Sleep Sense Support Group!

[polaris]

Nap Code Red today - DD wasn't even napping on me! She's been up 11 hours, and has only had three hours nap...! Chill out didn't work for us, DD decided that she could do a jig to Beethoven, refused to watch 'In the Night Garden', and playing 'grab Mummy's nose' was infinitely preferable to dancing. lol! I couldn't help but laugh - but am now a bit concerned she's not really napped at all.

HG - crying is just horrid

Polaris - nap success! I think you get the 'Nap of the Day' ripple award

Cat - I've found that bedtime seems to operate completely differently to naptime, she settles fine at night...and her nap routine hasn't really affected that.

Working...bleurgh...am hoping to do most from home, and go in for client meetings. Problem is, there are SO many client meetings! HG - great that you have long hols. Wonder if I could start a business designing baby houses?! I get to design castles - which I've always wanted to do, not much call for architects to do castles nowadays - and babies get amazing houses to play in, lol.

Loving the Nap of the Day ripple award, LOL!!

Actually I think he was just having a sleepy day in general, he just wanted to eat and sleep all day and was falling asleep on the boob even when he'd just got up from long nap.

It's awful when they don't nap - you can just see them getting more and more over-tired - couldn't help but laugh at your description of her reaction to 'chill out' time - hope she sleeps well tonight.

 

[PieMistress]

Evening All,

Well Kyle still has the runs so OH has gone to see Dave Gorman with a friend instead (it was to be our first date out since Kyle was born!) but I didn't feel happy leaving him really not feeling 100%.

I have Kyle booked in to start nursery (full-time sob) in July. Somebody said I shouldn't stress too much about naps as they will get into a nap routine at nursery with all of the other babies anyway ... still July is a long way off! We had no nap success today really apart from 30 mins in his cot this morning but we did have lots of tears from both of us he didn't even nap in his pram when I went shopping but got all wide-eyed looking at everything!! I'll be surprised if he sleeps as well as he did last night given he's had 90 mins less nap time than yesterday, ho hum!!

Does anybody fancy chumming up on facebook (if you use it?)

TG - Am sure Kyle must read this thread and everytime I post how pleased I am that he slept longer in the night thinks he will change and keep me on my toes! Sorry to read that you didn't have good naps today

Cat - I think what Polaris said about not trying everything at once is a good idea - it can get really stressful!! We started with bedtimes as his self-settling here is helping him with naps. My OH pointed out that I probably wouldn't be able to sleep for 2hrs during the day without waking up so it must be hard for our LOs to do it - guess he's got a point!

History - it's good that you've found a childminder that you are happy with -we swithered about nursery vs childminder but found a nursery very near my work with great hours (7.30am to 6pm) which kind of swayed it for us in the end although we didn't really look into childminders for some reason (not sure why ??!!)

Polaris - I also feel like Kyle starts screaming if he knows a nap is coming. He deffo doesn't look forward to them the way I think he looks forward to bedtime. As soon as we pick him up and start the lullaby cue for naps he starts crying, then when calm and we put him in his sleeping bag he starts again (

It's so quiet in the house without OH!! Have got a bowl of veggie broth, 2 episodes of Gossip Girl and a walnut whip waiting for me!!

Sending lots of sleepdust to everybody xx

 

[TennisGal]

PM, hope Kyle feels better very soon! Real shame it coincided with Dave Gorman...still, Gossip Girl and a walnut whip is a not a bad substitute at all!

I don't use FB - but even when we do have our LOs in a set routine, I'd like to keep this thread going so we can all let each other know how things are going?

P - I know, reaction to chill out time was quite the opposite!! Was very funny!

 

[polaris]

PieMistress - that is a shame you missed your night out - I found it very hard to leave Thomas with a 'babysitter' (his auntie) first time and I very nearly cancelled and he wasn't at all unwell - I definitely wouldn't have gone if he wasn't 100%. I still don't really feel enthusiastic about leaving him with anyone for the evening even though he's in bed before 7 and never really wakes before midnight so they would probably only get to listen to the monitor for the evening.

I do have a Facebook account although I definitely spend more time on B&B, but PM me your details and I will add you if you like. I agree with TennisGal about keeping this thread going, I love hearing how everyone is doing!

 

[Cattia]

Hello all, I have not been here for a while, what have I missed? As you probably saw from my thread in baby club, poor little Abigail has been in hospital She's on the mend now though, but what a scare! Anyway, while she was there she slept in a big hospital cot and settled no problems. She actually slept through nurses pumping IV antibiotics into her arm! We decided it was time to move her from her moses basket into her big cot at home, so tonight is the first night. She went down as usual - no problem at all, and she actaully looks a lot more comforatble. I am paranoid that we are going to get a false alarm from her sensor pad because of the change in thickness of the mattress.

When we were in hospital she fed 6 times in the night and she still has a touch of runny tummy so her night time routine is kind of messed up.

Naps - well, no progress there. I have decided in view of the stress of the last few days to just cruise with things the way they are at the moment. She goes down in her basket / cot no problem but won't sleep for more than 45 mins, so I am going to just go with short naps until she hits 4 months which seems to be a magic age in terms of sleep for lots of people then we will try working on the longer naps again.

Sorry for the loong rambling post.How is everyone else doing?

 

[TennisGal]

Cattia Was thinking of you. Must have been so scary. So glad she's well and home - let us know how she gets on in her cot.

We're battling with naps here - decided that our LOs can read this thread, and have decided to make a mockery of our nap plans! Except Polaris and Thomas, who have won today's 'Golden Nap' ripple award.

Good to see you - and for you and Abigail.

 

[Cattia]

Thank you TG
Well done Polaris and Thomas! Thomas is really showing the rest of the babies up here! I think he needs to have a word with Abigail, that's for sure!

 

[polaris]

Thank you TG
Well done Polaris and Thomas! Thomas is really showing the rest of the babies up here! I think he needs to have a word with Abigail, that's for sure!

But as TennisGal says, if he is secretly reading the thread he is probably having a great laugh at the thoughts of the nap hell he is probably planning to inflict on me today, LOL! (hopefully not!)

 

[CatStorey]

Morning all x

That's great that it should be ok to start on naps once nightime is sorted I don't think i could cope after seeing Chloe crying so much at night having to go through it all day as well! For me the nights are a biggy. Maybe when I go back to work (my sister has given up her job to look after Chloe!) I will add it into her contract she can sort out naps ;-)

PieMistress - Such a shame you missed your date with oh. But I couldn't have left lo either so totally understand. Hope he gets better soon x Ive only been out once with oh to a friends leaving party. I could only stay for a couple of hours as Chloe woke every hour before we started Sleep Sense!
PM me your details and i will add you to my Facebook x But we must def keep this group going too, i think I will need support for a long time yet!!

Cattia - Big hugs for you and Abigail x Hope she is getting better and how did it go in the big cot??

I put Chloe down last night and she only cryed for a few minutes, then groaned for about 10 mins and fell asleep!! That was fantastic and a deffinatly an improvment
She then woke at 8.45pm, gently cryed for 10 mins and fell back to sleep. Again good news. Rest of the night wasn't so good.
She woke at 2.10am and half cryed half groaned for 25 mins, cryed for 10 mins then went back to sleep.
Woke again at 3.55am, cryed for 30 mins then back to sleep.
Woke again at 4.55am, cryed for 30 mins then back to sleep.
Woke again at 5.50am crying then we got up.

I've noticed she has started to use her thumb. Once she starts sucking that or her blankie she calms down and starts to drop off. Just a shame it takes her a long while to find it.

Tonight is night 4 of the program. How did you ladies find your lo's were doing by this stage?

 

[TennisGal]

Morning!

That's a definite improvement, Cattia - and from this point on, things get a lot better. I think the programme says day 10, but I think from the week mark things really take shape. I think DD settled well, as she loves her thumb, also! Really helps them settle, doesn't it? I bet you'll notice a big difference

I'm the same as you regarding naps I find the crying just so hard - and she gets MORE upset for naps than she ever did or does at bedtime. Bedtime was the major thing for us, as no one was getting any sleep!

We had a good night, but I was wide awake after dreaming I was stuck in a haunted house. Awful! I had to go and get a glass of water and calm myself down, lol (I can laugh now its light!)

Am getting a bit concerned at the mo that DD is feeding very little - not frequency, amount. She is BF, but only takes five mins at a time! She 'speed feeds', so hoping she gets enough. Ladies in BF section have calmed me...just going to pop her on the scales later.

We'll try chill out time again today...I'll let you know what she thinks, hehe.

Right, we've got a nappy code red to deal with...back later!

 

[ms0206]

Morning all,
I hope everyone had a good night.
CatStorey: I found that it got easier as the week went on, however she still does have a bit of a moan when she goes down. Well I say I moan more of a shouting at her hands, stuffing them in her mouth and then falling asleep.
Well my DD slept through the night (YEAAHHH) and got up at 6:15, I was sooo pleased. She has went back for a nap and so far it has been 30mins, hopefully we have a better nap day today.

 

[TennisGal]

Congrats, MS!! That's fab!!

 

[polaris]

CatStorey - hugs, sounds like an exhausting night - but well done persisting with it and the good thing is that she is getting lots of practice at self-settling! I think it's good that she is starting to find her thumb, she will get quicker at finding it over the next few days - when Thomas started to suck his thumb at first it was like he had to work it out from scratch every time, then he developed a little system to find it, he would run his hand down his face, grab his nose with his fingers and this seemed to guide his thumb into his mouth, LOL. Do you give your LO a comfort blankie or a muslin - I have started giving Thomas one and I think it does help him to calm himself down too.

ms0206 - woohoo - that's great that your LO slept through! Love hearing about the progress people are making!

Cattia - I hope your night went well with the transfer to the big cot - I guess though it is probably to be expected if she is bit unsettled for a few days after the hospital stay, especially if she is still a little bit poorly.

TennisGal - I thought we had banned you from the scales! Or if we didn't we should have, LOL! I am starting to get the impression that you might be a little bit of a worrier, LOL - from your descriptions of your LO she sounds really healthy and happy - I'm sure she is taking what she needs - they do get more efficient at feeding - Thomas is the same, sometimes he just has a five minute feed and I'm sure he can't have taken much but then his stomach is glugging around full of milk so I figure he must have taken more than I think! However, I do find that Thomas is very distractible during the day while feeding, he tends to feed much better at night, I'm sure if I could get him to concentrate properly on his day time feeds then he wouldn't even need the night feed anymore!

 

[PieMistress]

Morning All,

NOT a good night (and we've been doing this programme now for 2 weeks!!) ... but he is poorly (his nappy had leaked through the vest, sleepsuit, sleeping bag, sheet and through to the mattress liner!!) Kyle's waking up times in the night are sooooo inconsistent. On Tues night he only woke up once at 3.30am for a feed, then up for the day at 7.30am. Last night he woke up at 11.30pm and then 5.00am, then up for the day at 6.30am? Looking back he seems to only manage these longer sleeps every few days.

I emailed Sleepsense to ask if I could email some questions rather than use my telephone call so will prepare some today.

Just gone down for his first nap which was a fight as usual. I find it so stressful how upset he gets and worry that all this screaming before a nap is harming him (am I being daft??) I think I might go upstairs just before the 30 mins is up and try to pre-empt his crying!!

Sainsburys 1/3 off baby stuff starts today so think we'll go out later and stock up!!

x

 

[history_girls]

Morning ladies!

Things always look better in the morning and going to work dosen't seem tooo bad today. Maybe the promise of a new laptop to use at school/home from OH has helped! I'm so shallow.....

Last night out for the count easily until 12.15 - half hearted feed. woke up at 2 but dealt with herslef, 5.30 quick cuddle from daddy and back down until 7. I think the 5.30 she would get up but we don't want to! So we are getting there. Was not interested in morning milk and only had half a night feed so when OH is home tomorrow night it is operation no night feed!

PM - the night time poo! Always takes two hours to resettler her after she does one. our LO has random good nights too.

Cattia - great to see you back. Hope she is well on the way to being better.

The beanbag is back! within ten mins of moaning she went to sleep on her own! massive progress for us - haven't had that in 10 days. I'm following the rules today and staying in the room with her for at least an hour. She has stirred, looked at me across the room and gone back off. Small steps! Oh is in meetings all day so can't phone to share our smal success!

You wait she will be up in ten mins!

Quick question - how many of you still have LO in room? got to share with LO in a week and really worried we will wake her when we go to bed?

 

[polaris]

PM - big hugs hun. But it's just one not so good night, Kyle is doing so well in general and definitely moving in the right direction. He's still a good bit younger than most of the LOs on this thread too - so I think he is doing amazingly well really!

HG - Yay for the nap success!!! That is fantastic - definitely a good idea to bring back the beanbag. Hope she has a nice long sleep.

Well we only managed a 45 minute nap this morning, he chatted to himself for 10 minutes when he woke up before starting to cry, no chance of going back to sleep. Oh well we'll try again for the next nap.

 

[PieMistress]

Quick question - how many of you still have LO in room? got to share with LO in a week and really worried we will wake her when we go to bed?

history - we still have LO in our room, we just check his breathing is heavy when we go into bed at night and that he's not hovering in that light sleep phase.

Polaris - thanks for the kind words of reassurance! Thomas is oh so cute BTW!

Just wondering, at what age should BF babies be able to sleep through the night without food? I think Kyle is still too young and I don't mind one night feed at the moment. How old were your LOs when they dropped the night feed (could still be wakening but just not for food?) x

 

[history_girls]

One hour and 45 on bean bag in travel cot!!!!!

So chuffed! i didn't move a muscle but had tv on, curtains open (pre sleepsense nap routine), sister phoned and she went on her own with nunu on head and stayed down. Now very happy and giggling.

Will she do it later? hope so.

Thanks for the tip about checking asleep pm.

We ff but not going through the night without food but in last few days showing signs of being able to or not needing the feed. But she is a gannet. and a big girl for her age

 

[ms0206]

History: we still sleep with our LO in our room she doesn't wake up with us going in and our of the room. If anything she wakens us up when she moans and moves about in her sleep! Good news on the nap front.
PM: Sorry you had a bad night just remember that he has learned to self settle and that is fab for his age.
First nap of the day for us was good she managed 1hr 10mins, which I think is a record. Second nap I have cheated, went out for a walk in the pram but I feel justified as I feel I am multi-tasking. The dog needs a walk and she needs a sleep.
Can I ask when she had her first nap she slept solid for the first 35mins then woke up feel asleep again for 10mins then woke up but didn't cry just moved about a lot then dozed again. Is this normal?

 

[polaris]

One hour and 45 on bean bag in travel cot!!!!!

So chuffed! i didn't move a muscle but had tv on, curtains open (pre sleepsense nap routine), sister phoned and she went on her own with nunu on head and stayed down. Now very happy and giggling.

Will she do it later? hope so.

Thanks for the tip about checking asleep pm.

We ff but not going through the night without food but in last few days showing signs of being able to or not needing the feed. But she is a gannet. and a big girl for her age

That's fantastic!! Bet she's in so much better form now after a proper nap! Really hope she does it again later!

PieMistress - I am still feeding Thomas at night - the time varies but usually sometime between 2 and 3 and he will then go back down with no difficulty at all until 6.30 when we get up. He has gone all night without a feed twice but I don't really think he's ready to go straight through yet on a regular basis - he always seems very hungry for his night feed and to be honest feeds a lot better than he normally does during the day (hmmm could be a slight problem there?) But I also worry about whether it would affect my supply the next day if he doesn't feed at night so I am happy to continue with one night feed for the moment - I think that is pretty normal for babies of this age. He went back to two night feeds for three nights recently but I think that was because he was having a bit of a growth spurt as he has suddenly grown out of all of his 0-3 clothes! (at least we got a good bit of wear out of them though as he's nearly 5 months)

I have Marc Weisbluth's book 'Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child' (I know - I am totally obsessed with babies sleep!) and he says that some babies continue to need one or even two night feedings until nine months of age - he says that as long as it's just for a feed and then back to sleep then this shouldn't be seen as a problem, but that if you are feeding more often than this then this leads to a lack of proper consolidated sleep for your baby and is therefore considered a night waking problem.

We are onto nap number two of the day. I am trying to keep him up for two hour blocks between his naps, with the last 20 minutes 'chill out' time. He struggled a bit to make it to the two hours probably because of the short morning nap - but I think the chill out time is helping him to settle down for the nap with less crying than normal. I think one of the mistakes that I have been making was moving him around a lot between different activities when he started getting frustrated and cranky (because I've been trying to stretch his awake time to see if that will improve the length of his naps) - now that I think about it he must have been totally over-stimulated by that - so I think the chill out period is definitely a better idea for us.