Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?

[kq]

Welcome Traci! Congratulations on your lo's progress. It will just get better!
Nikki, I was worried about the constipation issue as well with solids. Will be interested to hear how you get on. On describing the poos, you are spot-on (no pun intended). On the plus side, no pooping in the middle of the night..Sam often does his on the weekend, during the day, don't ask me why! Thank you for giving me the encouragement to go to the full 4 hour routine. We have transitioned nicely and naps are now back to 1.5-2 hours .  Down to 1 night waking but Sam insists that 5.30 am is his new wake up time. I try shush/pat but he thinks it is a HUGE game and chuckles and chats through it. His bedtime is 7 pm so I don't know how to make it earlier to try and get him to sleep later.
Oh well, I just go to bed earlier and roll with it. Hope he grows out of it soon.
I go back to work in October and am dreading it!

[Little Bear's Mum]

KQ - did you notice any difference in your LO's naps when you started unswaddling one arm? I wonder if my ds will sleep less if I unswaddle. And, would that only happen for a few days until he's used to it, then start sleeping longer again. Normally my ds naps are 1 -2 hours. I find ds doesn't settle so well unswaddled so am reluctant to try. On the other hand, like you I want him unswaddled by summer.

Peach and Colesmum, my DS is also 4 months 4 weeks, born 11 April. Isn't it amazing how much they've grown in such a short time! I look at my friends who have got babies 3 weeks and another 5 weeks old, and they look soooo tiny and new. Not like DS at all. Yet it wasn't long ago he was like that too.

Well done Colesmum on the sleep settling. Doesn't it feed great to acheive something with our LO's when we know we can change something and it works! My DS got over the 40min nap problem due to my persistence and I so pleased (for him and me!).

I read on another post somewhere about the time they go to bed at night can alter their morning wake up. My DS has always gone to bed between 6.30 - 6.45pm and slept until 5am. Sometimes waking betwen 2-4am to feed sometimes not. Since starting DF is still sometimes waking. But at 5am he thinks it's time to get up. I'm going to try putting him down earlier tonight to see what happens. He slept thru last night from 6.40pm - 5am without d/f or anyother feed, but I think that was cos he was exhausted as yesterday was all out of whack! Stayed awake for 4 hours during one stretch! It was Father's Day here in NZ and we joked that he just wanted to hang out with dad (LOL).

Anyway, that's enough from me. I'll keep you posted as to whether the earlier bedtime helps. Who knows... we can but try!

[Jayri]

Is it me or do we all seem to be having problems with our lo's sleeping?
Riley isn't doing too bad, we have given her some cereal the past couple of days, my milk just didn't seem to be enough to last her the 4hrs we normally have between feeds. Man does she have an appitite.
She has discovered that she can roll on her belly in the crib, so that is making pd time a little harder, we get her settled good enough, but then she wakes up as she rolls in her sleep. We left her tonight instead of keep going in and doing it for her, she just grunted and groaned a couple of times and then was out like a light.
We are having MAJOR sleep issues with ds though, I thought I would put it on the sleep boards but I am putting it here first as i know a few of you have lo's around Jayson's age.
He has a hard time falling asleep by himself. We didn't know about bw when we had him, so we put him to sleep ourselves, and due to various circumstances, dh found it easier to sleep with ds to put him to sleep. We have been trying since christmas with this.
We would try sitting at the end of his bed, but with two kids, dh normally falls asleep with him, I could try it now, but dh is not sure on me staying with him. but as i explain to him, if we can teach dd to fall asleep on her own, then we can teach ds.
I don't want to try music, as I explained to dh it will become a prop and then we are back at sq.1. we have tried reading, letting him look at his books on his own.
What we need is a plan, a routine, but dh feels tied down when we try it.
Does anyone have any suggestions, we need to balance with the two of us now, but I am hoping to get a new job and go back to work in the new year. So it needs to be something we can eventually do on our own individually.
I will pop off for now, I don't want to make this too long.
TTFN

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

Karen, great that the 4hr EASY is working out for you! 

Naomi, I'm also wondering if Danielle is gearing up to needing solids, she only seems to last 3hrs after her 11am feed (if she's happened to wake early) but then will last from 2pm-6.30pm.  She's still feeding once in the night, so not too concerned just yet, but did buy some pears in the groceries in the weekend just in case I decide to offer some soon - although I really want to hold off until 6mths if poss.

As far as your sleeping issues with Jayson - have you got the new BW book?  I think there is quite a section in there dedicated to a gentle removal plan.  So sitting next to him (or sleeping on a blowup mattress on the floor), then gradually moving away over the course of a few weeks or longer.  But definitely worth the investment in time to do it, you will definitely need to get a solid plan first and then remain consistent through the transition - and your DH will really need to be on board and not fall asleep (my DH did that one night when we were working on a particular issue too  :wink: ) .  Just checked the book, if you read chapter 7 from pg 264.

HTH

[Jayri]

Thanks for the tip Nikki, I am going to pour over the chapter and see what i can pull from it.
I think what dh has a prob with is that he wants to see imediate results. Like intead of right away I need to convince him that we need to do this over a few nights. I think with us it is frustration at the situation more than anything, but I know it will be so worth it when we find the thing that works.

BTW, welcome traci to our corner of things, it is always nice to have someone new on here!!

[Little Bear's Mum]

Hi everyone, have any of you heard of the book called "No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantely. I think it's quite in line with Tracy's thoughts. I've just ordered a copy of it and am hoping it will be here tomorrow. Aparently it's great! Can't wait to read it and get some tips. Mostly ds is fine at going to sleep without crying, except for the mid afternoon nap. But I thought it could help with sleeping through. And also, he may sleep well now, but it's not to say he always will, with teething coming up etc.... We've never done PUPD so don't know if I could. Looking forward to seeing if he sleeps longer tonight due to an earlier bedtime.

[Arwyn's mom]

Welcome Traci!

Jayson & Riley's mom

Is it me or do we all seem to be having problems with our lo's sleeping?

 :lol: I just commented to some friends today about how obsessed I have become about Arwyn's sleep. Naps, short naps, catnaps, night-time sleep, going to sleep, staying asleep, where to sleep, how long she sleeps... etc. The list goes on...

[kq]

Little Bear's mum, unswaddling during naps did not seem to affect sleep but we were battling 45 minute naps and like Nikki said in one of a posts..I figured it could not get any worse. He seems to do fine now with 4 hour routine and naps well. Today, freed his other arm and woke up crying. Went straight back to sleep after I swaddled that one arm. Will have to wean him SLOWLY, I think.Will be interested to hear how you get on with "No Cry Sleep Solutions" book.
Too right about being obsessed with sleep, I find myself adding up the hours etc.
Hope everyone and their lo's have a good night tonight.
Karen

[FrasersMum]

Hi all,

Well yes, we've been having some dramas with the sleeps too - but I think there's a reason.

Have just got back from the doctor and Fraser has tonsillitis again.

He's been on a feeding strike since yesterday morning and has been generally miserable (well, more miserable than usual).  Any way, more meds for my little boy.      

We too are tettering on the brink of solids, but are trying to hold out til the magic 6 month mark.  I just heard from a friend who spent yesterday at the hospital with her DS who had an allergic reaction to rice cereal - they gave him 6 mth + and he's only 5.5mths.

Take care all.

[Little Bear's Mum]

KQ, interesting about the swaddling, especially what happened when the second arm was out. I think I might give it another week or so and then try one arm. Or just by loosening the wrap so he can get it out himself.

Tonight's our first early bed time, 6pm and he's in bed. He decided to do a 3hour EASY all day today. Don't know why but 4 hours just wouldn't work out due to his sleeping and he was hungry before then anyway. Fed well though, so that's all that matters I guess. He still managed a 2 hour nap, 45 minute and 1 hour which is good in my books. The 45 min nap was a result of me not clock watching properly and putting him down after 1h 30mins awake, not 1 h 45mins as usual. I just knew he'd wake early and he did (LOL).

Anyway, let's see what this early bed time brings. I'm not going to dreamfeed either, just to see what happens. I didn't last night and he slept all night without feeding.

I know what you mean about the sleep obsession... I think it's partly because it's what people always ask about, "Does he sleep thru the night" as if that's the sign of a good baby. WHICH IT'S NOT.  But we become obsessed ourselves. Also, when baby sleeps, we get a break, which is great, so sleep is always welcomed!

[BiancaB]

Hello Everyone
 
Things are going well for us lately, I have dropped the Df totally this week and Si has been sleeping straight through with no wakings so far!

I reckon this age is great, they get so chubby (Si has double chin!) and from 6-9months they are just so cute! Sienna has absoulutely NO hair!
 I thought she would at least have a few more strands then her brother had, but no she will be like me aswell...bald as a badger until 2 yrs :shock: I'm not overly worried about starting solids as of yet, I like to coincide it with the first teeth and all this saliva and putting things in the mouth to me is a developmental stage..getting ready for food but not quite there yet.
Had to laugh about the sleep obsession thing, totally know where you are all coming from...but don't worry about it..Sleep is such an important thing for them and I was told once that when they sleep there brain grows!So better to be obsessed then not care at all. I see such a huge difference in babies and children that are sleep deprived and those that aren't..particularly in there behaviour! Anyone who has an overtired 2 yr old knows exactly what I mean! :lol:
Naomi- I wouldn't change what your doing with Jayson's sleeping unless you are both 100% commited because it will be a rough road to retrain him at this age and unless your dh is backing you up I would hold off a little while.. This age is a hard one for them already and getting a peaceful nights sleep makes a big difference. But if you decide to go for it then we are all here to give you as much support as we can.
Take care all
Bianca

[Colesmom]

i am sooooo exhausted today.  DS just didn't want to sleep last night.  I think it's cause i tried to extend his feeds so one feed was cut out.  i think i'm just going to stay on a 3-3.5 hour easy.  That at least had me going from DF to close to 5am.  last night he was up 10pm (fed-close to DF), midnight, 1, 2:30-4:00 (fed), 5:30 (fed), 6:50.

DH has had a fever since sat. night so i've been trying to keep things quiet.  i'm sure that hasn't helped DS in learning to settle himself as i keep interfering.

Could you ladies please help me with something.  I'm just learning his cues...and I'm not sure when to put him in the crib.  Does everyone just put their lo down when they are drowsy, say 5 min. before the end of A time?  I think I'm putting DS down too early.  Of course, part of this is because I was hoping to catch the end of the previous window if i'd read his cue wrong, know what i mean?
I'm doing a wind down routine...just not sure how long you let them settle in the crib.  Doesn't help that yesterday he seemed fine going down for first nap after 1.75 hours...and this morning it seemed closer to 2.  I guess it will just take some time to adjust.

I also don't think i'm being consistent enough.  Sometimes I'll let him cry for a couple minutes because it seems that I'm bothering him while he's trying to settle...other times I'll pat/shhh.  Oh well, at least he won't remember and hate me when he's older

Encouragement needed please as I nod off at the keyboard...

Traci

[Jayri]

Traci with my dd i did pat/shh at every pd time. Sometimes it took me 10 or 15 mins to put her down. Sometimes I let her cry too, as long as she knows I am there and the trust is still there then I figure it is okay. If you do wither pat/shh or pu/pd at every sleeptime, then your ds will eventually learn how his naptime begins.
We are going to start ds on a proper bedtime routine tonight, DH is aboard, I told him that it will take a while, but he has done most of the looking after Riley this weekend and is seeing results from her routine, so I think he is encouraged by that. i will let you know how it goes!!

[Little Bear's Mum]

Colesmum - I find my ds cues are not so easy to read now, and mostly clock watch! But if he's tired before time, I notice he grizzles even when I change activity, often arches his back when I'm holding him and shakes his head side to side. It's like he's saying, "get me outa here".

DS feeds are once again mucked up, because he woke at 4.30am for feeding then after another small sleep was awake at 6.30approx and I got him up at 6.50am for the day. So it was too soon to feed him then, as he is usually now 4 hourly. So ofcourse, he wasn't due to feed until 8.30am, which is when he should be asleep again. I put him down at 8.00am. Well, he hadn't been fed because he didn't want it when offered earlier, but he wasn't going to go to sleep without a feed. So back in I went and he took a big feed at 8.00am.

It's now likely he'll sleep for 1 hour, then be up for 1 3/4h so then he'd be due to go back to sleep again before he's due for a feed! Aahhhhh. This just doesn't work. I wish he'd either wake really early in the morning or sleep until sensible time, then we'd be fine!!!!

I put him down at 6pm last night, but it didn't seem to make any difference. Mind you, he did wake about 30 mins earlier than normal, so maybe it did, just in the wrong direction. I'll try for a few more nights to see what happens before going back to 6.30pm.

Sometimes I wonder why I bother trying to have a routine.... it just never seems to work!

[Colesmom]

Thanks for the replies ladies!  Little Bear's Mum...I know what you mean now about looking side to side!  The funny things they do and I didn't even know that was a tired cue :oops:

Anyway, for naps 2,3 and 4 (yes 4 because we've had all short naps today) I left the room!  he settled himself each time within 10 minutes.  I went in on naps 2 and 4 to say "time to sleep" and gave him a little pat, and left and he was out within a minute!  Nap three i didn't even go in!  woo hoo.  no more being sequestered in the dark nursery during these beautiful sunny days!

I think i must have been interrupting his settling process.  Probably getting all mad at me because I wasn't respecting his ability to settle down like a big boy :wink:

by the way...anyone notice there are two threads for april babies?  March/April and April/May...I guess I have the benefit of posting on both!

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Traci