new chat into december - Page 3

[hildare]

i can't wait till they can sleep together in a separate bed.  if they don't want to sleep by themselves, that's what's gonna happen. 

[1blueheron]

Wow, so for those of you who still have another kid in bed, do you plan to transition them, or if not....how will you get any sleep?  Won't they wake up every time the baby does, and vice versa?  (i ask as someone who very much misses sharing a bed with my DD, and I sort of regret kicking her out but I was worried about this kind of scenario.)

Don't hate me, but....I am actually feeling better than i have in months.  DD finally self-weaned a few weeks ago, DH has taken over all night waking duty (and miraculously, DD accepted this!!), and my bronchitis is finally gone.

[hildare]

glad things are going well for you at night! 

Originally Posted by 1blueheron 

Wow, so for those of you who still have another kid in bed, do you plan to transition them, or if not....how will you get any sleep?  Won't they wake up every time the baby does, and vice versa?  (i ask as someone who very much misses sharing a bed with my DD, and I sort of regret kicking her out but I was worried about this kind of scenario.)

i don't know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! right now the plan looks a little like this.  and
 

[parsley]

DD only sleeps in our bed the second half of the night.  About a year ago we succeeded in transitioning her into her own bed to start the night (she thinks I sleep in there with her for a few hours but that's a different story ).  DH brings her into me anytime between 1 am and 4 am.  She nurses and then cuddles with me to sleep. 

My "plan" is to continue with this arrangement and have the baby sleep in my room/bed/co-sleeper.  We have a king size bed and my idea is that I'll be in the middle.  DD will be on one side and the baby will sleep on my other side.  Baby will have co-sleeper on her side to protect her from falling.  DD with have DH sleeping to land on :).  And, DH can be on call.  It doesn't sound like a long-term solution but it minimizes transitions in the early days and hopefully maximizes my sleep!

I'm sure I'll be back to question the wisdom of this plan in a few months time but it's really all I can figure out.  I figure this way DD/baby only wake each other up a few times a night and maybe DD will just start spending a few more hours in her own bed each night eventually (as she'll be so exhausted?). 

So, glad to hear you are feeling well, blueheron!
 

Originally Posted by 1blueheron 

Wow, so for those of you who still have another kid in bed, do you plan to transition them, or if not....how will you get any sleep?  Won't they wake up every time the baby does, and vice versa?  (i ask as someone who very much misses sharing a bed with my DD, and I sort of regret kicking her out but I was worried about this kind of scenario.)

Don't hate me, but....I am actually feeling better than i have in months.  DD finally self-weaned a few weeks ago, DH has taken over all night waking duty (and miraculously, DD accepted this!!), and my bronchitis is finally gone.

[1blueheron]

Originally Posted by parsley 

My "plan" is to continue with this arrangement and have the baby sleep in my room/bed/co-sleeper.  We have a king size bed and my idea is that I'll be in the middle.  DD will be on one side and the baby will sleep on my other side.  Baby will have co-sleeper on her side to protect her from falling.  DD with have DH sleeping to land on :).  And, DH can be on call.  It doesn't sound like a long-term solution but it minimizes transitions in the early days and hopefully maximizes my sleep!

Ah, that seems a lot more doable than what we'd have been doing....we have a queen-sized bed, and used to sleep in an "H" configuration....with DD as the - of course :)

hildare, I'm sure there are people out there with multiple kids who have done this before and survived.  (Right?)

ETA: forgot the dog...so I guess our configuration looked more like this:  cH  (with me falling off the edge )

Edited by 1blueheron - 12/16/11 at 4:31am

[parsley]

Buying a king size bed was the single best parenting decision I ever made :)

[ozzyemm]

We have a queen and a twin in our teeny tiny bedroom.  Michael has gotten into the habit of needing to be thisclose to somebody, so somebody normally ends up squeezed into the outside wall, which is usually ice cold.  He only sleeps in our bed when he wakes up and comes in, but that is nearly every night.  Not sure how we are handling the baby, especially the first few weeks, when the baby can't "defend" himself.

[hildare]

yeah... we have a king size bed.  and two king size people plus a humongous toddler that either has to be burrowing into one of the king size people or else in the crucifix position.  she has gone to sleep in her "big person" bed the past two nights then when she has awakened, come running back to our bed.  oh well, it's a start.

[Adaline'sMama]

Originally Posted by hildare 

yeah... we have a king size bed.  and two king size people plus a humongous toddler that either has to be burrowing into one of the king size people or else in the crucifix position.  she has gone to sleep in her "big person" bed the past two nights then when she has awakened, come running back to our bed.  oh well, it's a start.

This is us too. DD has slept in her bed for about two weeks now (on the bottom bunk of a bunk bed). She generally wakes sometime between 3-6 and comes running into my room sleepily crying for me. I just let her climb up into our bed and sleep out the rest of the night/morning there.After the first week of January I plan to set up our Arms Reach next to our bed to give her a little time to get use to the idea of it being there and hopefully by then she will sleep in her bed until the sunshine comes up. We got new bedding for xmas and put it on at the same time we switched her into her bed, so I think the fact that it looks different has really helped. She points at it and says "Mamas bed" now, and we have made sure that for the most part, she isnt playing on it, getting dressed on it, or ever really on it at all anymore except for when she comes in the night. I hope its helping to make her realize that she has her own bed now

[hildare]

i just speed ordered the no cry sleep solution for toddlers & preschoolers.  i really hope there are some miracles in there, or that it comes with a magic wand or something. 

and... changing the subject, i squeezed out some colostrum!  (please don't tell dd.  she thinks she's going to have milk when it comes back, which i am not so sure about)

[atomicrocket]

Yay for colostrum!  I started producing colostrum at the end of the second trimester.  When it first came in I started leaking like crazy and actually had to go out and buy breast pads.  Of course, after a week or so I guess my boobs figured out what to do and I stopped leaking.  I can still express a few drops if I try, but am very happy that I am not leaking any more.

[Adaline'sMama]

I have to say, I did not find The No Cry Sleep Solution for toddlers to be nearly as helpful as the one for babies, but my kid is pretty anti sleep to begin with.

I too have some colostrum!!!! I'm super excited!

[1blueheron]

I have colostrum on my better side!  :)  (But I was nursing until a few weeks ago, so it doesn't have the same OMG quality it did with my first.)

I'm curious about RRL tea.  I noticed on a box the other day that it provides some significant % of manganese.  Does anyone know how/why it's supposed to work, and if the manganese has anything to do with it?  It's hard to find any information on the web that's not put up by people selling things.

My MIL made DD a learning tower for Christmas (based on this plan) and it's amazing.  She painted fish, fruit, animals and vegetables on the sides, and added a chalkboard...I think it's the coolest thing she's ever made.  And of course DD loves it - she's been DYING to help cook in the kitchen and so I'm trying to figure out what i can give her up at the counter to "help" with.  She's able to climb in and out on her own.  I love this thing.

[TeamGR]

Hey Mamas,

I don't think I'm producing actual colostrum, but I have noticed some stuff on my bra and occasionally stuck to my nipples for a while now. 

That being said, every now and then I get a pain in my nipple, or a sort of a stinging?  Does that mean I'm getting ready to produce?  Or is something where I might want to call my midwife? 

[parsley]

That sticky stuff is colostrum or even milk, TeamGR!  The pain sounds just like a pain I've had occasionally when I've either not nursed in awhile or I think about nursing or my breast is especially empty.  I associate it not with nursing but with refilling... I'm sure someone can speak more informatively and technically though! 

I thought I had gone dry in the past few weeks but yesterday I saw milk dripping down DD's cheek and coating my nipple.  I can't manually express ANYTHING but it's nice to know my milk hasn't dried up. 

Blueheron - we LOVED our learning tower.  DD used it daily until a few months ago when she decided she'd prefer to drag chairs around the house :)  How cool that your MIL actually made one for you!

Adaline'sMama & Hildare - I found both the No Cry Sleep Solution for babies as well as the one for toddlers to both be a total bust.  Here's sending you good sleeping wishes though, Hildare.   I can't even bare to tell the full sad story of what we've done and still do to find a few hours a night with DD in her own bed.  All I can say is that at least this babe can't actually be a worse sleeper!

[Adaline'sMama]

Can I just say....

I am so sick and tired of peeing on myself. Seriously. Everywhere I go is filled up with potpourri and candles and Im sneezing constantly. I cant cross my legs fast enough because my sciatic nerve is pretty much immobilizing me. And kegels arent helping! Grrr...
ok, Im done.


TeamGR,
My nipples and right above them in a straight line all the way up to my collarbone would have a sharp pain when I was pregnant with DD. After she was born, I had that sensation each time I had a letdown.

[Right of Passage]

Adaline'sMama try doing squats for increasing pelvic floor strength, and try the "pigeon pose" for the sciaticia!