Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Post
  • Reply
Schweig und tanze
May 22, 2007

STUBBSSSSS INNNNNN SPACEEEE!

Dandy Shrew posted:

Baby has not been quite as active the past couple days. I'm 28 weeks now, and I still feel him and can count 10 movements in an hour and a half, more before I fall asleep, but he had been super wiggly the past couple weeks and now he isn't as active in the mornings as I'm used to. If I have a fizzy drink or a sweet then lie down, I can definitely feel him, but.. I don't know! Maybe he's just having an off day? Do I need to call the emergency number my GP gave me? :ohdear:

*Edit: pretty much as soon as I posted this he kicked the dog that had his head in my lap and then I got barked at and the baby started flailing around, so I think we're all good now.

I know you're not worried any longer, but my kiddo is quieter when going through a growth spurt, and I think there's a big one sometime around 28 weeks. Also as he gets bigger there's less room for big crazy movements so you may have to pay closer attention to feel them :)

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Papercut
Aug 24, 2005

The quickest substitution in the history of the NBA
Everyone is talking about germs as if keeping people from touching your baby is all that is important, but the 2 biggest risks to infants are both airborne (flu and whooping cough). Don't take your [newborn] baby to crowded public spaces.

Papercut fucked around with this message at 21:06 on Dec 29, 2012

bilabial trill
Dec 25, 2008

not just a B

Papercut posted:

Everyone is talking about germs as if keeping people from touching your baby is all that is important, but the 2 biggest risks to infants are both airborne (flu and whooping cough). Don't take your [newborn] baby to crowded public spaces.

I guess what people mean by "public" hasn't been really defined in this discussion. Nor has "crowded", really. I probably wouldn't take my newborn on a train in rush hour, but I wouldn't really think twice about say, a grocery store.

Hdip
Aug 21, 2002
Our pediatrician recommends staying away from groups who will want to touch/hold/pass the baby around for 6 weeks. If people want to see the baby then have them come to your house or a situation where you can ask them to wash their hands first.

He also recommends taking the baby for a walk every morning (weather permitting obviously) so that they get used to daytime and nighttime.

Here is a video on the heart2heart infant insert for ergo. It worked great for our baby when he stopped liking the moby. I need to find some new ways to wrap him in the moby.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg-eX1BqvjY

Hdip fucked around with this message at 00:21 on Dec 30, 2012

Gravitee
Nov 20, 2003

I just put money in the Magic Fingers!

Lullabee posted:


Question for those who have/had GD: did you loose weight once you were diagnosed and eating/exercising properly? I gained 4 lbs between 28 and 31 weeks, when I was diagnosed, and just yesterday, at my 33 week appointment, I had lost all of it. I chalked it up to the eating healthy part, but I didn't have my normal doctor, so I wasn't sure if that's normal or not. But I did find out it feels like Collins head down, so hopefully he stays that way.

Yes I think I lost a few pounds after starting the diet and only gained 10 lbs or so in the last 13 weeks. My son was early though so I might have gained a bit more if he had been full term.

Gravitee fucked around with this message at 02:43 on Dec 30, 2012

Chickalicious
Apr 13, 2005

We are the ones we've been waiting for.

Lullabee posted:

Question for those who have/had GD: did you loose weight once you were diagnosed and eating/exercising properly? I gained 4 lbs between 28 and 31 weeks, when I was diagnosed, and just yesterday, at my 33 week appointment, I had lost all of it. I chalked it up to the eating healthy part, but I didn't have my normal doctor, so I wasn't sure if that's normal or not. But I did find out it feels like Collins head down, so hopefully he stays that way.

I gained 9 pounds by my 20 week visit and then I was diagnosed with GD at my 24 week visit. By the time I gave birth, I gained 11 pounds total. The diet definitely seemed to help me minimize weight gain, but only because I couldn't shove whatever I wanted to into my mouth all the time. I'm sure I would have gained lots more if my diet wasn't restricted. The OB didn't have any concerns because my uterus was measuring on schedule.

Chickalicious fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Dec 30, 2012

Ratatozsk
Mar 6, 2007

Had we turned left instead, we may have encountered something like this...
Apparently popping a dryer sheet in with the reusable diaper liners was an extremely poor decision. Well, gotta learn somehow, I guess.

Copernic
Sep 16, 2006

...A Champion, who by mettle of his glowing personal charm alone, saved the universe...
Benjamin is 2 months old and he is FAT as HELL. 8 lbs 8 oz at birth and 13 lbs 9 oz yesterday jesus christ. He is happy as can be. Breastfed.

I don't see a lot of material online about excessive newborn weight gain, and I'm fairly certain that it's not a problem. But I was wondering if there are any possible endocrine or other problems to watch for if this weight gain trend continues.

Chickalicious
Apr 13, 2005

We are the ones we've been waiting for.
Dude, it's fine. You kid will slow down in weight gain usually around 6 months. My kid was 18 pounds at 6 months and only 20 at a year.

hookerbot 5000
Dec 21, 2009

Copernic posted:

Benjamin is 2 months old and he is FAT as HELL. 8 lbs 8 oz at birth and 13 lbs 9 oz yesterday jesus christ. He is happy as can be. Breastfed.

I don't see a lot of material online about excessive newborn weight gain, and I'm fairly certain that it's not a problem. But I was wondering if there are any possible endocrine or other problems to watch for if this weight gain trend continues.

That doesn't seem too bad, looking at the birthweight chart it looks as though he's carrying on along the same percentile as he started on.

My youngest son and my niece were born about the same weight, and my kid went down to the 6th percentile by 2 months while my niece was up at the 99%th in the same time even though both were breastfed. Now they're both nearly 2 years and they are pretty much the same size again.

Hdip
Aug 21, 2002
My boy was 8.5 at birth and 11.11 at 2 month doctor visit. But I weighed him yesterday and he's closer to 13 pounds now at 10 weeks. Babies like their breast milk.

Bad Munki
Nov 4, 2008

We're all mad here.


Eve was 9lbs 3oz at birth, she's pretty much stayed right in that 87th percentile for both height and weight this whole time, slooooowly creeping towards average (was 87th, now 85.) Some babies are just bigger, might stay that way, might not. It's too early to tell.

We ended up getting an unexpected c-section when she was born (because she was both face-up and much bigger than anyone expected), and so my wife didn't have a view to see her right away. My first words describing her to my wife were what came most naturally at the moment: "She's so chubby!!"

Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 18:52 on Dec 31, 2012

frenchnewwave
Jun 7, 2012

Would you like a Cuppa?
My daughter was in the 92 percentile for weight at her one month appointment. She's now 6 weeks and almost 12 pounds. Two doctors told me its just fine, especially since I'm breastfeeding. I figure I'll just keep an eye on it as she gets older. I think it all evens out eventually.

skullamity
Nov 9, 2004

My daughter was born at 9lbs 10oz, was 14lbs 6oz at her two month appointment and 18lbs 4oz at her four month appointment mid-December, and my doctor is not concerned!

sheri
Dec 30, 2002

Anyone have any idea what happens during a "swab" test to see if you are leaking amniotic fluid? I had a few instances over the past couple weeks of having a big wet spot on my underwear that didn't seem like discharge and dudn't seem like urine but it could have been urine for all i know.

The doctor said I could come in for a "swab and confirmation" test. What is that? Swabbing what exactly?

I'm not really comfortable with things scraping my cervix right now, so if that's the case I need to call back and discuss about what other options there are.

dreamcatcherkwe
Apr 14, 2005
Dreamcatcher

sheri posted:

Anyone have any idea what happens during a "swab" test to see if you are leaking amniotic fluid? I had a few instances over the past couple weeks of having a big wet spot on my underwear that didn't seem like discharge and dudn't seem like urine but it could have been urine for all i know.

The doctor said I could come in for a "swab and confirmation" test. What is that? Swabbing what exactly?

I'm not really comfortable with things scraping my cervix right now, so if that's the case I need to call back and discuss about what other options there are.

There was no scraping when I had this done (mine was pee, thanks baby for rolling over on my bladder).

Here's a description of how it was for me:

"PROCEDURE
1. Remove a swab from its protective sleeve. DO NOT touch the tip of the
swab or allow it to come into contact with any liquid or other substance
which might affect pH.
2. Part the labia exposing the cervix and carefully insert the swab into the
vagina. Do not allow the swab to come into contact with vaginal tissue
during entry.
3. Allow first and only contact of the AmnioTest™ swab tip to occur with
upper vaginal tissue (posterior vaginal fornix and external cervical os).
4. Allow the tip to remain in contact with upper vaginal tissue for about 15
seconds.
5. Carefully remove the swab and immediately examine the colour of the
tip"

http://www.pro-lab.com/inserts/PL901.pdf

Schweig und tanze
May 22, 2007

STUBBSSSSS INNNNNN SPACEEEE!

sheri posted:

Anyone have any idea what happens during a "swab" test to see if you are leaking amniotic fluid? I had a few instances over the past couple weeks of having a big wet spot on my underwear that didn't seem like discharge and dudn't seem like urine but it could have been urine for all i know.

The doctor said I could come in for a "swab and confirmation" test. What is that? Swabbing what exactly?

I'm not really comfortable with things scraping my cervix right now, so if that's the case I need to call back and discuss about what other options there are.


I've been having the same thing lately, had a couple of instances of it today in fact. Increased watery discharge is common in the third trimester (not sure how far along you are, I'm 33w 3d) so I figure that's what it is, particularly since it's intermittent. I have an appt on Weds though and will mention it then. If you're concerned there's no harm in having the swab done, there's no reason it should scrape your cervix.

Awesome Kristin
May 9, 2008

yum yum yum
Ha! I love this thread title. I thought we were giving Ben a pretty uncommon name. How does something get popular randomly like this? It's not like anything happened with a Benjamin that would trigger it.

Anyway, my Ben is 4.5 months old now and he's the cutest baby in the existence of babies.



I'm thinking of having another soon. I'm insane.

Shovelmint
Apr 22, 2004
Lipstick Apathy
Oh hey. So my wife's breasts were really sore, she'd gasp in pain if I brushed against them... anyway, she did some internet research on potential causes, bought a 2-pack of pregnancy tests, and apparently we're having a child now. I'm happy and all, we were planning on starting to try soon, but y'know after we'd taken care of some things. Like getting a larger place, and more employment for me (I rent out apartments, and it pays the childless bills, but its not gonna cut it with another mouth to feed) and other stuff that'd make me less likely to freak out. She was on the pill, so this is unplanned, but we're definitely going through with this. She's a little older than I am, and I'm no spring chicken myself, so she may not have too many more childbearing years ahead of her, and she's always wanted two children, so we'd had to get to the first anyway. But it's too early in the pregnancy to go telling family and friends, in case something goes wrong,so we've just kinda had the news to ourselves today, but I don't have too many goon friends in RL, and I haven't talked to anyone other than my wife about this and though I'm feeling positive, I'm also FREAKING OUT. So yeah, I just thought I'd post, so I can communicate with someone and see if it makes me feel any better. 2013 is gonna be a very interesting year.

Bad Munki
Nov 4, 2008

We're all mad here.


What are "normal" babysitting rates these days? We're talking one kid (9 months) just for a couple hours in an evening with a 16-year old babysitter. This is the first time we've had non-family watch her like this, and the last time I was involved in the babysitting market was like 15 years ago.

Lullabee
Oct 24, 2010

Rock a bye bay-bee
In the beehive
nah.

Lullabee fucked around with this message at 23:54 on Mar 21, 2017

frenchnewwave
Jun 7, 2012

Would you like a Cuppa?

Shovelmint posted:

Oh hey. So my wife's breasts were really sore, she'd gasp in pain if I brushed against them... anyway, she did some internet research on potential causes, bought a 2-pack of pregnancy tests, and apparently we're having a child now. I'm happy and all, we were planning on starting to try soon, but y'know after we'd taken care of some things. Like getting a larger place, and more employment for me (I rent out apartments, and it pays the childless bills, but its not gonna cut it with another mouth to feed) and other stuff that'd make me less likely to freak out. She was on the pill, so this is unplanned, but we're definitely going through with this. She's a little older than I am, and I'm no spring chicken myself, so she may not have too many more childbearing years ahead of her, and she's always wanted two children, so we'd had to get to the first anyway. But it's too early in the pregnancy to go telling family and friends, in case something goes wrong,so we've just kinda had the news to ourselves today, but I don't have too many goon friends in RL, and I haven't talked to anyone other than my wife about this and though I'm feeling positive, I'm also FREAKING OUT. So yeah, I just thought I'd post, so I can communicate with someone and see if it makes me feel any better. 2013 is gonna be a very interesting year.

Congrats on your good news and best of luck with it all. Yes babies are $$$ but you make do. There are ways to keep the costs reasonable (except hospital bills - does she have insurance?).

Helanna
Feb 1, 2007

Bad Munki posted:

What are "normal" babysitting rates these days? We're talking one kid (9 months) just for a couple hours in an evening with a 16-year old babysitter. This is the first time we've had non-family watch her like this, and the last time I was involved in the babysitting market was like 15 years ago.

Varies wildly. It's fairly pricy here; going rates here are €10-15 an hour. Lower end for less difficult jobs (for example when I have a babysitter sit downstairs with the baby monitor while my baby sleeps, and ring me if she wakes up!).

hookerbot 5000
Dec 21, 2009
Edit: load of en crap.

Happy New Year everyone, hope 2013 is good to us all :)

hookerbot 5000 fucked around with this message at 09:41 on Jan 3, 2013

Fionnoula
May 27, 2010

Ow, quit.
The year before Liam was born, I had a stillborn son. When I was pregnant with Liam, I basically felt like I was going through the motions the entire time. Like "I do these things and then at the end, I have labor and then I go home with no baby." I was generally hiding those feelings other than from my husband, pretending to the world that I was feeling all the "normal" feelings of pregnancy. Then during one appointment at some point early in my second trimester, my perinatalogist sat down and told me "It is ok to not feel attached to this pregnancy. It is normal. If you are feeling that way, you don't have to pretend, not here. That is a normal, I won't think badly of you or think you will be a bad mother. It is your brain trying to protect you from further pain and it is perfectly ok. You are safe here." It was like an enormous weight was lifted off me, to know that it was ok. So for what it's worth, there is no "right way" to feel about your pregnancy.

hookerbot 5000
Dec 21, 2009

Fionnoula posted:

The year before Liam was born, I had a stillborn son. When I was pregnant with Liam, I basically felt like I was going through the motions the entire time. Like "I do these things and then at the end, I have labor and then I go home with no baby." I was generally hiding those feelings other than from my husband, pretending to the world that I was feeling all the "normal" feelings of pregnancy. Then during one appointment at some point early in my second trimester, my perinatalogist sat down and told me "It is ok to not feel attached to this pregnancy. It is normal. If you are feeling that way, you don't have to pretend, not here. That is a normal, I won't think badly of you or think you will be a bad mother. It is your brain trying to protect you from further pain and it is perfectly ok. You are safe here." It was like an enormous weight was lifted off me, to know that it was ok. So for what it's worth, there is no "right way" to feel about your pregnancy.

Thank you :)

And sorry to hear of the loss of your son, I can't even imagine how painful that would be. Getting hung up on an early miscarriage when I have 3 healthy children and knowing that some other people go through so much worse feels so petty.

Fionnoula
May 27, 2010

Ow, quit.

hookerbot 5000 posted:

Thank you :)

And sorry to hear of the loss of your son, I can't even imagine how painful that would be. Getting hung up on an early miscarriage when I have 3 healthy children and knowing that some other people go through so much worse feels so petty.

It isn't petty though. You had hopes and dreams for that baby, just as much as you do for your other three children. You have a right to grieve for that loss.

Hastings
Dec 30, 2008

Fionnoula posted:

The year before Liam was born, I had a stillborn son. When I was pregnant with Liam, I basically felt like I was going through the motions the entire time. Like "I do these things and then at the end, I have labor and then I go home with no baby." I was generally hiding those feelings other than from my husband, pretending to the world that I was feeling all the "normal" feelings of pregnancy. Then during one appointment at some point early in my second trimester, my perinatalogist sat down and told me "It is ok to not feel attached to this pregnancy. It is normal. If you are feeling that way, you don't have to pretend, not here. That is a normal, I won't think badly of you or think you will be a bad mother. It is your brain trying to protect you from further pain and it is perfectly ok. You are safe here." It was like an enormous weight was lifted off me, to know that it was ok. So for what it's worth, there is no "right way" to feel about your pregnancy.

Oh God, thank you for saying this...because I had a miscarriage too before this pregnancy (only a few months before) and I went through some very "unusual" feelings at the beginning of this one. No matter what I tried, during the whole first trimester and part of the second, it didn't feel...real. I felt nothing. In fact, it just seemed like there was an alien in me and I wanted to get it out. I eventually broke down to my husband because I felt so awful for fantasizing about an abortion, even though we planned him. I knew I would never get one..but there just was something cold, and unattached about the beginning of my pregnancy. I felt like poo poo for not feeling like the movies or being one of those moms on those Mommy boards.

ChloroformSeduction
Sep 3, 2006

THERE'S NO CURE FOR BEING A CUNT, SO PLEASE KEEP REMINDING ME TO SHUT THE FUCK UP

Fionnoula posted:

It is your brain trying to protect you from further pain and it is perfectly ok.

I think this is incredibly true. Unfortunately, I know a couple mothers who've had late term losses and later, and they always have incredibly mixed feelings if they have another pregnancy. It runs the gamut from being thrilled about the new one, being someone detached, or just miserable the whole time. It's a combination of situation, personality, and crazy hormones, and it becomes a big bundled mess. Everyone copes with things differently, and there's not really a right or wrong way to do it.

MockTurtle
Mar 9, 2006
Once I was a real Turtle.
Hey babies thread! I finally got around to having the "do you want to have children sometime" talk with the man. I'm 26 and he is 35. We ended up deciding to go off the pill (after 10 years, wow!) and not really try but not really prevent things from happening either. I (stupidly) figured that it would take a while for anything to happen since I read about people who are actively trying after being off BC and it takes them forever. Well here I am on month 1 pill-free and knocked up. It's something that we obviously knew could happen but we certainly weren't expecting it right off the bat like this.

I'm trying to keep it under wraps for as long as possible to rule out any problems but I work at a brewery with one of my partyer friends and we usually get a little rowdy there. With all the free beer flowing I'm starting to run out of lame excuses to not drink any so I think it's going to be pretty plain here real soon. I'm debating whether to just tell and get it over with or what. It feels weird having people know first who aren't my family. How long did you all wait? I know some people blurt it out to the world as soon as they pee on a stick but I've been warned to shut up for 12 weeks so as not to risk having to spread the bad news if something goes south.

I have an appointment early next week to get checked out and confirm that all this is really happening because the 5 tests I have taken already still aren't sinking in. This whole thing is entirely foreign to me as aside from you guys (I started reading the baby threads back in the day when Fionnoula's Liam and Chachu's[?] Gloria were born) I have no one around me who is having or has had children other than my mother when she had my sister when I was 7. So I guess wish me luck!

What do they do at this first appointment anyway? Am I gonna pee in a cup and then make a second appointment or do they go farther than that on day 1? Should I drag the man along or is that weird?

dreamcatcherkwe
Apr 14, 2005
Dreamcatcher

MockTurtle posted:

What do they do at this first appointment anyway? Am I gonna pee in a cup and then make a second appointment or do they go farther than that on day 1? Should I drag the man along or is that weird?

I told people right away that I was pregnant because I would have felt comfortable telling those same people if I'd had a miscarriage. I would wait longer for coworkers and such because that would be uncomfortable.

My husband came to all of my appointments my first pregnancy. I peed in a cup and then we talked dates. They went over my medical history. They discussed things you should know in pregnancy and gave me some literature - things you shouldn't eat and whatnot. Some doctors/midwives will want to do a pap if it's near time for you to have one. You can decline if you'd rather wait until after the pregnancy.

ukulele bastard
Dec 5, 2006

Fuck, shit, cock, ass, titties, boner, bitch, muff, pussy, cock, butthole, Barbara Streisand!
Hey, general question for all those who've had at least one baby already. Our daughter is 3.5 weeks old. She usually will feed and go back to sleep without a problem except for about once a day, she'll be awake for 2 to 5 hours straight, most of the time crying, feeding often, getting changed often, being held the entire rest of the time. Almost always this happens at the time when we are wanting to go to bed for the night. Internet research shows this seems to be fairly common (some call it the "witching hour(s)"). I just went back to work so my wife, bless her heart, has said she will take care of all nighttime fussiness/diaper disasters, since I have to get up early and she can sleep as late as she wants (with baby's cooperation, of course), but, so far, it's been three hours of crying after I go to bed, followed by my wife crying out of frustration and tiredness, and me getting out of bed to console her and help out. To ease my mind and especially my wife's sanity, my question is this: for those of you who experienced a similar thing, at about what age did these long gaps of not sleeping and being fussy end for you? Just wanted to get an idea to remind us that things will get easier.

Papercut
Aug 24, 2005

The quickest substitution in the history of the NBA

ukulele bastard posted:

Hey, general question for all those who've had at least one baby already. Our daughter is 3.5 weeks old. She usually will feed and go back to sleep without a problem except for about once a day, she'll be awake for 2 to 5 hours straight, most of the time crying, feeding often, getting changed often, being held the entire rest of the time. Almost always this happens at the time when we are wanting to go to bed for the night. Internet research shows this seems to be fairly common (some call it the "witching hour(s)"). I just went back to work so my wife, bless her heart, has said she will take care of all nighttime fussiness/diaper disasters, since I have to get up early and she can sleep as late as she wants (with baby's cooperation, of course), but, so far, it's been three hours of crying after I go to bed, followed by my wife crying out of frustration and tiredness, and me getting out of bed to console her and help out. To ease my mind and especially my wife's sanity, my question is this: for those of you who experienced a similar thing, at about what age did these long gaps of not sleeping and being fussy end for you? Just wanted to get an idea to remind us that things will get easier.

Are you 5 S'ing (link)? Our baby is only 6 weeks old but it has worked for us basically every time, usually without even getting to the 5th S.

Ours was always super active in utero starting around 8pm, and that is still true. In the last couple of weeks he has definitely calmed down though, we used to have to actively soothe him for a couple of hours but now once he's calm we can put him down next to us (yes we're co-sleeping, I know SIDS risk yada yada) and even though he'll stay awake, he just hangs out instead of fussing.

Andrias Scheuchzeri
Mar 6, 2010

They're very good and intelligent, these tapa-boys...
Well--every baby is different, and honestly every day with every baby is different. In broad terms, "by about three months" babies tend to have grown out of the worst of the fussiness, and I think a lot of babies settle into something more like sanity by 6-8 weeks. There may be some tips out there for adjusting infants' schedules, but the first couple months are probably too young for that to work yet.

My sympathies. My little dude has some very colicky phases still, at 8 weeks, and yeah, the evenings are rough. I think the best you can do (as far as your own sanity goes) is share the work and the frustration, let yourselves say out loud "wow, this sucks, it's exhausting and frustrating," and remember that the time really will pass.

Cathis
Sep 11, 2001

Me in a hotel with a mini-bar. How's that story end?

ukulele bastard posted:

To ease my mind and especially my wife's sanity, my question is this: for those of you who experienced a similar thing, at about what age did these long gaps of not sleeping and being fussy end for you? Just wanted to get an idea to remind us that things will get easier.
Our little demon princess is 7 weeks old, and she is slowly improving. In the beginning, she would shriek and fuss from about 8 PM to midnight or so. Now, she only does it 1 or 2 nights a week, and will sleep between 6 to 8 hours at a stretch at night the other times. It is changing for the better slowly :) That first night she slept all the way trough though, that was really awesome... it was like a heavenly chorus was singing to us "see, it gets better!".

GoreJess
Aug 4, 2004

pretty in pink

ukulele bastard posted:

Hey, general question for all those who've had at least one baby already. Our daughter is 3.5 weeks old. She usually will feed and go back to sleep without a problem except for about once a day, she'll be awake for 2 to 5 hours straight, most of the time crying, feeding often, getting changed often, being held the entire rest of the time. Almost always this happens at the time when we are wanting to go to bed for the night. Internet research shows this seems to be fairly common (some call it the "witching hour(s)"). I just went back to work so my wife, bless her heart, has said she will take care of all nighttime fussiness/diaper disasters, since I have to get up early and she can sleep as late as she wants (with baby's cooperation, of course), but, so far, it's been three hours of crying after I go to bed, followed by my wife crying out of frustration and tiredness, and me getting out of bed to console her and help out. To ease my mind and especially my wife's sanity, my question is this: for those of you who experienced a similar thing, at about what age did these long gaps of not sleeping and being fussy end for you? Just wanted to get an idea to remind us that things will get easier.

We're right there with you. My son is 4 weeks old & 8-12am is the worst time of the day. He just doesn't want to settle down. Wish I had some advice, all I can offer is the knowledge that someone else is going through the exact same thing.

ukulele bastard
Dec 5, 2006

Fuck, shit, cock, ass, titties, boner, bitch, muff, pussy, cock, butthole, Barbara Streisand!

Papercut posted:

Are you 5 S'ing (link)? Our baby is only 6 weeks old but it has worked for us basically every time, usually without even getting to the 5th S.

Ours was always super active in utero starting around 8pm, and that is still true. In the last couple of weeks he has definitely calmed down though, we used to have to actively soothe him for a couple of hours but now once he's calm we can put him down next to us (yes we're co-sleeping, I know SIDS risk yada yada) and even though he'll stay awake, he just hangs out instead of fussing.

We've tried the different s's in varying degrees. We're certainly not shushing her as loud as the Dr. in the video or swinging her side to side like that while shushing. Also, we haven't been swaddling with the arms in the swaddle. We might try that. Don't some people say that might be a SIDS risk, at least if they sleep like that?

Thanks for all the replies already. It definitely does help to know others are going through it and it really helps to know that it does get better!

Papercut
Aug 24, 2005

The quickest substitution in the history of the NBA

ukulele bastard posted:

We've tried the different s's in varying degrees. We're certainly not shushing her as loud as the Dr. in the video or swinging her side to side like that while shushing. Also, we haven't been swaddling with the arms in the swaddle. We might try that. Don't some people say that might be a SIDS risk, at least if they sleep like that?

Thanks for all the replies already. It definitely does help to know others are going through it and it really helps to know that it does get better!

One of the points that Dr. Karp makes is that the order of the S's matters (swaddle -> side-lie -> swing -> shush -> suck). This may be bullshit, who knows. But swaddling with the arms firmly tucked down is important; without that the technique doesn't do anything for us. There are tons of videos on youtube that show how to get a nice tight swaddle, I found them really helpful even though the babies in them are usually half-asleep to begin with.

Even without swaddling, if I side-lie my baby and just pin his arms to his body with my hands it helps soothe him. You might want to pick up Karp's book, I didn't read the whole thing because it's super repetitive but my wife found it very helpful. We've also found that bouncing on an exercise ball is a super soother.

Ben Davis
Apr 17, 2003

I'm as clumsy as I am beautiful
Yeah, I don't really see much of a point to swaddling without the arms in. It's not like the bottom half of the swaddle really restricts the legs. I've never in my life heard of it being a SIDS risk; the AAP is definitely ok with swaddling! Maybe you're thinking of later in life, once they can roll over? When they can roll, you want them able to roll back.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Ratatozsk
Mar 6, 2007

Had we turned left instead, we may have encountered something like this...

ukulele bastard posted:

Hey, general question for all those who've had at least one baby already. Our daughter is 3.5 weeks old. She usually will feed and go back to sleep without a problem except for about once a day, she'll be awake for 2 to 5 hours straight, most of the time crying, feeding often, getting changed often, being held the entire rest of the time. Almost always this happens at the time when we are wanting to go to bed for the night. Internet research shows this seems to be fairly common (some call it the "witching hour(s)"). I just went back to work so my wife, bless her heart, has said she will take care of all nighttime fussiness/diaper disasters, since I have to get up early and she can sleep as late as she wants (with baby's cooperation, of course), but, so far, it's been three hours of crying after I go to bed, followed by my wife crying out of frustration and tiredness, and me getting out of bed to console her and help out. To ease my mind and especially my wife's sanity, my question is this: for those of you who experienced a similar thing, at about what age did these long gaps of not sleeping and being fussy end for you? Just wanted to get an idea to remind us that things will get easier.

We're just about at 3 1/2 ourselves, and our rough time is 10-2ish. My wife and I have split the night into shifts: I'm "on" until 3 am and she's on afterwards. If Dominic needs any attention, it falls first to the person whose shift it is to comfort him. Obviously, I need to wake my wife if the baby needs to feed, but all she needs to do then is sit up and feed him without really waking up, and it's helped her get a bit more rest

We do have the flexibility that I'm just working from home right now, so it might not work for your situation. That said, though, we picked this system up from some friends who said it saved them, and its worked pretty well so far. Maybe you could tweak it to your hours?

I'll also echo recommendations for the 5 s's with arms immobilized. In addition to regular swaddle-cloths, we also have a few-hand-me-downs Swaddle-me type things which we love for the night-time. It's much easier to sleep without Dominic intermittently punching himself awake.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • Post
  • Reply