Just - why? So frustrated!

[binxyboo]

I am sorry. I am confused...I thought you were trying no feeds before 8 hours? or had you decided against that again?

[skatty]

Is it possible that you could rearrange sleeping arrangements for a while by moving A's cot in with you and maybe DH having a bed in with Stan? You could then just focus on A without worrying about S and consistantly do the same thing while not having to worry about S waking. Also are there any nights that DH can deal with A so you can sleep?

[anna*]

Last night she was so OT that she Didn't have a bedtime feed - so last night all bets were off, and actually it was 8hrs from 4pm-12am

[skatty]

It is so hard when LOs are OT at this age as it is almost impossible to get good naps but they are necessary to get good nights  Have you tried reducing daytime A times?

[binxyboo]

Was that her first wake up at midnight?

[anna*]

Michelle she had woken at 7.30, 8.30, 9.30 - each time I had tried to feed her (knew she would be hungry because of no bedtime feed) but she refused but settled back to sleep easily within a few minutes.

Katt, I have tried going on cues. We had been extending A times because there was a suggestion that a) she seemed to nap better after a long A time and b) maybe the NWs were UT. Trouble is (as you know) is that even with the same A time I can get a 30 mins nap one day or a 2 hr nap the next day with no rhyme or reason to it. Also, NWs seem to stay the same whatever our day looks like. I have not had any luck getting a run of several good nap days in a row, so no idea what her nights would be like if she was consistently getting good naps.

She is with the childminder again today - a mixed blessing because she will be sooooooo tired when she comes home. Poor kid, she looked so tired already by 9am, dark circles under her eyes.

[binxyboo]

So late here now, so will have a think about it tomorrow. She is a conundrum! But God knows, she is a beautiful baby. Love that avatar. Has she fed ok this morning or still on strike?

[binxyboo]

Just had a thought. I know you are keen on having a good stretch of time without feeding in the night. Have you thought about trying a different cutoff....say from midnight to 5 or 6 no feeds? So, if she wakes earlier in the evening, feed, then nothing til the early hours in the morning...you could feed and bring her into bed with you then and doze til wake up. If it were me, I just wouldn't see the point of trying to resettle in the evenings when I am still up...I would just feed, tank her up for the night so to speak. I would push for that period of no feeding at a time when I want to be asleep myself.

[anna*]

Michelle she rarely wakes before midnight. Last night was unusual because she was SO very overtired, and I did try to feed her at each and every waking but she wouldn't latch on at all.

When we were doing the dream feed we decided to drop it because it seemed to just make her wake more often for example she would often wake up again just 2hrs or so after a DF.

[anna*]

So late here now, so will have a think about it tomorrow. She is a conundrum! But God knows, she is a beautiful baby. Love that avatar. Has she fed ok this morning or still on strike?

Still on strike I even pumped until let down and then tried to latch her on but she just turns her face away and cries and pushes me away with her hands and feet.

[skatty]

I feel for you Anna because L was the same, all her naps were so inconsistant and she would have terrible NWs, it was only when she went to one nap early at 12 months we got into any routine  She reminds me so much of L. Does she get easily OS? I think this was a huge problem for L, the more that happened in teh day the worst the night 

[anna*]

She's a hard one to read Katt. She is so amiable and smiley and never SEEMS overtired or overstimulated until it is too late, yk? We try to keep things as low key as we can but it is hard with a big brother who basically leaps about making explosion noises and doing kung fu for most of his waking life 

[babymunkey]

She is so amiable and smiley and never SEEMS overtired or overstimulated until it is too late, yk?

Anna this is B to a T.....impossible to read. I took her to he docs again yesterday for a bad cough as I'm worried about her getting sick again and the doc said "she seems well in herself, quite happy!" and I said - "well don't let that fool you cos that got her 10 days in hospital last time"

Soo frustrating, I have no words of wisdom, just know that I will be awake in the night with you!

[becj86]

Is she loud and seemingly happy, Anna? When DS is OS/OT, he gets really overhappy - raucous giggling and huge grins, etc. It took ages for me to twig that was not a good thing for him. Is there somewhere you can set up as a quiet place where you can remove her to periodically to wind down (not for sleep, just to relax) so she doesn't get so OS? I did that with DS from about this age and it helped a lot. He even started going there on his own once he was mobile, particularly if we had people visiting and it was too much for him.

[skatty]

I remember something that really helped L at this age and that was to spend some time in the garden in her pushchair, she loved it! It did help that she slept in her pushchair for naps so I would put her in with her dummies for her winddown and she would drop off. I can't imagine how hard it is having a lively older kid in the house and a baby