Babies Born April 2008

[alittlegrubi]

Jane generally the milk is based on a supply and demand situation. If you are only getting 20 mls from one side - try expressing more often from that one side for a while to increase the demand. Maybe try expressing that side first then the other and then returning to the first breast again. My sister also said having the baby next to you whilst you express can assist with the let down - so maybe try expressing with bubs next to you to see if that helps.
The other question is when bubs feeds on that breast is she emptying it or is she just getting the fore milk?

[Fire]

I am with the others on the one breast supply thing. I find one breast will put out more than the other, in fact, almost daily only one breast will be engorged and the other not. But they change from side to side. I think it just depends on how much stimulation the breast gets, for instance the vigorous sucking of a hungry feed can cause a bigger supply (as Nelle said about putting her on the weaker side first), and more frequent feeds, also comfort sucking. If I let Cian drain a boob and then come back an hour to comfort suck on it (to put him to sleep or to settle him if he gets upset), he isn't getting much milk but lots of love and the next day my supply on that side is way up.

fak

I'm still "block feeding". I stick to one side for four hours then switch and this seems to have helped my oversupply issue already. he was so unsettled and digestive from all the fore milk. he slept frm hid 1.30 am feed until his 4.30am feed last night! /i also used the slippery elm and for that feed he didn't reflux or gurgle so it may have helped. I only used a tiny amount in bm, too.

hope you are all doing ok and getting some sleep now and again.

[Fire]

MGM, the hugabub is great for littlies and newbies. I use it almost exclusively. I am changing to a mei tai soon and an ergo, but for this early period the HaB has been brilliant (it's a wrap so takes a few minutes to put on which is bothersome at times, but still worth it). Legs hanging down is not comfy for any age bracket. They have to have their knees higher than their hips or they can get back and hip problems later, which makes the bjorn the worst choice of carrier. this is a great article on carriers: Storchenwiege - Your Baby Sling | No need to slow down your active life - just bring baby along!

[alittlegrubi]

Has anyone else experienced a babyblues days around the 2 week mark.
For some reason today I keep bursting out in tears and have no real reason behind them. DH keeps asking if I want to talk about how I'm feeling, but the only thought that comes to mind when he asks is why did i do this again, but I know that isn't the thought that sparked the crying.

[Fire]

Oh, Grubi, hugs for you. Tears come and go around this household. It's overwhelming, whether it's your first or fifth child, and hormones mixed with "will life ever be the same again?" can run me over. Let them spill, is the advice I was given, even if there is no real reason for them. Subconsiously, there will be a reason, and like we hold our crying babes, hold yourself and let it happen.

[Sequoia]

*hugs* to you Grubi, tears come and go in this household too.

PS - I think I saw your birth notice in yesterday's West, now I understand your username! Not sure why I am still trawling the birth notices for names though....!

Well, I think the fenugreek is helping plus not being so worried about Baxter's weight. He is feeding so much better (not so fussy etc) since I decided to put it out of my mind. He will get there, just not as fast as others.

Must go, off to watch DH play footy and possibly BF in public, eek!

SG
xo

[Nettie]

Grubi - YES!!

I had a bit of a melt down on Friday night when DH went out (regular weekly thing). I absolutely lost it when Liam wouldn't settle. Then I was teary for the next 24 hours. Nothing at all would set me off... I kept thinking "shouldn't the baby blues be over by now??"

DH went out again last night and I coped much better. We bought a Baba sling yesterday and it's helping a lot (Liam's in it now as I type this!) as I was getting worked up at having to use both hands to keep Liam quiet and couldn't even scratch my nose... silly, hey?

Janine - with the slippery elm, does it have to be in liquid form and do you feed it direct to bubs or take it yourself? I've only seen it in tablet form...

I also have a BF question - those of you that express, when do you stop? I'm worried I'm not leaving it long enough to get all the stages of milk... I usually stop when the pump takes three 'pumps' to get one drop out. I'm expressing at every feed time (Liam is bottle fed) and my supply goes up and down a lot.. last express only had 60 mls and Liam's taking around 80 each feed. I hope I've got enough! I've started taking fenugreek today... hopefully that helps. Liam also seems to 'spew' a bit of mucus so I'm hoping the fenugreek will help with that too..

to everyone! Anyone else finding the first few weeks going very quickly???

[Fire]

Nettie, you buy the powder from a health food shop and mix a little (less than 1/4 tsp) with breast milk and feed it via a spoon to the baby. (all sterilized stuff of course) it should be semi-liquid enough for the baby to get it down without difficulty. it was trial and error here.

Because of its action, baby has to take it, not the mum. It works to "sop" up acid and kind of thicken the milk in the stomach, also settles things. Babies on formula, who have reflux, can get a "thickened" formula to keep it down. This is the bfing equivalent, I guess.