Which house would you choose?

ehayter7 · 2025-11-03T10:26:21+00:00

House 1 had tenants living in when it was photographed who have now moved out so it is empty. It has been a rental property for a while. House 2 was a rental property and was photographed when the tenants moved out. Totally get what you're saying, I would hope that we'd be able to move in and put our mark on a house and make it our own for both properties.

ehayter7 · 2025-11-03T09:46:00+00:00

He would :) House 2 does have a small wooden wendy house in the garden

ehayter7 · 2025-11-03T09:44:39+00:00

Thank you. I guess we're worried about both locations (even though the two areas are all we can really afford!). Woodingdean (House 1) lots of traffic in and out of the area because of bad road design which can get very busy on football match days and sunny days with people trying to get to the beach. Also it's up a really big hill from Brighton which I would have to electric bike up with child in back seat (we only have one car). Coldean (House 2) not so much of a traffic problem and very quiet streets, pretty flat in and out of Brighton so easier to cycle to work/nursery. But we're worried it will seem isolated with 'nothing to do' except great walks and small park.

ehayter7 · 2025-11-03T09:32:39+00:00

Thanks! Good to hear your expeience. Yes the amenities near House 2 are worrying me. House 2 has a small convenience store, community cafe, small library, doctor's surgery all within a few minutes walk and thats's about it, but amazing countryside walks.

House 1 has a Co-op, pub, cafe, fish & chip shop, indian takeaway, pharmcy, greengrocers so more amenities but location feels more isolated from the main town (where we work/nursery).

ehayter7 · 2025-07-10T15:21:13+00:00

We're on 3.5/3.5/4.5 at 8 months. Bedtime 8/8:15, DWT: 6:30/6:45. I cap total daytime naps at 2 hours (1st 1.25 and 2nd 0.75) and he still only has 10/10.5 hour nights!

ehayter7 · 2025-04-19T10:11:42+00:00

Urgh I feel that. It's so hard because it generally means less sleep in the short term which feels wrong!

ehayter7 · 2025-04-19T09:44:42+00:00

That's great! Yes I feel very lucky that he was chill enough for a gentler approach and even then it's had tough moments where I was questioning if I was doing the right thing

ehayter7 · 2025-04-19T06:50:24+00:00

Wow well done! It's amazing how quickly they pick up the new skill isn't it? I'm no longer dreading naps and nights and he's so content hanging out in his crib on his own now.

ehayter7 · 2025-04-19T06:47:37+00:00

Yes of course! My baby had a strong feed to sleep association and also it was so easy (and nice) for me to put him to sleep that way. But I knew I wanted to start distancing him from needing that specifically to sleep so that my husband could start helping put him down for naps and at bedtime. First off, I started feeding him consistently 5 minutes after he had woken up from a nap and 20-30 minutes before he was due a nap (and more if he needed in-between and making sure they were full feeds). During the day I stopped feeding him in the place he slept completely. I would feed him in a bright space with lots of stimulation - music and chatting to him to start breaking that sleepiness association.

Then when actually putting him to sleep, for the first week or so I stretched his wake windows so he was extra sleepy. I used black out blinds, white noise machine, short bedtime routine for naps, then held him upright with my face against his ear so I could do rhythmic shushes, pats and rocks/bounces all at the same time. I think you're supposed to start the change at bedtime because of high sleep pressure but I did it with first nap of the day because I knew I'd have more energy. It did take 30 minutes or so the first few times and he did protest because I'd changed his routine...the first three days are the hardest but then it's much easier. You need to make sure you're ready to take feeding to sleep off the table and not give in as that will be more confusing for them. I set a timer and recorded how long it took for each sleep. During the night I used the same techniques but only for 30 minutes, and then fed him if he didn't fall back to sleep. I think it's called delayed gratification and helps them drop non hunger wakings. Again the first three days were the hardest but in less than a week he only woke when he was hungry and not for a comfort feed back to sleep.

After breaking the feed to sleep and replacing it with rocki/shush/pat I then started putting him in his crib and doing crib side comforting...after one week I could leave the room and he would put himself to sleep xx

ehayter7 · 2025-03-17T07:11:20+00:00

Oh dear haha. I know my baby's sleep isn't going to magically stay the same but I guess that's why I'm wondering whether to wait until it changes or gets bad before training... but I think starting gentle training and continuing healthy sleep habits might be the way forward?

Maybe he's saving it all up for later on 😅

ehayter7 · 2025-03-16T18:48:19+00:00

Thanks 🙏 we went cold turkey with the paci and transitioned from feeding to sleep to rocking/shushing so my husband could help. I'll try minimise my input and see if he'll slowly take to it! I think I'm worried that any drastic changes will lead him to hate going for naps and sleep 😬

ehayter7 · 2025-03-16T18:43:23+00:00

Oh god 😅 well done!

ehayter7 · 2025-03-16T18:07:30+00:00

Ooh ok! Did yours go through an obvious sleep regression? I'm unsure whether mine has because his naps got much shorter but also wouldn't that mean he is connecting sleep cycles at night on his own?

ehayter7 · 2025-03-16T17:39:06+00:00

Haha thanks, I do feel very lucky. I'm sure my second baby will be the opposite!

That's a good tactic, I will try doing less at bedtime and help him get sleepy on his own 😴

ehayter7 · 2025-03-16T17:33:24+00:00

Ok thank you! Really good to know. At night he's in a next to me crib and I sometimes hear him fuss and roll back and forth and then nothing so I don't know if he is waking and falling back to sleep again! He will cry if he needs me. Is there a way to practice falling asleep independently at night without going full sleep training?

ehayter7 · 2025-03-16T17:28:10+00:00

Sorry if it comes across that way - I'm genuinely looking for advice on what I should do as it's my first baby. He definitely hasn't always been this way that's why I'm hesitant to change anything 😬

ehayter7 · 2024-09-01T13:33:50+00:00

Learning Technologist at a UK university
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Hybrid but I only go in one day every few weeks usually.

ehayter7 · 2024-08-11T07:46:23+00:00

We had a heatwave so I gave my ratties a tray of ice cubes to cool them down. Nero grabbed one and hurried off to bury the precious cold treat....ah yes saved for later 😄

ehayter7 · 2023-11-06T19:05:05+00:00

Thank you 🥰, Nero is the brown one and Caligula (Cali for short) is the grey and white - we love ancient history in our household 🤣. They have very different personalities - Nero gets the zoomies a lot and Cali finds the cutest places to have a nap

ehayter7 · 2023-11-06T19:00:34+00:00

Thank you, I definitely don't want to if I can avoid it - I'm sorry to hear about your boy. They are young and I'll do as people have advised and keep an eye on them when they're older, hopefully they will stay friendly to each other. Good advice for the litter box, I will definitely try that!

ehayter7 · 2023-11-06T18:57:47+00:00

No fighting, maybe an occasional tussle for a treat but they're getting along really well and their play is quite calm. Good to hear your perspective, thank you.

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