Babies Born July 2007 #8

[Megan76]

Why is it that i get an hour and a half one morning and then half an hour the next.....arrhhhh! Not good when we have to go out for lunch, here comes a cranky socially phobic baby!!

[~*Niadalla*~]

Hi there,
Thanks for the tips guys. I appreciate it.
I will endeavour to give them all a go.
I am planning on heading to the chemist today. I wear lach in a sling a fair bit... and usually have him upright in his bouncer if hes not there, I have raised the cot heaad, and our mattress head as he is still sleeping with us, and also raising the pram a little when he's in it.
I am taking motilium tabs to keep my supply up, adn ff when he refuses breast. He never has a prob with the bottle, he loves it.
He has been feeding not too bad of late, although I am ahving to give him a bottle of formula at least once a day.

This is what he has been doing for the last 7 weeks....
He wakes up crying for a feed... pretty normal.
I lay him on a pillow as I normally do the football hold due to the size of my enormous jugs, he already knows whats happening, turns to my breast and usually sucks on his own.
Now we had this down pat till he was 6 weeks old, then all of a sudden, he changed. He will now turn to the breast, suck, and pull off within 5 seconds, crying, arching his back, then go back on, suck a few more times, and pull off screaming, arching his back... 5 more second and sucks a few times, pulls off screaming, arching his back..... This will go on for around 15 mins.... I have to keep trying with him so he gets something....
Sometimes he will go back on and drnk no probs, finish the boob and be content. But this doesnt happen very often.
Ok the things I have tried...
Diff positions: Cradle hold, holding him completely upright, having him in the sling
In the bath.....
Ive tried infacol drops, in case of wind.
I keep the same feeding pillow, and use the same chair every time, to try and keep a routine.
I drink LOADS of water.
In the begining, I had a MEGA oversupply... so I would wait till the spray stopped, and then wack him on.
Now He still isnt sucking right, so my supply is dwindling big time.
So now for the motilium, along with breast pump.
I have seen my GP, 3 diff CHN's, called ABA, 2 lactation consultants.....
I'm at my wits end.
He takes a bottle so well. He has NO problems at all, doesnt whinge, doesnt pull on and off, Just sits there and sucks away.
So all this coupled with the big move we've had recently is why I am on the verge of a breakdown.

So, I am VERY close to giving up. I have heinz nurture formula that he has taken, and unless he has any probs on that one in the next week, then I'll stay with it. He seems to like it.

He seems to feed reasonably in the morning, only pulling off a few times, so while he will still bf half ok, and while i've still got the supply, I will continue to bf when I can. I offer breast EVERy feed... and always try to get him on for 15-20 mins before considering ff.

I am going to give it until next weekend... and if there is no improvement, then its straight onto formula. I cannot think of a good enough reason to struggle so much, and become very distressed, and in turn stressng Lach out, just to have BM when there is an alternative.

So, theres a quick run down. Unless u see him in action, you cant really tell how bad he is. When I saw a LC last friday, in tears, she said she can't beleive I have gone for so long with all this trouble. She said she would have swapped to formula ages ago.

Oh well, it's been a bit over 3 months, and they are the ones that really count....
I'm sure it will be easier next bub.

Anyway, I'm off to the chemist. Thanks again for ur advice girls. I'll let you know how I go

Nicky

[mrscricket]

Nicky - i have tears in my eyes as i read your post - he sounds so much like what Tom was like. You poor thing. You have done so well so far.

[~*Niadalla*~]

I forgot to mention,
Tuesday, when I went to GP, I had to have stitches cut out.
Yes thats right, my stitches still hadn't dissolved after 13 weeks!!!!!
well most of them had, but I had a few around my urethra as I had a small tear there, and they were the ones I had taken out...
This was more uncomfy than giving birth... I would have given birth a milion times over before going through this again.
I had fingers .. well.. U can imagine.
So I am not happy that it looks like the Doc that stitched me up, has used some non dissolvable stitches... next birth plan I will stipulate dissolvable ONLY!

I shouldnt complain, I had a great birthing experience.

But I am still having a few minor issues, possibly due to the long labour.

Heres hoping things get better for me from here!!!

[Tracey]

Nicky, hun, do whatever you feel is right, happy Mummy = happy baby!

I cannot say whether it is silent reflux or not as Zyon was hysterical the whole time in between feeds as well, so I'm not sure if that's what it is or not!!!???

I just hope you get some answers soon, or if FF is what you choose then YAY to you for making the choice (as it is a difficult one) could you maybe express & feed him by bottle!??? If you wnated too? As he may happily feed again in a day, a week or a few wks time IYKWIM? It depends on whatever you want to do anyways, do whatever you want!!!!

Big Hugs darl, it can be all so difficult but also so rewarding hey!!! OUCH @ the stitches!!!

[CrystalBoo]

Nicky - what you describe Lachlan doing ( the pulling off etc) is what my nephew did when my sister didn't have enough milk and he wasn't getting anywhere for his efforts. It can also happen if it lets down too fast, but you know that I think. Of course, it may not be either of these for you but if it is the let down you could express the first part and then let him feed then have the rest in a bottle I guess. Whatever you decide to do, it's unreal that you've kept going and I agree with Tracey - whatever makes you both happy My sister has continued to breastfeed my nephew the small amount that she has even though he is mostly on formula and he is 11m now - it's just for the closeness I think, but I'm inclined to think any bm is good Biiiiig 'Ouch' at the stitches - I know how that feels.

Sara - thanks, and yes she was born with a full head of einstein-like hair. She has a habit of pushing it forward at the sides when she's tired so now it won't lie flat, even if we comb it straight down when wet LOL at Kaetlyn moving around in night - Autumn does the same and I know it's happening when I hear all this grunting coming from cot

August - thanks, I'm giving the after-feed express a go and so far I'm managing about 30ml a go which is better than I have ever done!

Megan - yeah I play it on repeat whenever she sleeps. We were up every 2hrs last night, but at least she's already had a couple of 40-60min naps today which is better than the last two days - I think it probably is just a stage as you say.

Jan - LOL yes i need a toy box too because I'm addicted to buying things for Autumn! It's retail therapy without the guilt because you can't deny your baby right?...

[Megan76]

Nicky - that is EXACTLY what Lucas was doing! I was so fed up, it was so stressful and exhausting....nothing worked. I kept saying to myself, i'll give it another week....but once i finally just made the decision to ff i was SO much happier and so was lucas, it was the best decision i made. I only lasted 8 weeks so i can imagine what you are going through persisting but you have to figure out if it is worth it for your sanity. It is so hard because you spend so much of the day feeding, to go through it every few hours is just exhausting. The stitches experience sounds horrific!

Sacha- I wish i had some advice to help with the sleep! What is Autumn like when you go to her when she wakes up? Does she take long to settle?

[Meluchja]

Nicky, you poor thing. It does sound similiar to what Jack was like until we put him on some meds for his reflux. I remember reading back that your doc doesn't want to put him on meds? Was that you who said this? Forgive me I can't remember my poor brain, has been through heaps ATM. I was curious if it was, why? But I also agree with Sacha, it could also be because of milk supply. I know when my supply was dropping off for Charlee the further my pregnancy went along with Jack, the fussier she became at my boobs. I'm sorry your having a hard trot. But I reckon, do what ever you think will make it easier for the two of you. Exactly like what Tracey said, happy mum happy bub, and also happy DH. Take care, I hope whatever you decide, things start to pick up soon for you.

Hi to everyone else, I finally have some time to catch up. The last week has been so hectic, and I have missed so much on here. I hope not too much, I have read back a little but not all.

We have Jack's needles tomorrow. Can you believe today he is 4 months old. How quickly is it going!!!! I'm so curious to know how much he weighs is at now. I'm guessing he would be getting close to the 8kg mark. My guess is 7.8kg.

Anyway all is good in the new house. It is wonderful to have so much space and for Jack to have his own room and not the living room. He is still waking once during the night, but is just such a happy baby, I love him to bits. Charlee loves the new house too. She loves to play out on the back deck. I haven't let her loose in the yard yet, as I still haven't got that far in cleaning. I don't want to let her out there until I make sure it is safe and there is no nasties waiting for her.

Must be off, hopefully it won't be so long until I post again.

Take care all.

[CrystalBoo]

Megan - she settles back to sleep at night no problem if i feed her. I have not had any regular luck with daytime naps using any method of resettling. sometimes she goes back with just a kiss on the head, sometimes if i pick her up and rock her, but usually just not at all. tonight she has had six false starts to bedtime, sleeping then waking then being rocked, then sleeping etc. If I leave her, she wakes herself up more and starts getting frantic with trying to suck the sheet or her clothes which she can't actually do. Then she starts clawing at her face and hair. If she would take a dummy, she would find it a lot easier I think. Oh well, I expect we'll muddle through until we get to another good spell...then the teeth will start, I imagine

Mel- I bet it's nice to be a bit more settled. I hope you're all happy in your new house.

[Michaels Mum]

omg i feel like i've missed so much - every time i jump on to quickly catch up something else pops up so i'll just do a quick one and then just go from there

Nicky - Michael was the same way and my child health nurse told me to keep persisting with the bf (in fact she was almost nazi like - bf the best, ff the devil) but we seemed to be constantly struggling EVERY HOUR and his weight gain seemed to drop off also that i just snapped one day and bought my first tin of formula and never looked back - michaels weight gain picked up, he was much happier (and so was i) and that was when he started sleeping through the night (scared me the first couple of nights) - i continued to express for a while but even that became a struggle - when i got the courage to tell my health nurse what we'd done she was almost mortified until she realised i literally had nothing to give him - hope this helped but do what you feels right - just remember we are not alone.....

to all others hello and how we all doing???????

Mel hope you all settle nicely into the new home - sounds like your off to a flying start

Michael rolled over completely for the first time the other day and during tummy time he held his entire upper body up for almost five minutes checkin out the world from this new perspective he thought it was great - i was killin myself laughing watchin him - and we went for our first swim on sunday at our local waterpark - little skeptical at fist but soon loved it - he looked so trendy in his little body suit - unfortuently df is away at the mo so he missed it so we get to do it all over again next week

well best be off TTFN

[kungfubecca]

Hi all,

Well this is so unheard of in our house, and will probably end any minute. But Xavier is still asleep, it's after 8am, and he went to bed at 8pm last night. Whoa I dare not wake him, because I want him to rest up and ditch this cold. although I have it now too the first of many things he will share.

Ok he has now stirred at 10 past 8 better go see to him, he'll be hungry I bet

BBL

[tears_of_joy]

Hi ladies

I am a bit zombie like atm as i have just not been able to sleep, Ethan is just starting to stir now but has slept for 6.5hrs!! (this has not happened in such a long time ) And i have been up and down all night, grrr! But im in a pretty good mood so that ok. Im going to attempt some personals.

Nicky- :hugs: Sorry to hear your having tough time at the moment, poor you and little lach Have to tell you though that You have definately done an amazing job getting this far, you should be proud of yourself, Well done! Please dont be to hard on yourself if you have to switch to ff though. Hope you get sorted and settled real soon hun. Goodluck with it all. Oh and ouchies re the stitches.

Well I just realised that this is about the time last year, that we all conceived our little bubbas.. wow how its gone so fast

I was thinking this the other day too! And yep it sure has gone fast.

Megan-

Why is it that i get an hour and a half one morning and then half an hour the next.....arrhhhh!

.....I know just how you feel there!

Jem- Happy for you hun that DH has arrived home again! Its great when they return isn't it. My DH is still 4days away, he is not a great help when he is home but i really look foward to adult conversation and an undisturbed shower (until the water goes cold!!)

Mel- Glad the new house is going well and your are all settled, its great that Charlize likes it too. Good luck with Jacks needles today. Time does fly doesn't it and they grow so quickly.

Michaels mum- YAY @ michael rolling over completely, clever little boy It sounds like you had a lovely time swimming. My mum got Ethan a little pair of speedo's, they are so little, still too cold to go swimming here atm though and i dont think they will fit him if he keeps growing at this rate!

Bec- WOW thats a great sleep for xavier!! Just what he needs to beat the cold. Sorry to hear that you have it too.

Things here have been hectic this week too, but will hopefully settle by the weekend, my mum has offered to have ethan for a few hours on the weekend so i can have a few solid hours sleep, im seriously considering taking her up on the offer! My washing machine chucked a tanty at the beginning of last week now i have loads of washing to do so thats on my To Do list today. Had to go for physio and another x-ray of my coccyx as the pain is still unbearable some days and i cant sit, unfortunately since the swelling around it went away it moves alot and has caused it to be even more bent and the only thing is to take pain killers, but i dont want to! I think i will be back to the drs next week as i cant eat without feeling sick, the only meal i can eat is breakfast and feel fine.

Ethan Laughed on wednesday for the very first time!! I was so excited then i got emotional and had a little teary moment in the shopping centre Was the most beautiful sound and melted my heart....hasn't done it since though!! Hopefully he will do it when DH is home. Also he is never quiet..LOL he talks all the time, at mothers group on monday we were trying to listen to a guest speaker and he started talking and we all lost concentration as it was so funny all the other bubba's were asleep or quiet!! He has started laying in bed talking for about 10 - 15mins when he wakes up to, so i just lay there for a bit as occasionally he will go back to sleep.

Well i must go as Ethan is still asleep....Just over 7hrs now!! YAY this is so rare I will make the most of this time and enjoy a lovely warm shower and get started on the washing.

Have a lovely day ladies. BBL. Bye

[Megan76]

Rebecca - well done Xavier! You get so proud when they do good sleeps don't you!

Tears of Joy - i was wondering if anyone else had coccyx trouble but kept forgetting to ask. I have been going to the osteopath for weeks but its not improving, god its nearly been 4 months you would think it would be better! The osteo has now recommended acupuncture which i am a bit scared of but am at the point that i will try anything as i am sick of not being able to sit down or get up without pain. Maybe i need to have an xray to check it out properly. Can you give me some details about what you have been told? I am glad Ethan gave you a good sleep!

Jo -well done to Michael on the rolling! We have gone from front to back but not the reverse yet, although he is getting alot of air!!

Sacha - You must be pulling your hair out! Maybe it is time to try some sort of controlled crying/comforting before it becomes too much of a habit. It is hard listening to them cry but the nurses at the settling class i went to tolerate a lot more than i would so it made me feel better to know that in the long run it was for everyones good. Within only a few days of following the same procedure we were able to put Lucas down awake without a fuss. Previous to that he would scream blue murder. Let me know if you want the details of the Tweddle procedure for this age. Totally up to you though.

Well i am off to mothers group! Lucas just woke after 35 minutes but i have just listened to him talk for 15 and now its quiet! He always puts himself back to sleep when we need to go out, never when i want him to! But he is still a spunk!!

[kungfubecca]

ok, I'm back

Tracey, I've been trying to get a chance to squirt milk up Xaviers nose, but he wriggles too much now, and I'm un-coordinated. I gave him ebm last night, but forgot to send some of it up his nose.

Nicki, yeah it has gone fast in retrospect huh? Lol I just had my first wedding anniversary on the weekend. 1st one is paper and Nathan made me some Origami tulips. Hmm, I'm pretty sure Xavier was conceived on the 3rd or 4th of November, any who he will be 3 months on sat so hows that for timing.
I'm sorry to hear you guys are having a tough time. Have you tried taking different foods out of your diet to see if it helps?
When it all comes down to it at the end of the day, you both need to be happy, and you have done really well. Do you keep your ebm?
While not to the extent of lachlan, Xavier sometimes does the suck and scream so I take him off and sit him up for a while until he tells me he is ready to go back. a couple of time lately switching to the other boob has worked for me too, seems he's been playing favorites. But seriously it sounds like you have tried everything, and there is nothing wrong with switching to formula all the time. It's very important to keep mum sane.

Jemima, I'm glad your hubby is back. Thursday night we only got about 8 hours from him, I'm not complaining though that's still good. But last night, as I said earlier we got 12 hours. Certainly helped. The crazy period, tell me about it, we are sooo busy at the moment. I have a white board with all the things I have to attend or I forget now.

Sara, that is a pickle, 'cause you just want them to have a proper sleep. I hope she improves. Xavier loves the TV, I don't think I could cope with turning it off, it keeps him quite smack smack I'm a naughty mummy

Megan, I was just thinking this morning I might need Xavier to wake at 6 am for when I go back to work, so I have time to get both of us ready with feeding etc. Then after sleeping right through I started thinking if he did that all the time when I'm working I won't see him except at morning and night feed. So now my goal is to encourage a 7am rise, however that means I will still have to get up at 6am, so I can shower and dress and eat etc.
I think they arrange their sleep to inconvenience us. Usually when i want to go out, all he does is sleep, and then I don't want to wake him.

Em, good luck with the wrapping. It sounds like he didn't know what he wanted. We were kind of lucky. My mil put him in bed one night because he fell asleep on her, and he wasn't wrapped, and he slept longer than usual, and i just stopped wrapping him.

Jan well done on your surprise bargain. I saw those toys in the catalogue the other day. Was thinking of going and getting some, but I really have to stop spending money. Xavier will just have to live with the toys he has until Christmas.

Mel, Wow at jack being 4 months old, how time flys.

Michaels Mum, well done on the roll, what a clever little boy.

Jessikah, I hope you get longer than 7 hours of sleep. Yay for a laugh. I still look at Xavier in disbelief that his mine (that only happens when he's happy, when his sad there is no mistaken his mine).

Well now I have to say sorry. After going through and reading all your posts and all the sleeping troubles people are having it makes me feel guilty. Esp having our 12 hours last night. But being sick as well it was just what I needed. I get a little kick out of nathan waking in the morning and asking when he woke up (yes he sleeps through it) and having the joy of telling him he hasn't yet.

Better go, It's taken me a while to do this, and Xavier has been very good playing under a play gym, then falling asleep and then waking up and playing again. Better go pay him some attention.

Sending lots of sleep vibes to you all.

Oh and if anyone is curious this is what we did last night
sponge bath on lounge room floor
Baby Massage
Dressed in jamies
ebm feed by dad
sat in dads arms till almost asleep,
put into bed closed eyes and not a peep til 10 past 8 this morning.

I think I'm going to try the massage again.

[Tracey]

baby massage is great after the bath it's also a cue they can use for knowing after my massage i get some food & then a nice LONG sleep!!! LOL

[Jas]

Hi everyone,

Just a quick post as a show I watch is about to start just wanted to say Nicky Noah didn't have reflux but I went through the same experiences as you with feed Noah wasn't putting on weight so I was having to top Noah up with formula and in the end I made to choice to ff. I'm not trying to say u should give up and bf is great but as Noah started feeding again but then my supply was low then I asked the CHN/LC if Noah would still get all the benefits of bf if I fed him as much as I could and then topped him up with formula when needed and she said that babies pretty much need to be exclusively bf to get the benefits. That made it a lot easier for me when I eventually made the decision to ff because I knew after everything I had tried that I couldn't exclusively bf due to supply.

If you do decide to ff you will know that u have done everything u can and I know it is tough because I never ever even considered that I would ff and I wanted to bf 4 12 months but thats not the way it happenednext time it might b different but I am happy about my decision although I felt guilty and a bit embarrassed for a while I can now completely enjoy my time with Noah in the beginning everytime I thought about bf I was a bit anxious and making up a bottle felt me feel bad too but now I know I'm doing the best thing for my son. If you decide to ff then feel free to email me if you want to chat or just in general if you want to chat about anything my email 8is [email protected] everyone else feel free to email me too!

[CrystalBoo]

Megan - I'm not sure I could do the crying thing yet, I was saving it for the 6m mark (like it's something to look forward to!?) but I am definitely interested to know the method you used for sure. Thanks

[Starfish]

Hi everyone

Haven't posted in a while as I have been busy writing my final uni assignment for the year. I handed it in last night, which feels like a huge relief. Send me your good vibes so that I pass without having to re-submit it.

On the home front, we have finally put Diana's newly painted cot together. I will try putting her to sleep in it tonight and will post some photos of it too.

Diana is doing well. She has started sleeping through the night, which is great. She has also started giggling and laughing. It is so cute when she does it. And she has worked out that if she pulls the handle on her mobile, music starts to play. What a clever girl! She seems to be consciously grabbing and holding things too.

I am getting married on Tuesday, so am getting excited, but also nervous at the amount of things that need to be organised (and this is only a very small registry office affair!). I just found out that one of my best friends, who originally couldn't make it can come after all, so that's great.

Nicky - sorry to hear that you are having sucha tough time bfing. I think everyone is giving you great advice. Hope that things improve for you soon, whichever way you decide to go. :hugs: And yes, I was thinking recently that it was around this time that last year that Diana was conceived. I haven't had AF for over a year . (Hope this post doesn't jinx me so that she comes back tomorrow or something.)

Rebecca - yay on Xavier's sleep!. I've found baby massage to be really effective too.

Jessikah - hope things slow down for you this weekend and you get some time to yourself. LOL on Ethan talking during the guest speaker. Conjures up a very cute mental picture.

Michael's Mum - yay on Michael rolling! I was so excited when Diana rolled for the first time, although she hasn't done it much since then...

Mummy Mel - YAY on your house move and on Jack and Charlee liking it. Must be such a relief. Moving is stressful at the best of times, let alone with two little ones. Must be so great will all the extra space.

Sasha - I love your ticker picture of Autumn. Very cute.

Hi to everyone else. Hope you all have a great weekend!