Babies Born April 2008 #2

Leyla - there are many theories for the possible cause for unsettled evening behaviour
One is over-stimulation. Some babies find it harder to cope with changes to their surroundings and by the end of the day may be overwrought. They may be tired and cranky by the end of the day. After all, they have spent the day learning, experiencing and growing at a much higher level than we adults! Unfortunately, in most Australian homes, this time coincides with when adults 'wind up' to make dinner, welcome a partner home from work, turn on the television news etc. At 6.00pm the stress meter is in the red as you realise you only have half an hour before your partner is home and dinner isn't even started! Perhaps our babies can sense this stress.

re dreams - YES! Ci has absolute conniptions in his sleep, like memories of some horrible trauma (birth, no doubt).

I've worn Ci in the loo but I don't like it much :lol: The things we poor mamas do, eh?

For the witching hour (and other emotional issues) I can't recommend this site enough:

Aware Parenting

Go to the articles, there are heaps on crying and so forth. Most crying is stress and past trauma which you just hold them and support them through like you would any family member. (making sure all other needs are met of course) This one touches on the restless witching hour...

crying spells in 6 week old

Crying for Comfort: Distressed Babies Need to be Held

What to do when your baby cries

The site was a godsend to me with DD, and now I have it to memory - I've consulted it for all phases and stages.

I was SO engorged last night! Ci was still asleep at 2am and I'm laying there thinking of waking him to relieve my pain! And cop this... he drained it all! Incredible. He's becoming a fatty. :lol:

ETA - I saw DH reading this recently:
Baby colic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I have found a correlation that I tested last night. Every night I drank chamomile tea, Ci slept better. So last night I timed it for the wee hours and he slept great. I also found peppermint tea helped his wind and got him to poo. I've used peppermint water or tea for my own gas many times. I drank the cham at the 10pm feeding so it was in the 2am milk, but if anyone else tried, you could rearrange that timing to suit. It isn't as fast as the cham in the infant preps, of course, cos you have to wait until it reaches your milk, but it is great for those of us who prefer to give meds via milk. So now I'm drinking cham tea every night until his own patterns take over :lol:.

Wow Fire you are a treasure chest of very useful information. Thanks for sharing... now know what I will be drinking at night.
So I'm guessing it takes 4 hours for what you eat to reach the milk - is that right?
BTW does anyone know if Green Tea is okay to drink whilst BF?
I've just checked out a few online sites and it appears not a good idea to drink Green Tea whilst BF

Mmm, my midwife auntie swears by chamomile tea aparrently, and i saw it listed as an ingredient in the Brauer's Colic relief.

i wonder?? do you think i could maybe get my kids to drink some warm tea before bed???? maybe that will help with annikas rotten seeping. In saying that may need to sweeten it but dont want them boucing of the wall, what could you use to sweeten it with??

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I can try and do yours for you, you will have to email me over the photos to personal email account just PM me and I will send it over. As you can tell I love my photography. I need about 5-10 none blurred photos.
Cheers
Sarah

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Sarah I think I need some photography lessons before I could send you appropriate pictures :lol: I was thinking of doing something like this for her baptism in October - so I guess between now and say August I can improve on my photography skills and then send them to you with the wording.
Oh I just went to the site again and noticed the tips on taking photos - will have to try it out.
Hope that you are managing to get some quality time with Landon as well as Wyatt. I've been trying today with Logan, but he just wants to watch spiderman. :wall:

BeatrixCould you sweeten with honey???

I have "medicated" my daughter naturally her whole life, so she is used to taking horrible tasting stuff but with chamomile, I make a strong brew and then put a shot glass full of it for her to take. She takes this a half hour before bedtime and it helps her fall asleep (useful for restless/wound up days and even sickness). I don't use sugar in it, I treat is as "medicine" so I make it as small as possible and she shoots it back with a "chaser" afterwards (usually watery juice).

Not sure how long things take to reach the milk. I would imagine it depends on how long it takes to digest and reach the bloodstream and therefore milk (therefore liquids would probably be faster). It may also depend on the substance. Apparently alcohol for instance has shown peak levels in breast milk about 30 to 90 minutes after one drink. So I just figure if I take something at the time of a feed, by the time of the next feed it will be in the milk, assuming the feed is an hour to four away, preferably about two hours from the looks of things. So at a guess, to have a baby settle at 8pm for several hours, then I'd drink the tea at about 6 or at the previous feed, no longer than 4 hours before. I like Ci to be at his most settled after midnight, so I drink the tea at 9/10pm. But it's all an experiment at this stage for me. Tell me if you have the same success and how you did it, too.

Wondering, anyone pumping and storing yet? I'm waiting until the 6/8 week mark, but looking at pumps. With DD, I hired the ABA electric whizz bang pump - it was fast and you beaut. I may do that again but I'm also wondering how good the ones in the stores are. A medela one is endorsed by the ABA I noticed. Anyone have any recommendations?

Oh, btw, I haven't used it but have meant to try it, apparently Stevia is a good sweetener and much less is used than sugar but it isn't artificial. But I find it tastes yuk, and so does my daughter, no amount of sweetening might help for some kids you may have to treat it like medicine.

Sorry to serial post but I found this interesting:

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Some mums feel their babies are hungrier in the evening and need to 'fill up' before sleeping for a longer period at night. This may make them feed more frequently or for longer at this time. Some babies also have a strong need to suck for comfort and will become unsettled soon after coming off the breast.

Following your baby's lead and feeding according to need can be the answer here. You may need to feed very frequently for a few hours, but will have a settled, sleepy baby at the end of it all. It has also been theorised that we need this frequent feeding in the early evening to help maintain our milk supply for the following day.

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From the ABA website (accidentally closed the link) in "arsenic hour".

Also:

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Preservative 282 in bread is by far the worst,' she wrote later. 'Within 3 hours, Chris is screaming in agony and has chronic diarrhoea. When I was breastfeeding and ate 282 he would react within 12 hours. Colours make him really hyperactive'. As well, Chris was affected by some natural chemicals called salicylates.

Like Dani, most mothers have never heard of salicylates, yet doctors have reported since the 1960s and1970s that some children's behaviour can be affected while 'under the influence' of these natural pesticides in some medications, most fruit and some vegetables. Food processing has led to an increase not only in additives but also in our daily intake of salicylates because, for example, there are many more salicylates in a serve of juice that contains the equivalent of ten oranges plus peel than in one orange.

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Australian Breastfeeding Association - More restless babies

For those curious souls... I chickened out and waited until DH came home before going to loo... but would have worn bubs if I needed to.

I would love to try the chamomile/peppermint tea trick, but as I am exclusively expressing, I can't judge what time the milk I express will be consumed.. unless I take chamomile and peppermint tea (combined) at each expressing... then it's in all of them!

Janine - I have the Madela Lactina and it works a treat for me. I tried the Madela symphony at our local hospital (before I got my pump) and it was brilliant (had a two phase pumping technique) - but these are more expensive to hire and none were available when I needed a pump.

Just getting a quick post in while I've got a spare minute - but I have good news today! I don't know if it's me giving up caffiene, but we had a sleep through night last night! Liam slept from before midnight until around 6.15 am. Whoo hooo! It also helped that I started 'getting' what other people were saying about 'cluster feeding' in the early evening - night and wondered if Liam was hungry at that time (he's usually a bit ratty) - so I just kept giving him feeds every time he got niggly and he had heaps (150 - 200ml over a few hours). We are SO doing that again!

Anyway - I'm off to the football (soccer for the uninitiated) - haven't seen a game all season yet!

hey Grubi,

Yeah we Alise landon Wyatt and I all walked over to town today. Big mistake now, I feel like I am pregnant again with baby pushing head down. Anyway Wyatt was alseep for the whole ride which was great just started to wake up when we got back. Landon rode on top of pram and Alise walked with me. We stopped off at McDonald's on the way back and kids had play in kids area. Then when we got over the river, I got the kids an icecream to eat on last part of walk home. Landon had to walk as he slow eater and icecream was running everywhere. I didn't want to get pram dirty/messy. It was a good morning. Came home put landon to bed for his day nap, and wyatt woke up.
Re-orgainsed DVD so can find them in unit, and have just gotten back from taken Alise and Landon across road to school on their bikes. Landon got big boy bike this week and we have had to ride it every day.

How is Greer doing? How is Logan going with Greer?

Hi all, some of you will know me from the bellybuddies group - my DS - Luke - was born on 17 April via emergency c-section. Things are going quite well at the moment - he is a bit of a horror in the evenings, but such an angel the rest of the time it is hard to complain (although when he is screaming at midnight I do complain!!). Anyway, wanted to drop in and say hi - I don't have ready access to the internet until I return to work in July but will drop in every now and then.

Fire I have bought an Avent electric pump - it is awesome.

Hello all, im here, just been very sick..infection and the drama that goes with it..anyway...
Janine I also have the avent electric, had a go today with Blake, he tried to drink 40 mls, was funny to watch him but he did it! I left it to late with previous child and he didint want a bar of it..ever...
You girls all sound like you are going great guns..I cant get my lad to go past 3 hours...and during the night its every 2! how do you stretch..he was 11pd14 and friends are telling me he want heaps, but he only feeds for like 5 mins then hes all dun and asleep..very hard to wake...but Im guessing thats my prob??
So Im just exhausted..so have to go to bed..
Take care

hey everyone...

Awww I've had a terrible day :( Ryley is on my boob for up to an hour or over at a time, I dont know why this long, but he does go to sleep and then wakes up then goes to sleep... once he goes to sleep on my boob I cannot wake him - he just doesnt wake then when i take him off the boob hes still screaming like hes starving all the time, been topping him up with formula and he settled so much, went to the docs about thrush got medication for both of us, but my breasts are that sore and Im so fed up with all of it, and it breaks my ehart to see Ryley screaming all of the time after my breast milk even after I express and he gets 120ml out of a bottle or more he still screams, so I tested giving him more formula yesterday and expressed and refrigerated my milk, he was perfect! Like a different baby I dunno if its coz he was 10 lbs 13 oz and just a big hungry bub or what it is my 1st was the same. So seriously thinking about just switching him to formula for good so the both of us are happy, but I feel sooooo guilty and like Ive failed as a mum if I do that and I should put up with the pain and persist in the hourly feeds to keep him from bein hungry for the sake of him. Its twice I couldnt stick with it cause of the same problems, he is just so unsettled on my milk its like it doesnt fill him up I dont know. I also feel like Ive failed a bit as a mum cause I had to have c sect's twice, now I cant breastfeed again! God what can my body do really? And my 3 yr old daughter is soooo sick this arvy crying like ive never heard her cry before and I feel useless cause I cant really help her but give her medicines and comfort her, and Ryley is unsettled with wind pain I am goin nuts - who knew it would be this hard goin from 1 to 2, its just been 1 thing after the other lately....

anyhow just wanted t o get some whingy-winey mummy stuff out... sorry girls, but thanks to whoever took the time to read my post:) I better get back to it perhaps get some shut eye before one of them wake again.

Hi all

Sorry for no personals, just posting very quickly before dinner.

Just on recent topics of discussion:

My lactaction consultant said it was fine to give bubs camomile tea in a bottle, verrrry weak, as in two jingles in and out, to help calm them.

I have a Medela Electric and have been pumping to establish my supply and it is great.

SG
xo

On the topic of breast pumps i have just ordered my medela swing pump. cant wait to get it

And if you want to support a fellow BB market place memberwho sells them plus other pumps here is her store link

Beyond Belly

Oooh. I finally get to post here! I shouldn't technically be here, given that my princess decided to delay her appearance for 9 days, but I can't leave my belly group!

I won't even try to catch up on what's been happening but hope to get to know the early April ladies soon. Hi to all my belly group. We're all here now except Kat - I think we need to drag her forcefully if Molly doesn't come soon.

Things are pretty hectic still. Elena is just starting to slow down with the feeding - it was up to 6 to 7 hours almost constantly for the first couple of days but now that my milk is in she's settling down - thank God. Don't think my nipples could have survived much more of that treatment. Izzy is struggling to accept a bit of competition in the house but hopefully she'll adapt quickly enough and know there's enough love from her mummy and daddy to go around. Not sure how I'm going to cope on Monday when my DH goes back to work and I'm left with the two of them. Fortunately he works all the way upstairs so if things get desperate I can just start yelling!

Anyway, off to do something about dinner. Both my princesses are sleeping soundly so better get on with it while I can.