Author Topic: Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?  (Read 108097 times)

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline Onewoman

  • BW Aficionado
  • ***
  • Showing Appreciation 4
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 107
  • Location: Essex, England
Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?
« Reply #195 on: August 17, 2005, 08:26:57 am »
Arwyn's Mum - Yes, knackered is a great word isn't it! I can say that I am also, truly knackered! People keep telling me this 3/4 month time is hard and they are so right. I have been feeling quite overwhelmed with so many things that need altering, fixing, planning for.....etc.

Moving to the 4hr routine is not EASY! She struggled going from 2.5 - 3 hrs, so I guess it will be the same here. She can feed at 3.5 - 4 hrs but can't do the sleep bit yet (though I think she may be sleeping through the 45 minute mark as I type... fingers crossed  :lol: )

I think I may also try the cluster feeding you describe Erin. Good idea!
Susana xx
Mum to Ruby Rose (Spirited, Touchy)
& Ella Joy 4/10/92 (Teenage and hormonal)

Offline Peach

  • New, But Posting Steadily!
  • **
  • Showing Appreciation 2
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 66
  • Location: Ontario, Canada
Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?
« Reply #196 on: August 17, 2005, 13:16:39 pm »
Hi Ladies,

New to the board, but soooo glad we found it!  I'm a first time mom and have so many questions and worries but don't have the benefit of having anyone close to me with a new baby.  So it's really nice to be able to check the boards and find scores of other moms describing the same concerns.  Finally I don't feel alone knowing that my daughter isn't the only one waking up every 2 hours at night, or not eating what I think she should, or struggling with naps, etc, etc, etc.

I found Tracy's book when Kasia was two months old and have since been trying to undo all the accidental parenting mistakes I made prior! (Kasia spent her first month in the hospital and was immediately put onto a 4 hour feeding schedule so lucky for me I've never had to deal with the transitioning issues you talked about!)

I look forward to the months ahead filled with both challenges and all the new and exciting "firsts" and am glad to have found a place to share with others going through the same thing.

Offline Arwyn's mom

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 15
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 583
  • Arwyn -- April 5th, 2005
  • Location: Burnaby, B.C. Canada
Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?
« Reply #197 on: August 17, 2005, 15:40:00 pm »
Welcome Peach!  :D
Ankie
Burnaby, B.C. Canada




Offline herbst99

  • New, But Posting Steadily!
  • **
  • Showing Appreciation 0
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 79
  • Location: Cape Town
Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?
« Reply #198 on: August 17, 2005, 19:42:15 pm »
Hi Peach - Must have been VERY hard the first month in hospital - hope all is well now on health front!!

To all in this thread - THANX for all the advice so far - and if not the advice - for the support.
Nikki - Mom of Lise and Cara


Offline Caroline-Charlies Mummy

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 315
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 7056
  • Charles Arthur 23rd March 2005
  • Location: Newbury, Berkshire
    • Twitter
Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?
« Reply #199 on: August 17, 2005, 19:45:23 pm »
Hello Peach, nice to meet you!

Your lo is gorgeous and not far off the same age as my ds. I'm in the same boat as you - I don't know anyone with a baby (Have never been around one before, with no siblings or anything). This board has been a lifeline for me and I'm sure you'll find that too. Any problems let us know & we'll try to help!

Caroline
Caroline :)





"Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to 'jump at de sun.' We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground." -- Zora Neale Hurston

Offline kq

  • BW Devotee
  • ****
  • Showing Appreciation 12
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 288
  • Auckland, NZ
  • Location: Auckland, NZ
Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?
« Reply #200 on: August 17, 2005, 20:37:15 pm »
Welcome Peach! Well Erin, tried the cluster feed and a 10 pm feed ( he woke up needing his nappy changed!) and we had a better night-2.30 am then 6.30 am! Not sure he was hungry at 2.30 am. When it comes to night wakings, all bets are off and I just pick him up and feed him. Have to try to be more conscious of what he wants...I fear I am accidental parenting by feeding him everytime he wakes overnight. Anyone gone cold turkey to get their lo to sleep for longer overnight? Someone suggested it but I think if he is hungry, he is hungry and I feed. We have only ever had a week of DF and then 5-6 am waking. Since then, it has been twice a night.
Thanks Erin! :D
Take care,
Karen
Karen


Offline Arwyn's mom

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 15
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 583
  • Arwyn -- April 5th, 2005
  • Location: Burnaby, B.C. Canada
Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?
« Reply #201 on: August 17, 2005, 20:54:22 pm »
Karen -- lately, my lo usually gets up twice a night too. She has just resumed this after 3 weeks of waking up every 2 hours. (Thank goodness that's fixed now -- phew!) I'm like you and all bets are off for the middle of the night and I just pick up and feed. Last night, for the first time, I did not pick up and feed at 2 am-- I pat/shushed for 20 minutes. And it worked -- she slept until 6:30! I am not counting any chickens yet... heck, I barely can count the eggs cuz it only worked once.

I was very hesitant to try because I didn't know if I could do it. I made sure she was fed well at 7 and then dream-fed at 11. She is on 4 hour EASY and has been doing well on it for about 5 days and I was pretty certain she was not hungry. I'll see if I have enough courage to try it again tonight for her 2 am waking.

Good luck, hope this helps.
Ankie
Burnaby, B.C. Canada




FrasersMum

  • Guest
Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?
« Reply #202 on: August 18, 2005, 00:44:22 am »
Hi All,

There is no way I have been brave enough to go cold turkey with night feedings - I, like most of you, feed at every waking (although usually we only have one  :D  :D ).  The only exception is when we are having a really rough night - then I try to ensure at least 3-4 hours gap between feedings and pat/ssshh and plug with a dummy to get back to sleep on the other occassions (the other thing I haven't been brave enough to try is PU/PD, the idea scares the hell out of me!!)

An encouraging word for those of you who are still dealing with the 3-4 hourly stretch - ds had a very hard time when he was little sticking to 3 hourly feeds.  We got into the bad habit of 2 - 2.5 hour snacks and it was very hard to stretch that out.  However, we had an almost entirely painless switch to a 4 hr EASY - so good luck to you all, hopefully like in my situation it won't be too hard for you.

Hope all is well with everyone, chat soon

Offline kq

  • BW Devotee
  • ****
  • Showing Appreciation 12
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 288
  • Auckland, NZ
  • Location: Auckland, NZ
Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?
« Reply #203 on: August 18, 2005, 00:52:47 am »
Jo,
We have given up on PU/PD and just do shush/pat as it seems to hype Sam up even more and we then have an all out screaming match until he is hoarse. The other mums might have success with it. Maybe I am doing it wrong.....
Arwyn's mum,
Might try shush/pat for 2 am waking as well. You have given me courage.
Will let you know how it goes!

Karen
Karen


Offline Peach

  • New, But Posting Steadily!
  • **
  • Showing Appreciation 2
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 66
  • Location: Ontario, Canada
Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?
« Reply #204 on: August 18, 2005, 05:34:28 am »
Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the warm welcome!  Well it's 1:00 am and we're having one of those dreaded nights.  Put DD to bed at 8:00 pm but she wasn't able to fall asleep until close to 9:00 pm....knew that meant trouble.  Since then she's been awake at 10:00 pm, 11:00 pm, 12:00-1:00 am.  (Thought I had her sleeping, but I just heard her making noises again.....groan)

Kasia voluntarily dropped her nighttime feeding when she was about 3 months old (and I never did dreamfeed her either) so I'm not sure why she's been waking up so often at night lately.  For the last month she's had her last bottle at 7:00 pm and slept right through to 6:00 am, but last week she started waking over and over again during the night.  I'm sure it's not hunger because I'm not getting any signs that she's hungry.  She's actually not even crying when she wakes up, she just babbles, moans, shouts out a few times....just enough to keep us awake and make us crazy!  Eventually she'll start to cry though, and so it seems that she just doesn't have the ability to self-soothe herself back to sleep.

How do you handle this?  Should I just lie in bed and listen to her chattering and hope she falls back asleep (which she never does), should I keep getting up and down like a mad-woman and giving her the soother (which I've been doing), should I pick her up and try to pat/shh her back to sleep?  Should I try feeding her even though I dread accidentally getting her back on a night time feed?  Every thing I do makes me worry that I'm going to make the situation worse!!  Arghhhh!!!! 

Hope you all are having a better night's sleep than I am tonight!

Nikki~Nathan&Danielle

  • Guest
Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?
« Reply #205 on: August 18, 2005, 07:41:31 am »
Well we're in the boat as the rest of you.  I've been doing mostly 2 night feeds (no DF) for ages with occasionally only one if she manages to make it from 7pm-2.30ish.  I've been feeding every waking and she takes a proper feed.  I think it's a developmental thing for this age - another board I'm on, it seems that a lot of 5mth olds are suddenly waking a lot more and eating - perhaps a sign of needing solids?  I'm planning on holding off for another month though.  But it could also be because they're so much more aware, learning new things etc??  Never had these issues with Nathan, so not really too sure myself! :D

Offline Jayri

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 20
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 993
  • Location: Cornwall uk
Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?
« Reply #206 on: August 18, 2005, 13:10:40 pm »
Just wanted to pop in and say hi to all, especially everyone new.
Life is hectic for us at the moment.
Has anyone tried a dreamfeed. I tried it on Riley, it took about a week or so to have an effect. I usually feed her around 8pm b4 bed, then the df at 11pm or so and lately she has been going trough till 6am normally.
Before the df she was waking at about 1 and then at 4 and then 7, so it made me absolutly exhausted. I enjoy the df, it is a time when I can have her all to myself, just us girls :D .
Just wanted to let you all know my experience with a df, it certainly has helped me with night wakings.  However at first she did have her normal feeds as well as her df, but if you can get through that it is all worth it.
Keeep us posted on the progress ladies!!!
Naomi mum to ds 17.06.03 and dd 26.03.05
&dh together since 23.02.01
[img=http://www.snugglepie.com/ezb/158880.png]http://www.snugglepie.com/ezb/158880.png[/img]

[url=http://www.snugglepie.com][img=http://www.snu

Offline Arwyn's mom

  • Resident BW Chatterbox!
  • *****
  • Showing Appreciation 15
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 583
  • Arwyn -- April 5th, 2005
  • Location: Burnaby, B.C. Canada
Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?
« Reply #207 on: August 18, 2005, 20:08:23 pm »
Hey, does anybody both cluster feed and dreamfeed? I just tried this last night... does this mean I should continue to feed at 7, 9 and her 11 pm dreamfeed? And for how long? That means I am technically dreamfeeding her twice as she is fast asleep at 9 as well.


Peach -- I feel for you... Arwyn did the same thing a while back and it was terrible. It only lasted a few days and then dropped down to 3 times in the night. I just held her and patted to comfort her as I had no idea what to do. I didn't think she was hungry but I also breastfed to comfort her and put her back to sleep. I was up doing this almost every hour and feeding every other hour. She stopped doing that after a few days and gradually, after 4 weeks is back down to only once or twice awakenings in the night. (Could have been a growth spurt... didn't think there was one at 3 months but I guess stranger things have happened.)

To get her down to only once or twice awakenings, we were doing pick up/put down and pat/shushing. I was fortunate that my husband was on parental leave at the time and he could do this because dd cried harder when it was me because she wanted to nurse back to sleep.


Karen -- did pat/shush work? I chickened out and fed at 4 am when Arwyn woke last night!


OMG! Just came from pu/pd & pat/shushing for 50 minutes to extend a nap! I hate it when my precious cries. It breaks my heart and makes me want to give in and just hold her. She is so good at putting herself down for a nap but has trouble sleeping more than 45 minutes! I know she is still tired cuz she looks it and wakes up screaming. When she has had enough sleep, she just wakes up and makes little noises to let me know she is awake.

Gonna make myself some tea now... need to unwind after "screaming baby".

Take care everyone.
Ankie
Burnaby, B.C. Canada




Offline kq

  • BW Devotee
  • ****
  • Showing Appreciation 12
  • Gender: Female
  • Posts: 288
  • Auckland, NZ
  • Location: Auckland, NZ
Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?
« Reply #208 on: August 19, 2005, 01:01:57 am »
Sorry but I am really pleased to see that I am not alone with night wakings. The health nurse at our 3 month visit said that Sam should be sleeping through and I should just let him cry and see...I instantly disregarded that advice!
With regards to dream feeds, I dropped that a while back as he was waking up and then had to put himself back to sleep and that seemed to disrupt his sleep for the rest of the night. Am gradually re-introducing it now that we have got him taking a bottle, previous DF was breast! DH did it last night but Sam only took a negligible 2 oz and was too fast asleep to take anymore (sigh! just can't win!)
He woke at 2.30 am and I tried shush/pat for a few minutes but by then I was awake and he looked really hungry-he was chewing on his blankets, my thumb when it got too close to his mouth! I felt awful!
Oh Arwyn's mum, I am also cluster feeding (of sorts). On Erin's suggestion, I cluster in the evenings in between naps so I do 2 pm, 4 pm and 6.30 pm or something like that depending on what time he wakes.  I found that as I was transitioning from 3-4 hourly and had dropped a feed, that he was re-claiming that feed overnight. Now we are down to one night waking (fingers crossed!)
I have also just done shush/pat for 20 minutes to extend a nap and now he is still asleep and it is time for his next feed...I am going to give him 15 minutes before I wake him, I think :?
Have a good day,
Karen
Karen


Nikki~Nathan&Danielle

  • Guest
Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?
« Reply #209 on: August 19, 2005, 05:15:05 am »
Karen - ah yes, good old plunket huh?  Drives me nuts when they suggest that! :twisted: