grumpy, so he clearly needs his naps but he just will not give in! Hr will snooze in my arms quite happilly but wont let me put him down.

I always watch out whether she is rubbing her feet! she is a feet rubbler, which gives indication that she is tired! I even don't wait until she gets grumpy as then it is even more difficult to get her to sleep! rubbing feet + rubbing eyes, then I have to act quickly, otherwise she gets grumpy! and it's not as easy as, I put her in the cot and five minutes later she is asleep. no no, she goes in the sling and then I walk her around, up to 15 minutes!

Are you able to leave bubs whilest you do house work/shower/ eat/ etc? I cant leave Oli for more than 5mins before he cries..despite puttin the tele on or givin him toys, puttin him in his door bouncer etc..

if she is neither tired nor hungry I can leave her up to half an hour nowadays and she entertains herself, with her feet, hands, fingers, by talking to herself or with simple toys like e.g. a rattle!


hope this helps

 

[Stef]

I often wonder just lately about keeping Olivia entertained. Some days she laughs and giggles at me, we sing, make silly noises, do silly things, play with toys, I also read to her & we watch a spot of TV together too and some days she loves it others she just looks a me all serious. I take her out alot in the pram now as she is more awake during the day so she can see different things, she is really nosey so loves to know whats going on around her, My mam has just had her for the weekend and has been feeding ducks etc with her & my mam said she enjoyed it...

Olivia is in her cot in her own room now, At first we put the moses basket into the cot... Well... that was just for 2 nights really as she didnt seem so botherd but it was changing her surroundings with out changing everything at once... So I dont know if that actually worked or if she would have gone straight in any way...

Ive not had any problems with Olivia waking in the night yet... So sorry I cant be of any help.

Olivia usually sleeps during the day but some times she fights herself so much I get to the end of my tether and I have to cuddle her to drop off to sleep, which to be fair I dont really want to do as personally I feel im making a rod fo my own back but she gets so grumpy some days I have no choice but if I puther down as soon as she drops off she realises, so I have to wait half an hour or so until she is in a deep sleep and then I put her down. But weirdly enough between 7:30pm and 8:30pm every day she gets grumpy and wants to be taken to her cot to sleep & no where else will do

Some days im able to go off and do house work and others im not... I cant remember what day it was last week but unless I had hold of her she whinged from dawn until dusk which really took it out of me and nothing I seemed to do helped settle her so again im notgoing to be much help here.

Hope you manage to get some conclusions soon hun.

x

 

[marley2580]

How do u keep bubs entertained? Used to be easy..but these days Oliver seems unamused at my attempts!

I try to let Kaya entertain herself, so I give her different toys such as stacking cups, a ball, soft toys etc as well as safe items like wooden spoons etc. and kind of just leave her to it. If she cries it's usually for food or because she's tired.

How do u get them to sleep through the night? Oliver used to..but now he wakes up twice and i cant get him back into routine!

Kaya only sleeps through the night because I co-sleep and she can feed herself without waking up fully. If it wasn't for that she'd be up three or four times a night.

Does your LO sleep in a cot in his/her own room now? And if so how did u get them to do this?
Oliver is still in his moses basket in our room, we cannot seem to get him to sleep on his own his a cot!

Can't help with this one as I co-sleep, but I don't think I'll be putting Kaya in her own room until she can walk.

Does your LO take naps in the day? Oliver is awake allll day and he gets grumpy, so he clearly needs his naps but he just will not give in! Hr will snooze in my arms quite happilly but wont let me put him down.

Kaya has about three or four naps a day, but she'll fight them. Usually I get her to sleep either by nursing her (but then I have to hold her as she won't go down during the day), or by putting her in the pram and pushing it back and forth until she falls asleep. Her naps usually last 20 - 30 mins.

Are you able to leave bubs whilest you do house work/shower/ eat/ etc? I cant leave Oli for more than 5mins before he cries..despite puttin the tele on or givin him toys, puttin him in his door bouncer etc.

I can only really leave Kaya in the mornings, she gets a bit more demanding in the afternoon. I usually put her in the walker so I can take her into whatever room I'm in and can still chat to her.

 

[~KACI~]

Just a few suggestions that worked for me, maybe oliver is waking in the night because he knows he'll get a feed, try giving him water instead-not as tasty! Also my two are quiet so i can get jobs done if i put cbeebies on. I think for the issues with sleepin maybe a bit of controlled crying, its not nice (i know from personal experience) but it does work xx