Our 5 week old son has been possetting (a lot) since he was one week old. I am breastfeeding & after feeds he brings back up a lot of milk, this can be immediate or an hour or so later. A couple of times he has possetted whilst still feeding.
I am not worried about his health as he is growing well, doesn't not seem to be in any discomfort when it happens and has no signs of dehydration - we discussed with our Dr & she said it was not a health concern. What I am confused about is how to manage this.
We are wanting to try the Feed, Play, Sleep routine with him but don't know where the time spent with him upright to help manage the possetting fits into this routine. Even the views on keeping him upright seem to vary significantly (from 10 mins - 45 mins). I guess this means he falls asleep in my arms - this is fine when there are two of us here but when I am on my own it is very difficult - putting him into his bassinet during the day when he has been cuddled to sleep only wakes him up and then he cries to be held again. I love holding him & miss him when he is sleeping in his bassinet but it is not practical to hold him all day - I need to eat at some point!
We had a little 'happy chucker' as well. I found that it was more dependant on whether I managed to help her get any wind up than how long she was upright after a feed. It takes a while to find the best way to help them burp (and for them to learn how to let it out too!) so we just did our best for 10 mins or so and then let her have a play - and if the mat ended up a bit soggy, so-be-it!! Have you got a sling or a wrap? Perhaps a wrap that holds him upright against your body may help and mean that you have your hands free for a while too. I believe the gentle movement against Mum's body (while in the sling or wrap) is also supposed to aid digestion.
As for fitting it into routine... I'd say just do what you can to try and establish your feed-play-sleep, and if it ends up being feed-cuddle-sleep for a while, well that's just FINE. You'll find your rhythm eventually, for now just enjoy those wonderful (sometimes wet) cuddles!
I cannot really comment on the routine aspect because we relied quite heavily on him having a full belly (i.e. just had a bottle) in order for him to have a good nap. So we had our cot elevated at the one end and I changed his cot sheets at least twice a day. Eventually I put extra sheets and nappies on the "spew zone" and would just whip those off if he spewed without having to get him up and change the bed. Anyway, just a suggestion...
What I just wanted to suggest in terms of keeping him upright after a feed, we found our Bright Starts bouncer upright enough to keep his milk down (just don't bounce it haha). That way he can see you and also play with his toys, yet you don't have to have him attached to you all day.
My DS was also a happy chucker. To be honest I found that nothing we did made any difference, I tried having him as upright as possible when feeding, keeping him upright afterwards etc and it really didn't make any noticeable difference. While it worried me it never bothered him, so in the end I just went with it and invested in a lot of bibs and cloth nappies to use as spew cloths. I'd always have to put a cloth nappy underneath him whenever we laid him down and also had one tucked in under his head in the bassinet to save changing the sheets after every nap. We also did feed, play, sleep and it worked well for us, but a lot of the time he would still be bringing stuff up after his sleep. I raised it so many times with my MCHN and GP, but because he was gaining weight and happy and healthy they weren't concerned. At around the 6 month mark it reduced dramatically, I remember one day realising that we'd only used the one bib and wondering what was going on. But even now at almost 12 months he will still occassionally have a little spew (not every day though) and it is always after a BF not solids. HTH
It sounds like it is what works best for us but there are a few suggestions to try - thank you. We did wisen to putting additional padding under his head to catch the output but the other morning he had done so much in his sleep that the cloth, the sheet, the mattress & the board underneath is bassinett were all soaked. I guess it is a problem a lot of people live with & thankfully it is not something that is painful for baby but I do feel he looses some intimacy because of it....such as every time we pick him up there is a cloth over the shoulder....we have to prepare to cuddle him, not saying there are no spontaneous hugs but most of them are cloth then baby. My sister wouldn't even hold him today because he threw up...he's her beautiful five week old nephew & she wouldn't even hold him.
I am not sure how to raise the bassinett at the head end as it is on wheels & we move it from room to room each day (our room at night, his room during the day...and when he is really unsettled it may even find itself in the living room! He is a big boy though and wont be in the bassinett for much longer so we can raise the cot for him as it wont be moving.
I can't help you with the posseting as DS doesn't have this problem, but it sounds like you have the same kind of bassinet as ours and we just figured out in the last week or so how to raise it.... Make sure the three clips are done up on the foot end. The metal arms that the bassinet rests on at the head end can be tipped back in the opposite direction and you sit the bassinet on it and do up the clips. I hope that helps with your bassinet (if you have the same one!). We can still move it from room to room. When we just want a little bit of a raise we just use a rolled up towel or blanket under the mattress.
I also read somewhere about putting a folded up towel under the arms for tummy time and thought it might keep your DS a little more upright...
DS is a chucky baby and because we used cloth nappies, i found that by putting one of the bamboo inserts for the nappies under his head in his cot, when he did chuck a bit in his sleep, it soaked it up and left the sheet underneath dry. then all i had to do was change it by the next nap or after a couple of naps (i would turn it around and over a couple of times if it was just a tiny chuck). if u wont be using cloth nappies, u can buy just bamboo material from a couple of different websites. HTH
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Possetting and how to manage routine
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