Need advice- I have offered to take the babies tonight.

My dd and her dh have not slept in two nights. The babies are constipated (they are working on resolving that issue with suppositories)but I have offered to keep the boys tonight so they can catch up.. Stephanie is pumping and will have enough to give me when I take them. Is this a bad idea??? I want to help them, and they are willing to let me. They only live about 10 minutes away from me..
TIA
Lindy, mom to Stephanie and Nana to
Cameron and Corey

 

My dd and her dh have not slept in two nights. The babies are constipated (they are working on resolving that issue with suppositories)but I have offered to keep the boys tonight so they can catch up.. Stephanie is pumping and will have enough to give me when I take them. Is this a bad idea??? I want to help them, and they are willing to let me. They only live about 10 minutes away from me..
TIA
Lindy, mom to Stephanie and Nana to
Cameron and Corey

 

LINDY!!!! YOU ARE AWESOME!!! That's so wonderful of you!!!

I think the only thing I can tell you is to not expect to get any sleep yourself. I would have her bring her nursing pillow and you will have a better time with the feedings yourself.

It's a GREAT idea from the MOM OF TWINS PERSPECTIVE, and a BRAVE IDEA from YOURS!

I would have more milk than you think you need available and get yourself set up for the overnight feedings before you lie down. (Use a cooler or something next to the bed and maybe a thermos of HOT water to warm the breastmilk while you change diapers.)

The more organized you are about it the better it will go! ON behalf of Stephanie - THANK YOU! You are wonderful!!!

 

What if you offered to help them at their house....so somebody can get up and help you and the other one can sleep. Then a few nights later, you can do it for the other person.

OR...do two nights where you stay to do the first couple of feedings with one of them, so the other can get a 5 hour stretch. Even a small stretch of uninterrupted sleep makes a huge difference at that time.

I wouldn't want to replicate our entire system at somebody else's house, that is just me.

WHAT AN AWESOME OFFER!! NOBODY in our huge family could step up and even offer to help with the night feedings. BRAVO!

 

You rock Lindy! What a great thing you are doing for them!!

 

That is so nice of you! Make sure you have everything you need handy, take a nap this afternoon because you will get little or no sleep tonight. If you feel discouraged, just remember that we all think you're great for doing this!

Wow, you're the best! I wish someone had done that for me!

 

That's sounds like a great idea! You may get a couple of calls during the night to check on the babies but your daughter and SIL will get much more sleep. As long as you have the suplies, I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be a good idea.

 

Thanks so much for your replies. Diane, I am going to take the day off from work tomorrow so I won't have to stress about not getting any sleep! I'm just really glad I can help them. Also, good news! The boys have pooped
I will update you all tomorrow on how it goes!
Lindy

 

Yes she did call the doctor and they had supplemented with formula which she had no idea at the time would have that affect... She now knows and won't be doing that again. I believe it happended in the middle of the night when sil was "on duty"..
Thanks for asking!
Lindy

 

I don't know about the non-constipated baby thing. Mine were exclusively breastfed and went 12 days without pooping. They were gassy, and screaming around the clock. We finally went to the pedi and he recommended suppositories every 3 days if they didn't poop. He said it is not uncommon with little ones (mine were 37 weekers/ 5 and 6 pounds). The suppositories helped until we reached around 6 months. Now we are happy poopers!
On another note-You are giving you dd a wonderful gift. My mom did this for the first 4-5 months. She would stay here so if things got out of control we could give her help. She would take the babies downstairs with her and we would go upstairs with a fan. We would skip one sometimes two feedings adn wake up with a great feeling! It was what I needed to get through the week. It was a little different with us because my DH's job takes him overnight quite a bit. She literally saved our lives by giving me some rest once a week.
You are such a sweet grandma to offer such love!
Jenny

 

I think you are fantastic and I'm sure Stephanie needs the sleep, whether she admits it or not! Definetely take the boys..it will really help her out! Oh yeah...you can take my twins whenever you want !

 

Can you come to my house next?

 

Way to go Grandma! They will LOVE you for it! I've kept my girls a few nights, even went and slept on their couch and helped with the feedings. It's hard on us "old" folks, but rewarding too! Enjoy them!

 

what a wonderful gift you are giving them...and you will be blessed for doing it as well. have a great night.

 

I took my niece and nephew a few times overnight when they were really tiny. I first had them overnight at 1 week old. Mom trusts me totally with her kids and knows that I have lots of experience with babies so she just welcomed the night of sleep especially since she had a kidney infection with a fever of 103. I don't think she even told me what their schedule was.. I doubt she even had one yet and she was a bit delerious from her fever. But I just waited for them to wake up and whenever one woke up I woke the other and fed them both at the same time. I would have them fed, burped, changed, and back in the PNP within a half hour and I was back to sleep for about 2 1/2 hours until they got up again! After I returned them I had to work 11a-7p so I just waited until I got home to sleep and went to sleep earlier that night. It wasn't really that bad to only go one night without sleep and she felt so refreshed and after having her antibiotic in her for 24 hours she felt much better and able to take care of them. It wasn't too bad cause I took them again around 2 1/2 weeks and then 4 weeks. By 6 weeks they were sleeping 6 hours at night so she didn't need it as much so I would take 2 of the older kids to give her a break during the day.

 

How did it go Lindy??

 

Can't wait to hear...you're such a terrific Mom/Nana!

 

You are the best Nana!!! You remind me so much of my Mom, what a wonderful gift you gave them. Hope it went well.
Kristi

 

I bet she's taking a nap! I'm interested to hear how it went.