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Candice - one thing Ethan loves when he's unsettled and stirring in his bed - I just rub his head and he will stop squirming and settle back to sleep. My other two liked in when I ran my finger from their forehead down their nose covering their eyes encouraging them to close their eyes... that always worked for them even when they were really restless and crying.
Thanks for the tips everyone! Jane - newborns sure are hard work!
Nice to have bb back :)
I cant remember when I updated so here goes.
Oscar had his MCHN appt on Tuesday, and had put on around 300g in 8 days.
Measuring at 56.5cm -- I knew he wasnt 51cmw hich is what they measured him at birth!
So all good there. BF is really good on one side and less so on the other, very painful attachemnt at times so Im looking at booking in to the day stay they have at the local hospital. He's a lot better at it than Milo was, just a tad uncomfy.
ATM we are getting anywhere from 5-9 hours sleep at night which is good, but Im still finding it hard to function in the day time :(
Work emailed me yesterday and want me to do my performance review, and I have a whole 2.5 days, so Im not happy - they allocate weeks for this, even though I'd just had a baby I'd have liked some advance notice so Im not totally stressed out!
Sorry for stalking you in here ray! :) I was just checking to see if they had upoaded the new avvy I did for you... not yet it seems... I guess the glitchy issues have kept them busy! Oh and what ANOTHER awful thing (performance review) to disrupt your precious BabyMoon! :( Grrrr! I hope the world just "goes away" and leaves you and your darling new little boy alone for a while!!!" :hug:
Rayray that's appalling to expect you to do a performance review! Are you on maternity leave?
I hope you are able to get the attachment issues sorted.
I've decided to try something different with the breastfeeding. I suspected Tom was getting too much foremilk and when he started having foamy poos that confirmed it for me. I did some research on overactive let-down, and it would explain his frequent "snacking", fussiness, massive weight gain (over 600g in two weeks), windiness and foamy poos. I'm going to try "block feeding" (where you only offer one side for a 2-4 hour period) which should give him more of the fatty hindmilk and cut down my over-supply and forceful let-down a bit. Hopefully that will not only help his tummy settle but encourage him to go longer between feeds. We get a good four hours sleep to midnight but then it's every hour or two hours thereafter and I'm getting chronic headaches again from the sleeplessness.
Oops, there he goes again!! Right boob now til 4pm!!
Hope everyone is well.
Ray - how unfair! I'd be kicking up a stink if I was you. When do you return from maternity leave?
TMTM - good luck with the block feeding.
AFM - X won't sleep longer than 3 hours still, so I am craving sleep. She has put on 510 gms in 2 weeks wow! At least I know she is happy and healthy...
Ray - how rude!! Like u have time for that!!! Whoever's idea it was to give u no notice obviously has never had a baby.
TMTM - I wonder if I should try block feeding too. My midwife suggested I feed him from one breast per feed which I was doing until yesterday, after about 10mins he gets frusterated and strts shaking his head so I figured I had run out and so I swapped him over. He'll only go another 5 or so mins on the 2nd boob then he's fullm but he's feeding constantly during the day. yesterday his feeds were sometimes 30mins - 1hr apart then he'd go 2 hrs, then another 30 mins later... wore me out completely! At night he was ok, fed at 10pm and we went to bed after, then 12:30am then 2am then 5am and after 5 he was really restless and had lots of wind so I cuddled him on the lounge and we slept till 9am. Today he has had a lot of wind and been really unsettled, I nicked out to the shops and he wouldnt go in his pram, just wanted to be carried, so of course I gave in... lol
He had a runny/snotty nose today and a slight temp so I figure he's getting a cold, so gave him some panadol and FINALLY he's asleep on Daddy! It's sooo hard to get anything done with a sick baby. But I managed to shower, go to the shops, do the washing, pay a parking fine, do the dishes and book the car in for a service.
I'm looking for an electric breast pump, I know some people dont like to express coz it increases their supply, so I thought maybe it might increase my supply, (I think that might be the prob??), u seem to know alot about bf, what are ur thoughts? He has plenty of wet and pooey nappies each day, and is gaining weight, but it's just that the past 2 days he's been feeding so often and I would rather he fed longer and have longer breaks between feeds instead of his 10 min feeds all day long.
How is Tom now with his cold? poor lil bub. :(
Candice - My bub is like that too, 3hr sleeps (on a good night lol) and he's almost 4 weeks now. I keep telling myself - soon he'll sort it out, it's just a growth spurt!
Oh and I found on ebay these gorgeous baby legwarmers called baby legs... I bought the giraffe print ones but there are so many gorgeous patterns and colours, they are fantastic for bedtime, I just put a long sleeved no leg romper and his legwarmers then his legs dont have to get cold when I change his appy during the night! Fantastic idea!! now he doesnt get so *AWAKE* in the night and is (usually when he doesnt have wind) easier to settle! :)
Oh quick story - In the shops today, they dont have a parents room, just the disabled toilet with a change station in there, so i popped in there to feed Ethan and while I was in there (I was only in there 10 mins mind u) A lady with a disabled daughter started banging on the door screaming at me to get out an saying I shouldnt be in there! I couldnt believeit. The cleaning lady pointed out that there is a baby change station in there too and to be patient but she kept banging and screaming and frightened Ethan so he wouldnt feed properly, I ended up having to dress myself and run out with my screaming baby and finish feeding in the car! :( It was so upsetting.
This is quite interesting - Baby's Wonder Weeks... It shows when babies are likely to be unsettled and having growth spurts etc and explains what is happening at each stage...
http://www.thewonderweeks.com/files/...tent.html#ch02
Hi girls!
We have a bit of a windy girl here too - usually when she is doing her marathon 5 hr cluster feed in afternoon / evening. The good thing is though once that is out of the way she is sleeping really well ... like last night was 9-4 ( had to keep checking she was breathing) and the night before 9-3. I think it is just a stage but a really nice stage. A pleasant change to my experinece with Jake lol. The flip side is she is alert quite a bit during the day and feeds 2 hrly and her sleep doesn't coincide with Jake so I'm not getting a chance to rest and let myself heal. Have had a bit more pain the past fw days and I think this is why.
Dee that is sooo rude - I hate having to feed in toilets etc and quite happy now to feed wherever - SOphia was hungry when we were shopping the other day so I fed her walking around Target. Got some funny looks but hey who cares. Expressing after each feed is a great way to increase your supply, but don't stress if you only get 10 or 20mls each time. Your breast isn't empty it's just that the pump isn't as effective a sucker as your bub.
Dee, poor Ethan with his cold! I hate it when babies have colds and they can't sniff or clear their noses. We used Fess saline drops with Tom to help him feed, and they made a big difference. I wouldn't mind betting that Ethan's been feeding a lot because he's been getting sick. But yes he sounds an awful lot like Tom with his feeding habits.
Re the pumping, yes it will increase your supply but then block feeding may reduce it a bit, so it's swings and roundabouts, I guess. Here's an article on the ABA site that I found helpful: Australian Breastfeeding Association - Too much milk and if you go to kellymom.com they have good info on that too. I'm pumping once a day because I want dh to start giving Tom one bottle a day so that when I go in for surgery, Tom will take the expressed milk. The block feeding is either working or he's more settled with his cold going away, because he didn't wake up *quite* as much last night and isn't having as much wind. We'll see how we go... dh is going away for three days next week and I'm panicking about how I'm going to get all the kids off to school after having no sleep at night!
The leg warmers sound great! I like to put leggings on Tom under his pants so the breeze doesn't get up them, but they are really hard to find in anything bigger than a 000. I'm buying him girls' tights so he doesn't get cold!
I'm sorry you were abused by the woman - I guess while I can understand her frustration, it should be aimed at the management for not providing adequate facilities for both disabled people and nursing mothers!!
And thank you for that link, it looks really interesting.
Hope everyone is well. Check in, I'm dying to hear how everyone's babies are going :)
Nelly way to go on the sleep! That's fantastic! I'm sorry you aren't getting the rest you need, though. I'm so glad we sent Clare to school this year (she was on the young side, only turning 5 in March) as I don't know how I would cope if I couldn't go to bed with Tom in the afternoons.
I do the same thing, walking around the shops feeding the baby. I just don't care any more. Yeah, I've got nipples and sometimes they dribble. Get over it, world.
Nelly thats fantastic sleep! I wish X did that :(. Last night she slept from 9-9.20, then 3 - 3.30, then 4-7. I am soooo tired. When she woke up at 3.30 and 7, both times she had vomited. It was dried to the side of her face. I feel so bad that I didn't hear her! I just wish I knew why, and wish I knew how to get her to sleep during the night. Surely it's bad for a newborn to be awake for nearly 6 hours? I wonder whether she doesn't like the formula she is on. Please send the bad mummy award to my PO Box...
Candice it could be wind waking her - jake used to be like that and a couple of things that worked well for us were - feeding in an upright position so the wind comes up easier, holding her upright for about 20 mins after a feed and tilt her mattress slightly with a pillow underneath. I am not suggesting she has reflux like Jake did at all but these things can help with bad wind as well - I usually do the first 2 and when I don't (the marathon cluster feed) is when she gets really windy and unsettled. Usually when they vomit it is just bcos an air bubble has brought up some milk with it and they spill, or her tummy is just really full ... you know if you have a big drink of water and then you lie down sometimes it is really uncomfortable as it swishes back up your oesophagus if it hasn't had time to go down? That may be how she is and bcos they are little sometimes they spill a bit. Just a suggestion .... :hug:
Candice, you poor thing. It's not *you*, you aren't doing anything wrong, I promise!! It may just be wind, or she may be refluxy. Can you lift the head of her bed a little so her tummy doesn't regurgitate so easily?:
As for the trick to getting her to sleep during the night... when you figure that one out, let me know, won't you? Even after six, I haven't found the magic formula yet!
Hi girls!
Been a while since I checked in, sounds like everyone is doing well. Candice I hope things settle down with Xanthe and you start to get more sleep - it's so hard to know what to do isn't it, everything is a learning curve! I hope some of the things TMTM and Nelly suggested work for you.
TMTM I hope you're feeling better now and that the block feeding works for you! I don't know how you do it, having a newborn and all the other kids! It's hard enough with 1! I admire all of you mummies with more than 1 to look after.
Dee that's horrible what happened at the shopping centre. I still have only ventured out to the shops once! And I timed it so it was just after Liam had fed so that i wouldn't have to feed him in public. I'll have to do it eventually but still not ready to yet!
As for me things are going well. Today is the last day of the incubation period for chicken pox and Liam didn't get them so I'm feeling very relieved! it was a very anxious 3 weeks so I'm glad I can finally relax. He's been sleeping well, most nights he usually goes 5 hours between feeds and on the odd night he goes up to 7, last night being one of those! So i'm feeling quite good today, still tired but a bit better! Unfortunately I'm not enjoying the feeding so much - Liam has thrush in his mouth which he has passed on to my nipples and it's awful. We've had it for over 2 weeks now and it just doesn't seem to be improving! Have been to the dr twice and I'm doing everything they said but it's still here and it makes feeding excruciating! Has anyone else had it before? If so any advice??
Anyway hi to everyone and I hope you're all doing well xx
Kelly, I know what you mean about feeding in public, I wasn't ready either. I had expressed just in case he needed a feed and silly me forgot the attachment to put the teat on the bottle, had a slight panic and then just did what I had to. It hurts so much feeding right now but strangely enough it isn't as bad in public, weird!
A doctor thought we might have thrush too, but the lactation consultant I saw last night said she didn't think it was, I'm really cracked and raw so who knows. Hoping now he's attaching better the cracks will heal quickly. I have the dactarin gel but scared to put it on in case it stings. The LC gave me some info on thrush in case, just let me know if there's anything you want me to look up for you.
So glad Liam didn't get chickenpox!
Hi all
I don't know when you guys find time to post so often!
Jade is well, she settles well after night feeds, just burp and rock for 10 mins and she's back to sleep, wakes up 2-3 hourly which is okay...but during the day is a different story, Candice, my lil girl was awake 8 hrs straight yesterday, was screaming her head off for about 3 of those hours, she won't fall asleep on me cause she smells my milk and thrashes her head around so dp reluctantly comes in and lets her go on his chest til she falls asleep.
This morning she woke up at 10 and was awake and grizzling til 1pm, she always has a huge 4 or 5 hr sleep in the arvo she has her day and night totally mixed up!! Im sleeping on the lounge cause the gas point is out here so its me and bubs in her basinett and dp in the comfy bed away from the cries grrr
Today is the 1st day since I've been home with no visitors I feel soooo much better!!!
Oh and the CHN came and said Jade put on 200g in 5 days, which is good apparently, I have fully switched to formula now as she just wasn't getting full on my BM.
Kelly, what a relief the chicken pox left him alone. Eight years ago I was going to be traveling to the UK and taking my then 5 month old dd4 with me. Her older sister got the chicken pox about three weeks before I was due to leave, and I was so anxious dd4 was going to get them too! She ended up with two spots on her head, and that was it. And she's never had them properly since. I'm actually going to get her vaccinated at the end of this year (I prevaricate a little bit about the varicella vaccination).
Sorry about the thrush - ouch! Are you treating yourself systemically as well? Lots of probiotics, yoghurt, that kind of thing, keep the sugar down, don't drink beer ;). There's nothing worse than that stabbing pain right through your breast. Have you got the Daktarin stuff to smear on your nipples before a feed? The horrible thing with thrush is that you pass it backwards and forwards and it's a devil to get rid of. Gentian violet is old fashioned but supposed to be highly effective, even if it stains like a bugger.
Sarebear, the daktarin shouldn't sting. I don't recall it stinging, but then, I can't remember my name half the time.
I think I'm really getting somewhere with Tom and the block feeding! His feeds have been much longer today, he has less wind, and his poos have more curds and less liquid in them than before, which suggests he's getting more fat! Here's hoping we get some sleep out of him tonight. I'm using one side for two hours, so if he needs a top up, he gets the same breast for a two hour period.
My poor Clare had a toilet accident at school today - number twos :redface: - and dh had to bring her home and throw her in the shower to wash it all off. The teacher hadn't even sent her to the toilet to flick the poo out of her pants into the loo, just sent her straight to the office with chockers knickers, poor baby.
hey girls,
still here too but find it hard to type. mitchell is settling well. sleeping from 2amish thru to 7amish most nights. a couple of shockers and certainly more to come but generally very good. weight now up to 4.49kg. however we still haven't got him into the cot - will persue it more today/tonight but he generally he still will only conk out if on one of us. tried transfering him to cot but he's on to it pretty quicky and then scream town hits!
sorry no persies - rest asured i am still following stories just no time to type!