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

[Arwyn's mom]

I went and buggered up her schedule yet again!! We had another family dinner tonight and against my better judgement, I went. So... I left early and arrived home at 9 pm. Again, against my better judgement, I nursed her hoping that she would fall asleep. Then, in a moment of clarity, I thought... I'll just pull her off when she starts to soothe and not let her fall asleep. :idea:

So... guess who I am listening to on the monitor playing and AWAKE?!  :shock:  It is now quarter to 10 and I sure hope she is fast asleep by 11 pm so I can dreamfeed her.

Sometimes I feel like just staying home until she is finished this infancy thing and perhaps into her school aged years.  :!: Yes, sounds scary but funny what I would be willing to do to get  her to SLEEP!

[Little Bear's Mum]

I've just been to visit a friend with twins who are 11 months. We were talking about routines and I was saying how I just can't get ds into a routine as such due to how long he's awake and asleep and that it's not a 4 hour cycle which is when he feeds. She thought her twins were awake about 2 1/2 hours at 5 months old.

Got me thinking, how long other babies ds age are awake for. Mostly ds only does 1h 45m before I put him to bed, but in the afternoon can sometimes go 4 hours.

How long are your little ones up for?

[Arwyn's mom]

We have different awake times for different times of the day.

#1.     1.5h - 1.75h (but the longer one is rare)
#2.     2h (also has the longest S here)
#3.     2h - 3h
#4.     .5h to 1h

Of course, this is a rough schedule based on our "stay at home" routine. All bets are off if we are out. Then she holds out until she gets her own bed to sleep in. :!: Is there such a thing as too well trained?

[FrasersMum]

Hi Everyone,

Well, I have an update on Fraser - went to the Doctor again yesterday afternoon - at which stage Fraser had only had 50ml in 24 hours.  As I previously posted Fraser has been on meds for tonsilitis since last Monday.  He also has reflux and we recently upped the dosage of his reflux meds.  The Dr thinks that Fraser was experiencing pain when the refulx meds stopping working and then also with the sore throat, so it got to a stage where feeding = pain and so he didn't want to do it.  The Dr said that we had to get 20ml per hour into him for the rest of the day otherwise they would have to put him in hospital on a drip or feeding tube.  We were syringing EBM into him which was not going that well, but late yesterday afternoon he started feeding again.  YAY!  So we averted hospital and now have a new reflux med which hopefully will prevent this from happening again.

Ah, the stress!!

Anyway, moving on, Fraser's awake periods stretch to a max 2 hours at any time, shorter in the morning like the rest of you and increasing during the day.  He still needs the afternoon catnap everyday.  This week he has been sleeping 2 - 2.5 hour stretches I think because he's been sick and because of all the medication, but as of this morning we are back to a 45min morning nap.  1st nap is usually about 1hr 15mins, second about 1hr 30mins and catnap about 45mins - 1hr (I wake him up at about the 1hr mark to preserve night sleep.

Fraser is in bed between 6.30pm and 7pm - I would like to hold him out until 7 but often he is very tired and iritable before then.  His morning wake is usually 6am (ugh, again I would prefer 7 but as they say in the classics, "you can't always get what you want")

Have a great weekend all,
Love

[Little Bear's Mum]

That's reassuring, although my ds is about a month younger than your lo's he's sleeping about the same amount. today was only 3 hours total. Struggled to stay happy until his new 7pm bedtime, but the last two nights have been successful with that time, so I'm continuing with that for now. I wonder what tonight and tomorrow will bring.

BTW thanks to all of you for 'listening' to me and answering all my questions. It's so nice to know I'm not alone out there with sleeping/routine issues and others have been thru them and have good ideas. And that there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Frasers mum, good to hear he's doing much better. It must have been very worrying for you. They shouldn't be allowed to get sick until they can tell you what's wrong!!

[Colesmom]

frasersmum-good for you!  what a huge relief

i had more night wakings last night...this is how it went...please see my questions/comments about BM frequency at the end...

DS went down at 6:45 without a peep. Woke up screaming at 7:30. Not like him at all when he goes down by himself. Now, he hadn't had a BM since Tuesday morning and it seemed to be troubling him. Gave him some Oval and fed him one boob ( I know I know but I really felt it was troubling him and hoped more milk would force it out) Settled him in my arms (stopped crying when i pumped his legs!) Put him in the crib drowsy and settled in 20 minutes.

DF at 11:00 no problem settling.
woke at 2:50, no problem settling.
woke at 3:50...close enough to feed time. fed one boob...didn't want to settle. tried for half an hour. he'd cry, then go quiet etc...finally at 4:45 he was quietly babbling so I left. He did this for 15 minutes then cried again. I tried to shhh/pat until 5:20, still more crying and even screaming. Tried a bit more Oval. I know the magic number is 1.5 hrs....and we'd surpassed that. I picked him up and he instantly settled in my arms after a huge burp and a toot! Anyway, I just knew he wouldn't settle in his crib so I crept downstairs and put him in his bouncy chair. he has never slept in it. NEVER. nor his car seat unless we're in the car. He fell fast asleep. I am confident that I made the right decision not to shhh/pat him in the crib. I think he needed to be elevated. Anyhoo, he woke up at normal time (6:20) so he had slept close to an hour and we played quietly on the floor til 7 (well, he played while i lay under a comforter resting my aching back!)

Fed at 7:00 and I just cleaned up the biggest dirty diaper.

So my question is this...DS had runny baby like poops until I started this sleep training. Is it possible that the additional rest had changed his cycle? Is there anything I can eat to help him stay more regular. He wasn't in agony...but if I can help it so that he goes at least every second day (it had been three days) I think he might feel better.

have a good one ladies!

[Arwyn's mom]

Traci,

My EBF lo only goes every 2 or 3 days. I didn't notice if it was when I started sleep training... she was still quite young then and having never had the cottage cheese poos, I didn't notice when they changed consistency. I do know though that their digestive systems are maturing and this makes BMs all weird (and smellier  :shock: ). We are actually considering getting our Diaper Genie out because they stink so bad. And whoever told me breast-fed baby poos don't stink must be referring to newborns.

BTW, you may notice Cole only has BMs at a certain time of day. Mine are morning events only. Quite nice to know when to expect the big clean-up. 

Frasersmum - Glad Fraser is getting over his tonsilitis nicely. Is he enjoying his ice cream? I remember that used to be the only good part about having tonsilitis! I also have an early riser -- not what I would have chosen but... right you are about not always getting what you want.

[Colesmom]

Arwyn's mom:  you're right, he goes in the morning.  I would have liked him to go last night during last feed...and he seemed like he was trying and really wanted to with no luck

I'll try to take in more fluids myself, and maybe more bran.  It could be that I was just assuming this is why he wasn't sleeping, but it might have just been another regular night waking.  Thing is though all the other nights he crashed after 1.5 hours and this time he didn't...so that's why I came to the conclusion it was a belly issue.

I am happy that he can go to sleep by himself though, as I don't feel too bad that I picked him up.  I do know that he fussed a bit in his bouncy chair and put himself back to sleep...so I just hope this blip in the routine won't throw him off.

[kq]

Colesmum, I think I posted this in one of the previous pages but Sam only has BM once every 7-10 days and it does not seem to bother him. He has done this since about 8 weeks old. His BM are (quoting Nikki, like toothpaste!) He seems to go in the weekends..don't ask me why!
HTH

[Jayri]

HI everyone, my week has been a little hectic, so I have been mainly lurking around here.
Jo- how is fraser doing, I hope he is on the mend!
Arwyn's mum- I hope your routine is getting a little easier to handle, Riley has thrown hers out of the window, the past couple of days she likes to have 2 little naps, a half hour if we are lucky and then a big one for a couple of hours in the afternoon.
On the poop front. i think dd likes to surprise me, I forgot how gross a baby "solid" poop could be!
Jay is doing wonderful at night, we have him off of a sippy cup to go to bed . He settles okay, just needs a little reassurance from us every now and then.
Riley is also doing well, pu/pd is starting to take its affect. I put her down at 6:30 last night to prepare for it to tkae a while for her 7pm bedtime, and by 10 to the hour she was asleep but restless as she wasn't comfy, she likes her belly, so I had to roll her over onto it and after that she was fine.
Well I have to go, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't a stranger here as I pop in every now and then.
Keep up the good work everyone!!!

[Little Bear's Mum]

Sometimes I wonder if it's better if they go every few days versus my ds who goes daily, sometimes twice! At least he doesn't get clogged up though like it sounds like Cole did. We sometimes have to do a full change after though as the poop explodes out the top of the nappy if he's in the wrong position when he poops. I've also learnt that when it starts to become frequently pooping out then it's time for a bigger nappy.

I've got great news still on the sleeping front. DS slept from 7pm until 5.40am. With no d/f or anything! Yay!!!! Each morning he's getting a little later. He then went back to sleep from 6.10am until 6.40am too. I went and checked just to make sure he wasn't lying wide awake, but his eyes were closed.

And even the feeding routine will sort of work out today, well thismorning anyway. He fed at 5.40am, then again when he woke at 6.40am. I was told if it's within 1 hour then it's still considered 1 feed. DS went back to sleep at 8.10am without a murmer, and even if he wakes after one hour at 9.10am (he's sleeping now) then to feed him at about 9.30am is still at the beginning of his wake up. Of course, if his next nap is a short 1 hour one, it won't be so good, but it's an improvement from having to feed right before sleep. Yay!!!!    

Bye for now, happy pooping everyone!

[Arwyn's mom]

Whoo Hoo Little Bear's mum! Arwyn too has been extending her night sleep a little bit. Yesterday (night before last), she gave me 12 hours with a dreamfeed. Can it last?... I dare ask.

Arwyn's schedule is going okay. No major breakdowns except for the strange 45 min. awake time she seems to want during her second nap. She did it again today... but we were out so she couldn't sleep but sure enough, after 45 minutes, she was showing signs of sleepiness and wanted to nap. Wonder what it could be?

Speaking of pooping... Arwyn surprised me with a poop this afternoon. Just when I thought I had her figured out for something!

We'll see how tonight goes. It will be the first night all week she will go to bed at her regular bedtime.  :oops: Bad Mommy had her all over town since Monday night.

[Jayri]

Way to go little bears mum, Riley fell asleep at 6:30 feeding on daddy, she woke 3hrs later for a feed, and went right back out.
I am thinking of meeting her half way over the next few days, watching her for tired signs, but I know she can go longer than 2hrs awake, not sure for how long as I have been trying to keep her on routine, but not with much luck.
I did read on one of the sleep forums that around 6mths, they can have 2 naps, one 1hr and one 1.5 hrs and then 12 hrs at night, so I am trying to figure out how I can keep her on EAS , let her have longer A times but still get in sufficient S time. If that makes any sense.
It s so nice to see everyone is doing well.
Arwyn's  mum, how is it going with dd, Dh and I had to redo the bedtime thing in August after we had the kids down at the annual buskersfest that we have here.
Well I will chat later.

[kate585]

So glad everyone is doing well...especially Fraser!  We are preparing for a big weekend over here.  Ryan will be six months old on Sunday!!!  I can't believe it.  It feels like 6 years in many ways, but in others, it seems like we just brought him home.  By far the best 6 months ever!

Rough day today.  I have started work for my mil, who I adore and get along with.  She owns a preschool (not sure if I've already mentioned that).  Since it's the beginning of school, she wanted to be there (normally, she'll watch ds at her house).  Ryan could not fall asleep with all of the action, so he missed his am nap (although he fell asleep for the last 7 minutes of the ride there, which didn't help   :x ).  I was trying to politely suggest she put him down for his nap, but she kept saying "He doesn't look tired."  I thought of you, Arwyn's Mom, because to me he was clearly tired with red eyes and eyebrows.  Apparently, we moms are so tuned into our lo's cues, but no one else can see them.  Finally I nursed him to sleep  :oops: .  But, he only slept about 30 mins.  So, the rest of his day, he has been totally off.  Hard to get down to nap, which is usually not an issue.  Dh put him to bed while I went out to eat with my girlfriends    and he did okay.  Ryan even cried in the bathtub, which is his favorite part of the day.  Poor guy.  Keep your fingers crossed for tomorrow, since we're doing his six month portraits and his Granny and GG (great grandma) are coming in from Chicago to celebrate. 
Have a great weekend!!!

[Arwyn's mom]

Kate... Happy 6 month birthday Ryan! Enjoy your visit with Granny and GG. We just had portraits done with my parents on Monday. It is so special to see those pictures.

Yes, I see tired signs all the time and now, thanks to me mentioning them ad nauseum :roll: , so does my mother, father and aunts. My dad is soooo sweet... when he sees those signs and we are out, he will take her and go into a corner to try to put her to sleep. I've told him it won't work unless she is at least an hour past her bedtime but he still insists. Awww, Arwyn has a good grandpa.

Got my fingers crossed for tonight. So far, so good, but it has only been 1.25 hours. Down at 7:30 and it is now 8:45. Shouldn't be any different (fingers crossed) from this point on... I have been putting her down around 8:30-9:15 since Monday. Could we have success, ladies? Will let you know in the morning. Or, worse case scenario, there will be a middle of the night posting!