Specklemum

Yay, how exciting, we finally have our official thread! I'm expecting our second at the start of June when our son will be nearly two. Looking forward to meeting lots of you on the 21st (thanks again for organising KJ, that's some impressive organisational skills you've got there!). I don't work Thursdays or Fridays so would also be up for a coffee with older children in tow then if that works for anyone? Thanks for the yoga recommendation Mariamadeit. I can't make that class but I'm trying that one-off Bump and Baby Club one in March.

Hi Poppy1, have PM'd you.

Can second the suggestions above. We also find the Clockhouse and Cafe Rouge (depending what end of E Dulwich you are) are good toddler-friendly options.

Glad to hear the first meet up was such a success :) And congratulations to your sister Mariamadeit! What a good idea KJ - will message you now. x

Hi all, been looking forward to tomorrow, but won't be able to make it after all. My husband has had to go overseas with his work so I'll be on toddler duty tomorrow, and if this week is anything to go by, he'll be napping til 4. Hope to meet you all another time soon.

Yes, thanks for organising KJ. Looking forward to meeting some of you then! Mariamadeit - probably won't be bringing the big-brother-to-be this time around, just because he tends to nap through a big chunk of the afternoon.

We found our lovely childminder on this forum. I only had a couple of months to go before I returned to work, so don't worry, you haven't left it too late. I visited a few with my son and we went on gut feeling - I think you'll know the right one when you find them. Obviously it depends on the child, but we felt the family-environment a childminder can provide would suit our son best and it's worked out really well. Also, to reassure you if you do go the childminder route, he does still get a fair amount of interaction with other children. He gets on really well with the childminder's own children as well as the other kids in her care, and they go to plenty of groups together too. Good luck with your search!

My 18 month old also takes his one nap straight after lunch, usually around 12:45 and for a couple of hours. Though we do find he'll tend to nod off earlier (e.g 11ish) if we happen to be in the car then. I used to find his morning nap at 9:30 more of a pain for classes - though was still painful when he dropped it!

Hi everyone, I?m also expecting a summer baby ? our second is due early June when our little man will be nearly 2, eek! Be great to meet you all. I can do 24th, and work part-time so also around Thursdays and Fridays.

Thanks so much for the latest replies ? lots of pragmatic advice there, which is just what we?re after. The little one went down with his first cold, poor thing, so the last week we?ve put all thoughts of improving the situation on hold, and just been trying to get him through the night as comfortably as possible ? which has mostly meant lots of cuddles in bed with his (also poorly..) mum! We?ve lost most of the little bit of progress we had made. But for now, it?s going to need to be an exercise in maximising sleep for everyone by whatever means, until we?re all feeling better rested and ready for round two! The extra mattress/futon suggestion sounds good and we?re going to give that a try. Thanks again everyone. It really helps to know we?re not the only ones who have gone through this. x

I found the Albrighton Centre cafe a bit of a lifeline back in the summer when little Speckle was a few weeks old. Like some others on here, I'd endured weeks of agonising feeds and by that point had read so much stuff online about how to latch your baby that the whole thing had become very muddled in my head and I felt I had missed the boat by not getting it sorted earlier. I found the health visitors at the cafe to be caring and reassuring. Meeting other mums who were also struggling also quickly dispelled the idea in my head that everyone else found it a breeze. Looking back it was the start of a turn around in our experience of breastfeeding. I only wish I had gone earlier.

Thanks EmilyPie, will do. Hope you have a better night tonight. EmilyPie Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > We used nicola watson from child sleep solutions. > As you can see from the fact that I am writing > this at silly o clock the problem is by no means > solved, but it is, after a truly horrendous first > night, definitely improving. We are on night 3 so > far. A lot of what she said was stuff I'd heard > before or might have been able to work out for > myself if I wasn't so sleep deprived. However, the > stuff around changing the daytime feeding routine > and around naps I probably wouldn't have thought > of and has been very helpful. The real value was > in having someone put it all together into a plan, > so when you're desperate you aren't standing in > the darkness with no idea what you're supposed to > be doing. I also find that just having a proper, > written down plan has given me confidence. She was > also very nice and sympathetic which helps. We > didn't go for the full package, because we were > confident we could implement the plan, but I > imagine the ongoing support would be reassuring. > We have gone for the controlled crying option but > she talked me through the whole range of methods, > including various gentler approaches. Feel free to > PM me if you have any other questions. Good luck!

That sounds promising, thanks again. We're now masters at shush-patting :-) Saffron Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It was the milk to water fade, with some > shush-patting that got us down from 5+ night > wakings/frequent night feeds, to around 2 wakings. > This was at a similar age to your LO. I was > breastfeeding, but my LO would take a bottle > during the night just fine. xx

Thanks for the replies & suggestions. It sounds as though you all understand from experience how far a few words of support and encouragement can go when you?ve had so little sleep :-) When I can get my sleepy-head into gear I?m going to look into some alternatives. We have fairly modest hopes - even 2-3 wakings a night would be fab compared with now. And when little one cries, he REALLY cries. So we feel sticking to the gentler end of the spectrum is the right thing for us. But my maternity leave (and indeed, sanity!) won?t last forever, so options beyond ?No Cry? would be good? Saffron ? I?ve been wondering for some time whether to try to embrace co-sleeping rather than fight it. Unfortunately I?ve never really got on with it, mainly as the little one thrashes around and I?ve also never fully got the hang of feeding lying down. In practice though, he ends up in our bed beyond a certain time, so if all else fails, we may go this route. We have a king-size bed on order which should give more wriggle room! Astrid, glad to hear you?re getting a better night?s sleep, that must have been a wonderful surprise. Feel similar to you on CC. Most of our NCT group have gone that way and do appear to have had a lot of success, but we don?t feel it?s right for us. klove ? I?m going to take a look at the Andrea Grace book. Other half came across her website when looking up sleep consultants. Congrats on getting to the other side, it?s great to hear a success story. I can believe it?s transformed your family?s quality of life ? our little one recently teased us with one night where he slept for 3 hours at a time, which pretty much had us high on sleep the next day, so who knows what a full night could do! EmilyPie ? that?s really interesting what you said about your little one snacking, as you basically described our feeding set-up here. Would love to hear how you get on having consulted the sleep expert, as that?s something we?re considering doing. I don?t really expect to be told anything radically new from what I?ve read elsewhere, but we thought it might help us stay on track.

Hi all, has anyone else tried the ?No Cry Sleep Solution?? Be really interested to hear of any experiences others have had with this, good and bad. After initially treating us to 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep when he was a few weeks old (ah, the good old days! If only we had known?), since hitting 4 months, our wee man has had us up and down all night. On good nights, we may get up to 2 hours at a time, but it?s often more like 1, and very difficult to get him down at all after 4am. He?s now 7 months old, and has two very foggy-headed parents! So... we thought we?d give this approach a go, but after several weeks we don?t seem to be making much progress. On the plus side, it is a bit quicker and easier to settle him and get him down at bedtime, and we do sometimes manage to get him down sleepy but awake (a small miracle the first time!). Trouble is, he?s still waking up just as often ? if not more so ? than when we started. Be great to compare notes with anyone else who is trying/tried this approach. We were prepared for this taking some time and patience, but it?s starting to feel like a real slog and we?re not sure whether to persevere or try something else. Thanks!

Looks like you?re already sold Strawbs, but just to add we had no regrets here. Nice and sturdy for our chubby little man and bought me valuable hands-free minutes to do the laundry etc (never did get the hand of doing this with him in his sling!).

Hi, we?re also relative newcomers to Dulwich, and it?s great to see there are so many other mums around here with babies the same age! Our little man was born in July, and we?re very glad we made the move (despite some days it feeling like our new house is falling down around us!). We?re enjoying a couple of baby groups, but be great to meet some more local mums.