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

[kq]

Judy,
Very impressed with your ability to pat while rubbing. It is like that brain gymnastics where you are supposed to pat your own head while rubbing your tummy, somehow, I have never got the hang of it.
Naomi,
I shush/pat, more like pat as I often forget to shush. PU/PD is an effort so I don't do it although dh has done it a couple of times when ds is incredibly upset for whatever reason.
Hope everyone had/has a good night.
Karen

[Little Bear's Mum]

Hi, I didn't know about pat/shhing until ds was into his own routine of settling to sleep. Which is great because all I do is put him in his cot and he goes to sleep after a few winding down grizzles. But, it does cause problems when he needs help to get to sleep, as I don't know what to do with him. If he's really upset I resort to b/feeding to calm him, which I know is naughty but it works and I can. It doesn't happen very often though. I did cuddle and sing lullabies the other night which worked, so that was a relief.

With the weather being much warmer now, I'm wanting to stop wrapping my son, but I'm nervous as he sleeps so well when wrapped. He got out of his wrapping today because he was also out of his sleeping bag which was being washed, and he wouldn't settle until 30 mins later when I wrapped him. He doesn't cry continuously but on and off and gets worked up if you know what I mean. If I knew that this would only take 3-4 unsettled days I wouldn't mind, but I'm worried that it might break all the good habits he has now, like going to sleep within about 5-10 mins of going to bed. Have any of your lo's been wrapped and then you've stopped wrappping? If so, how long did it take to learn to settle themselves again?

My other question is when do you know to keep them up longer? I cured the 40m nap problem after weeks of trying everything when I kept him up longer, so if he starts regularly sleeping for 40 mins again does this mean it's time to stay up longer? DS is now awake 1h 45m most times, but seems to do about 2 1/2 hours in the afternoon.

Wow, I think of you mum's with twins and wonder how you do it?! Especially the nights. Congratulations to you!

[Colesmom]

It's so great to be here and read about all your lo's progress, and to get to learn from it!  Never would have thought to introduce the potty very early so that they aren't scared.  Does sitting on my lap while i go count? :wink:

DS had a great day yesterday (with the exception of bedtime).  Do you ladies find Awake times get longer as the day progresses?  Cole went down really well for all three naps on 2.25 hours Awake time so I tried to keep it the same for bedtime and it took him an hour to settle :!:

He had a 2 hour (unassisted!!!), 1hr 15 and 40 min (had to wake up) naps.  That brought us to bedtime of 7:45 with 2.25 awake time at the end of the day.  He really seems to be struggling because he's making leaps and bounds trying to crawl.  Brings his legs wayyyy up under him then sometimes topples over, sometimes he's up on his arms as well.  He head butted the crib last night as he toppled over, didn't seem to bother him :shock:

Now for our nights.  Saturday was better.  Slept until 2:30 and i was just too tired for shhh/pat so i fed him and he went right back to sleep.  woke at 5:00 and settled in 1 min, woke at 6:20 and settled in a couple of minutes until 7:00!!

Last night he SLEPT THROUGH until 4:10!  Ahhhh blessed sleep.  So I fed him but then he stayed up until 5:30!  Oh well.  However...DH came into spare room where I was sleeping at 7:20 and Cole wasn't awake yet!!!  OMG, i figured i'd wake him at 7:30 so i closed my eyes. :shock:  :shock:  :shock: 7:45 I woke up and he was STILL sleeping!

I woke him up to stay on track...was that right to do so?

now...if he'll just go to sleep right after that morning feed I'll be the happiest mom alive 

Have a good one everyone.

Traci

[kate585]

Yeah, Traci!  Glad you got some good sleep.  We had our first night waking in a long while over here.  It was heartbreaking, since I knew he was in pain.  Stupid teething!!! :evil:   We gave him some Tylenol and sort of stood by his crib so he could see us.  The patting seems to wind him up too much.  We were only up for about 30 minutes, so that's not too bad, but it was hard to watch.

The biggest news is that Ryan is SITTING UP!!!          We had his 6 month portraits done and were bummed b/c he wasn't sitting and I wanted this cute picture in a washtub, but they have to sit up.  We practiced at home before leaving, but he couldn't do it long enough.  But, when we got to the studio, he sat for a few minutes!   :shock:   He's been doing it ever since.  He seems to love it and can reach for toys and see more of what is going on.  Big excitement over here.

Here's the link to the pictures I posted in the photo gallery. 
http://www.babywhisperer.com/forum/here-vp267525.html#267525

Happy Monday!!!  (or Tuesday for those on the other side of the globe?)

[Jayri]

Kate, I love the pics of you lo.
Just wondering somethimg else ladies, I read that some of you have you lo's on 2 naps, how long are they sleeping for at a time? I was reading on a sleep forum that they need 2 naps, about 1.5 hrs each, and with Riley's 6mths coming up, I thought it may be something to aim for.
Also, all those with your lo's sleeping through of waking once, what do you do?
I have tried cluster feeding, normal feeding, df, which I am in the process of dropping. It seems ever since I have cut out the df she can't go any longer than 5 hrs a night. ANy suggestions would be great.
I am especially concerned with the right amount of and length of naps as I am trying to keep her on a 6:30 or 7pm bedtime.
Well Chat later, I am going to relax in my Y time as BOTH of the children re down.
TTFN

[herbst99]

I haven't posted here for a while but thought I would check to see how everyone is doing! Wow cannot believe how big and clever our babies are getting. My DD is sitting and crawling (not left right type crawl but up on al fours and then pushes forward an plonkes down on her tummy - hoping she will figure it out) We are struggling a bit with afternoon nap ... keeps on rolling onto her tummy!! She is a go getter and just wants to crawl! Anyway - LOVED all the pics!
Has anyone started with phasing out the DF??? I would like to start doing that but am worried she will start waking up at night again ... any help?
Well time for the DF!

[Arwyn's mom]

Hello there...

Can't remember who asked me which book I have but I have The Secrets of the Baby Whisperer How to... Just wondering if BWSAYP is more detailed. I'll probably pick it up anyways.

After two great night sleeps (I think Arwyn is moving herself towards 12 hours at night), she got up at 4 with an ultra full diaper and would not settle. Of course, I applied a bit of boob magic and she slept until 7.

She woke up grumpy though and has been out of sorts all day. I (I stress the I part) had to nurse her to sleep for her nap after she was up for 3 hours and super grumpy. I've been holding her a lot today. She seems to want it today. I don't mind cuz she is normally very independent and plays by herself. Just an out of sorts day today I guess.

herbst99 -- too chicken to drop the dreamfeed. I dropped it once and she woke up just screaming hungry at 1 am. I definitely prefer being awake for her DF so... I'm keepin' in for now.

Naomi -- I tried cluster feeding with dreamfeeding. All it did was make Arwyn not eat properly at the last two feedings b/c she was not yet hungry. So, I dropped that and continued to DF. This seems to work (with the exception of last night) well for us. I plan to start moving back her DF in 2 weeks if all remains the same (i.e. no night feedings). I do still expect her to wake though... sometimes she can settle, sometimes, not.

The one thing I've learned when I became a mom was that nothing is for sure, no matter how hard I try.

[M&M'sMom]

For my girls... they wake once at night ( somewhere between 3-5am). I dropped the DF cold turkey because even with it they would still wake once... they never woke for it, and it never really changed them during the night.

So now they eat before their bath- and then I top them up right after... and I figured I would rather go to bed at 9 than stay up till 11 to DF. So they go from 730ish until 3-5am. Then they are fed and back to bed until 7ish.

I'm sure that if Dh and I tried the pu/pd for a few nights we could eliminate the night feed all together... but we don't have the guts yet to listen to two girls scream all night!

I just dont know if they take in enough foos during the day to drop the night feed also- I may post something in the "eating" section too...

[Jayri]

Thanks for the input girls. At the moment I don't really do the df, each night I see if she wakes for it, I try to cluster feed her as much as she will allow me to. She ate right before bed tonight, I think dh and I are residing to pat/shh to settle her, pu/pd did work to an extent, but dh doesn't really know her cries and isn't home enough to learn them.At least he is on board for trying though. He is very impressed to see that for the past few days she has been back on a EAS routine.
Just wondering something also, If I try to extend her A time by 15 mins each day to have her only take 2 naps in the end, how long should those naps be?
I read on a sleep board that it is recommended for 2 naps at 6mths, 1 and 1.5 hrs and 12 hrs at night, but those nap times seem kinda short IMO.
There is something in the new book, BWSAYP, and my copy is loaned out at the moment, I have a friend whose 8mth old won't go to sleep any other way apart from nursing, so naturally I tooted BW.
Is anyone else going to 2 naps?
TTFN Girls

[Arwyn's mom]

Naomi,

Arwyn just did 2 naps today but I think it is by accident. We have been having wacky sleep time stuff happening. She is moving towards 12 hours at night and her awake time is all over the place -- ranging from 1.25h to 3h. Her naps are also changing.

Today's 2 naps were totally incidental. I nursed her to sleep both times as we are having a really rough day. She slept for approx. 1h 45m each time.

Gotta go... will provide more detail tmr.

[Colesmom]

Arwyn's mom:  since Arwyn is 1 day older than Cole, could you post her awake times ( a typical day)

Cole is typically 2 hours before nap 1 ,2.25 before nap 2,2.25 before catnap and 2 hours before bed (just learned that tonight- i was keeping him up to long before)

I find this awake time stuff really tricky.  For instance today he screamed to go down after 1.75 hrs for first nap.  I think it's because I was in the shower around the 1.5 hour mark and wasn't carrying him around at that time like I normally do.

I have no idea how I'm ever going to be able to have someone else watch Cole.  They'll think i'm a freak.  he has to go down exactly 2 hours after he wakes and if he wakes early shhh/pat him like this on his tummy and blah blah blah blah blah.  it's too exhausting to even think i have to teach others this stuff when i barely get it myself and i've been studying him for 2.5 weeks now!  phew-needed that vent.  thanks :wink:

[Little Bear's Mum]

Hi, I'm the same & M&M's mum, I went cold turkey too and thankfully everything went fine. In fact, I also changed from cluster feeding about hourly from 3pm-6pm at the same time, so now ds takes bigger feeds and even without d/f he sleeps better than he has in ages.

Ohh, he's just woken up. Better go.

[james030405]

Hi everyone,

Has been awhile since visiting because of broken computer - you don't realise how much you like having it until you don't!.  Well James has had two completely different weeks.  Two weeks ago, we had started to sleep from 7pm till 7am (I had reintroduced the d/f to make up the five feeds) and was putting himself to sleep after about a 5min mantra cry. Then we went away for a couple of days and he got sick.  Came home and took him to the dr's - he also had tonsillitis but also scarlet fever!! I didn't even know it was still around.  Apparently it is quite common again here in Australia.  Anyway, he has been on antibiotics for a week now and has only started feeding properly again.  He is now back to waking 2 - 4 times a night (I feed as I think it is due to hunger).  I have started solids a couple of days ago.  He is not particulary chuffed with the rice but have added pear.  Still not too sure but will keep going.  I might try sweet potato next week for a change. 

Just a tip on sore throats - my clinic nurse suggested giving Panadol about 15mins before feeding as this could ease the throat.  Once I did this, he started drinking full bottles again.  I am hoping for the nights to get better.  He hasn't been very good at putting himself to sleep, although this afternoon, he did it very well.  He must be getting better. 

His waking times during the day are around 2 - 2.5hrs - tired signs keep changing.  Developmentally, he is sitting very well supported.  Getting better every day.  He spins around on the floor and is rolling from tummy to back altough not back to tummy. 

Well must go and have a well deserved coffee.  Glad to see other lo's are having settling problems too.  The joys of motherhood!

Lisa - mum to James

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

Danielle's fully on 2 naps now.  Activity times are 2hrs, 2.5hrs, 4hrs.

7am wake and feed
9am nap (45min)
11am feed
12.30pm nap (2.5hrs)
3pm wake and feed
6.45pm feed
7pm bed

I'm really liking this routine, both my kids are sleeping the same time in the afternoon and then we go out afterwards.  If Danielle does end up falling asleep for 10mins in the car or buggy that's cool with me, but she happily goes the distance without it as well.  If she wakes past 3pm I just let her go as long as she wants and feed on wake up - although the other day I did wake her at 4pm.

She had a weigh in today and is 6.6kg - so not particularly large, but on the average line and I out her next size of clothes in the weekend.

[herbst99]

Nikki It seems my dd is also wanting to go into simialar times - except her afternoon nap is only 1.5 hrs (if I am lucky!!) I just find that she is soooo tired at around 5 and still try to put her down for catnap ... but it has resulted in a screaming session! She is very spirited with a little bit of touchy thrown in. I just find I get so tired trying to keep her occupied and to prevent her from overstim so by time I have put her to bed I don't have the energy to make supper or even be friendly to everyone else in my house! Oh well - will try it today and see. Please if any advise I would appretiate it.

Thanx all ... Nikki H