Babies Born December 2007 #7

[kitten2b]

ahh finally both kids asleep, DH still at work, so it is now me time until I finish the cuppa and get into the ironing. Sofia has a case of oral thrush, has anybody else's bubs had this? I think it is getting better with the gel but it has made her a little more unsettled when breastfeeding. She has also taken to chewing rather than sucking her dummy, god I hope she isn't teething.

Trish, if Tehya is a little lonely I can always send Maria to you.
Nic - sending you some sleepy vibes

[Trish]

Louise, thanks for the offer of Maria hun, but Tehya can just learn to cope thanks Ouchies on the oral thrush, I hope your using someof the gel on your nipples too. Thrush really hurts on your nipples. The reason Sofia is chewing rather than sucking is because oral thrush is uncomfortable, it hurt's bub to suck. Hopefully it clears up real soon.

Alicia, gorgeous pictures hun. I have had a chance to read your story just yet but will be sure to do so soon.

Nic, I hope your night was better than your afternoon. Let me just tell you that you weren't alone in the crap afternoon/evening. Abbey had a shocker too. I got her down by 8.30 but she was back up by 9, then down again by 9.30. Thankfully she slept until 2am, but I wish it was one of the nights she slept right through. Tehya was up and down half the night too. She's the reason I am up now, she was screaming at the window as DP left for work.

Morgan, Hi YAY that bub is gaining weight nicely. She's still a small bubba hey. How big was she born ? Ohhh I love the double tantrums too, aren't they shocking. What's even better is when all the kids get in on it.

OMG, Tehya's voice it soooo loud. Everyone is trying to sleep but she insists on talking at full volume. Drives me mental. Is it too early to lock her out the back

We have swimming today, I love to watch how good Tehya is going.

Hope everyone has a great day.

[aussienic]

OMG she slept 8 hours ... 8 8 8 !! yes I am excited.. Olivia went to bed at 7:30 and slept till 3:45 I went to bed at 11 though but woo almost 5 hours straight.. and then we went back to bed on the couch till 7.. Oh I feel great..

Trish: beats me why kids do that.. I won't tell you that Isaac just woke up and Jacob is still asleep. wooops ..

Louise: ouch on the thrush. I myself have had it once and it wasn't much fun.. How do you have the energy to do houswork after the kids go to bed.. i just fall in a heap and stare blankly at the tv or computer.

[Harri]

Trish i dont think u have to stop talking, i think ppl should just stop saying its too hard to keep up, if u find a post u want to read, read it... u dont have to read everyones, hence why ppl do personals if u want to get someones attention...
I LOVE hearing about everyones day even tho i dont reply to everyone! so noone should feel abliged to post cos someone else did.

We all know its hard to keep up, so everyone can stop feeling bad for not posting or personals.
Bellybelly is here for support and comfort, so if u need to tell us about ur day 'if its appropriate' tell us and vent it.... Its why where here.. it doesnt mean we all need 100 replies back about it... i know i like to get on here and vent and i dont mind if noone replies.. i just was able to tell someone... and i love hearing other ppls stories which i can learn stuff and make me feel better about myself.....

I AGREE! well said!...


Beautiful pics everyone!! And WOOHOOOO on those babies sleeping lots!! Chrissie went to sleep at 9pm yesterday and woke at 4am!! FANTASTIC!! not we just have to adjust it to 11pm - 6am!! hehehe

xxxx

[Buzzie]

We just came back from doing Ashs hands and feet sculptures YAY he was so good, smiled thru the whole thing! wat a champ!
Got mothers group today.. fingers crossed he sleep thru for the 4th time in a row.. hehe

Trish - have fun swimming today!!

Nic - im soo jealous.. i would kill for one night of a decent sleep!
last night was a shocker

Does anyones bubs try really hard to shove there fist in there mouth? Ash is getting really rough doing it now, and im constantly putting his dummy back in, u would think he is teething at 6weeks with they way he acts!

[Trish]

Alicia, OMG hun, what an ordeal you went through. Do you think you got that bug from the initial surgery itself ? I have heard of quite a few people getting bugs like that and staph from their surgery. Sure makes you wonder about their sterilisation in the theatres.

Nic, half your luck hun. Good to hear you had such a good night. Olivia must have warn herself out yesterday afternoon.

Haroula, YAY for the great sleep too hun. Good luck at changing the times over too

Tehya is officially off her bubble now at swimming so she doesn't have to float at the start of it now. Makes her a very happy little girl. She is the only one in her class to be freely swimming Yup, proud mummy here.

Lauren, your a good mummy. I keep forgetting to get Abbey's sculptures done. By the time I get around to it she'll be 6. Yep Abbey is a hand chewer too. Not her whole fist though. Oh and teething can start early hun. Brandon started at 3 months and had his first tooth at 5 months.

[aussienic]

Lauren: Olivia does the same thing.. From what i have read that is a sign of tiredness thats the first one Olivia does. It is also a developmental thing too

I have been so darn busy this morning .. I cleaned walls dammit.. See that a decent nights sleep does.. and and and i got down on the floor and scrubbed it as well as mopping.. I will fall in a heap soon

Olivia is not happy with the world at the moment.. she has had a sleep and a lovely bath but then just started crying. Doesn't not want booby or cuddles..

BBL boys want lunch

haroula: Thats what olivia was sleeping. isn't it great Does Chrissie go straight back to sleep for you? Olivia didn't which was the most tiring part

[BekZ]

Warning: Vent comming up!!

I am just about at breaking point!!!!

Loren just won't settle into a good sleep pattern for me and she is feeding every 1.5hours to 2 hours around the clock. I am totally exhausted. I put her down for a sleep and she needs resettling at 4 times per 1 hour. Yesterday I got one good 3 hour sleep out of her in the early evening and then from midnight she was awake every 2 hours. It is mid-day and she still has not had a good sleep or feed for that matter.

She feeds for 5/10mins, falls asleep or starts the boobing thing. I put her down, she wakes up, I put her back on the boob she feeds for a few mins and so on.

Anyone got any ideas? I am at the point of chucking in bfing and giving her the bottle.

Sorry for the vent

[Trish]

Bek, first of all hun a huge hug for you and a cuppa

Every baby is different, this you already know. Although you could easily be talking about Tehya there. I find if Abbey doesn't have a decent morning sleep then the rest of the day is a ride off.

I wouldn't give up breastfeeding personally. I truelly don't think that makes any difference. How are her nappies ? Is she having plenty of wet ones ? Abbey is doing the whole pulling and tugging thing on the boob lately too, moreso in the evening. I think it's just an overtired thing.

I have no real advice for you hun, other than to tell you that you are not alone in it.

I eventually went to Tresillian (sleep school) to get some help in getting Tehya to sleep. Have you thought about trying something like that out ? You can talk to the Tresillian nurses on MSN too. Let me know if you want to chat with them and I will give you their addy.

Another hug hun. I wish I was there to give you a break

[aussienic]

from me too Bek. Its tough when they all they do is cry and feed and cry some more

to me it sounds like tiredness is her biggest issue. TO break this cycle of constant feeding you need to get her to sleep more. Which is easier said then done.. I find the same with Olivia as Trish does with Abbey. One bad sleep and the whole day goes to *****.. The other possibilty is a belly ache. See babies will suck cus it is comforting so therefore we think they are hungry when really they aren't but the more milk they take in the more wind is created resulting in one cranky baby...

All I know is that I stopped giving Olivia the booby everytime she cried.. I tried so many other things and yes sometimes she cried for ages.. up to an hour. It sounds mean but I knew she didn't want to be fed so I cuddled her or lay down with her.. or when it got to much walked aay got a drink and came back.. then if all else fails I will offer the breast and usually she will fall asleep..

I hope that helps some..

[shell_belle]

Hi all! Just a quick one for Bek... Caitlin was like that (but only during the day) I dad heaps of readin up on it and I think she was being a snacker and not having enough during each feed. She was also getting very overtired so I kept giving her boob to make her settle down. I find if she has a morning sleep (I let her cry in her cot until her eyes are closed then go in and tap her back) the day is heaps better. She is now feeding every 3 hours during the day and goes usually 2 five hour blocks at night.

Does Loren have a dummy? Caitlin doesn't, I tried once (got pushed into it) and she wouldn't drift off to sleep I think it was distracting her?

Anyway prob didn't help much, but do what you can to stretch the time between feeds thats what I did and it really helped.

Not much time for a catch up yet, will try to come back later!

[Freya]

Just a quick one for Bek -

Im having the same issues and Im at breaking point. I spoke to my MCHN about it today and she recommend these things -
- cutting caffeine out of my diet (chocolate, soda, coffee etc)
- Sleep school
- Chiropractor

She recommended I see my GP as we have oesophegial issues in our family that could cause reflux problems which I think Ripley has. She said that babies should only have 3-5hrs of unsettled crying daily, anything more than that should be looked into. She also said formula fed babies will settle better/sleep longer but you have to weigh up the pro's and con's of giving up breastfeeding. Apparently breastfed babies start the unsettledness at 3-4wks, peak at 6wks and then should settle back to normal by 12wks.
It sucks, I completely understand!

[BekZ]

Hi Ladies,

Thanks for your replies. DH relieved me for a bit but I couldn't sleep...how ironic!!! Over tired I think.

Trish - I change Loren's nappy every 2 hours and it is always full, so I know she is getting enough. However when we do supplement her with formula is woofs it down like she hasn't been fed for weeks.

Nic/Shell - I think Loren's big issue is sleep too. She seems to drift off to sleep and before you know it she wakes up again. I replace the dummy and resettle and she wakes herself up yet again. I have been trying to lengthen out times between feeds as well. She does suffer from colic a lot too.

Shell - Sorry I haven't replied to your pm the other day, as you can see I have been busy with miss Loren. From your pm it sounds like you have has similar issues. Maybe I should let Loren cry some more and try and take the damn dummy off her. It seems that she constantly needs to suck and the minute she stops she goes ape!!!

Anna - I am definately thinking about sleep school, I was also considering a chiro too. I have also gone off dairy for a couple of weeks to see if Loren's colic and reflux are caused by a food intolerance. She has developed excema just like Sara so I think she may have a dairy protein issue too.

Be back later...huge electrical storm about to hit.

[alicia]

Hi all,

Hugs to you Bek

Lauren, Olivia tries to eat her whole fist too. I agree with Nic that it seems to be a tired sign as well as a comfort thing. I figure she is trying to fit her whole fist in as she doesn't yet have the coordination to just suck a thumb.

Trish, as if anyone at the hospital would ever admit fault. Apparently it was 'just one of those things' Gotta love my ob though, I saw him today and he gave me a huge hug and said that I almost gave him a heart attack and if I don't need counseling he think he will take it :-D

Very busy day here. I had 2 doctors appointments (ob and a hospital follow up. Surgeon visit on Fri). The mornings just seem to vanish now, it seems to be 9am one minute and then suddenly it is 12 or 1! Plus I think the little Miss knows when we are going somewhere. She watches me get ready and then decides just as we are going to leave that she is starving regardless of whether she is due for a feed or not. Today we were going to feed her in the waiting room when we got there but she had other plans.

[Liz]

Waaah... just lost my post coz it wanted me to log in again!

Ok.. I'll try again.

Bek - I recall Barb explaining why a baby looks like they're wolfing down a bottle feed.. and I found it.

Keep in mind that breastfeeding and bottle feeding are two quite different things. When he is breastfeeding, the power is with the baby. He must turn to the breast, open his mouth and latch on, and suck. With a bottle, he is not in control. The milk is dripping down his throat and he has to swallow or he will drown. To the mother this can seem as though he is *guzzling* it down as though starving. Also, he may *finish* the bottle before his need for sucking is satified, or before he gets the message that he is full. On the breast he can continue to suck, even if he has finished the biggest amount of milk. This is the reason we often suggest not to use bottles in the early days - that it is so crushing for a new mum's confidence.

So I wouldn't worry about her looking hungry just coz of the bottle. And it sounds from the nappies that she's getting plenty from you

It makes me so mad to hear of CHN's comparing breastfed & FF'd babies with regard to sleep. They really shouldn't make FFing sound so appealing to a tired vulnerable mum, especially one that wants to breastfeed. It's very normal for such a young baby to feed frequently, and even VERY frequently.

Also, with regard to colic etc.. Kayla has reached 3 months, and I gotta say she is much improved. No screaming matches like before. She's still a wind machine, but it doesn't distress her as much.. so girls - it does get better

I can't remember what else I wrote before. I haven't read all the posts as I'm on hols at the moment - terrible week of weather to be on a beach holiday! LOL. I might go back and read some more.

Catch up later

I just read the entire thread .. and have to have a giggle at the smelly poos & farts. We're the same here.. and thank you Nic for posting what the nurse said... makes me feel better too! I've been trying to pinpoint something I might be eating that makes her STINK!! (when do our baby girls learn to be more ladylike??? LOL)

I also just read about the comments about general chatter in the thread. I haven't really come across general chatter here? Mostly we're talking about our babies aren't we? I have seen in the nappy thread chatter about organising a meetup and my question got lost in the middle of it, so I haven't bothered to go back LOL. now THAT's general chit chat. I tend to read the current page, and then post about my own day, I'm hopeless with personals Glad to hear there are some who enjoy just reading about others days LOL. And then if I have time & inclination I'll go back and catch up. I tend to just skim over the posts with personals actually, oh, unless they have my name there of course LOL.

OK.. should go and organise something for my boy to eat! woops, sorry.. is that too general?

[aussienic]

eeek Olivia has been asleep 4 hours and it is 6:45 now.. oh god I hope she sleeps well tonight lol..

Alicia: thats alot of Drs appointments. I know by the end of pregnanc i am so glad to see the back of drs I can't imagine to have to keep going

Bek: when Loren wakes is she upset? I wonder if she is startling herself awake? I know Olivia was doing that when on her back now she sleeps on her tummy it doesn't happen anymore.. Maybe Loren would like to be swaddled when asleep

[BekZ]

Trish - How was Teyha today? I hope she does not miss Noah too much. I know how it is with Sara at home all day, she goes mental...and so do I if I don't get her out or socialising...hmmm what am I going to do tomorrow?

Liz - Thanks for that information. I do agree that feeding really has nothing to do with sleeping. That is why the health nurses encourage a sleep, feed and play routine. My doctor actually suggested I start to formula feeding to improve bubs colic and reflux episodes. I also agree that when you are tired and at the end of your tether a suggestion by a proffessional to swap to formula is very reassuring and tempting.

Nic - Loren does startle herself awake but she hates being swaddled to sleep. Maybe once she is asleep I could swaddle her so that her hands don't jump and wake her up. Loren used to love sleeping on her back but she hates it now.

AnnaT - Hugs to you too.

Alicia - I will read your story as soon as I get my sanity back.

This arvo I decided to "re-group" and try and get Loren to extend her sleep. When I noticed a tired signal I swaddled her and put her in the cot. I then let her cry for 2 minutes at a time. went in picked her up and put her down. this went on for 15 mins and she ended up having one hours sleep.

Then tonight she just would not go down in her cot because she was refluxing so we put her in the bouncer upright to sleep. She has settled there for one hour so far.

My question: Is it ok for bub to sleep in a bouncer? I feel bad having her on the floor and not in a bed.

What does everyone else do for settling bub? do you have a set routine or just go with the flow?

Sorry for all the questions but I just feel like I am fubbling atm.

[suse]

Oh Liz, please come back to the clothies thread - some days it's just crazy in there but it's usually not that bad (I remember them organising that meetup - it made all of us non-Melbournites very jealous!). What was your question, maybe I can help? Although I'm a bit of a newbie myself, but I'll do my best!

BekZ - have you tried tilting the cot, I think that it's supposed to help with reflux? Gee, I've not heard that FFing is an answer to colic/reflux - I'd heard the opposite - that FF babies were supposed to be more prone to these things than BF babies, or is it neither here nor there? Anyone know? We don't have a set routine, we just do whatever works on the day. Up until a week ago he had to be carried to sleep. What is working ATM is wrapping him and giving him a dummy, then laying down with him on the bed. Sometimes I don't need to do anything, sometimes I need to stroke his forehead, or cuddle him, or pop the dummy back in, or jiggle his legs if he is a little gassy. It's almost like he wants to self settle most times, but can't quite do it on his own. If he is particularly gassy or starts getting distressed (like today, where he hasn't slept longer than 20 minutes all day), I keep him wrapped and sit him with his legs tucked in between mine and rock him forwards and back, this is a good gas relief position but also soothes him and he'll sometimes fall asleep or at least get calm enough to lie back down again. Sometimes things work, sometimes they don't. Tonight we've taken the path of least resistance approach - he is wide awake (I have no idea how!) but not unhappy, so we just wrapped him up, stuck a dummy in his mouth, popped him in his cot and we'll see what happens. He might surprise us... Good luck darl, you sound like you are at the end of your tether - I hope that you find something that works for you and for Loren.