Babies Born May 1-15 2008

[LuluHB]

Thanks everyone.

Shaza - Izzy had horrible reflux. She screamed all day every day for 15 to 20 hours. Kat's suggestions are good. Keep Tyler upright after a feed for as long as you can. Hard to do at 3am when you're just dying for sleep but the payoff is worth it. Prop the head end of his cot/cradle up so that he is never lying flat. Be VERY careful about what you eat. Dairy is a known contributor to reflux aggravation so its worth cutting dairy out of your diet completely (make sure you get a calcium supplement) and see if it helps him. You can try bringing it back in slowly, but watch for changes. Deep baths are great when he can kick around, but make sure you do it at least 30 minutes after a feed if you can. Chiropractors/osteopaths that specialise in babies can work wonders. I basically carried Izzy around all day either on my shoulder or in a sling and she had all her day sleeps on me. I tried zantac and losec, neither with any success but they have worked for others so take Tyler to see your paed and see what he suggests. Good luck. It is exhausting dealing with a reflux baby and very distressing when they're in pain and you can't do anything.

Hi to everyone else. Will be back later for personals.

[Sharon19270]

Jodi hi, we are going well, Oliver has bad reflux and needs to be medicated for it, but now that it is starting to kick in, he is starting to feed really well again, my Pediatrician called him a piggy though. How are things with you?

[Laranna]

Hi ladies, DS had a great night last night, and had a couple of big sleeps (3 hours!) between feeds. However, was a bit paranoid about maybe waking him to feed more since my worries with weight gain and milk supply. But he was back to 2 hourly feeds this afternoon.

Lulu - what sling do you use? I have an ergo but hadn't thought of using it to carry DS around during the day! Mostly once I put him down I try to put my feet up and sleep myself.

Had a friend of mine visit today and she brought lunch so that was nice! Some days I find I don't get to eat lunch until 3pm! I'm on baby time now

[LuluHB]

Sharon - sorry to hear Oliver's reflux is bad enough for medication. Great that he's responding well to it though. Hopefully his little body will develop quickly so he doesn't suffer from it for too long.

Laranna - I have an ergo too. Only recently got it - brilliant aren't they. For Izzy before the ergo I used a ring sling and a baby bjorn, depending on what I was doing. As for the feeding, I really think its ok to let him sleep and just feed on demand. Its not asb if he is danferously small or anything so probably better to let him find his own routine - and he's obviously making up feeds if he goes 2 hourly at times so I wouldn't worry.

[Laranna]

Lulu - I now have him in the ergo, he is being grizzly and wants to get at my boob even though his last feed was an hour ago. So I think I am about to take him out.

We were up most of the night last night. DS didn't really want to settle easily so this morning I was in tears. I was feeling so tired and then started thinking it wasn't fair that DP gets to go to work for a break. I wanted a break too! But this morning he settled and slept well so got a couple of hours sleep in between.

I have a question - how do you know when your little one just wants to comfort suck or really wants a feed?

[Visitor7]

laranna - with the comfort sucking/feeding, it really is hard to work out which one they prefer. What I do with Emily when she's like that, is put her on the boob, see if she wants a feed, she'll either have a drink, or suck, pull off, suck again, then pull off again. When she does this, I know it's just a comfort suck she's after and I offer my little finger instead (she won't take a dummy). But I always offer the boob first. In the later afternoon, she'll cluster feed for about 2 hours, then go to bed.

[klee]

hi ladies, just wanted to pop in and say hi, sorry i don't have computer during week so sorry for my snobbishness. its great to hear all the bubbas are doing well. i'm not sure who was worried about bubs weight gain i think it was laranna, but i wanted to put this in my maternal health nurse said she wasn't too worried about weight gain if bubs had grown in other areas, ie length and head circumference. i was a bit worried this week as joseph only put on 100 grams after 500 grams the week before, but he had grown 4 cm in length and 2 cm in head circumference since birth, so she was happy with that. hope that helps laranna, also with milk supply she said to increase my protein intake to help increase and better the milk. hope that helps too. otherwise joseph is doing well, as i said earlier he hasn't put on too much weight but has increased his length by 4cm so thats good i guess. the nurse asked whether his dad was lean and tall, my response was not at the moment lol. we are getting 4 hour feeds at night so not complaining. anyone else have a noisy baby? joseph is constantly making noise especially when asleep, such a grunter and a groaner we are constantly in hysterics.
alrighty enough of babbling, hope to be back on next weekend, until then.

[Laranna]

thanks jodi...DS seems to have a lot of feeds in the evening too and have been offering my finger when I think he just wants to suck, seems to be doing tthe trick.

klee - thanks for that info...it is encouraging...i am tending not to worry tooo much about it now until he gets weighed on wednesday...

last night we had a great night with feeding and sleeping but tonight not so good...my left boob is blocked up and engorged and i have a blister on my right nipple...so josh is fussing at each feed so they are taking ages and he's wanting it more often so i haven't even had a chance to try and express the left for some relief...he also has a blocked right nostril which is making him unhappy i think.

[Visitor7]

What an awful and wasted weekend we had!! DH hurt his neck on Thursday, and it didn't start getting better until last night. And he was extremely cranky because of this, and the fact that he couldn't sleep. Emily decided to have a screaming fit on Sat and Sunday nights, where we were up with her till 3am both nights!! We just couldn't settle her. And Nina kept throwing tantrums at DH (probably cause he wouldn't give her ANYTHING she asked him to!).
So finally last night, I told DH to stop arguing with Nina, and to stop saying 'no' to her, which did the trick. I also told him to stop whinging about his flippin neck and the fact that he can't sleep! And he quickly snapped out of his mood And we finally had a good night with Emily last night. phew! I even bought a tin of formula as I ended up with the shakes on Sunday night from feeding her so much. But we didn't have to use it last night, and hopefully we won't have to.

klee - that's great that joseph is growing nicely! Emily isnt' a noisy baby when she sleeps, but she is when she feeds. I get stares all the time when I'm feeding her cause of the noises she makes.

laranna - he'll definitely be fussing during feeds if he has a blocked nose. You can get some nose drops for infants which should help clear the nose. In the meantime, if he isn't draining your breasts, then it's probably best to try and express whenever you can to drain them, otherwise you'll end up with mastitis. I know you don't have time ATM, but whatever chance you've got, grab that opportunity and express. It's really important that the breasts get drained.

With the sling, how much did you pay for the Ergo?

[Laranna]

Jodi - sorry to hear about your weekend but glad you got through it
I will have to check out the nose drops but have the health nurse coming round tomorrow so I'll see if she can do anything then. Otherwise I would go to the chemist but I can't get out of the house atm (no driving yet due to c/s). And the weather is too yuk to walk anywhere. Because his nose is blocked he is being such a noisy sleeper and I am paranoid he is going to wake himself up and not settle! But so far so good

I managed to express after his feed this morning and he has been asleep since then. I even got a snooze! He's just about ready for another feed so hopefully he will settle after that and I can express again. My lumpy boob is slowly starting to settle down but still feels harder and fuller than it should.

With the ergo, I would have paid $200 for it including the infant insert (that was the price in the shop) but the in-laws bought it for me as a gift.

[Visitor7]

That's good that you were able to express this morning. I bet you got a lot of relief from it!
The stuff I use for Emily's nose is Nyal Junior Saline nasal drops, with aspirator (or de-gunker as I call it!!). It's great to get all the gunk out of their nostril.
Emily has woken up due to her blocked nose a few times now, I just try and keep her head elevated as much as I can until she's in a deep sleep.
How do you find the Ergo, is it worth the money? I have a Baby Bjorn carrier, but I feel like my back is going to break when I carry Emily in it. I don't know if it's her weight (she's just over 5kg) or the carrier itself that's causing it?

[beckstar]

hi mumma's, just me hovering again while I have a spare second.

We've also had a dose of the cold & blocked noses here too. Macey came down with it on sat and had trouble feeding too. I have been rubbing Vicks into her feet of a night and set up the steam vapouriser of a night in her room too. seems to have worked a treat and think we are over the worst of it now.

Had 4week checkup today and shes grown another 350gm in the last 2 weeks so has just hit the 9lb mark.

Night times haven't been too bad sp far. most nights shes going from 11:30pm to 4am and then not again till 9 although by then I've aleady been up for a few hours with 16m DS.

DH is on last few days of holidays so has been nice to have him around to help out with DS- although he seems to spend most of his time tinkering in the shed.

[Laranna]

Boobs are starting to feel much better phew...
I think the ergo is worth the money, we used it at the shops on Saturday and it was great. DS went straight to sleep in it and for me it felt really comfy, no pulling down on my shoulders or my back. The waist band sits on your hips and feels really supportive. DS seemed nice and cosy inside.

I'm going to have a steamy shower and have J in the pram in the bathroom hoping the steam will help his nose. Poor bubba, but his sneezes sound so little and cute

beckstar - didn't know I could use vicks on him yet...might give that a go too...good to hear on the weight gain, I hope my little man has put on enough weight tomorrow!

[Kristale]

Jodi- sorry to hear you had a bad weekend
We also have been struggling with the blocked nose but it seems to be getting better now. I spoke to my CHN and she recommended fes which is a saline nasal spray I used this when I was pregnant and it worked for me so I will try it on Amelie if things dont improve.
Amelie has put on so much weight she is now 3870kg thats nearly 300g in a week. She does love her food!
I am off on a clothes shopping spree on Thursday as I feel like all I have are pregnant clothes now I didnt realise I bought so much to accomodate my growing belly. I cant wait.

[Laranna]

Kristale - 300grams is huge!
I sent DP out to the chemist last night to get some Fess and he came back with that and an electric breast pump for me..he thought it would be easier than my manual one! Plus pizza for dinner

DS just got weighed by the CHN and he has only put on 70grams in a week Now I feel really bad. However, he is feeding regularly, has plenty of wet and pooey nappies and is content most of the time. The CHN rang the lactation consultant for ideas who said that 70-90grams a week for a breastfed baby is quite normal but I should start feeding him every 3 hours including during the night which means waking him up if I have to and I should give him the EBM after each feed as a top up. She also recommended I try Fenugreek tablets. If DS doesn't have any bigger weight gains by the 6 week check then she will write a note for my dr to prescribe me motilium. Argh I feel so bad that my body isn't doing a better job! I feel like my supply is ok...I don't know what his other measurements are like as they haven't done those since we left hospital. But I guess at least he isn't losing weight, he has consistently put on around 70grams a week so far.

[Kristale]

Laranna- I thought as long as they are putting on weight and having the wet nappies that is a good sign? Dont think that your body isnt doing a good job you are obviously providing him with enough for him to put on some weight and be happy. Maybe you should check his other measurements as well just for your peace of mind.
I'm sure the electric pump will make it alot easier for you.

[LuluHB]

Hi everyone. Been MIA a bit lately. Won't try to do proper personals but have read everything.

Jodi - I've got the ergo too and would absolutely say its worth the money. I also have the BB and the ergo is so much more comfortable its just not funny. At this stage its not too bad with Elena in the BB but Izzy at 13 months is fantastic in the ergo too. Would definitely recommend it. Sorry you had such a crappy weekend.

Laranna - Don't beat yourself up about your milk supply. If you can, have a snuggle day or two with your boy where you hold him close all day and if you can do it skin on skin and just stay in bed or lying on the couch. Nothing like your baby being in constant contact with you to increase your milk supply. And I know you know this, but keep drinking LOTS of water. It really does make a difference.

Beckstar - glad to hear things are going really well in your household.

Had my grandmother's funeral yesterday. Glad to have it over and done with and hopefully finalising her estate won't be a big deal - especially if my git of an uncle can behave himself! Elena gave me my first 6 hour feed break on Monday night. She fed at 11pm and then again at 5.20 am and then still have a 4 hour gap after that. Bliss! Unfortunately last night was back to 2.5 hours so I'm very tired today.

[*EmJa*]

hey been MIA we moved house and it took ages to get the net back, but im back now!

So sorry to hear about your Grandmother Lulu

will try read through properly later but havent really got much time to myself, Jack doesnt like to be put down he will be sound asleep in my arms and as soon as you put him in his bassinet, rocker, or cot he will wake up. hes in his cot now on his belly (fisrt time ive tried) its the first time hes stayed asleep all day..ive been checking on him like every minute!, i know they dont recommend them to sleep on their belly but im getting nothing done holding him all day plus DD needs me too. he sleeps alright on his back at night in the bassinet but come the daytime and he wont stay alseep!

sorry for the me post will try catch up soon