Sleep Sense Support Group!

[Cattia]

Hello all! This thread has gone quiet, I don't like it so I am going to drone on and bore you all with our sleep progress (or lack thereof).

TG- Good to see you back, we missed you! I hope you didn't suffer too badly with internet withdrawal. I hate it when I have no internet.

Jacs - hope Evan is not into another spurt, they are just toooo exhausting and confusing too when it comes to night feeds.

Nenee, I agree with Jacs, your LO is doing amazingly! She must be a quick learner, maybe she could come and have a word with Abigail!

HG: Hope your week has improved now that OFSTED have left the building.

Well, we had a good night followed by a bad one. Tuesday night she only woke up for one feed at 2am, and then slept through until 6.30

Last night however, she woke up THREE times, and as we had a friend of my husband's staying who had to get up early to work, I didn't want her to make a lot of noise so I just fed her every time

I am also confused about weaning. We have just started and she seems to love food. The first day I gave her baby rice and she ate a whole portion, same on day two,then yesterday a whole bowl of porridge, then today an entire portion of sweet potato puree. BUT she seems to be off her milk! Whever I feed her she is pulling off the boob. I don't think it is the food since she does it even first thing in the morning when she has not eaten since lunch the night before. I think it is teething because she seems to be slapping her lips around a lot and rubbing her gums with her fingers and her tongue. I also wonder if that is waking her up at night? This evening I gave her some calpol before bed so we shall wait and see.

How is everyone else doing?

 

[hivechild]

Welcome to Jenny and neenee!

Just a quickie since I'm on my phone with the monkey asleep on me.

Jacs, there is actually another around 8 months so you're not wrong there.

TG glad things are going ok. You can come do my housework anytime!

Poppy, that's fantastic that things are going so well for you.

Neenee, glad to hear things have been going great for you too. Makes me so glad Ronan has never taken to a dummy.

Cutie, sorry that you had such a rough night. I hope it gets better soon.

Things have been a mixed bag here the last few days. Ronan went back to waking around 3 for a feed for a couple nights, and his napping has gone to pot these last few days as well. He'd start screaming if I put him down when he got tired, is cranky and cries when I hold him to settle to sleep for a nap and just isn't napping for as long or as well and often wakes miserable or crying. He's also started fighting it in the afternoons whereas before he'd often nap 3+ hours. He's been quite refluxy and spitty lately as well so not sure if thats's contributing. I'm holding to the mantra that 'this too shall pass.'

He has also had a rough time falling asleep in the beginning of the night but once down is good. He even slept through until 5am again last night...so like I said, it's been a mixed bag. I fully anticipated all of this happening around now but it still sucks when you're in the midst of it, no matter how prepared you try to be. My poor hubby has had to put up with me stomping around furiously cleaning the house after the monkey goes to bed because I've been so peeved at not getting anything done during the day and the house getting messier and messier. I got a curry chicken in the slow cooker this morning though and after a quick vacuum later the house will be clean enough that I can relax and hubby won't have to go into hiding!

I hope everyone's nights are full of sweet dreams and pleasant sleep.

 

[hivechild]

Cattia, hopefully it is teething and the calpol helps her settle tonight. Fingers are crossed for you. I'm glad that weaning is going so well too. I'm excited to starft with Ronan even though I'm going to hold out until as close to 6 months as I can as I'm set right now on doing BLW with him. Funnily he already enjoys watching me eat and mimics me with the phantom chewing. Still, it's a fair way off before he gets his hands on any food!

 

[Cattia]

Thanks hive! I really wanted to do BLW but I am under pressure from going back to work and need to get Abigail sorted on food before that. So far I am enjoying i way more than I thought. I hate cooking but spent the whole afternoon steaming veg to do purees yesterday and really loved it! I hope the 3 month spurt doesn;t hit you too hard. It was awful for us but things really settled down once it was over. Until teething kicked in....

 

[hivechild]

Well he hasn't been wanting to feed constantly like prior growth spurts, so I'm remaining hopeful. I'm dreading teething time, too. I'll miss his gummy smile!

As for the BLW, Abigail's not too far off from 6 months. Are you going to try a combination of both? I can't imagine how hard it will be for you to go back to work after all this time.

 

[polaris]

Hi everyone. Still no Internet here, it is so frustrating!

Poor little Thomas had his third set of vaccinations today and cried inconsolably for the whole evening, I felt so awful for him. My poor baby. I decided he needed an early night so he was in bed for 6.30. I didn't think he would settle to sleep as he was crying hysterically while I was putting him in his sleeping bag and nothing seemed to help. But he started to calm down as soon as I put him in the cot and was asleep within about a minute!! Thank goodness he is so good at settling now, I'm sure he was so happy to go to sleep, the poor little thing. I feel so stressed out, I don't know how people cope who have babies with serious illnesses, it just breaks my heart too much.

Really hoping to be back online soon and will catch up properly with you all then. Although I must admit that I certainly get more done about the house without the Internet to distract me!

Jacs - laughing at the thought of your 50+ sunflowers!

 

[Poppy7]

Very quick update from me as I'm on my iPod and typing is tricky....daytime naps are becoming excellent...the last 3 days several of Elliott's naps have been 1 hour and even 2 and a half hours. Amazing progress!!

Nightimes however have not been so great. He has been poorly again though (full of snot) and I think we could see some teeth appearing very soon.

Anyway, you can't have it all and I take the good with the bad! Let's see what tonight brings xx

 

[Poppy7]

Actually, after writing the above post tonight is going so bad -touch wood- will try and update in the morning

 

[jacs]

Hi all!

Cattia, it is quiet on here! Maybe the lovely weather is making everyone too tired to type!
I had my birthday on Friday, then hubby took me out last night for a meal and to see Mark Knopfler. Tomorrow we're continuing our jet-setting lifestyle and heading off to the Lakes until Friday!

Polaris - good to see you! Poor little Thomas, Evan was the same with the third ones, no problem with the others Glad the sunflowers are amusing you - having a nightmare keeping everything watered in the garden at the minute!

Poppy - hope things continued to go well for you, and Elliott's feeling better.


HC - Have things settled down yet? I hate not being able to predict what Evan's going to do with his sleep.

Cattia - the weaning sounds great! Evan started dropping feeds quite quickly too - especially the morning one. I asked my HV and she said that by around 7 months they are down to about 2 feeds (FF though). Evan was on about 5 bottles, now he has 3, but he doesn't take much from the middle one.

 

[cutie4evr01]

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having wonderful nights of sleep so no one needs to post with any questions/concerns.

We have had a good couple days. The past two nights she's only woken for one feed instead of two - my boobs have been so full! She has been settling within 10-15 minutes for bedtime and no fussing at all after the night feed. Her naps have also gotten down to less than 15 minutes of fussing most times, and this morning she took a nap that lasted 1hr, 45 minutes! This is unheard of for her - most naps are 30-45 minutes. She's been eating less frequently, so maybe we're finally finished with the growth spurt. Also today she figured out how to get her arm out of the way and rolled back to front for the first time! Only once, and may have been an accident, but I'm thinking we need to baby-proof our house now that she can roll both ways.

Poppy I hope your nights were better and Elliot is feeling better. Looking forward to hearing updates from you all soon!

 

[PieMistress]

Still here! Still having sleep problems! "two steps forward, one step back" although sometimes it feels like "one step forward, two steps back".

Hope you are all well

Kyle's napping has been brilliant for weeks now but the past few days has really lapsed and I'm not sure why. He's been having 2 x 2hr naps a day in his cot (amazing) but since last Thursday has really struggled to get through one sleep cycle of 45 mins. Not got a scooby why!! Whether it's because he needs less daytime sleep, it's a developmental phase or the hot weather - WHO KNOWS WITH BABIES!!! Ho Hum. Any suggestions?

He still wakens for 1 or 2 night feeds but after initally trying SS to get him through all it did was make everybody upset. Until he's 6 months we are going to give him 10 mins at night then go in and feed him. Still having issues with getting him to take a bottle (mwahhhh - he took some from a doidy cup but it was a very long and messy process and didn't get enough liquid either).. He will take a bottle but it's very inconsistent as to when (I had to come home fro shopping the other day because he refused it) and he also really really fusses

I think Kyle needs to have a 5 minute cry in order to get himself to sleep - does that make sense?

We are going on holiday soon with 2 other couples and their babies and i'm scared of what all the night-time noise will do to his sleeping!! One baby sleeps through but the other one is still feeding every 2hrs in the night so am pretty sure that will wake Kyle up then we will have to do SS to get him back to sleepas I really don't want to lose all of our hard work over the past 2 months (cue - the whole house waking up!).

I think this hot weather is really playing havoc with everybody's sleep!

He's just gone down for his 2nd nap of the day and i'm praying he goes past 45 mins, please please please poppet !!! Better grab some lunch now incase he doesn't!
xxx

 

[Cattia]

Hi all,

PM - sounds as though you have similar issues to us. I've tried and tried to get Abigail to settle without feeding her when she wakes, but in the end I always seem to have to feed her which makes me wonder if I shuldn't just do it straight away anyhow. Hopefully your holiday won't play havoc too much with his sleeping. It's always a worry when doing something new isn't it. I was worried about taking Abigail away (although there weren't any other babies there) but she was fine, if anything she slept better than she does at home!

Cutie, great work and well done to your LO for rolling over. Sounds like she could be on the move before you know it!

Polaris, hope you get your internet sorted soooooon! We miss you. Hope Thomas is feeling better after his jabs.

Poppy, hope things are more settled for you too.

Jacs - interesting to know that Evan dropped his feeds quite quicklytoo. It's been worrying me, but I guess if she needed it she would take it.

Well, sleep has been BAD for us for days, maybe even a couple of weeks now. I think the heat has made things worse. Abigail has started moving around a lot in her cot and waking up in all sorts of weord positions tangled up with the cot bars. Thinking of getting some of those airwrap bumpers to stop her getting her legs caught.

She is waking three times most nights and also waking early in the morning. I am reaching teh stage where I just give in and feed her every time as it's quicker. Re-settling doesn't seem to be working.Not sure what's causing all this. Better go as she is winging and rubbing her eyes.Time for a nap!

 

[hivechild]

Jacs, we're still a little all over the place. He's had a few nights where he has just not wanted to settle to sleep initially and I can't figure out why, and other nights he still goes down ok. His napping is still crappy too and he seems to be going in 30 minute or so cycles.

I can usually get one longer nap than that out of him at some point in the day if I lay down and cuddle with him on the couch but he's still stirring frequently. I know I have to work on getting him to nap alone and to 'string' them together into longer naps but I still need to make sure he gets enough day sleep as well. I can usually get him to fall asleep on his own during the day for at least one nap, usually in the morning but again it doesn't last more than 30 minutes or so. All in good time, I would guess.

Poppy7, I hope Elliot's feeling better. At least he's still doing great with his naps!

Polaris, great to see you checking in. I hope your internet is sorted properly soon.

PM, I can only imagine the chaos of 3 babies under one roof on a holiday. Hopefully you can enjoy it and it doesn't mess with Kyle's sleep too much. I understand what you mean with the cry before sleep thing too. Ronan is usually fine going to sleep at night, but during the day for naps he tends to cry and protest for a little bit before he goes into the zone. It's funny because you can see the look in his eye when he's getting into that state where he's ready to close his eyes and go to sleep. I always end up holding my breath and hoping that nothing attracts his attention or startles him before he drifts off!

cutie, way to go on your LO figuring out how to roll! Great to hear that the sleep is going so well, too. The first few times that Ronan slept a really long stretch I remember lying there waiting and hoping he'd wake up because my boobs were so sore. How's that for defeating the purpose?

Cattia, sorry to hear that Abigail's still having problems sleeping. It makes me glad that we have central a/c & heat in the house so that we can keep the temperature somewhat consistent for him when he sleeps. I have the breathable bumpers on his crib as well. I'd highly recommend them . Between that and using a sleeping bag, Ronan does all kinds of gymnastics in his crib and never gets tangled or caught up.

 

[hivechild]

Ugh, I just closed my browser window by accident after typing up a post and not yet hitting send.

Anyway, the monkey woke up at 2am last night. He hasn't done that for ages so I don't know what was going on. He had a good long feed so he was hungry, but he hadn't fed any less than usual before going to bed. He at least slept until 7am after that before waking for his morning poop. What a way to greet your momma every morning!

Insomnia was also kicking my butt last night. I only got an hour's sleep before he woke at 2, and then 2 1/2 hours after that.

On the good news side of things, he's gone and fallen asleep on his own in his swing (I don't have it on/swinging) for his first nap of the day after his second poop of the morning and he's been out for 35 minutes now. We'll see if he makes it past the 40-45 min mark.

Of course, as is the way, I have stayed awake expecting him to wake up 'any minute now' rather than putting my head down for a quick nap myself.

Edit: Nope, woke at 45 minutes on the dot & is now working on poop #3 for the morning! Let's hope he's amenable to a nice long snuggly nap with me next.

 

[history_girls]

Hello all!!

Sorry it has been a mega week - I thought when ofsted left the building I would be calmer but no! Going away on sat for 5 days and have had no time to do anything (long story won't bore you)

but our sleep news is

Last 5 nights (touch wood) not a single peep between 7pm and around 5.30am! So chuffed and proud of her. I haven't had to do any ss and she is sleeping more at the CM so pleased all round.

Will catch up properly tomorrow but OH has just got back with the jammee dodgers!

 

[staycutee]

i know this is a bit cheeky but could someone please explain to me a quick outline of the bedtime routine she recommends?? I really want to try it but cant afford the $47 or whatever it is!

 

[TennisGal]

argh, P - we've got internet problems, too! DH is getting v cross with providers!! Am currently borrowing a friends connection to just say a big

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!

to everyone! I hope you are all well, that sleepy dust is working well and to give everyone a

DD is 8 months today, and we've had a lovely little day!! Surely we were only talking 7 months about two minutes ago?!

I'll catch up properly v.soon.

Ripples all round!

 

[Cattia]

Hello all,

TG, I missed you! Was wondering where you were. Happy 8 months to DD

HG - Sorry to hear that OFSTED was not the end of your stresses but I hope you have a lovely time wherever you are going.

Hive - We get those early morning poops too! Lovely
Sorry to hear about your insomnia too. That's tough. I sometimes have trouble getting back to sleep after Abigail wakes up in the night, if I am really sleepy then I come on B&B and then that makes me too awake so I can't get back to sleep!

Missmurder - there are differnet options depending on what suits you, but basically you teach them to settle themselves. You can either leave them and go in to reassure them every so often or you can stay with them and reassure them, but you don't pick them up and you get rid of props like dummies, rocking swings, rocking them to sleep or letting them sleep on you etc. We on this thread use these methods with varrying determination and success!

Well, things have gone a little better for us, the past few nights she has been waking between 10 and 11, which is weird as she never used to. I have tried to leave her but have ended up feeding her and she takes a really long feed! Can't imagine how she can be hungry at that time but there we go. She has then been waking again at about 3am then sleeping until about 7, so could be worse I guess.

New developments are that she has a cold so we had a really rough night a couple of nights ago when that was starting up, and she has started doing acrobatics around the cot, ending up entwined in the bars so going to get some airwarp bumpers as Hive suggests. Teething seems to be causing issues too, and weaning is going well but making no difference at all to sleep.

Chat soon! :wave:

 

[Poppy7]

Hello everyone!!

Sorry I haven't been around for a while. In short Elliott has been excellent. A typical evening starts with him going to bed between 7 and 8 pm. He them stirs for a feed around 11-12. He then sleeps until 2.30-3.30am (depending on what time bedtime was, has a feed and then sleeps until 6-7am!!! What a transformation!!

Naps are so much better too!

Will pop back tonight to read how everyone else has been getting on. Just sat here pumping milk right now!xx

 

[cutie4evr01]

HG and Poppy so glad to hear you've had such good nights!

Cattia hope Abigail is feeling better soon, really stinks when they are feeling bad. We are thinking of getting some airflow bumpers also now that C is moving around lots more in her crib.

HC how have the past couple nights been? Hopefully that night waking was just a one off for you. We too have poop nearly every morning between 5 and 6, and sometimes a second an hour or so later, but luckily that's usually all for the day.

Our sleep has not been stellar - she's woken 3 times the past 2 nights (around 9-10, 1-2, and 4-5). Last night she only had 8hr sleep in total! Then today's naps have been awful - she had 2 30 min naps and 1 1-hr nap, so 10 hours sleep total in 24 hours, when really she should be getting more like 14-15 I believe. She really needs some good sleep tonight, but after poor napping, I don't have high hopes. At least the weekend is almost here, so DH can help with napping/entertaining so I can catch up on my sleep! I hope you all are well!