I posted on here about constipation while weaning my 6 month old, we waited till 26 weeks to wean him and he loved food so much - spurred on by HV advice to go for it - we are already on 3 meals a day at 28 weeks. Hes had meat/dairy/fish/fruit/veg and cereal and ive mixed several things together in a meal. His poo changed to be harder some days it takes some really pushing out - he doesnt seem to be in pain, he just has to concentrate pushing, and sometimes he poos over 5 or 6 nappies.

At the same time as weaning him, he's suddenly had a surge of brain activity, can move so quick, grab quick, has much more attitude (!) and is so much more into everything. He's also become very good with his hands, i can't believe what he can now do seemingly overnight.

He's always been a good sleeper - had been exculsively bf and slept through 12 hours from 3 months old. He carried on till 4 and a half when he started waking up once a night again but this was no big deal as he'd go straight back off after a feed. However - for the first time we are having big problems sleeping - i dont know if its the weaning and belly ache etc, or just not being able to setlle himself due to his mind being so active! I can get him off to sleep at night no problem but when he wakes a few hours laterhe's then up 2 hourly. The first few times he has his eyes closed and cries till i feed him as if he isnt fully awake and just wants me to help him go back off. By about 4 am though he's wide awake, laughing, grabbing his teddies and throwing them around his cot and in some funny positions - up until a week or so ago he couldnt do any of that! He hasnt slept much in the day since he was 8 weeks old and its all i can do to get him to have 20 mins all day. Im shatered.

I wonder if any of you had similar experiences? I think i was waiting for my time to come as he's been a good baby so far, but im due to go back to work in 2 months and now wish id streched our finances to have more time off if id thought id be up 2 hourly i would never have said id return but its all sorted now. I thought id try and stick to simple foods like porridge/yoghurt/fruit and veg for a bit to go easy on his gut? He doesnt really seem to be in pain and he certainly isnt in the early hours when he just wants to play.

Id be grateful for any advice or opinions on what might be the problem or what i should do x

It sounds like your son has been talking to my daughter!! I have found that introducing a new food in the evening always seems to set her off so I always keep to the foods she is used too for her evening meal. Has his constipation improved any? I posted before but the watered down orange juice really does help. As does weetabix for breakfast.

As for the night time wakings,I cant give you much advice because I dont know if I am doing it right but I can tell you what I have done. I have found that feeding her back to sleep made things worse. Instead, I turn her back on to her back and stroke her face until she calms down and goes back to sleep. It takes longer to begin with, and she cries and gets angry, but they quickly learn that its sleep time. We had a week of four am wake ups where she would sit up and want to play. I took her teddy out of her cot so that she had nothing to play with and left her (she was right next to me in her cot so I didnt leave her alone, just didnt engage with her). She spent about half an hour shouting 'dada' and smiling and giggling, but eventually she started to get fractous so I lay her down (a few times because she kept turning over, getting up on her hands and knees and rocking) and waited for her to go back to sleep. She did eventually sleep for another 2 1/2 hours.

The only other thing your sons waking might be is teething, in which case you could try a little calpol x

thanks glitterbug. We tried prunes and apricots and ive upped his water. I also have used the excercises you told me about with a good success rate! I held off on the orange juice purely because id heard that often they have it and refuse water afterwards. But i wouldnt hesitate to use it if needed.

Things did improve, he had more liquidy poos, but then yesterday he had another hard poo day. He must have done 6 hard poos i was forever changing him. He wasnt distressed or in pain but ive noticed today his little bum is very red poor baby. He's had 3 kickabouts with no nappy on and am only using water and cotton wool on it, and lots of nappy cream. I dont think its teething as his dribbleing has actually lessened - i think he's sore from so much pooing. Today though was like milk poo only with veg etc in it so i think it really varies with what i give him! Sorry, TMI i know but we're all mummies and dealing with it everyday! He has prunes with weetabix every morning (im amazed he eats prunes but he laps them up). I'm trying not to crazily give him everything in a mad panic and go a bit more steady. Im learning when he's had enough, he still opens his mouth for it so i think maybe i over fed him previously but now when he starts getting distracted i just leave it. He loves the easy stuff, purree, porridge, yoghurt so plenty of those things.

Sorry to hear you've been having the same problem with your dd - its soul destroying isnt it - they look so cute but you just feel at the end of your tether! im feeding him sometimes but have also found holding him over my shoulder with a dummy in and shhhing him for a while will do it sometimes. I leave him when wide awake where nothing else works - he is in the next room, it sounds awful but i put earplugs in. If he was proper crying id hear him, with both our doors open. He always cries a couple of hours later but i know he cant have been awake all that time so he must drift off on his own, but seemingly never into a deep sleep. I think you're right about the feeding though, it just makes him think he can have a cuddle whenever :/ but hard in the middle of the night and you're shattered.

Tonight i had my tea with my LO at 5 pm and now he's down am off to bed (7.30pm) i think for now this is the only way, cant keep on being in bed at ten thirty up all night and then up at 7am with no nap all day its a killer x

Glad the massage helped. It just takes them a while to get used to processing food I think. We are starting to have more good poop days than bad poop days and I havent really done anything any different. Madam has decided to accept more liquids recently so I think that might be it. My dd has never accepted water and it took her ages to accept juice to be honest. It is great that your little boy drinks water. My nephew drinks a lot of water and has one juice drink a day so I think it depends on the child.

Phoebes bum went the same way an I alternated using canestan and sudocream which really helped. I was worried that I was mistaking nappy rash for thrush but the doctor said they are basically the same thing and canestan will prevent any fungal growth. Bless them, they have so much to deal with dont they?

I dont blame you for leaving him to settle himself. I am currently trying to teach Phoebe to do that. She used to go down beautifully at bedtime. I could lay her down awake and just pop my hand on her tummy and she would drift off. Now she is rolling, crawling, sitting herself up and pulling herself up she is so naughty! Last night I sat for 45 minutes in her room hiding from her waiting for her to settle herself. I think I am going to have to start leaving her otherwise its half my evening gone! Phoebe is 7 months, so we aren't too far ahead of you in terms of age, I wonder if it is an age thing that is causing our lovely babies to turn into naughty monkeys?!! x

hi glitterbug

thanks for your reply, after another rough night i rang the HV this morning. She says that my LO has never learnt to settle himself as i breast feed him to sleep, all babies stir in the night but younger babies dont care and drift off again. But when they hit the sort of age our LOS are their minds are so active that they are stunned that they're in a different place to where they fell asleep and this wakes them up. He calls for me as feeding is the only way he knows to get back off.

The long and short of it is she reckons I need to stir him when i put him in his cot tonight, so he knows he's in his cot, then let him cry going back to reassure him after 5,then10,then 15 mins etc touching and shhhing but not lifting or feeding him. She says a child at 6 months on 3 meals a day does not need calories in the night and not to feed him in the night anymore. I know it makes sense but it seems so callous. She said that in the long term a sleep deprived child and mother was worse than what he'll go through for a night or two - but it could take hours of crying. Feel pretty miserable at the thought of letting my LO go through that - it feels a bit like neglect - but i know in 8 weeks he'll suffer worse when im on the night shift at work. And he is so grumpy, his behaviour is really getting affected by lack of sleep the HV reckons its just coincidence i started weaning him when it started - if he had tummy ache the feeds wouldnt get him back to sleep.

just thought id share as you might try with phoebe - although i know not all parents agree with controlled crying, i thought i was one of them but what she said made sense - she said if he ran out in front of a car, would i grab his arm to stop him getting hit, even though it might hurt his arm. although this situation is obviously not as drastic she said in the long term there would be implications for him not sleeping and that this will work as long as we persevere - and if we are very strong it will work quickly. She said it would never stop if we didnt which made me feel pretty glum!! :roll: I know you've developed some other ways to settle phoebe that have worked, so maybe they will work again.

Think of me tonight whilst purposefully waking my LO to listen to him cry! Seems crazy! xx

Im doing the controlled crying too!! Its the only thing that I can think to do. I havent managed to work up the courage to stop the night time bottle though. I know I must, but I feel the same as you - it seems so mean!

Hope your night wasnt too bad. I was up every 90 minutes with Phoebe last night. Just shushing her back to sleep or moving her from the awkward position she had wriggled into. Her top teeth appear to have cut this morning though so I'm thinking that was it. She settled herself to sleep no problem but we had a massive kick off after her bath and she wouldn't take her milk. Hubby put her into the cot screaming and sobbing without having had a bottle and left her! I ended up having to go up and calm her down - by which time she was coughing because she had got herself into such a state. After I calmed her she took her milk and went down fine, but it does annoy me that my hubby is so bloody lazy. She put up a fight so he just left her! Im knackered because I have now had two days of her being cranky and mardy all day because of her teeth and not sleeping properly at night. Normally we only have one wake up during the night so it is doable, but at the moment I feel so tired I'm struggling to cope with her mood during the day. Anyway, sorry for the rant, hope your night was better than mine x

Oh no... I'm reading this and now it's confirming what I'm thinking that I should now find a way to cut the night time bottle and get her to settle again by herself...

Fun!

We started weaning our 5mth old at 4mths & she too started out with the solid poos causing some upset & wanting comfort whilst she got used to the new sensation. She too is very alert all day long, grabbing toys, switching them from hand to hand, watching what everyone is up to, laughing away with big sister. Now we're coming up on 6mths old, having been on solids for 2mths we're used to having a solid poo per day & are back to sleeping longer at night.

Have found last solid meal at 5.30pm, Bedtime Bath at 7pm followed by BF/FF at 7.30pm before putting to bed to be a helpful bed routine to encourage recognition of 'sleep time'. Best wishes.

glitterbug, so sorry, i know how you feel, after a couple of terrible nights and no day sleep id still managed to throw some stuff in the cookpot for a bolognaise - my OH wouldnt eat it as he hates peppers, i had a full on meltdown i was so tired and angry with him - he went for a drive! Low moment! Had a glass of wine and watched my choice of tv - plus point of him going out in a strop, lol. I know what you're saying about struggleing wiht your LO's mood when you're tired - it affects everything and does no one any good.

LO surprisingly went off from awake last night without problems, but cried solidly from 0055 to 0200 and then again from 0300 to 0325. I went in reassuring but never lifted him out the cot, he made it then to 0700 this morning, all smiles and giggles. They forgive you afterwards but it is tough. Just told myself he cant be tired all the time - it isnt good for him, and i need to be the best mummy i can be to him. Still shattered now (obviously, lol) but feel so much better for a plan and showered my brave little soldier with lots of love and kisses and hugs today. Have to say i think 1 hour 5 mins for the first night, and then another half hour later on, isnt too bad. My OH was great and came and cuddled me and we were strong together so i won't do him down too much; however, the not bothering with the feed thing sounds just like something my OH would do too (only cause he knows i will go up and do it instead). You can't leave a baby hungry can you! You have to know they're clean, fed and winded or else you will worry the crying is for a reason.

Sounds like it was more than likely teeth for phoebe though, wish i could offer some advice but this is a nightmare we've yet to face! I guess calpol and bonjela only do so much...

mrspwithpud i told myself once LO was on 3 meals id have to crack down, still hoped he'd naturally do it himself but then the surge in his brain activity happened to - it all got worse - so you have to say enough's enough. My cousin is still feeding her year old son in the night and i just know we'd end up like that otherwise, it would be much harder to do with a one year old.

kazzie thanks for your input, we've always had a similar routine to you, i dont think his waking has been down to the pooing now but wasnt sure as it coincided with introduction of solids. he's always had this strong basis for sleep time since day one but my mistake has been to feed him to sleep, which might have avoided some of this now he's thinking so much more!

Glitterbug hope you get some sleep, and me too! x

Hi Ladies,

We had a situation where LO went from being a good sleeper (at one point sleeping 11 hours straight!!) to the whole of Jan refusing to settle, we were up & down to him all evening & then he would have 6 feeds a night between 11pm & 7am. He needed weaning & eventually we caved in & started him on solids at 5 months. After a month we were down to 3 feeds a night but by then sleeping in our bed as I juust couldn't stay awake to feed him!! We did however get our evenings back for the whole of February. We are still at 2-3 feeds a night & having a bit of an unsettled time. We tried one night of CC but he was too young & we all ended up traumatised

Now we are just going with it. Trying to get him back to sleep without a feed when he first wakes to get him consistently on 2 feeds a night then will aim for 1 feed. It has been exhausting & by end of Jan I was more tired than I had ever felt Thankfully feeling much better now!

It's funny isn't it, my health visitor didn't seem too worried about the night feeds & my LO only occasionally being able to self soothe.

I am following my instincts & fingers crossed it will work out!!

Incidentally I'm reading The Wonder Weeks which is about the developmental leaps your baby makes at different stages & how this disrupts sleep patterns, increases clinginess etc. I believe this has contributed to some of the difficulties we have had. Makes it so much easier to cope with when you understand why.

Good luck ladies

Well done for being so strong and brave! I have been so lucky because it is literally taking her five minutes of crying/temper and she is asleep. In the night a rub on the tummy and she goes back off. Last night was better, she slept 6.30-12 with just a couple of sobs (because of her teeth). Then after a little feed she slept 12-5.30 and the had cuddles in our bed - bad habit I know but It is my favourite time of day. Phoebe is very independent, in the day she uses me to get to where she wants to be but never wants to cuddle for longer than a second - would sooner pull my hair or smoosh my face! However, when she comes into my bed in the morning she snuggles into me and sleeps and it is just so lovely! I cant give it up. Im going to give her another few weeks to see if she drops her feed by herself. She used to feed three times during the night but has dropped with other two, and is starting to take less and less food now so im hopeful that she will do it on her own or I will have to get tough
Hopefully the controlled crying will start to become easier for you and your little man will settle quicker and quicker.
Oh and, if my OH had thrown a strop about what I had cooked he would have ended up wearing it. My hubby started to comment about me being moody yesterday and he got a very curt 'Do NOT start, I have not slept, I have spent the last three days with a clingy, stroppy baby who will not stop crying because of her teeth and I will lose it. Do NOT start'. Needless to say he didnt! infact, he even cooked dinner!!! xx

Hello Ladies,

Glitterbug your post re: your hubby just made me laugh out loud! Thankfully my hubby does a lot when he's home from work but I would have been the same!

We had a tiring night with some progress. When LO woke at 4.20 screaming for a feed I rocked him to sleep instead (he had already had 2 feeds in the previous 4-5 hours) & he slept for a further 3 hours straight. I know he didn't self soothe but I feel pleased with having done only 2 night feeds & getting him back in his cot

Hope things improve with you all x

hi ladies

hate to boast, but my LO slept through the next night! down at 1930 up at 0600! This has not happened for months. Made me feel better about the CC as felt so cruel the night before. I expected some more crying can't believe it. Am so proud of my little man and the difference in him is amazing - i didnt realise how much his behaviour was affected by being tired.

Last night we had an episode of ten mins crying, i went in to reassure once and was just about to go back when it stopped. OH and i both think we heard him another occasion, but it was only brief and we cant remember when it was, we barely woke up.

I feel so much better too. I am a convert to tough love now im afraid as was definately for his good as much as mine.

glitterbug dont blame you for the cuddles - my LO is not a cuddley baby, the only time i get a cuddle is when i wind him after a feed (and he's basically asleep so cant resist lol) i love feeling him pressed against me with his little head resting on my shoulder, but if i ever try cuddles in the day he fights me looking for things and reaching out for toys etc! Hope he grows out of it i would like a cuddley baby :/ he does get in my bed in the mornings mainly for my benefit so i can wake up! Linds sounds like you've had a hell of a time of it and i do understand the trauma of CC - but maybe you should give it another go at some point. Its hard but its been worth it for me x

Hello!

Alfie, well done that is excellent. You must all feel much better Amazing what a good nights sleep can do for you not just physically but emotionally.

Who knows maybe at some point in the future we will return to CC but we're not there yet. Sometimes LO can self soothe so am hoping to build on that! Last night was goo he went down at 8 then woke just before 12 for feed. I refused to feed him immediately instead we cuddled him, sang to him etc until 1am when I fed him instead. He then slet until 5am when he had a second feed & woke at 8am when we got up & had breakfast so another night of 2 feeds. Feel happy with that

We will attempt the same tonight & eventually hope to get this pattern established after which we can work on eliminating the 5am feed!

Hope all continues to go well x

Thats brilliant! Phoebe has also had two of her best nights ever, last night she went 7-3.30, quick feed then slept until 6!! Tough love is obviously working!

sounds good ladies - glad the bubbas are all behaving a bit better. The night after we had some waking between 4am and 5am, he'd cry, id go and reassure, then he'd stop before i needed to go back. All would be quiet for ten mins or so then the same thing would happen, this went on for an hour but the crying was not that bad, nothing like the first night which was terrible to hear! Then last night he went 1930-0545, little star.

For the first time since he was teeny weeny we are getting somewhere with having a daytime nap too - the last week, with lots of effort, feeding him in a quiet room at both mid morn and mid afternoon feeds ive usually managed to get him to nap after one of them. Now he's more mobile and active he does get grumpy. Having the time is amazing too.

He's still hard to persuade though - when he was waking 2 hourly at night and going 12 hours straight awake in the day, rolling over and constantly on the move he was so grumpy! xx

Hi, just wondering whether he has grown out of this yet.. as my little one is exactly the same. In fact i could have written yor post.. except, i am going back to work in 2 weeks!! Please shine a light for me!!!!