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Surly Dad Thread


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2 hours ago, PvilleStang said:

Will be there in about 2 months from today.  Was pretty impressed with BS&W Lakeway, but they're saying September is going to be a busy month, and they may have to fire up the postpartum wing. 

In other news, wife had the first baby shower last weekend, and I got to have my first official "putting shitty made shit together" experience.  Soon enough, seems I'll be buying batteries by the hundreds.

We had Romberg for our OB-GYN.  Nice guy, extremely honest, and was on top of things when my wife started struggling with delivery.  He doesn't do anything without reason, I.E. breaking water early, using forceps unless absolutely necessary, etc.

And definitely go to Costco for batteries.  One of the few things that make sense to buy in bulk.

On 6/29/2018 at 8:14 PM, SMUlawUTgrad said:


We second this. At first it felt expensive for a pillow but it was the only way we could get sleep.

Thirded.  I bitched up and down when my wife told me she was buying a $200 on what I thought was a glorified foam pad.   Safe to say I ate crow on that one.

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10 minutes ago, GlenFromTheMailRoom said:

We had Romberg for our OB-GYN.  Nice guy, extremely honest, and was on top of things when my wife started struggling with delivery.  He doesn't do anything without reason, I.E. breaking water early, using forceps unless absolutely necessary, etc.

 And definitely go to Costco for batteries.  One of the few things that make sense to buy in bulk.

Thirded.  I bitched up and down when my wife told me she was buying a $200 on what I thought was a glorified foam pad.   Safe to say I ate crow on that one.

We picked Dr. Walker, after my wife exhausted all the online reviews and found her to be the most qualified.  And two days later, she's interviewed all over the news for a story about the flu and expecting mothers, so I'll have to give her credit where credit is due.

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Anyone else make videos or send emails with pics for their kids?  I record some videos here and there after fun weekends and put it on their Google Drive for later.  


I’ve got a folder in the cloud with over a thousand pics with some video that I’ll keep for the now 5 yr old until he’s old enough to be embarrassed by them. :)
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17 minutes ago, PvilleStang said:

We picked Dr. Walker, after my wife exhausted all the online reviews and found her to be the most qualified.  And two days later, she's interviewed all over the news for a story about the flu and expecting mothers, so I'll have to give her credit where credit is due.

We actually "worked" if that's the operative word, with both of them.  Romberg was the one who delivered.  One thing to let Mrs. Pville know if they didn't share it with you is that Walker will try to deliver, but if for whatever reason (vacation, etc.) she goes into labor when Walker is out, Romberg will be called in.

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Soon enough, seems I'll be buying batteries by the hundreds.


Get a couple 8-packs of rechargeable (both AA and AAA) and at least 2 rechargers that can do 4 batteries at a time. Cycle them thru so that you always have a charged set ready when the current set runs out.
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Ugh. My 4.5yo has consistently gotten out of his room in the middle of the night, walked into ours, waking us up, and needing an escort to sleep on our living room couch. Some nights he does it multiple times, where upon I’ll often join him just to stop the pattern. It’s robbing my wife and I of a couple hours sleep very often as it’s hard to get back to sleep after spending ten minutes getting him back down.

He has a positive reinforcement system of earning smilies for good behavior...staying in bed, good day at school, sharing with his sister. Five smilies leads to picking a small toy or treat from a prize box. Has not worked well lately for keeping him in bed.

Anyone else gone through this? Being tired all the time is jacking up our home life and straining our marriage. I get the occasional bad dream, but most often it’s just wanting some company or a snack (that he gets just before bed as well).

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My son (4.5) consistently wakes up about an hour after going to sleep - crying and upset. Takes a while for my wife to calm him down - sometimes he just has to go potty and gets upset about it instead of just getting up and going (despite having gone before bed). Once he's calmed down, he's good for the rest of the night.

 

We've been playing a bedtime CD in there that he falls asleep to. I asked my wife if he was waking up when the CD ended, so she started putting it on repeat. It happens much less now.

 

 

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Yeah I don’t know what to do about my boy...he’s back to pull-ups as we just couldn’t get him through the night without wetting, he sleeps so hard he doesn’t wake naturally...but he still gets up, comes into our room and needs an escort into the living room. My Fitbit tells me I’ve gotten > 5 hours sleep only once the past eight days...sucks.

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16 minutes ago, Homercles said:

Yeah I don’t know what to do about my boy...he’s back to pull-ups as we just couldn’t get him through the night without wetting, he sleeps so hard he doesn’t wake naturally...but he still gets up, comes into our room and needs an escort into the living room. My Fitbit tells me I’ve gotten > 5 hours sleep only once the past eight days...sucks.

Is he taking naps during the day?  If so, he needs to cut that shit out to make sure he's tired enough to sleep through the night.  If he does walk into your room, escort him back to his room rather briskly with as little reinforcement as possible, sort of like North Korean baliffs but not maybe not quite that bad.  Eventually, he'll hopefully learn that he's not going to be comforted or get anything from waking you up.

As for the peeing, consider setting an alarm yourself and waking him up to pee in the middle of the night to pee.  That and make sure he's not drinking anything before he goes to bed and/or making sure he pees before he lies down.

And if none of that works, just do what my dad's pediatrician once told him to help out with my teething - "just give him some whiskey."

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Good call on getting him back to bed. We’ve tried that prior but probably not harshly enough, he’ll whine/fit about it long enough you just say f it. Honestly if he came into the couch without waking us then we’d be ok with it. We give him melatonin that helps knock him out but I wonder if it occasionally gives him vivid nightmares like it does for me.

He only naps at school during which he doesn’t have accidents. Honestly I wish he’d nap at home more, that midday break when both kids were still napping was glorious.

He’s always been like this, even at his sisters age (almost 2), where sleeping in his room was challenging. Weirdly she’s absolutely great about it. But yeah my wife is out of town for a week starting this afternoon, may be a good time to try to clamp down a bit on this...I’m a lighter sleeper than my wife so it generally falls on me anyways.

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Anyone else make videos or send emails with pics for their kids?  I record some videos here and there after fun weekends and put it on their Google Drive for later.  

My wife set up gmail accounts for our kids when they were born and we email them pics and videos now and then. We did it more for our first, then the twins happened. The email addresses came in handy when we set up global entry for them as they each needed an email for the registration online.
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Dropped the boy off at his first sleep over camp today.  Once we arrived, he was a turd most of the time we were there and I left the camp pissed at him and arguing with him.  Not the warm and fuzzies that I was hoping that camp would provide.  

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Daughter is a first year couselor at JCC Camp Shalom.  Pay sucks, but it's camp.  

Anyone familiar with the Austin Driving School on Burnet Rd in the plaza that had the old Dallas Nightclub?  I'm a grad from summer '83.  Back then, next door was a hot tub rental room by the hour joint.  Themed rooms.  see Magic Time Machine on Riverside, for example.   Closed the hot tub rental place when condoms were clogging the pumps and the water contracted AIDS in 1986.

Daughter tells me she wants to enroll at the same Austin driving school.  The place was a dump back then.  $370 for classroom and driving instruction?  I dunno.  I'm a cheap bastard, but I'm not going to teach her.  I will be asking if they offer a legacy discount.  And fuck you, you never taught a burro to drive, as they have been claiming for decades in big letters above the front door.

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Did not want to start a sleep away camp thread, so here are my questions.

My 8 year old finished second summer of sleep away camp this summer. It was just 1 week and is asking to go 2-4 weeks next summer. Y'all recommend any specific camps? I've heard good things about Laity, Longhorn and Chippewa in Wisconsin. Laity is 2 weeks, Longhorn is 1-3 and Chippewa is 4 or 8. 

Any feedback is appreciated.

Edited by Goodman
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37 minutes ago, NorthLoop said:

Look out world, baby NorthLoop coming Feb. '19. 

Drinks are on you!  Congrats!

 

23 hours ago, Goodman said:

Did not want to start a sleep away camp thread, so here are my questions.

My 8 year old finished second summer of sleep away camp this summer. It was just 1 week and is asking to go 2-4 weeks next summer. Y'all recommend any specific camps? I've heard good things about Laity, Longhorn and Chippewa in Wisconsin. Laity is 2 weeks, Longhorn is 1-3 and Chippewa is 4 or 8. 

Any feedback is appreciated.

We’ve got our oldest signed up for Longhorn.  If you need a recommendation our family has multiple members that have been going for years.  Make sure you take your child to the meet and greets.  It helps in the app process.  There’s also a waiting list of around 12-24 months.

Edited by GlenFromTheMailRoom
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5 hours ago, GlenFromTheMailRoom said:

Mrs.’s FromTheMailRoom and I are about to cave.  Anyone have any contacts or recommendations for night-nannies or full time nannies for that matter?  I’ll shave a year or two off of retirement for a good night’s sleep.

youre not in this alone, brah...that first 4 hour stretch of uninterrupted sleep is a godsend. the worst is when baby finally seems to be sleeping and content....you lay there thinking about not getting sleep and just waiting for baby to wake up at any minute. so you dont actually get any sleep

Edited by MNLonghornFUKM
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Well after bitching here my 4yo suddenly said, Monday night ‘daddy I don’t want to wear pull-ups tonight I’m wearing regular underwear, I’ll go in the potty and stay dry’...and he DID...two nights in a row.

Maybe he reads Surly. Funny how kids sometimes need to progress at their own pace.

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Mrs.’s FromTheMailRoom and I are about to cave.  Anyone have any contacts or recommendations for night-nannies or full time nannies for that matter?  I’ll shave a year or two off of retirement for a good night’s sleep.
How old is your kid? My kids slept most of the night by the time they were 4 months old.

As for sleep - with my first (son) he didn't want to breastfeed and had acid reflux which made him spit up a lot if he laid flat. My wife and I took turns sleeping in the recliner in the living room while the other got to sleep all night in the bedroom. Getting a full night's sleep every other day worked out until he learned to keep things down and could sleep most of the night.

If your kid is still breastfeeding, then you might need an alternate plan.
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11 hours ago, GlenFromTheMailRoom said:

Mrs.’s FromTheMailRoom and I are about to cave.  Anyone have any contacts or recommendations for night-nannies or full time nannies for that matter?  I’ll shave a year or two off of retirement for a good night’s sleep.

When mine were born, we'd set them in the morning sun for 5 minutes to set their body clock.  Sun on their skin activates some internal rhythm shit that helped mine stay asleep for most of the night.  Pretty effective.

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2 hours ago, Modessit said:

How old is your kid? My kids slept most of the night by the time they were 4 months old.

As for sleep - with my first (son) he didn't want to breastfeed and had acid reflux which made him spit up a lot if he laid flat. My wife and I took turns sleeping in the recliner in the living room while the other got to sleep all night in the bedroom. Getting a full night's sleep every other day worked out until he learned to keep things down and could sleep most of the night.

If your kid is still breastfeeding, then you might need an alternate plan.

She still a couple of weeks old, but the wife and I feel like we've aged years in those few weeks.  We're both not super heavy or late sleepers but we're definitely the types that need some semblance of rest in order to function.  

1 hour ago, LongestHorn said:

When mine were born, we'd set them in the morning sun for 5 minutes to set their body clock.  Sun on their skin activates some internal rhythm shit that helped mine stay asleep for most of the night.  Pretty effective.

We'll give this a shot and report back.  Last night was better.  Instead of being up every 30min to an hour, she was sleeping in three hour bursts.  It's amazing what a little sleep can do.  

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The nine month old went from sleeping through the night to having big time separation anxiety. In the past, if he did wake up we would give him a bottle and he would be out within 30 minutes. Last night the wife made too much noise getting ready for bed so we were up for another hour and a half. An hour later I have a coughing fit and he's up again. The only way I could get him to sleep was to rock him back to sleep, every time I tried to lay him back down in the crib he was inconsolable until I picked him back up. I know that we're suppose to let him cry it out, but it was too late and I was already too exhausted. Cut to me sleeping on and off in the rocking chair with him in my lap from 1 until 6. I love the crap out of this kid, but sometimes I wonder if it's Stockholm Syndrome 

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18 hours ago, Mr. Blutarsky said:

The nine month old went from sleeping through the night to having big time separation anxiety. In the past, if he did wake up we would give him a bottle and he would be out within 30 minutes. Last night the wife made too much noise getting ready for bed so we were up for another hour and a half. An hour later I have a coughing fit and he's up again. The only way I could get him to sleep was to rock him back to sleep, every time I tried to lay him back down in the crib he was inconsolable until I picked him back up. I know that we're suppose to let him cry it out, but it was too late and I was already too exhausted. Cut to me sleeping on and off in the rocking chair with him in my lap from 1 until 6. I love the crap out of this kid, but sometimes I wonder if it's Stockholm Syndrome 

I have a four month old and this is my nightmare. I can't imagine doing that kind of stuff at nine months. 

Unfortunately the wife and I are both the types who need sleep to be semi-functional humans... don't need eight hours, but can't do six hours of sleep with interruptions every 1.5 hours. And there's no such thing as sleep for either of us in a rocking chair.... just becomes hours upon hours of reading on the phone. 

 

The 3-4 month regression is the worst. Went from sleeping in 5-8 stretches from 1month to 3months to max 3 hours. 

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We'll give this a shot and report back.  Last night was better.  Instead of being up every 30min to an hour, she was sleeping in three hour bursts.  It's amazing what a little sleep can do.  




Couple of weeks old?? You’re in new born hell. It will get better really, really soon. Not a whole lot better, but just a little better.
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For anyone having a baby get this sleep rocker. Our first kid’s sleep issues went away instantly when we got it. The second never had a sleep issue using it. We buy this as a baby gift for everyone we know having a kid. Everyone that uses it swears by it. I don’t know what it is about the design but it knocks babies out. I can’t recommend it enough.

Fisher-Price Deluxe Auto Rock 'n Play Sleeper with SmartConnect, Green/White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016XS2NES/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_g82rBbE86FNQQ

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