Discovery Home & Health

Ok....so we just seemed to have conquered the whole sleeping through the night issue with lottie (although it was no where near perfect i was finding 3 nights of 4 i would usually have a good sleep maybe waking only once or twice for lottie) and now we have a whole brand new issue ....Lottie who has always fallen asleep very easily with her last bottle now has serious trouble getting to sleep. Her routine hasnt been changed, her milks the same, theres been no major changes and she appears to be very healthy with no new teeth coming through or anything like that.
But despite the fact that she is very tired and can hardly hold her eyes open she cant get to sleep. She spends about and hour moving all over the place and going from almost asleep to laughing and playing (without encouragment as i stay quiet) before finding a way she is comfy then wriggling for ages then she finally falls asleep. So all in all from the time i start giving her her bottle until she falls asleep its coming up for 2 hours this has been made worse over the past couple of days as the clocks went forward so its leaveing me very little time to myself at the end of the day...and i rely on this time to wind down and plan anything that needs doing the next day. As a result life is seeming very chaotic right now...im snapping at everyone because everything is all out of balance and to top it all of we are going on holiday this saturday to dubai for two weeks (yay) and i really really need that time to get things organised. Also shes started napping later in the day (but still seems ready for bed at the same time although she obviously isnt) so her two hour nap time that i usually used to have some lunch and tidy up is gone i dont know what to do i need her old routine back!!!!

Hi

how old is lottie now, as when they get older they need less sleep. Jack is 10 months and sleeps 9 pm ish till 7am ish with 1 wake in between, he also has a nap for an hour at about 9am and another hour to hour and a half at 2pm ish.

I find it a nightmare as we get no time to ourselves or time to organise anything but he isnt ready to bring his sleep time earlier, we have tried and tried with no avail. Im guessing that like my daughter this will improve when he gets onto finger foods properly.

also it sounds to me like she was using her bottle as a comforter and is now trying to self soothe which is good but will take a bit of time for her to get used to.

Try keeping her up a bit later and make sure you set a routine e.g bath book bottle... etc as they start getting familiar with that sort of thing.

Most of all remember that its a phase and she changed before and she will do again and try to find a way to cope with it. Our way of coping is for us to get abby to bed at 7pm ish and then I leave Jack with David and do the household chores and make bottles etc so that when he finally does settle we have 1/2hr together relaxing, So its not the best thing but its all we can do to survive this phase!!!

Claire

Thank you, your probably right about it being a phase....hopefully like you say she will grow out of it soon. She's 11months now (she'll be one on the 6th of april!!!) and isnt onto finger foods at all as what ever we try to give her (bread, crisps, jelly, chocolate, soft fruits etc) she spits straight back out and looks offended lol...something else we are working on. Just a case of adjusting for us both i suppose! I've just settled her again and it did take slightly less time than the last week so hopefully shes finding it easier! I'll keep you posted but thank you for making me feel a bit better pointing out its only a phase.

Hi

Just to let you know you are no alone on the finger foods, Jack is a nightmare too. he reaaly wont eat hardly anything. have you tried quavers as thats one thing he will eat!!
he wil also eat pea sized balls of mashed ptato rolled in grated cheese.
If you find anything lottie will eat let me know and ill try Jack.
Little ****** was a nightmare last night, wouldnt go to bed till 10.30pm and that was after a 2nd bottle and surprise surprise he woke at 2am with a sore tummy, he would only go to sleep in with us after that and at 3.30am finally fell asleep between us. David got up for work at 5.30am and put him back in the cot but my daughter woke me at 6.15am so Im knackered!!!

Claire

quavers are loaded with salt and e numbers, and really are not good things to allow your child to eat. rice cakes, bread sticks, apple sticks, pear, cucumber, putting it all on a plate without actually giving it to them and they will go investigate and help themselves. children know when they are under pressure and rarely perform, ya know all those times you tried to catch early smiles on camera, only to have them refuse as soon as the camera is out?? tis the same thing.
hth

Hi

I know quavers are not great but as my son can't manage much else my HEALTH VISITOR suggested both them and wotsits to try and encourage him to actually try finger foods as he will only eat home made food finely pureed or 4 month Jars, I also voiced my worries on them as i know they are full of crap but she basically said as long as its only a little it will get him used to having a different texture as he needs to get off 4 month foods as they are not filling enough but gags and throws up anything else.
He can't manage rice cakes or breadsticks yet but does eat pear and banana and mashed potato plus cauliflower and broccoli if its well mushed up. If you can think of anything else thats very soft that he might eat it would be much appreciated. I bought a great finger food book but he just can't manage anythin in it yet. I am tired exhausted and I am suffering from PND, I have a husband who doent like anything healthy, a daughter wo is and always has been a faddy eater so i think a few quavers are a necessity.
Claire

getting another hv would be a start!!! that is terrible advice!!
there really is no rush though, they try to put children on such a steep curve, but they all get there in the end!

Hi Claire,
I have to agree that for a HV to advice feeding a 10 month old crisps is kind of wierd. Ethan has always loved food but didn't put anything in his mouth till he was aobut 8 months (you might even remember seeing my post about it I was so worried! He literally put NOTHING in his mouth) However, one day he just took the piece of bread I was holding for an dshoved it in his mouth and then that was it. For healthy finger foods I'd say, crackers, grapes cut length ways, raisins which was a firm favorite with Ethan as it was more like a game than eating - he'd love to pick them up one by one and they're so naturally sweet that he'd pop 'em like candy! Also, they don't really need chewing as they're so small so maybe Jack would like that. Gotta run, Ethans woke up but will be back
x

Hey Claire,
Just wanted to add another winner for us - Ethan seemed to really like fish and so we'd give him small flakes of tuna, salmon, again, didn't really have to chew, just suck. Then I went on to tuna sandwhiches, I'd cut them up into tiny squares, leave them on his highchair tray and he'd pick them up, squish them around and some would eventually find their way into his mouth! Same thing actually for egg sandwhiches - really soft brown bed, thin layer of filling and then literally, one inch squares. Ethan too loves brocolli, not many other veg but I get it into him through stews and other dishes where the meat flavor just overwhelms everything else! What else have you tried feeding Jack? Ethan's also mad for ham, he just shovels that in, tiny cubes that either get sucked or swallowed whole, vegetable thin crackers, and also oat loops, (like cheerios but with no sugar and stuff) - anything that's kind of like a game for him. Good luck, it must be very frustrating trying to find something that he likes! Let me know how it goes, and thanks for your kind words in the other post - no news really,, just this sad depressing situation that looks lfike it's going to go on for a bit as they put a feeding tube in him so we'll see.
Take care,
Caff
x

Hi

Sorry to all if i went a bit beserk but i was really dubious about the quavers, there is only 1 HV i can have and she is really supportive. I think her point is just to get him used to the texture of food not to feed him quavers indefnately, we tried him on some cheese and well mushed cauliflower which he loved alhough he did wear quite a lot of it. Its so hard, I want my kids to eat healthily but actually getting them to do it is such a battle. my 3 r old would rather go hungry than try anything healthy so im gonna take a trip to a health food shop to see if there is anything I can disguise to tempt her. She is growing well and is healthy enough but I just want her to eat fruit etc....
Claire

the 4 month food is plenty filling enough though, it is only pureed food after all. try making your own, that way you know what is in it. also with your older child, just dont give in and give rubbish, just offer healthy stuff and she will eat, i promise. my son would eat no fruit at all, then he discovered plums, red grapes and pears and now has at least 2 helpings of each each day.
but really at 10 months there is no rush!!! one of my sons was a year before he would touch anything lumpy then he started eating everything, the other one was on lumpy things from starting solids at about 6 months or so.
fwiw you dont have to have any health visitors, they can be more trouble than they are worth most of the time [}]

Miss Hooley -
Thanks for your kind words, I have been making my own but unless I sieve it as well as puree it he wont eat anything, worry that its ainly water he is then getting. I think i might mix pureed with baby rice then at least I know he will have something filling.
I really do try with my daughter but all she seems to do is cry all day unless I give her some food. I am trying to do just toast or sandwich or something boring as a snack but she still wnt touch the healthy stuff or if she does try it she has the tiniest bit and spits it out without even tasting it. im trying to focus on what she does it e.g. cheese, fromage frais, chicken, ham, pasta, jacket potato etc... and not beat myself up aout what she doesnt eat but its very hard. she is slightly large for her age and I balme myself as she is a snacky child but I cant get her to eat healthy snacks.

Claire

Our Francesca is 15 months old, she too is like lottie and is used to having the last bottle to put her to bed. She's just had her MMR 2 weeks ago and since then it's been a right struggle for us to put her to sleep. She is so tired but just wont fall asleep by herself.
Her pattern has not changed during the day, she naps twice one at 11am and the other at 4pm about an hour each.
Last night she finished her last bottle at 10pm and she didn't fall asleep until 1am. We've tried everything from stories to dimming the lights etc...nothing seems to work.

any advice would be great! thanks in advanced.

probably a reaction the the coctail in the mmr, it causes swelling of the brain, a vitamin a and c suppliment would be advisable.

hi there, im new to this section and have read with interest. Dont faint miss hooley but i am completely with you on all your postings here about health visitors, mmr etc. Out of curiosity as you seem in all fairness to know your stuff here are you legally obliged to let health visitors in the house as iv not heard very positive things about the ones in our area and iv also already decieded that i do not want my son to have the mmr, did yours have single jabs or did you not vaccinate, some advice would be great! x