ParentERA |OT| What To Expect When You’re Not Sleeping

lt519 said:

Twins on the way! Horrified but excited, boy/girl combo so that's neat. I will be picking everyone's brain as I'm new to this :)

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Wow! Congrats! It'll be rough at first, but you guys hit the jackpot. We have two girls and now have to contemplate a 3rd. ;_;

Kyuur said:

Our little girl just learned how to hit the high notes. Crying sessions just became 100x more fun!



Oof, hope everything goes okay!



You got what many couples are looking for long-term on the first try, congrats! Hope your government has some decent supports for this kind of situation or that you're well off, I would imagine twins to be quite a financial shock.

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Thanks. Everyone's a bit panic stations, but I'm sure it'll work out. It's a shame it's happening right in the middle of the reunion, though. My sister might have to stay in hospital for a while. She's gutted. Me too if that happens. :/

Wife of a coworker had an early water breaking and was sent home after a few tests but had to take it easy until labour started several weeks later.

Partner is in hospital being induced with our second child! Our first child (daughter) is 5 years old. I am crapping myself, away to leave work but its been so long I am worried I won't remember how to do anything!

Good news about it is that I have an excuse not to play Sea of Thieves with friends as that game got boring....

Good luck to everyone!

CrudeDiatribe said:

Wife of a coworker had an early water breaking and was sent home after a few tests but had to take it easy until labour started several weeks later.

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Wow. Really? I knew they'd try to have you keep it in a bit longer if it's pre-34 weeks, but I thought they were pretty anxious about the water breaking because of the risk of infection. Can't imagine being sent home for weeks. My sister didn't even make it 4 hours. I got a text at 1 this morning that she'd had a girl. Sucker just flew right out!

Aygomyownroad said:

Partner is in hospital being induced with our second child! Our first child (daughter) is 5 years old. I am crapping myself, away to leave work but its been so long I am worried I won't remember how to do anything!

Good news about it is that I have an excuse not to play Sea of Thieves with friends as that game got boring....

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At least you have a 5 year old to help that's also potty trained! I've heard that's actually a really good age gap. You guys'll get back into the swing soon. Might have to switch to something a bit slower game-wise like Firewatch, though. :)

Hope everything goes smoothly for the birth!

BriareosGAF said:

Good luck to everyone!

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Thank ya~

CrudeDiatribe said:

Wife of a coworker had an early water breaking and was sent home after a few tests but had to take it easy until labour started several weeks later.

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whaaaaa

We've gone to a few birthing classes the last few weeks because my wife is 33 weeks pregnant now and every single one of them said that when your water breaks you basically have 24 hours to give birth and if it doesn't look like you will, they have to induce.

RDreamer said:

whaaaaa

We've gone to a few birthing classes the last few weeks because my wife is 33 weeks pregnant now and every single one of them said that when your water breaks you basically have 24 hours to give birth and if it doesn't look like you will, they have to induce.

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Pre-34 they'll try and delay you for as long as they're able so that the lungs can develop to a fair point (they were hoping to keep my sister going a few more days to hit that milestone, but the baby had other ideas), but yeah, generally it's you pop, it's game on in the next 24 hours. That's what I was told too.

H.Protagonist said:

Wow. Really? I knew they'd try to have you keep it in a bit longer if it's pre-34 weeks, but I thought they were pretty anxious about the water breaking because of the risk of infection.

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RDreamer said:

We've gone to a few birthing classes the last few weeks because my wife is 33 weeks pregnant now and every single one of them said that when your water breaks you basically have 24 hours to give birth and if it doesn't look like you will, they have to induce.

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"Several weeks" should probably have been "a couple of weeks"; and this was a decade ago— practices may have changed. I know the prognosis for super premature babies has increased a lot lately so that may encourage inducing labour sooner than a decade ago. I also didn't know (or have forgotten) the whole story.

My memory from a year ago is that here it's 24 hours for labour to start before inducing will be strongly suggested. As long as the baby is inside then AFAIK the mother's wishes must be respected (laws may vary especially if fetuses are more important than mothers where you live).

On another note, our nursery is starting to come together now that the floor is finished. We got the crib and rocking chair up and are working on decorations and such now.

We're buying so many cute outfits. Jesus I can't wait to see the little guy in his tiny track suit and dinosaur onesies.

As a slight alternative to newborns and expectant parents, I've been taxi service to my son taking him to university open days. Messing with my emotions thinking about him leaving home all growed up, although we have a daughter still in regular school.

He's thinking to apply to Warwick & Oxford for a math degree and probably prefers Warwick as a campus university so not in the middle of town. (Plus a few with slightly lower entry requirements as backup)

Financially we hadn't realised they don't get their maintenance fully funded. Tuition fees are, but living expenses are means tested so well probably need to cover £5k a year for 3/4 years for two kids..

Financially we hadn't realised they don't get their maintenance fully funded. Tuition fees are, but living expenses are means tested so well probably need to cover £5k a year for 3/4 years for two kids..

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If it makes you feel any better, some of the better local universities here (Maine) are almost 70k USD / year. We've actually investigated sending them to school in Canada (strong foreign exchange in our favor), one of the perks is that they'll have the opportunity to study in the UK.

Just found this thread, two kids, one who will be 13 (!) in a couple of weeks and an 11 year old

Time passes faster when you have kids

I was the Stay at Home Parent for the first 6 or 7 years of their lives

Love this thread. Expect our son any day now. What did you guys pack for the hospital?

Blue said:

Love this thread. Expect our son any day now. What did you guys pack for the hospital?

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Much more than we needed.

The most important thing is to have a car seat/carrier installed and prepared (along with ID and insurance/admitting documents). Then any specific birthing equipment you expect to use (ball, grips, etc.). A change of clothes (or two), toiletries, and phones/cameras/tablets/gadgets/chargers are also handy. A water bottle and snacks might be appropriate, but our hospital had those in quantity and there were nearby restaurants.

Blue said:

Love this thread. Expect our son any day now. What did you guys pack for the hospital?

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In addition to the above we were very thankful in retrospect at having brought a couple of our own pillows. There's little enough sleep as is, and what was provided for the three nights we were there was just flimsy and uncomfortable.

Our baby also really disliked being bundled up in a burrito-style swaddle so we were glad to have brought one of the bag swaddles which she likes much more.

Captain Tuttle said:

Just found this thread, two kids, one who will be 13 (!) in a couple of weeks and an 11 year old

Time passes faster when you have kids

I was the Stay at Home Parent for the first 6 or 7 years of their lives

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Time has gotten really weird after kids. The days can sometimes drag forever, but then you look back and suddenly it's been like 4 months.

Blue said:

Love this thread. Expect our son any day now. What did you guys pack for the hospital?

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Definitely a car seat. I hear some hospitals don't let you leave without a car seat for safety reasons.
Pads, ice packs, and adult diapers for your wife. Things are gonna be messy and kind of uncontrolled down there for your wife after the birth, and the adult diapers work great. The hospital taught a trick where you fill a surgical glove with ice and wrap it with paper towels to make a makeshift ice pack. I had to make a bunch of these the day after the birth.

A few pillows because we were told that the hospital is always short on pillows, so having our own would help.
Birthing stuff like an exercise ball. Sometimes hospitals don't have those either, or they are hard to find in the moment.
I had a cooler with some water and sandwiches I quickly put together before leaving, but sometimes these don't get used depending on the type of birthing options you go with.
Some baby clothes/blankets are good too. Also a set of clothes for you and your wife in case you stay longer.

Phones, chargers, and something to keep you and your wife busy while you wait (a lot of the labor process is waiting). Bring a camera if you're going to take pictures.

We packed nothing. The plan was to have something, but he showed up a lot earlier than we expected, so whatever it is you want to pack, I'd say do it now.

On the plus side, you really don't need anything, except for the car seat. The hospital will provide all the essentials, and you should steal some of the diapers.

Son had his 9 month check up. He weighs 19lbs 10 oz and is 28 inches long. He was 5 weeks premature.

I became a dad for the second time yesterday (my daughter is 4 years old). My son was born at 7:13 am yesterday, he is 22 inches tall and weighs 9 pound and 5 ounces. Waiting for the nurses to hurry up with paper work so we could go home.

Congrats!

Just about 4-5 weeks left for us until we get to meet our son, Arthur. First child for both of us.

Our house is like a toddler's paradise. We've got boxes everywhere from what I've dubbed "Baby Christmas," i.e. the baby shower (and our parents just getting us stuff).

His room is basically done. We've got tons of clothes for him up until about 6 months. Big stuff is purchased and set up, like crib, basinet, stroller, car seats, etc.

Just the wait left!

cyberninja said:

I became a dad for the second time yesterday (my daughter is 4 years old). My son was born at 7:13 am yesterday, he is 22 inches tall and weighs 9 pound and 5 ounces. Waiting for the nurses to hurry up with paper work so we could go home.

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Congrats!

Baby has been way more active recently it seems. Wife says he hasn't stopped all day. Still 10 more weeks til he's due.

Rocketz said:

Baby has been way more active recently it seems. Wife says he hasn't stopped all day. Still 10 more weeks til he's due.

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Yeah our little dude has been active as hell since about then. Nowadays he's booting her constantly. We were laughing because they were saying you're supposed to do a kick count and pick an active hour each day or so. During that hour they're supposed to move 6 times. For the last 10 or so weeks 6 times in an hour would be a hilariously in-active time period for him.

Thank you Chopchop and RDreamer .

My wife was told by friends about a phase starting around the 15 month mark where dad becomes the favourite parent for a while. I think we've hit that mark. He's following me around constantly. I'm the one he looks for when he's crying, and he'll cry when my wife puts him down for the night but not when I do.

My daughter learned to climb out of the crib today and it's the worst night I've had in a long time. I had to covert the crib, I don't want her falling, and I'm low key proud of her climbing skills, but having open access to her room is a new step I wasn't ready for. Any one have any advice for that change? She was a perfect sleeper before, now she just wants to keep on moving around the room

Markofhavoc said:

My daughter learned to climb out of the crib today and it's the worst night I've had in a long time. I had to covert the crib, I don't want her falling, and I'm low key proud of her climbing skills, but having open access to her room is a new step I wasn't ready for. Any one have any advice for that change? She was a perfect sleeper before, now she just wants to keep on moving around the room

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how old?

Don't give her attention if you can help it. Kids have infinite patience so once they smell blood they will cry/scream/make noise until you attend to them, so try to avoid that part of it. (obviously you learn your child's noises so if they're in genuine distress thats different)

Baby proof the room as best you can, but it may not be practical to completely lock her in. Consider making it easy for her to get back in (eg something soft as a stepping stone) and leaving the side down? Basically minimise the risk if she does climb out, let her explore and get tired - fall asleep on the floor a few times and then find out that her crib is more comfortable.

MrKlaw said:

how old?

Don't give her attention if you can help it. Kids have infinite patience so once they smell blood they will cry/scream/make noise until you attend to them, so try to avoid that part of it

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She's 18 months old. She climbed it like she was easily scaling a wall. It was impressive. I took off the side and converted it to a toddler bed, but I certainly thought I would have longer before this happened.

I made the mistake of giving attention, I was kind of in shock of what happened, my mind literally went to someone is in the house and opened the door before I could process that she was able to climb out.

Markofhavoc said:

She's 18 months old. She climbed it like she was easily scaling a wall. It was impressive. I took off the side and converted it to a toddler bed, but I certainly thought I would have longer before this happened.

I made the mistake of giving attention, I was kind of in shock of what happened, my mind literally went to someone is in the house and opened the door before I could process that she was able to climb out.

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18 months is impressive :)

My attention comment was more general than anything. Basically try to instill a sense that 'bedtime is bedtime' so that even if they explore, they don't then connect that to 'dad will come and say hi if I wander around and make some noise'

I think my kid may be teething. He's been stopping bottle feeds unusually early every feed for the past few days, and trying to chew everything (except finger foods and teething toys of course, because that makes way too much sense lol). Can't tell from checking his mouth or gums though. He's also been a little more clingy these days.

For the past few months, every time he acted up our first thought was "Is he teething?" and it never was. But it might be happening now? But we can't tell for sure.

I sure hope it's teething, since otherwise I have no clue why he's acting like this.

try some frozen carrots or something, see if that makes him more comfy

and maybe try some Tylenol, if he's having pain it would help

is he drooling a lot more than usual?

you won't see much on the gums until the teeth are close to erupting

Congratulations everyone, it's a Community Spotlight!

Chopchop said:

I sure hope it's teething, since otherwise I have no clue why he's acting like this.

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Sounds like teething in ours (minus the bottle part, she kept horking on those). She also tugged on her ears a lot and drooled. First six teeth she liked chewing on a silicone soother (which she otherwise had no use for), but the latest set she hasn't been interested.

Professor Beef said:

Congratulations everyone, it's a Community Spotlight!

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Uh oh. Was this your fault?

My daughter is starting 5th grade-and my GOD the girl drama is just fucking insane. It's totally the Mean Girl phenomenon just starting in Elementary School. My kid has had a best friend since kindergarten and now this person just shuns and ignores her, talks about her behind her back, spreads lies. It's crazy as hell and heartbreaking as a parent. I want to take control and tell these other kids off and get their parents involved but at the same time I need to teach my daughter to respect herself and not let a friend disrespect her like that.

Markofhavoc said:

My daughter learned to climb out of the crib today and it's the worst night I've had in a long time. I had to covert the crib, I don't want her falling, and I'm low key proud of her climbing skills, but having open access to her room is a new step I wasn't ready for. Any one have any advice for that change? She was a perfect sleeper before, now she just wants to keep on moving around the room

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I'd embrace it. You won't be able to keep her in the crib if she wants to come out now so as you've done, convert it to a toddler bed so she can come and go as she pleases in her own room. I think it's a natural step as they get older.

We had both my kids in toddler beds from about 18 months to let them do this, figured it was healthy to want to explore their room a bit, maybe play with some toys on their own before bed. I mean when we go to bed, we don't get in, lie down and sleep instantly, so it's unrealistic to expect the kids to do that once they reach a certain age. I think it helped teach ours that their bedroom and bedtime is a nice place to be, it also helps to teach them to entertain themselves for a bit and also to understand when they feel tired the best place is their bed. We've taught them that if they're not tired when it's bedtime that's fine, but they have to stay in their room if they want to play for a little bit and they have to do it quietly and they've both embraced it really well. Obviously on those odd occasions they're staying up a bit too late or being a bit noisy then we go in and remind them it's time for bed, but usually they play for a bit then take themselves to bed.

If your daughter comes out of her room, just lead her back, no talking, no fuss, just turn her round and walk her back. Had to do that a few times with mine but they soon learn that nightime Daddy is not fun Daddy, and doesn't really interact so they stop bothering.

All the best.

It's been a hard week with the switch to the toddler bed. She been getting better at it,but she is just heartbreaking sometimes when she fusses. I think it's also just trying to find a balance with naps, which have become more difficult with the switch as well. She usually goes to bed around 730, but comes across pretty tired lately so I'm worried she's overtired. We went from two naps to one about a month ago but with the toddler bed she doesn't sleep as much so it's difficult to figure out. I'm sure it will all settle out, but it's been an interesting change because she's been the easiest sleeper since around 4 months

4 month old tomorrow, it's crazy watching how fast he develops and picks up new things.

He's been sleeping in our room, swaddled, in a rock and play. This weekend we're ripping the band-aid off, going to an arms out sleep sack, in a crib, in a different room.

should be fun!!!

GiJose said:

try some frozen carrots or something, see if that makes him more comfy

and maybe try some Tylenol, if he's having pain it would help

is he drooling a lot more than usual?

you won't see much on the gums until the teeth are close to erupting

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Drooling is on and off. He's been a lot more enthusiastic about pureed food lately, probably because he's been drinking less milk, but he's been avoiding anything he needs to bite into.

We tried Tylenol before his bottles but it doesn't seem to help.

CrudeDiatribe said:

Sounds like teething in ours (minus the bottle part, she kept horking on those). She also tugged on her ears a lot and drooled. First six teeth she liked chewing on a silicone soother (which she otherwise had no use for), but the latest set she hasn't been interested.

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Oh yeah, he's been tugging on his ears too.

It's been a week since this started and still no teeth. I hope teeth show up soon.

Chopchop said:

Oh yeah, he's been tugging on his ears too.

It's been a week since this started and still no teeth. I hope teeth show up soon.

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I don't want to ruin your day, but my 11 month old has been behaving like that for a couple of months, and her first tooth only just finally made an appearance last weekend.

GiJose said:

4 month old tomorrow, it's crazy watching how fast he develops and picks up new things.

He's been sleeping in our room, swaddled, in a rock and play. This weekend we're ripping the band-aid off, going to an arms out sleep sack, in a crib, in a different room.

should be fun!!!

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Good luck. We did the same with our son around that time, and it was a nightmare to get him to start sleeping with his arms out. But once he started hulking his way out of his swaddle sleep sack, we had no choice.

Figured I'd shoot out an update since this thread has the spotlight. My son just turned one and is starting to walk. Can't quite stand on his own yet, so we sort of have to point him in the direction he wants to walk. He can take ten steps on his own!

I've been very lucky. As a college professor, I've been off of work for three months now. Nervous about returning later this month because I've gotten so used to being around him and the wife. Luckily, my schedule this semester is looking like I'll be home at 3 pm every day.

Violence Jack said:

Good luck. We did the same with our son around that time, and it was a nightmare to get him to start sleeping with his arms out. But once he started hulking his way out of his swaddle sleep sack, we had no choice.

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he started rolling both ways, so he can't get out of the swaddle on his own, but he ends up sideways, and probably would end up face down. so we can't quite put him on a flat surface with arms locked down.

Markofhavoc said:

It's been a hard week with the switch to the toddler bed. She been getting better at it,but she is just heartbreaking sometimes when she fusses. I think it's also just trying to find a balance with naps, which have become more difficult with the switch as well. She usually goes to bed around 730, but comes across pretty tired lately so I'm worried she's overtired. We went from two naps to one about a month ago but with the toddler bed she doesn't sleep as much so it's difficult to figure out. I'm sure it will all settle out, but it's been an interesting change because she's been the easiest sleeper since around 4 months

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I remember when my Daughter began to problem solve and climb out. Our crib wasn't quite easy for her to grab the bars and climb but she would take anything that was in it place them in a pile and use that to get out. So we transitioned the bed to a toddler bed thinking that would make her happy. The first thing she did when she came in the room and saw the bed converted was break out into tears and saying I broke her bed. Kids are fun...

If you have any drawers or tall furniture in the room consider anchoring it or putting drawer locks on them now that your little one is free to move around when you're passed out from exhaustion.

Hamrub said:

I don't want to ruin your day, but my 11 month old has been behaving like that for a couple of months, and her first tooth only just finally made an appearance last weekend.

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Oh shit lol. That really sucks. I hope that's not what's happening, but it's at least good to know that it's possible.

PBS is legitimately great, but Daniel Tiger sucks ass.

I had to say it here since I can't say it to my toddler.

Peg + Cat 4 life.

Skelepuzzle said:

PBS is legitimately great, but Daniel Tiger sucks ass.

I had to say it here since I can't say it to my toddler.

Peg + Cat 4 life.

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My son really likes "Dave and Ava," a YouTube series of animated nursery rhymes. I'm sick of them, but honestly they're not bad for what they are.

Power Shot said:

My son really likes "Dave and Ava," a YouTube series of animated nursery rhymes. I'm sick of them, but honestly they're not bad for what they are.

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Yeah, that one is good. I recommend the app so you can have something available if you're ever in a data dead spot.

My daughter suddenly turned into a dolphin on her three month birthday. She was always pretty chatty, but now she talks all day in this super loud high pitched voice that sounds like Flipper. I don't think it hurts her because she's always smiling but it sure seems like it would.

This thread has me both doubting and praising the plan B pill...