Hi all,

Oh my god, i'd forgotten what it was like to sleep for more than 3 hours in a row and last night She only woke up once!  She finished feeding at 9.30, we both went to bed and didn't wake till 2.30 and then again 10 mins ago (6.50) so she's having breakfast while I type.  It probably won't happen again though, and she did feed for about an hour and a half at 2.30 but i feel so much better this morning.  Just wait, i bet she'll be up all night tonight rto make up for it!

Dawn, I don't think you're being petty at all, it's bloody hard work looking after a baby all day and doing all the other stuff that needs doing, chores etc.  I don't share the night feeds as oh doesn't have boobs, lol! However it does pee me off that he will snore right through me getting up feeding her and coming back to bed, i don't know how the crying never wakes him. I do all the household chores, shopping etc and most baby stuff but oh will cook dinner when he comes in from work. He is also responsible for baby burping if he's around after i've fed her cos he's better at it than me! I don't think men neccesarily appreciate how hard it is to be on your own with a baby all day, and it's hard not to get angry when your tired and they're being unhelpfull but you need to let him know how you feel.  I got stroppy on Saturday cos my oh wanted to go drinking with his mates after rugby, (revenge came in the way of the awful hangover he had on Sunday morning though) and he tends to be out a lot in the evenings after work doing rugby stuff.  Maybe if you combine the bottle and breast feeding he can give a bedtime bottle so you can go to bed earlier.  We top up Freya some nights with either expressed milk or a little formula if she won't settle and oh loves giving her a bottle and she goes back on the boob fine.  Hope that helps a bit. 

Is anyone else finding that 0-3 month clothes seem to be really small?  Freya never really fitted in much newborn stuff anyway but she's 1 month old now and already her legs and feet are right at the end of the baby grows but the arms are mostly too long.  Do they make the babygrows an odd shape or is my baby an odd shape?!  We've been given so many clothes that she'll never wear them all before she out grows them at this rate.  She wore real clothes for the first time on saturday and looked really sweet but I tend to keep her in baby grows most of the time, do you all dress your babies for the day or not?

Hope you are all ok.

Gem and Freya (1 month old already, i can't believe how quick thats gone)

HI Girl's

Well starting the 4th week and Nanny turn to help out....she's not rolling up until 9am and is off to the theatre tonight so will dissapear about 6pm. So, still facing getting us all up and doing bed time by myself tonight...dreading it!. Well shouldn't complain really I'm lucky we have family so close and she will take Jessica off my hands today.

As far as spliting the work load Dawn - I found first time round much more difficult than the 2nd, my OH is being great and I'm having to turn him down, knowing that if he doesn't get his sleep it makes it worse for all of us.

Your right about the assumption that we are on a jolly, and I found that the penny only dropped for my OH after I went out for the day and left him to it. Only after a couple of times like that did he realise that just doing the basic's for a baby was a bit beyond him and that was without washing, cleaning, shopping and cooking. He took his hat off to me and appreciated that he couldn't do it. It might a bit early to leave them alone together for a whole day but when the time is right......thats what I'd do and see if his attitude changes.

Had a rotten night on Sat, was up 2.5 hrs with Owen. Its seems he wasn't tired at 2am!! Then he got hiccups. I decided that if I broke through the 3 hr mark I was taking him in to OH. We are sleeping in seperate rooms....but if we dont, we both end up being disturbed through the night and no-one gets a decent nights sleep.

We are trying to find a good routine now. OH stays up late and does the last feed of the day anywhere between 10-11pm. I'm heading to bed by 8pm ish. I then do the 2am and 5am feeds...We had a much better night last night. I jumped out of bed and fed him as soon as he started murmering and he was very sleepy through the whole fed and settled straight off to sleep after it. I call it a 'Dream Fed' (nicked from a book I read).

This morning worked out well too...I did a 5.30 feed - 6am did the bottles - 6.30 Jessica up, me in the shower - 7am all down stairs for breakfast - 7.30 small feed for Owen and off to sleep - play time with Jessica for a bit. If only every morning could be like that! Hopefully it goes that smoothly tomorrow when I have to get Jessica to nursery. Small steps.

Owen is a very big boy and fitting quiet snugly into 0-3 months. I tended to find that it depends where you buy from on the sizes. M&S is on the big side and long sleaves, great for Owen useless for Jessica. 'Next' on the small side. John Lewis pretty spot on. But it all does depends on your baby and their unique dimentions...trial and error I'm afraid.

Well MIL is here now so better be off to make her drinks and look after her!

Petra x

Just want to say thanks to everyone for the helpful advice!  I did speak to him again after the few same arguments and I think we had our wires crossed a little bit.  he's been really really good since and I managed to get a really good night last night which put me in a much more sane mood today!

Seriously thinking about the bottle thing as Dylan seems to be hungry for hours during the day, straight after feeds etc. 

I went a bit mad clothes shopping before Dylan was born so have got loads of 3-6 month stuff already!  Some of the newborn stuff was always too small but some of it goes up to 14lb for some reason (don't fancy that as a newborn weight myself) so he fits in those ok.  Will be interested to see how much he weighs on Weds.

Take care eveyone!

Glad you're feeling better about things Dawn and have sorted stuff out with your other half.  Sleep makes every thing seem so much better!  Freya had a long stretch 2 nights in a row now (am i tempting fate now, lol!) and i don't know that I'm getting more sleep in total but having a longer stretch without being woken really makes a difference.

14lb for a new born is a little extreme!  I've got 2 big bin bags full of 3-6 and some 6-9 month stuff from a friend sitting in our spare room, need to have a sort through it all and see what's there. 

Went to a post natal group yesterday for 0-6month babies and mums.  I was a bit worried it was going to be rather 'cliquey' but all the mums were lovely, really friendly.  Freya was the youngest there but seemed to enjoy herself, she was really alert and watching all the other babies and the bright things on the walls and floor.  Will try to make it a regular thing, she'll have a better social life than me soon!  There is also a sing and sign group when they're a little older and I really want to take her swimming when she's old enough.

hope you are all ok

Dawn - glad to hear your feeling better. Sleep is really the key but also having a break away. I always find that even a couple of hours away by myself so liberating. To be free of little ones, bags, buggies ect..... turn the music up in the car, wondering around at my own pace....ahhhhhh...... those were the days!

Sitting here one handed typing again. This seems to be owens awake time and he's not too good at entertaining himself yet! That on top of the fact that he seems to be snacking through the night and not staying awake for a full feed. He had me up every 2 hours last night, he gave the impression of being ravinous but would refuse the bottle after about 40 mls and fall fast asleep, the whole process takes an hour trying to get it in him that I only get 1 hours sleep in between! Also started using infacol cause he struggles to bring up his wind and grunts and groans like you wouldnt believe! So he plays catch up now wanting to be fed all morning. I'm not giving in though he needs to learn to take what he can when it offered!!!!! Bottle feeding is not always a easy option girls! I had 5 bottles to do this morning!

Got 2 Jessica free days and a night! She's staying at MIL's. Do feel like she is getting the rough end though as i fear the days when I have the two of them on my own and I'm sure she picks up on it.

Little mans tummy is empty again....got to go.

Px