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Post by jmontan27 on Mar 24, 2007 21:41:22 GMT
Thanks Helen.
Well, my partner and I decided last night would be the night to begin getting Reli to stop this nightly breast feeding. He still wakes up every 3 hrs for a feed even though he is nearly 14 months old, but often goes all day without me feeding him and is fine. Anyway, I fed him at midnight just as we went to bed. Then he woke up at about 3 am. OH went in to see him and held him for a bit and he went back to sleep. Half an hour later he woke up screaming and wouln't settle. We were afraid he would wake Ali (eldest) up as they share a room, so OH took him downstairs and held him till he went back to sleep 45 mins later. Tried giving him water, but he wasn't having any of it! Anyway, he woke up again at 6.15 and OH said it's morning now so I fed him, even though I really want him to go more than 6 hrs without me feeding him. Most babies his age go 12 hrs. My elder son was no problem at the same age. Oh well. We are going to try the same again tonight, so no rest again.
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Post by jmontan27 on Mar 25, 2007 21:16:24 GMT
Last night was a bit better. Reli woke up once for a feed at 3am OH managed to get him back to sleep within 5 mins. He didn't wake up again till 6.30am when I fed him. Hope we can mantain this. The only problem is that because OH has a long commute to work in the car, he can't afford to be too tired to drive, so if Reli takes ages to get back to sleep I will have to get up with him. This will defeat the object as he won't allow me to rock him to sleep because he expects a feed from me.
Still worried I've got this disease. My hands and feet are all hurting and getting shooting pains. I read on the net recently about someone who had MND whose symptoms started with twitching and cramping of the hands and feet and I'm terrified.
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Post by Veritee on Mar 25, 2007 22:18:56 GMT
Dear Jmontan Just a quick one - good luck with your giving up the night feeds - how old is your little one now. I had the same problem as my daughter still woke up in the night at 2 years or more. This was partly because she was very small born and small babies can not sleep though for a long time - they have to be a certain body weight to do this and mine was very small and gained only very slowly - but she also continued her 3 am and some times 12 am and 3 am and 6 am breast feed for too long because Barry was away at sea so much so no one could see to her during the night and it was hopeless my refusing to breast feed as she could smell the milk!! But as to your hands/ feet shooting pains etc the tingling etc I wanted to reassure you I think you could have carpel tunnel syndrome!! A lot of us have found we suffered this after a birth especially if we were breast feeding . It is caused by extra fluid retention in the tissues, this means that the nerves going through what is called the carpel tunnel in the wrist are compressed by the fluid causing the nerves to the hands to be compressed and tingle and have the shooting pains you describe?? I do not think it can affect feet though but many of us who have had carpel tunnel syndrome have also had what we call ' restless legs' which have similar symptoms - perhaps the two go together Both are really common when breast feeding or even just for a year or two after a birth - but hardly anyone ever tells you about this Carpel tunnel- and restless legs - is a harmless complaint - certainly not anything serious - and as long as it is caused by the extra fluid you are holding due to lactation or hormones since the birth it will settle down in a few months on its own. if it does not that can give you some local medication or splints to wear for a while or a very minor operation. but it is unlikely to come to this as if you have it only after a birth and you are under 50, then it will pass. see our threads on carpel tunnel syndrome here: veritee.proboards7.com/index.cgi?board=physical&action=display&n=1&thread=4109&page=1I just wanted to put your mind at rest But of course if you are at all worried get it checked out by a GP - and ask about carpel tunnel, make sure it is this - as I am not a medical person so it is best to get this checked - but it really does sound like carpel tunnel syndrome that so many of us have had and I doubt it is anything to worry about. But please just go to your GP, I am he/she will suggest carpel tunnel I hope this helps Veritee
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Post by jmontan27 on Mar 26, 2007 20:59:26 GMT
Thanks very much for your message Veritee!
My youngest is 14 months old now, and on the 91st centile for weight and the 99th for height, so I can't excuse his waking up for feeds on the grounds that he is a small baby (even though he thinks he is!). But you're right, when no one else is around to get up, what else can I do but feed him because he smells the milk and goes mad if I try to comfort him without feeding him (at night). However, last night was better, and he went from 9.30pm til 6.30am. He woke up to grumble a couple of times, but not enough to get me or my OH out of bed, and eventually went back to sleep. Hope this continues.
Thanks also for the carpel tunnel suggestion. I went to my GP a month ago because I noticed a prominent bone at the base of my thumb, which I thought was caused by muscle wasting. This was before I was having hand pains, but my GP asked if I suffered from carpel tunnel in pregnancy, which I didn't. Maybe I have got it now though? I have also been wondering about restless legs, but didn't know they were common in breast feeding mothers. I certainly feel like I have to move my legs a lot in bed and I can't really get comfortable. I have checked out the link you posted, so I could have this. Also, my hands and feet are always ice cold all the time, so I don't know if this has anything to do with it?
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clarey
Senior Member
Posts: 327
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Post by clarey on Mar 28, 2007 21:01:58 GMT
Hi J, How is the night-time weaning going? It's a bloody nightmare isn't it I noticed the restless legs topic because I get this as well. It drives me nuts. Hope you are ok. I'm in the land of misery at the moment as my son is ill again. I've spent the last few nights being vomited on. Great! Take care, Love Clareyxx
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Post by jmontan27 on Mar 28, 2007 21:51:21 GMT
Hi Clarey
Well, I put Reli to bed at 7pm last night, and got him out of his cot at 11pm to feed him (even though he was asleep - didn't want to chance him waking up half an hr later just after I'd got to sleep!). Amazingly he then slept through till 7am. However, tonight I put him down again at 7, and he has already woken up once for a feed and once to be rocked back to sleep, so I get the feeling tonight's not going to be a good night. I still dread going to bed and put it off for as long as possible.
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Post by sianyc on Mar 29, 2007 9:54:35 GMT
I read the comment about the restless legs and it's come back to me that my sister in law had this after her eldest two (she bottle fed the first and breast fed the other 2 for ages)
It's gone now she has stopped breastfeeding. I had no idea this was common in breastfeeding mothers
Just thought you'd like to know about others who had the same thing to stop you worrying about anything more serious x
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Post by jmontan27 on Mar 29, 2007 22:01:47 GMT
Thanks Sianyc. It is always reassuring to read that others have experienced similar things. I had no idea about restless legs being linked to breastfeeding either. I wonder if it's due to lack of certain vitamins / minerals because the baby is getting all the nourishment? Could be true in my case as my diet is cr*p.
Reli slept from 8.30 till 5.30 last night. OH got up and managed to get him to settle again for another hour, so it wasn't too bad, but I'm still knackered. Felt a bit strange today like I had an adrenalin rush or something. Got everything done in superfast time this morning. MHSW phoned to ask how I was. I said I was fine and she said "are you really?". Well I'm the same as always, so that's "fine" to me. She said that although I felt I was just suffering from anxiety, she thought I was depressed too, but I'm not sure. She has made an appointment for me to see the psychiatrist who specialises in PND, but as I told her I am not going on medication. I know anti d's help a lot of people, but sometimes I think the medical profession are too quick to prescribe them because it is cheaper to do this than provide proper counselling / therapy. I took them a long time ago at uni when I wasn't really depressed, just stressed, and they stopped my brain from working properly.
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Post by helenr on Mar 30, 2007 20:32:16 GMT
Hi J, would you see the psychiatrist anyway? They wont force you to do anything, but if your lucky enough to be seen by someone who specialises in this awful illness, pick their brains for all there worth. Let us know what you decide love and hugs x.
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Post by jmontan27 on Mar 30, 2007 21:31:36 GMT
Hi Helen - yes, I think I will still see the psychiatrist. Gotta do something while I'm waiting for the CBT, and the MHSW is pulling out all the stops, even though she must see people in a far worse state than me.
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Post by jmontan27 on Apr 1, 2007 21:59:44 GMT
A knackering weekend. Took the kids into town to see the Science Museum on Saturday. Negotiating the tubes with two buggies was a bit of a nightmare (still take a buggy for my four year old as he still has moments when he doesn't want to walk), but it was worth it as Ali really loved it. Spent 2 hrs in the museum which isn't bad with young kids. We were all tired by the time we got back after spending 8 hrs walking round with the pushchairs), and thought the kids would sleep really well, but Reli had a terrible night waking up every couple of hrs. Think it's his teeth. Although OH got up with him, of course I couldn't sleep through the crying as I knew he (Reli) wanted me to feed him, but I have now gone a week without feeding him at night and I didn't want to give in. Anyway, felt obliged to let my OH have a lie in as he had physically been up with Reli, so I got up at 7am after having hardly any sleep. Felt so tired. Now I think I may be getting mastitis again as I went 18 hrs without feeding Reli and my body is not used to it. Hope it goes away without more antibiotics.
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Post by jmontan27 on Apr 5, 2007 20:56:08 GMT
Nearly 2 weeks of not feeding Reli in the night. Still sticking to it. If he doesn't wake up because of his teeth, he has been sleeping from 11.30pm til 7.00am, which is good. I find myself still waking up bizarly early though. My eldest has taken to waking up at 6.00 and coming into our bed where he wriggles around till we get up. Felt ok today, apart from the usual tiredness. Lovely sunny day, so I took Reli out in the morning and Ali out on an Easter egg hunt in the afternoon as my OH had a half day so could look after Reli. MHSW phoned and said she wanted to see me, but I said I am fine. She suggested coming on a day when I had both the kids, but there is no way I would let her talk to me in front of Ali. He picks up on everything and questions everything. Anyway, we have arranged another day. The thing is, I feel I am ok at the moment but feel obliged to keep seeing her because I still want the CBT. I am still worried about my health, but have tried to get it a bit more into perspective. If it turns out that I have got a life threatening disease, then there is nothing that can be done anyway.
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Post by jmontan27 on Apr 9, 2007 20:43:32 GMT
Today I have had muscles twitch in my feet, my arm, my leg and my face. Everytime I think things are going ok, a muscle twitches and it scares me.
Was away for the weekend and as we were about to come back yesterday, my mum phoned to say my dad was being admitted to hospital and was going to be operated on that evening for a detached retina. A bit scary but I went into London with her today to collect him and he is ok.
Nothing much happening at the moment. Trying to enjoy the weather when my mind lets me.
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Post by sianyc on Apr 11, 2007 14:13:25 GMT
Sounds like the sleep is helping you. Long may it continue for you
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Post by jmontan27 on Apr 12, 2007 20:57:27 GMT
Thanks Sianyc. It is nice not to drag myself out of bed 3 times a night, but I am still waking up around 2am most nights then it takes me a good while to get back to sleep. Once my mind starts racing I find it hard to switch off again. Just wish these twitches would stop then I reckon I would feel a lot better.
We are all making the most of the weather (can't believe that I actually get excited that I can hang the washing out to dry instead of using the drier. Is this what my life amounts to now; general drudgery and not using my brain at all??). Something wierd happened today: I was thinking about an acquaintance I used to walk to the bus stop with on the way to work who has children the same age as me. I haven't seen her for 18 months, so decided to phone her to see if she wanted to meet. She said she couldn't believe it as she was thinking about me yesterday and was going to ring me today too. Anyway, we are taking our kids to the park tomorrow for a picnic so that should break up the day a bit. Still find it stressful trying to look after them both.
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