The last couple of days have been awful benjamin has been so grumpy and just sits and moans alllll the time to himself....whining about nothing it seems...
he has started to want a bottle literally all of the time, i offer him water/juice and he turns his nose up at it, he has a little drink, but NOT a gulp (as if he was thirsty)
he just seems hungry and grumpy all the time...
i started him on baby food a few weeks ago, and he seems to like it, and can manage it
hes always been a greedy boy, and has always been a big lad...but he literally wakes up @ 530am has a 9oz bottle, goes back to sleep with another 9oz bottle an hour later...wakes up and hour after that and has breakfast and another bottle...then some water.
an hour and a half later he is looking for more so i try to occupy him with toys etc. but NOPE he wont settle without another 9oz bottle!!! so by dinnertime he has had atleast 4/5 bottles!!!
this goes on all day and by bedtime he has had atleast 9/10bottles i know this is too much but he just whinges and moans if i dont offer him more!!!
he also has dinner and tea aswell...so its not like he isnt getting enough of that!!!!
i dont know what to do with him anymore, seem at a bit of a loose end :/ hes very hard work!!
i think this is why he is being sick---too much milky...!!!
can babies come down with a bug and drink more bottle?? i hope to goodness hes not getting ill!!!
maybe hes just going to be a grumpy boy!!! argh lovely
and how the heck do i manage with all this laundry in this crappy weather
any tips/ideas/help would be very much appreciated

heya i dont have time to read properly or reply properly just now but i will try later - the key to the washing is this though: http://www.pulleymaid.com/Classic_Clothes_Airer.htm things dry really quickly - we do at least one wash a day, often two

maybe you need to up the portion size lou, thats seems an awful lot of milk, have you asked your hv for advice?

i have returned! and read the rest now sounds like the milk is a bit much, like pinky said - maybe its time to look at what he is eating - could he be having too much dairy? or lots of citrussy things? like i said elsewhere, i thought elijah was having trouble with dairy, but i think now it was the fruit that went with it. he was having apple in literally everything (nearly all organic jars etc have apple in) and once we cut that down a bit he seems much happier.

does he drink water with his meals? how much does he eat at each meal? does he get the same each day? it looks to me that the food is probably the key (although im not that familiar with formula - im confused enough with bf )

is he pooing ok? it might be that 2 meals is actually too much for him - elijah will feed more from me when he is constipated, i think cos my milk is more watery and sort of...pushes...the pooh out haha OR he could be hungry and it might be time to move to 3 meals a day with finger foods/1st course+ pudding???

hmm so many variables - its horrible when you just have no idea what is going on, but it will never continue the same way for too long (it will just be something new in a few weeks )
it also sounds like he could be teething? elijah will want to feed from me loads and loads, but then be really unsettled when he is feeding - it was worst before he got his first little toothypeg (ahh im proud! ) and he was really on/off with food too.

the other thing it could be is thrush? if you look at his mouth/tongue it would be covered in whiteness, that could affect him feeding quite a bit - it can make him want to feed more/less/be moany etc

hiya

How long has it been going on for? Could it be a growth spurt? Think sophs had a big one around the four month mark.

How may meals is he on a day? Maybe up it to three a day if not already? Or try a few spoonfuls more each meal?

What milk is he on? You could try upping the portions/portion sizes of food first then if still drinking so much, maybe try hungry baby milk. But would wait and see how long it lasts first and if the food thing works first as hungry baby milk can apparently make them constipated.

HTH,

Mandy xx

hey girls
thanks for writing back
yeah benjamin drinks an awful lot of milky!! lol
he has no white on his tongue mari, so thrush is out
he has 3 meals a day;
5/6am-8-9oz bottle
7/8am- half a jar of baby food+7-8oz bottle+water
9-10.30- 9oz bottle
11-12.30-a jar of baby food+half a jar of pudding (or a few bites on a banana lol)
1-2-water+8/9oz bottle
3-4- 8/9oz bottle
5/6- jar of baby food+pudding+water
7/730-9oz bottle /bed

this is pretty much what he has everyday give or take a few hours
inbetween all that is a very whingey child that is constantly on the go, he NEVER sits still or seems satisifed whilst playing, the only time he will sit still is if he hears the beginning credits of waybuloo (thats all he likes of the programme tho!) and if he has a warm bottle stuck to his mouth lol

he doesnt have much citrusy stuff...loves stuff with chicken/meat in it lol
and hes not really fussed with puddings lol
sophias mummy i hope to god it isnt another growth spurt lol---hes already in 6-9/9-12mth clothes at the lickle age of 5mths lol
he weighs 17lb 4 oz!!! and is HUGE!!! Also he is already on hungry baby milk, and it still doesnt touch him lol
i know he is/has been teething since he was 10weeks old, his cheeks go BRIGHT red, he seems to be very upset and cries alot when this happens! but it isnt all day...
im wondering if maybe (in all seriousness) he has some sort of hyperactivity disorder?? he is constantly on the go, and i have to FORCE him to go to sleep during the day, literally holding him in, or leaving him to scream for 1/2 hours before he goes to sleep...very tricky child at the moment...
pinky, i havent spoken to hv yet, as last time i mentioned it, they just said "yeah he's a big baby, he'll want more! hes a boy, of course hes gonna be naughty!" WTF??? lol
just would like to know if im doing somethingwrong lol...i try my hardest, but sometimes he gets FAR too much for me/adam/my mum/family to handle!! Even my mother has said she believes he has some disorder, as she has never met a 5mth old that literally WILL NOT sit down lol
i just want my old happy benjamin back!!

not sure if ive asked this before, but have you tried to sort out a sleep routine during the daytime, benjy might be mistaking tiredness for hunger.

nope, no sleep routine at all...he just goes to sleep when i can get him to sleep lol
he usually has a nap for about an hr at 7-8 or 8-9 depending on what time he wakes up originally...
he does need a bottle to go to sleep tho...so i do think he could be mistaking sleep and hunger...how do you even begin to do the routine thing lol

it is hard going at first ava was very much like benjy, i was sure she was hyperactive but once she started sleeping through the day as well, i realised she was just overtired.

i started with just an afternoon nap straight after ava's lunch, i did have a hard few weeks with tantrums and crying but i wish i'd done it sooner, now she has a good 3 hours at least in the day.

i have tried controlled crying, but he literally cries for 3/4 hours straight and still doesnt go to sleep lol
sometimes he may cry himself to sleep after an hr...but thats if im lucky, and with me being a depressive mess at the moment its hard not to lose my rag with him...so most of the time i just give up, and get him out and give him a bottle to make him stop crying and eventually he goes to sleep.
like right now, hes whinging coz hes tired...but he wants another bottle!! (adam gave him one about 15mins ago--7oz---and he drank it all and was asleep, but as soon as the bottle was finished he woke up, and is whining for more!!)
should i just put him in his cot and let him cry it out?
or give him a bottle?? gosh being a mum is hard lol

aha! i think pinky is right actually with the sleep thing - elijah would go all day without sleeping and i would literally have to hold onto him until he fell asleep (and long after - tbh this still happens ) and he was an absolute misery - i thought he was bored but no he was overtired!

heres an idea that worked really well with elijah - this book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Top-Tips-Baby-Whisperer-Secrets/dp/0091929725/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294143530&sr=8-1

i know it says sleep at night, but the key was to get him to nap - the more he naps the more he sleeps at night and the more settled/cheerful/pleasant (!) he is it has step by step ideas and was really an absolute lifesaver to me

i have a copy of the book you can have but im in the middle of moving and it's packed! so it would be a couple of weeks til you got it - or if you have some pennies i would recommend ordering it - i totally agree with pinky (eli also associates boobs/food with sleep) and reckon if you get the sleep sorted a bit, and a bit of a routine - im still awful at routine, it doesn't come naturally to me! - benjamin might be more content generally

yeah i think this is the source of the problem! benjamin associating food/bottle/sleep!
i shall have a look at that book and see if it would be good for helping me
yeah im not good with routine either, the only thing that is routine is my making a cuppa coffee being the first thing in the morning lol

ahhh i cant wait for benjamin to feel contented again!! its an awful feeling to think hes not makes me feel bloody useless lol

pinky!!! you're a very clever lady thankyooooou!! hopefully this will sort out this problem!!

now....does anyone know how to lose about 3 stone in weight, before may this yr haha

hahaha umm yeah if i had that answer i would be a skinny minny give the book a go it was such a help for me (plus, if he isnt eating so much he wont puke so much!)

yeah deffo will give it a go, and when ur all settled in, just send it to me and i'll give u the cost that u want for it thanks mari and pinky

it is totally true the more they nap , the more they sleep at night too. I'm not clever at all, i've just been there, same as all the other mums on here, its all a case of trial and error, i've had some really tough days with ava where i'd question myself and think i was useless when she wouldn't stop crying.

babies are very clever and know how to play us, ava would cry and cry and as soon as she heard me open the door to go upstairs would stop straight away. someone on here gave me some great advice, you need to let them know who's the boss.

haha pinky, i still think you're very intelligent and a great mummy too
yeah hes very sneaky, like now, he never drinks juice, i have to force it down him to get his water intake...and he just drank about 100mls so he could have cuddles with me and go to sleep lol
after his 100 mls i put him in his cot and wrapped him up nice n warm, and hes now whining to himself in his cot, so me and adam r gonna play on just dance for the wii, and ignore his cries (unless its painful of course!)

i def think pinky is right. there is no possible way after a 9oz bottle 15 mins later he cud still be hungry if he is on 3 meals a day too. he should be drinking between 18-24oz of milk a day i think when weaned an it seems like he is drinking alot more. i think hes woking his ticket and showing mammy whose boss. i think you should try and stick to bottles at certain times of the day and substitue the rest of the bottles with water/juice even if he cries.

i dunno if ive asked this before but has he got a dummy or a comforter which he can use to associate with sleep? i know its a bad thing to get into but alfie still wnt sleep during the day unless he has dummy in, blue bear over his eyes and cuddled into my boobies ha!! oh and bum pats?! lol

haa cheers amy yeah i think he tests all of us lol hes a very active boisterous baby who never sits still lol
yeah he drinks between 80-90oz a day!!! wayyyyymore than needed lol no wonder hes a fatty haha
i have been giving it a go, but today we've been out and about so its all messed up
hes drank a lot lesstoday bout 50oz...and has had 3 meals and 2 pudding...duno where he puts it all lol
he doesnt like dummies he heaves :/ strange lol the only dummy he will hve i his newborn dumy, but thats old and broke so a no go
he doesnt have a comforter, just a blanket that wraps around him thats all...
so difficult lol
we must meet up amy! i wanna hug off alfie
pinky...??
did u have a chance to look for times etc?? i really wanna meet you, and ava and if u dont mind amy and alfie too it would be awesome!!
xxx

yeah well im back to work monday and im working mon, tues and wed so could only do a thurs or fri but im fine whenever. we could meet somewhere central? not sure if there is a fun shack or mr twisters or sum soft play area? would be gr8 to meet up. x

eurgh. i dont drive so it'd have to be somewhere where a bus goes
i'd love to meetu u amy

id be good to meet u too hun.

well i drive and im sure Jo does so we can come to you? we should make a day of it. x

yeah deffo!! we'll try n contact jo and see if she's up for it soon like i said to joanne tho, i'll be dead shy and not gobby like i am on here haha
so u can only do thurs n fri?? thats fine with me, as i dont think im going back to work. xx

i'm going to my surestart today so i'll ask them for a list of the stanley classes , i don't work thurs or fri so both would be fine. x

awesome well im free whenever, so if u two driving ladies sort out dates/times i shall be happy with whatever yay!!