Conrad’s blog

The following night was very much the same, I’m happy to say – the only difference was that I heard Conrad stir a bit at about 1.45am, so I snuck over to check on him. He was making little noises and moving around, but asleep still, so I thought I shouldn’t assume that he wanted a feed and whisk him out of bed to try to preempt him crying, but wait and see if he would wake up properly. As his legs were moving a lot, though, and the blankets are tricky to secure down the sides of the cot, I sat by his cot for a while and held a corner of the blankets, so he wouldn’t kick them off and wake up from the change in temperature.

I waited for about 20 minutes but he didn’t wake up and he didn’t cry, and after that he started to seem more settled again, so I went back to our bed. Next thing I knew it was 2.20am, I checked on Conrad and he was sound asleep. Had he woken up properly and cried it would definitely have roused me, so that’s another confirmation that he probably actually doesn’t need food during the night anymore…

That doesn’t mean I’m denying him night feeds, though, of course! The following nights he has slept for 4-4.5 hours before stirring for the first time, but then has cried, and after I’ve checked that his blankets are on, he hasn’t thrown up, or there is anything else obvious that has distressed him, I give him a bottle of milk. As I’ve heard, though, that automatically giving milk during the night to resettle a baby can lead to the baby in the long run not being able to settle without it, even if he or she isn’t hungry, I will try to be more attentive to whether it’s actually milk Conrad needs in future.

Yesterday (Thursday 21 August) we were invited over to one of the mums from the postnatal group I got to know when I’d had Conrad’s sister Jessica. I took Conrad and Jessica on the train in the double buggy and once in Redhill we were picked up at the station by the hostess and another mum. Last time they saw Conrad he was asleep most of the time, but as he nowadays spends more time awake he was put in a baby bouncer on the patio, surrounded by toys, toddlers and mums. He charmed a few of the mums with his smile and seemed fascinated by a couple of little teddies that were hanging on the frame of the baby bouncer and chatted to them for a while. The toddlers, five in total including his sister, left him to it most of the time, but one of the boys insisted on throwing him a little wooden brick – it hit the side of Conrad’s leg the once, the boy’s mum apologised profusely, but Conrad only smiled and took no notice.

When Ian turned up in the car to fetch the three of us about 4.45pm, Conrad was getting a bit fed up. He’d been awake all afternoon and it was only two hours since his last feed, but he started to cry a bit desperately. I have noticed in the last week or so that when Conrad gets tired, he doesn’t always simply drop off to sleep but gets upset and I’ve unwittingly rocked him to sleep a few times in the afternoon – he’s not been too interested in feeding and there’s nothing else obvious that is uncomfortable: he’s not showing any signs of tummy ache, for example – but when I rock him to try to soothe him he’s nodded off on my shoulder. This time, I prepared a bottle of formula just to be sure and was shown a quite corner upstairs to feed him. But he only had 30ml before falling sound asleep, so it seemed pretty clear that what he really had needed was just some help to switch off…

I had hoped, of course, that Conrad would be able to fall asleep regardless of almost any surroundings, noises and activity around him. We’ll just have to see how things go. Once asleep, he seems to be able to stay asleep through most things still, though, which of course is a good thing (and long may it continue…!). I take the kids to the park each morning nowadays and when we come back I leave Conrad in the pushchair in the hallway (Jessica’s leaving him to it now, too) and he carries on sleeping for up to three hours, unaffected of me banging cupboard doors or using the blender in the kitchen area right next to him, or the hoover going when the lady who cleans for us is around.

Gabriella

Last night Conrad slept from 9pm to 3.15am! Then he had a feed, went straight back to sleep and slept until 6am. His Mummy was very pleased, as it meant she got more sleep than she’s ever had in (her) living memory – slight exaggeration there, but probably about 6 hours’ worth. Wow…!

Gabriella

During the last week or so, Conrad’s been spending more time awake and displayed signs that he just might be turning into a happy little boy. He’s got an adorable smile and loves to chat – if you face him and smile he’ll produce all sorts of lovely, happy little noises, interspersed with little giggles. He particularly likes being stroked on the cheek – that produces the loveliest smile almost without fail…! He’s watching what’s going on around him even more, and now can start to cry from boredom, it seems – if left on his own for a while, he’ll sometimes protest, but when he is picked up or he gets a big smile and some attention, he’ll often cheer up again.

He didn’t like having his nappy changed at all in the beginning and would cry a bit throughout. Now it’s an opportunity to be sociable – he still wriggles an awful lot, but he’s all smiles and happy sounds. If he’s a little bit grumpy, it can be just the thing to perk him up again…

Due to a bit of an emergency at work, Ian called me to stay he’d have to stay late on Thursday (14 August) and wouldn’t be around for Jessica’s bedtime. It got me worried, as Conrad has been colicky from about 4pm for a while now, and I really rely on Ian to be home to play with Jessica and give her her dinner while I do my best to settle Conrad. Ian phoned his Mum, who thankfully was available to pop over to help out from about 6.15pm, which would cover the bedtime bit (I was dreading having to get Jessica ready for bed and settled with Conrad crying throughout downstairs), and I was glad I’d already prepared her dinner.

As it happened, Conrad didn’t get colicky that afternoon, evening or night. He was happy during most of it (when not asleep), chatting and giggling away, and melting his farmor completely with his little smile. Jessica played happily, with farmor there to give her extra attention, and nicely in time for Jessica’s bedtime Ian turned up, as the work he needed to do had got postponed. It turned out a brilliant evening – dare I start hoping it was only a little taster of things to come…?

Well, we need a new sofa, the walls desperately need painting and apologies for the washing hanging all over the living room, but I still thought I’d share this lovely, non-colicky moment with you using visuals too…

Gabriella

Conrad had his first jabs Wednesday (6 August). We first saw one of the doctors at our local surgery, who examined Conrad to check that his hips, testicles, spine, head and heart were all fine, which they were. The doctor seemed very experienced and calm, and was talking to Conrad all the time during the process (although of course really letting me know what he was doing): “now I am stretching and bending your legs to check that your hips are aligned nicely and that your legs are working as they should, and everything is bending in the right direction, isn’t it?” and “now I’m lifting you up to check the strength of your neck, and that’s very good isn’t it – what’s it like flying, is the view good?”. It was quite funny, actually. Conrad was very good and didn’t cry, wee on the doctor or throw up on him either.

After the examination the jabs followed. I had been dreading those – and the following night(s)… At 8 weeks of age, babies in the UK get two jabs, one in each thigh, for ‘Diphtheria, Tetanus, whooping cough, inactivated polio vaccine, Haemophilus influenzae b (Hib) and Pneumococcal’. Obviously it hurts to get a needle in your leg and probably comes as a bit of a shock to a little baby too, which makes you feel really bad as a parent for putting them through it… On the other hand, the jabs are over with quickly (and any potential side effects relatively quickly), whereas any illness resulting from not having the vaccinations would be much more serious. But the side effects, as probably a lot of you reading this know, can involve restless nights with lots of crying and fever, which isn’t great for anyone involved.

The nurse who gave Conrad his jabs was very calm and friendly and didn’t make any unnecessary fuss (which tends to make it worse). Conrad was sitting sideways on my lap and cried straight away after the first jab, then when I turned him around so that he could get his second jab in the other thigh, he was quiet for a brief moment until his second one. He didn’t cry for quite as long as I had expected afterwards – as I sat with him on my lap while the nurse completed her notes in Conrad’s little red book he calmed down. I still stopped off for a while in the waiting room on the way out to give him a bit of formula – feeding after the jabs at this young age is recommended (comfort eating, basically). On the way home, Conrad seemed quite content, even smiled at me from his pram.

The night after wasn’t great. Conrad was acting colicky, crying at times so much that he seemed to not be quite in control, from about 5pm to 8.30pm. It wasn’t non stop, but every time he’d managed to calm down and start to drift off to sleep (which was difficult to achieve in the first place), it was in my arms but as soon as I moved the slightest he’d stir and start crying all over again. We gave him Calpol (baby paracetamol) a couple of times, only the smallest baby dose, just in case he was in pain even though he didn’t have a temperature.

Last night was very good: Conrad woke up at 3-hour intervals for feeds and then went straight back to sleep after. A reaction to the jabs may still come the next couple of nights, though, so we’re not sure it’s over with just yet.

The night before the jabs, Conrad had fed at 7.30pm, then fallen asleep about 9-ish, to not wake up for his next feed until 1.40am – I was quite pleased with that, maybe especially since I got 4 hours sleep in one go…! I have put Conrad in his cot awake but calm several times now, and he’s been lying there looking around himself, moving his arms and legs without crying, until he’s fallen asleep. That’s very promising, as we of course don’t want him to rely on being held and rocked to go to sleep and the latter is more often the case when he’s colicky…

Conrad makes all sorts of noises now – when he’s awake and in the baby bouncer he sounds like he’s chatting away to himself and sometimes giggling, and sounding awfully cute with it too…!

Gabriella

On Saturday (2nd August) we had a marathon colic session – 8 hours worth from 2 to 10pm… It wasn’t solid crying, thankfully: Conrad seemed to start to settle and drift off in-between, but if he got stirred the slightest it started all over again. Most of the time nothing I tried would help, until just before 7pm, when I held him across my lap and jiggled him using very fast, small movements.

At that point, Conrad’s aunt Wendy arrived with her boyfriend Graham, as they’d agreed to babysit for Ian and I while we went down to a local pub to meet up with our friends Richard and Cara for our first evening out together in a very long time (and my first alcoholic drink since getting pregnant with Conrad…!). Conrad drifted off in my arms while I was chatting to Wendy and Graham, but unfortunately as soon as I went to put him in his cot, he stirred and started to cry again…

I had another couple of attempts but it seemed impossible for me to settle him for the night. Wendy offered to give it a go so that Ian and I could go and meet our friends and we left Conrad in her capable hands. When we came back around three hours later, Wendy told us that Conrad had cried on and off for another 45 minutes but then fallen asleep in her arms, in the sofa in front of the telly. “Hustle (TV series) seems to do the trick!”, she told us.

From being so exhausted, I would assume, Conrad slept really well the rest of the night and a good chunk into the morning – waking for his feeds every three hours but then going straight back to sleep, which meant I got a bit more sleep than usual too. Then the following night he wasn’t colicky at all – seems he must have done two nights’ worth in one go… Yesterday (Monday 4 August) evening he was colicky for his more usual 4 hours, from 4 to 8pm, and drank lots of formula. As he started to nod off I fell asleep briefly holding him on the sofa and when I woke up about 15 minutes later he was sound asleep, so I put him in bed, which he didn’t seem to notice. The rest of the night he slept in 4-hour chunks and woke up for his feeds at 12.15 and 4.30am. I’m not expecting him to start sleeping through the night just yet, but at least he seems to be able to go for that little bit longer already.

There is some advice that one can start a bedtime routine at this age (or even earlier), but we have decided to leave that until Conrad’s colic has passed (that is, if it happens within the next couple of months – it could of course take longer, which would mean we’d reevaluate things a bit).

Gabriella