Babies Born February 2008

[Astrolady]

This thread is for parents whose baby was born in February 2008.

Your moderators for this forum are as follows-
Lea13 - lea13@bellybelly.com.au
Astrolady - astrolady@bellybelly.com.au ~ Administrator
Christy - christy7@bellybelly.com.au ~ Senior Moderator
Sherie - sherie@bellybelly.com.au ~ Senior Moderator
There are many issues that you will encounter as a new parent. We have put together this list of useful articles and threads in order to assist you with some common questions or issues you may have, and to provide you with bit of extra support that we all need as new parents:

Feeding Support:

Breastfeeding General Chatter
Breastfeeding FAQ's
Is My Baby Hungry?
Baby Formula - What Manufacturers Don't Want You To Know
Bottlefeeding FAQ's and Useful Information
Is Feeding Your Baby Taking Too Much Time?
Bottlefeeding General Chatter
Feeding Your Baby
Lactose Intolerance
Starting Solids/Homemade Baby Food
Starting Solids - When Is My Baby Ready?
Starting Solids General Chatter

Please contact the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) or a Lactation Consultant if you are concerned that you may have breastfeeding and/or supply problems, and before the introduction of solids or formula.

Sleeping Support:

Comforted Sleeping & Sleep Issues Forum
Comforting Tools to Aid Restful Sleep
Babies & Sleep
Controlled Crying/Comforting/Sleep Training
The Con of Controlled Crying
The Crying Game
15 Ways To Help Your Baby Sleep

Other Useful Information & Recommended Reading:

Baby Massage
Cuddle Me Mum
Infant-led Feeding & Weaning
Baby Wearing
Recommended Reading List

Got questions?

Post your questions in the forums mentioned above, or in the following forums where you're sure to receive many friendly responses!

General Baby & Toddler Forum
Breastfeeding, Bottlefeeding and Solids
Gentle Parenting Forum

Please note - To receive thread notfications click the "thread tools" button at the top of this post and click "Subscribe to Thread" there is no need to post in order to get notifications.

[Jacki]

Hey Girls
Arrived home safely with Luke today. Looking forward to sharing the next part of our journey together.
Chat soon
x Jacki

[katkins]

I got home last night. Am very tired and sore, but looking forward to sharing the joys of parenthood with you all!! Congrats on the arrivals!

[Roquen]

Can't wait to join here soon ladies! Due wednesday so am getting excited!

[Jacki]

Hi ladies
There should be 5 of us in here by now - me, Bun, Karlie, Kerrie and now Carley. So very exciting.
How is everyone going so far.
Luke is just beautiful but I am having trouble recognising his cues for sleeping, burbing and feeding etc and getting them the wrong way around only to end up in a mess and a sleepless night.

Trying to get some sleep each time he actually goes to sleep but finding it pretty possible.

Any tips from you 2nd/3rd time mothers that might make it easier for me to get through these first challenging weeks ???

[katkins]

Ok, I find if I listen to the start of the cry and the actual pitch, I can work out what he wants. If it starts out with a wimper and builds quickly, It's usually food or cuddles. If it starts out loud and screaming, it's pain in tummy or wet/poopy nappy. If all else fails, I find if I hold my little man snuggly over my heart, he will settle down quite quickly. At this stage, their needs and wants are very basic. Try not to pass them around too much and wrapping is a good idea if they are overtired so they don't wake themselves when they wave their arms etc....
Not much help, but that is what I have found....

[Jacki]

Thanks Kerrie. I'll pay more attention to the type of crying and see if I can make some sort of sense out of it. I have started wrapping him pretty tightly. Its just so hot over here in Perth that I feel likehe will just overheat! But he seems not to mind too much. I have NEVER been around babies before so it is just soooooooooo confusing.
My mum arrives from Sydney on Monday to help out for as long as needed - Monday seems like a lifetime away.
The last 1/2 a day has been pretty good. Had a visit from the child health care nurse yesterday and she gave me a few tips that I didn't get in the hospital.

How is Bryce doing ?? Bet the girls just love him.

[2 please]

Hi girls, Im here. Ouch, I had my stiches taken out today. I cant wait till my belly goes down so I can wear normal clothes.

[Jacki]

Karlie - Ouch is right. Thankfully if have desolving internal stitches so don't have to have them out.
I'm not too worried about my belly at this stage, I am more worried about my BBs getting under control. They are still so big !! Hopefully they will settle over the next few days (they are showing signs of it) so that I can actually put on of my bras on !!!

[Esme]

Hi girls,

Congratulations on all those beautiful babies!
Just introducing myself here... I have the feeling I know you a little bit, since I have been lurking in the belly buddies thread, but never actually had the courage to post anything. Now, after the birth of our beautiful little boy Jasper Arjan on Monday the 4th of feb I feel like it is time to come out of hiding and join the baby buddies thread! There is sooo much to learn now, and I need all the help I can get....

[Jacki]

Hi Esme
Congratulations on the arrival of your little boy.
Glad you got the courage to join us. Everyone that will be in this thread is really lovely and there are plenty of 2nd and 3rd time mums (not me - i'm new to all this) so hopefully we will be able to get lots of tips from them.

[Esme]

Thanks Jacki, so far Jasper is a pretty laid back bubby, but the last couple of nights he was up with an upset tummy and the spews. Hopefully it is something that is temporary and will settle down quickly. How is Luke doing? Does he feed and sleep ok?

[Jacki]

Hey Esme - glad to hear Jasper is laid back but sorry to hear about the sleepless nights. I guess there will many ahead for all of us.

Luke is pretty laid back as well (so far). He feeds pretty well (i'm breastfeeding and have enough milk to feed an army !). Hopefully milk will settle down soon - I have managed to actually get a bra on today ! When I am feeding him there seems to be a fair bit of milk on the pillow when I lift him up. He seems to be latched on OK so I am thinking that it is just "over flow".

Sleep seems to be ok over the last day or so. He seems to be feeding every 3 - 4 hours and then sleeping - not to hard to settle most of the time. I have him in a bassinet in his own room.

My poor little man has what seems like blocked tear ducts. When he wakes I have to bathe both his eyes with water to clear the muck in them. I hate it, it makes me feel terrible for him. He doesn't seem to mind though. Hopefully won't take too long to resolve but have been told it can take months (fingers crossed) and hopefully won't get infected.

Can you believe just how many times these little buggers poo each day !!

[jenjams]

Hi girls,
I came home fromhospital today. Amber is just about 3 days old and I absolutely cannot settle her to sleep at night by herself. She will sleep if on me after a feed but thats it. My milk has not come in yet and I have not much sleep at all so i am beside myself. Anyone got any ideas?

[2 please]

Jen, I had the same problem with Jake at night. The midwive told me when jake was 4 days old that he would get better during the week with the night time sleeps. He was being feed right, but the sleeping couldnt be helped. You just have to give him time to adjust to what is day and night. If you try to keep him awake through the day he will just get over tired and be a real pain. Over the last 4 nights he is really showing signs of improvement.

Jake was the same, he would fall asleep on me too feeding. It was so great to wake in the hospital with this cute little baby snuggled into you. Just becareful, coz if he has something close to his face it can cause sids.

Good luck Jen and cute baby Amber.

[Ambah]

Hi ladies!
I am excited to join this group... hope I can keep up longer than I did with the belly buddies!
Eva is doing really well, all she seems to do is sleep and feed at this stage, with small periods of awake time.
We have had heaps of trouble with BF... starting with damaged/bleeding/cracked nipples, then she is refusing to attach to my left side because the nipple is flat/inverted.
And now after seeing the LC twice, we have realised she is not attaching strongly enough to bring on my let down, therefore she will suckle for an hour or more at each nipple and still be hungry when we take her off. So I am pumping milk every 3 hours trying to build up my supply (which only came in 1-2 days ago). We have also been supplementing with a little bit of formula, however since last night have managed to keep her fully fed on EBM only, so I hope I can keep that up! We have to keep practising attachment, and will be back to see the LC next week for further help....

I can seriously empathise with the sleepless nights... I am only getting about 3hrs per night, with maybe 1-2 hrs of napping during the day.
DP goes back to work on Monday, so that will be interesting too.

jenjams - how did last night go?
I have been co-sleeping with Eva a lot, as it seems to keep her settled for longer, but unfortunately it means I can't sleep as deeply as I would like, as I am always on edge! So now we have also moved her cot right up next to our bed and between the wall, and taken one side off, so its like a side car... so she has her own space, but is within arms reach of me, which I like.
I also think I realised that she wasn't wrapped warmly enough, which was making her hard to settle to sleep too.
I hope you get some rest soon hon.

[Bun]

Jacki - woo hoo on your first trip out to the shops! I may brave it tomorrow. It seems so silly, but I hate her having a tanty in public and the girl sure can yell when she wants to! I'm the same, it makes me really anxious and nervous. It is so hard timing everything between feeds and then hoping that she doesn't get unsettled for some reason I can't figure out, which she does often. It's been ok having DH with me, but on my own seems a bit scary! You're right - I'm sure soon we will be fine!

Carley - you're doing well with the night feeds! I wish I could get Catherine into that pattern. We are still only managing three hourly feeds day and night, and I still need to figure out why she is so unsettled sometimes between feeds!

jen - it is hard work, hey!! I saw some pics of your gorgeous little girl on facebook - what a cutie!! Amber has put on a good amount of weight, so you must be doing a good job!

I have had a bit of a sore back the last couple of days where the epi went in. I hope it gets better soon, it's the last thing I need with the stitches and everything else! Luckily things seem to be healing up ok now, although I still have a wobble belly!

I hope you are all travelling well and managing to get a little sleep!

Bun xx

[jenjams]

My DD will settle in my or DP's arms between feeds but when we put her down she will wake herself up and cry and cry. I dont know what to do to get her to sleep during the day. At nights we seem so far to have a better time of it but I read some babies get the sleep between feeds and my DD just wont do that.

Bun- When your DD is unsettled between feeds, what do you do?

Sorry for the lack of personals.