...I thought after 4 months I should really be in a routine and life be as normal as possible. SORRY BIT OF A LONG POST!

Dont get me wrong, my baby is such a good girl and I am truly blessed but I dont have the answers to my dilemma and turn to you for help.

You see I live in a large family so its a very loud house, thus making it hard to settle LO for naps at daytime and putting her to bed at a reasonable time. She also has reflux which seems to be getting worse instead of better and so I find I am constantly having to hold her upright after her feeds. It is also such a mission in tring to bring her wind up sometimes that this doesnt actually help in trying to get her to nap in the day.

I had a very traumatic labour with everything happening 'down there'. I also have a prolapsed disc, prior pregnancy, and so I was struggling with the night feeds in bed. I was in too much pain with trying to move and so resorted to sleeping downstairs on the sofa and LO in the crib. Upstairs I have her cot next to the bed but downstairs I have sevral chairs I am able to move round in. DH also took to one of the sofas and I found this worked better for us and he was a bit better in attending to the baby aswell.

She was a clusterfeeder so I spent most time stuck to the chairs and then it was realised she had reflux so again stuck to the chairs and keeping her upright before tryng to put her back down again. We then discovered she slept better on us so now thats become her bed and I didnt always have to keep her upright after her night feeds but I do not know how I can put her to sleep in the crib or her cot. Each time I put her down she wakes up and when I was trying to teach her to sleep in her crib her reflux sparked up badly, giving me a horrid scare...I thought she was going to choke. I have tried with lifting one end of her crib but that did not help.

She also feeds before going to sleep and I dont mind this becasue if she was to feed after waking up she cant play around on the floor etc and be put down because she would throw up again.

Because of all of this, I put her to bed at 11pm but I give her a feed in the living room, then when Im winding her turn the lights off and either sit whilst holding her or go to sleep on the sofa with her on me.

There is too much noise in the house to put her to bed earlier and I found I was getting bored sitting in the dark any earlier. I know she enjoys her sleep so try to give her 12 hours but its too late to always lay there till 11am so she gets around 10 hours. The timing is something new as before she wouldnt sleep till after midnight.

when she wakes or gets woken. I let her have a stretch and a wash an change before giving her a nap. The trouble starts with all the noise again and she gets disrupted and Im back to square 1 fighting to get her to nap which she clearly needs. I have introduced the bouncer for her to nap in due to the upright posittion for her reflux but doesnt last long in it and at times wont sleep in it.

I havent been able to sort myself out and still in PJ's all day. I have a belly which is only getting bigger and find it hard to get out. DH is supportive but not as much as I need him to be.

Yesterday LO managed to fall aseep just before midnight and got woken 10am. she played about and got ready and needed a nap by afternoon. She managed to sleep at 1pm but kept getting disturbed and is now sleeping on me at 3pm. She wont go down in the bouncer now and i havent moved since morning...in PJ and only managed breakfast. I find i am having to hold her all the time and i know she must be getting tired also.

PLS PLS PLS can i have your suggestions on what can i do to make things better and move the day along..............

Thanks for reading......sorry had to finish typing with 1 hand!

just a few suggestions, could you try taking her out in her pram for a walk where she can nap and you can get some fresh air?
Also have you tried infant gaviscon for the reflux?


babies dont actually like too much quiet, the womb was so noisy.
Is there not a room you could put her in for naps away from all the noise if the pram idea doesnt work?
can u settle her with a pacifyer at all?

just a few ideas

xx

OMG
I'm overwhelmed just reading your post. You clearly have an awful lot on your plate and I think you need medical advice to deal with the reflux as well as advice from ladies on here. Maybe put something about Reflux in your thread title and then they will read it and write their suggestions for you. I think you need to actually have a chat with someone or at least msn so that they can answer each thing bit by bit - there's a chat section on here.
Hope you find someone to help x

Hiya hun I can totally relate to this, well apart from the busy house part. My LO doesnt really sleep during the day she'll maybe have a 5 min nap after a feed but thats it. Some babies dont need as much sleep as other, your LO gets 10 hrs at night which is great!! Try not to stress bout the naps, my GP and HV both reassured me about this as I was worried. Loads of LOs dont sleep through that much until they are lots older.

For the reflux has your GP given her anything? My LO gets ranitidine which helps matters. Also try propping up the top of her cot so she isnt lying flat. She's also used to sleeping on you so she'll prob be a little unsettled not being on you so put a nightie or top you have worn tight over her mattress so when she is in her cot she can still smell you.

Just feel like im going crazy on my own......

you arent on your own feeling like this, its really tough. Have you spoken to anyone about how you are feeling? You sound like you need some more support, your LO sounds like a handful and you deserve some time to relax and be yourself

Lots of LOs have young brothers and sisters tearing around at home all day, so try not to worry too much about the noise. We *try* to keep it noiser at home in the daytime - although its an effort here

Aside from that H was just the same until the last 2 weeks. I know shes a bit younger, but every baby is different. She went from 1am final sleep time, to 11pm, now its sometimes as early as 8pm... and it's not down to anything I'm doing... she's just needing it, so changing accordingly.

She didn't nap very well at all either... but in the last 2 weeks since her growth spurt shes slept for 2-3 hours some times! I had to keep poking her

I've had the same mad days in my PJs, thinking 'sh** I really need to get a handle on this, people are going to start thinking I'm doing something strange' - I almost wrote a thread to tell ppl not to worry when H started changing things of her own accord. Honestly, it had nothing to do with me or routine or anything other than needing more sleep now please



I'm sure you'll turn a corner soon xxx

Your never alone. we are all here going through the same as you. we understand and are always here

i want to say that even though you think your overwhelmed i want to say congrats on being a caring and doting mummy. your doing a great job. sometimes things can get on top of us and we cant see anyway forward. Every day your baby is getting bigger and learning more and its because of you. The other ladies are right in regards to seeing a doctor about the reflux, something as simple as gaviscon for babies in their bottles will make such a huge difference to you and your baby. she will feel ten times better and you wont feel so tied to her. so thats your next step forward.

Next, is maybe tryin to organise some quiet time in the house for a couple of hours in the morning. If the noise is due to children, then maybe they could do quiet activities, like painting or drawing, or watching a film. Then maybe in the afternoon you could take LO out in the pram for a walk.The fresh will be excellent for you both. You could take her to the park or go feed the ducks and talk to her about it, doesnt matter if she is asleep or not, babies love the sound of their mummies voice. If you did this sort of thing everyday then it would build up to be a routine for you both.

Also i think maybe sit down with your husband and tell him how your feeling, coz he is there for you otherwise you guys wouldnt be married. However sometimes men can be blind and cant see whats going on in front of their own noses, so he cant help you unless he knows how your feeling.

I hope these suggestions help in someway to make you feel better