Hello Ladies
My little girl was born on the 6th aug and has always been harder work than my 3 yr old boy. She pretty much cried constantly for the first few weeks and now, has seriously strong views about what she likes and doesnt like.
The main thing she does like is BOOB! Because she is hungry, upset, tired, you name it, she wants it all the time. She is also very attatched to me and will sit pretty happily on my knee or play as long as she can see me. With her dad and anyone else however she is completely different. Sometimes she wont even let my husband feed her solid food if i am in the room but will let me do it instead. I suppose we have got into a bit of a rut of letting her get away with this for an easy life, while my husband looks after our three year old.
She wont have a dummy or a bottle either but she will cup feed if forced.
The main problem is her night time waking, things are really coming to a head and I am shattered. I also a bit narked about my husband and his lack of help with this but i suppose thats another story! He picked her up last night and rocked her saying "i cant feed you indi sorry"...she'd only been asleep a couple of hours so isnt hungry, its like he's assisting in her behaviour and making me feel i have to feed her to make her sleep. i know we're all just desparate for some sleep and its easy just to do it to keep her quiet but we cant go on like this.
Ive brought the gina ford book and the baby whisperer one (if anyone is interested i think she is a "spirited" baby) but i dont feel either really address what i need to do when her habits are so ingrained - or maybe i just feel overwhelmed and need an idiots guide! i just dont know what to do. She doesnt really have a fixed bedtime routine so i suppose thats a start. My little lad goes at 7 so i could bath her then, feed her, get her dressed maybe and then bed...so she wouldnt be feeding to sleep. That all makes sense I know but what then?
Last night when she woke up I tried leaving her for a bit and the crying just got louder and louder to the point of actual screaming rather than just crying. I then tried putting my hand on her belly to comfort her but she just got worse. I dont know how long it was, maybe a few minutes but it was awful. in the end she was back in our bed and husband was on the sofa. when she is in bed with me she snuggles up and feeds every few hours. When she was younger she was better and only waking once for a feed so i am so sad that it has just got worse and worse.
I really dont know what to do to settle her, the only thing that works is boob or at a push, rocking. She is so persistant i really dont know how she (or our neighbours for that matter!) will react or how to do it. i also feel sad for her as she's only doing what we have taught her and its all our fault.
I hope some of you can help, I need an idiots guide!!
Thank you so much in advance.
x