Babies Born October 1st ~ 15th 2008

[[M]umma[M]ia]

OMG - any suggestion for stopping him weeing all over himself every other nappy change LOL. The joys of having a little boy!

Mia wee's on ME 90% of the time i take her nappy off.. it goes everywhere.. i dont know how they can hold so much liquid!! lol

[blizz]

OMG - any suggestion for stopping him weeing all over himself every other nappy change LOL. The joys of having a little boy!

I have found having a dry face washer or cloth near by helps I have just been placing it over his uncontrolled bits and this has stopped him squirting himself in the eye...he really wasn't impressed when he did this the other day!!!!
has got mumma and dadda quite a few times already as well.

As for me, feeling one hundred percent better...got on to the mastitis quickly and things went back to normal overnight...can still feel some tender spots and have been feeding as much as possible to keep the breast empty.


I am not intending to complain here as I understand that I should be counting my blessings but how much is too much sleep for a newborn????


Angus is having a total of two wakeful sessions one in the morning for about an hour and a half to two hours and then again in the afternoon where he has a session from 2-3 hours, the rest of the time he is pretty much sleeping often for a 5-6 hour block over night and about 2-4hour block during the day.

I have been putting it down to the fact that he has been feeding HUGE feeds and is just a contented little man, also that we are so much more relaxed this time around than we were with DD.
just wondered if anybody else had found this???
he seems pretty alert when he is awake and I swear his head nearly swung off his shoulders when my sil was holding him and I walked past talking to DH he was trying to see where I was as he was hungry.

Nothing else to report, hope everybody else is enjoying their new arrivals as much as we are enjoying ours....love to all Allie

PS will be in more soon DH is still on holidays and we are making the most of it so I haven't been spending much time on the computer, he has two more weeks before I have my first turn at being single mum to two children when he returns to shift work

[Georgi]

KYLIE I bought a pac of chux wipes, cut them in half, then I fold them up & place it over DS doodle as soon as I open his nappy. That way if he wees, the chux soaks it up. It works wonders. I also agree with PP, bepantham is good

KURAIZA Wow, really, your sister from Sydney.. How funny. I basically was my nieces 2nd mother up until I moved to QLD. So I was very fortunate to experience the first time mother thing with my sister. But I just didn't need to wake up for night feeds. It was a great intro to motherhood. I also went to a day course for routine & settling for babies (in Sydney), that helped immensely.

Heya Holly & PP... Hope you's are having a nice weekend!

[Moi]

Georgie - Thanks for letting me know about your routine. It sounds fantastic. I also exercise Maya, but my routine isn't as thorough as yours. And I tend to break things up - like one time when she's awake I'll do tummy time, another time massage, another time exercise, etc. Maybe having one set routine would better?

kuraiza- Expressing 40 ml sounds fantastic to me. The most I've ever managed is 20 mls and most of the time I just get a couple of drops. I really wanted to store up a feed but I can never find the time to express and when I do I hardly get anything.

Question: Has anyone tried both manual and electric breast pumps? I'm wondering if one is better than the other and how is it better? Does an electric breast pump allow you to express more milk? I have a manual one and I find it hard to use and it gives me sore breasts.

[belfie]

i've only ever used the electric ones and I find it great - it's a medela symphony (yellow). It's fairly expensive to hire ($115 a month) but it mimics a baby's sucking patterns (i.e. start with the little shallow sucks then go to longer/slower pattern). To start with I was getting 20 - 50ml but now I've got up to 190 ml, averaging 100ml (but I've been expressing a fair bit for many reasons too). I find this pump great.

I also tried a medela lacta something? Blue one.. but it was faulty (it's the older more basic one $80 hire/month) so once I realised it was faulty (first night home ARRGH!), I rushed out and just got the same yellow one that I used at hossie. There's also little more portable electric ones too that Medela make but i haven't tried 'em.

Also, I think you can hire through Mother's Direct/ABA at a discount if you've joined ABA.

Georgi, great suggestion on the chux wipes - our little man LOVES to pee as soon as his doodle is free! (haha that rhymed! Ahem! ).

Re nappy rash my friend uses Lucas PawPaw ointment (and her little girl did have very bad nappy rash) - X's bum was briefly a bit red, used some of that and it cleared up in no time!

[Helly]

argh... I really wanna post, but I've had no time! My little man is feeding ALL THE TIME at the moment, mostly cos I got cracked nipples (so much OW. Give me labour any day!) and I've had nipple shields in order to be able to heal up. So, feeding from them takes ages, and I can't pull him off too soon or my supply will decrease - so, until I learn to type while feeding, I can't regularly contribute.

I hate missing out on these first weeks with everyone! Boo hoo.

[kylieb77]

Blizz/Georgi - thanks for the suggestions, such a simple remedy but mumnesia strikes again and my brain has seemed to lose normal thinking capacity.

I have heard that bepanthan is good - but was given some curash so have been using it. I might give the paw paw ointment a go as it is natural. I have been using it on his chin as he has a little rash there from all the sucking he is doing!!!

Itsme - I can't comment on the expressing as I haven't had to do any of it yet. Logan is doing a good enough job of milking me - I feel a bit like a jersey cow at the moment. He slept this morning for at least 5 hours and then has fed on and off all afternoon, just got him down to a proper sleep again after a bath and more feeding!

Helly - Good on you for hanging in there, sounds like you are doing it tough.

[[M]umma[M]ia]

yes kylie that B stuff for nappy rash is great. I use it on Mia and the redness is gone by the next nappy change!! its pretty cheap too.

[SamiH]

Itsme - I have used manual and electric pumps - I personally find electric much easier to handle - I have issues with let down if I try and express inbetween feeds so put the electric on the other side when Zander is feeding (I know in mornings he will only take one side when my supply is high after *resting* - switch it on and away it goes - bit of juggling but it's ok and I can now get 100ml one side at that time of day within about 7 minutes I have a Medela Mini Electric - bought it for $70 on Ebay with Giselle so it is 3.5 years old and still works perfectly - it has power adapter and also battery operated option which I found great for in the car for our trips back to Melbourne to see family etc .... few strange looks from the truckies

blizz - how old is your bubba - your ticker says under 2 weeks??? That sleep/awake time sounds normal for a baby half your luck - they are like cats to start with and sleep around 16-18 hours a day! My boy sleeps well, but at the moment has to be settled every sleep cycle 30 - 40 minutes - but I perservere unless he is really upset etc cos I know he will learn to settle again soon - he does well overnight though so who knows???!!

I use zinc ointment as a barrier nearly every nappy change but if he has a few runny poos in a row and gets a bit red, bepanthen is the winner for me.

Well my boy went 7.5 hrs from 6.30pm - 2am this morning - then 6am - this is the 4th night he has roughly been on this clock - so hubby and I are hoping that in another couple of weeks he will drop the 2am feed - even if the feed pulls back to 5am - I can cope with that

Have a good night everyone - nothing much else going on. Oh, apart from we put our Christmas tree up today yes a bit early, but I love making the most of the decorations and the lead-up to Christmas. We are not going back to Victoria this year for Christmas (belfie ), just too much with pressies, and babies, and potentially still feeding overnight and staying with relo's and trying to be quiet etc etc etc having to be taken down etc - but my sister and family and my dad and his wife will come up between christmas and NYE so that will be nice!

[PinkPalace]

oh samiH your bub sounds like a dream!!! I cant wait for ethan not to wake 5 times a night!!

[belfie]

We are not going back to Victoria this year for Christmas (belfie ), just too much with pressies, and babies!

Aaaw bad SamiH! But understandable. So saying, I was so looking forward to a X/Z meet-up!

Re routine, X has taken to doing 9.30pm, 3.30am and then 8-9am. It's just lovely. I think he sleeps more than some babies (maybe I have a lazy one hahaha), cos you guys sound like you're getting more awake time than use. X has pretty much been snoozing all day today - 1 hour feeds and he's had a bath & some awake time after his last feed, but really that's been about it. He's also stopped doing poos in a major way (last big one was Weds ) so nappy changes are very cruisey. I've read that from 6 weeks onwards this is what happens, but just want to check with someone (which is everyone!) more knowledgeable than me - this is ok, right?

[AmandaJ]

Hi all just a quick one.

Cream I use for red bum is sudocream, works really well and clears up redness by the next nappy change.

Belfie b/f babies can go up to a week without a poo, I usually find this happens when they are having a growth spurt and are using more of the goodies from the milk.

Be back tomorrow for better catch up.

hugs xoxo

[Georgi]

BELFIE I second what Sami said. Don't worry about the ease up of poops. B has eased up his poos too. Though occaisionally he has an explosive, up the back one.

PP I feel for you. I can't imagine being up all night like you are with Ethan

SAMI Sounds like B & Z are very similar. I have to settle B every 45 mins or so, but he sleeps great overnight. He goes down around 7 or 8, wakes at 1 or 2am, then at 5 or 6am. If I go to bed around 8.30/9/30 I find I get a solid sleep. I'm hoping he'll drop that 1/2am feed too. Do you reckon I need to do anything to help drop it? Like try to re settle him instead of feed him? Or should he drop it on his own?

KYLIE No worries.. Hope that helped

HELLY Hope those nipples ease up for you. Ouch

BELFIE I used the Medela Symphony when B was in the SCN. I really liked it too. I don't have anything now. I just feed B every time. I still have 10ltrs of expressed milk in my freezer

ITSME I agree with Belfie, but don't know if you want to spend the money to hire one. B only takes 10-20 mins to feed & has 1.5hours wake time so I can fit the whole routine in quite easily. It sounds like you're starting the right way. I started with only once or twice a day until B had more awake time

Well I've had an unusual afternoon with B. I think he was over stimulated with meeting his cousins for the first time. He fed at 2.30, 4.30 & 6.30. He has never done this before. He is a 4 hourly feeder. He hardly slept all afternoon. He finally went to sleep at 8pm so I'm hoping tonight is the night that he sleeps through. Considering he fed all afternoon he should be full for the night. I'll let you's know how we go.... Fingers crossed.

[PinkPalace]

morning girls.. i could have been typing this from 230am... but hey i would wait!

Well ethan was awake from 230am (had a mini sleep between 5-530) and is still awake.
yay for me. I put him on the breast for a feed at 1230am and he took it well then all morning all he wanted to do was comfort suck - and when he got milk he would get upset. But wont take a dummy!

arrrhhh

Belfie -i have known a lot of girls that have bubs who go a week. DD is a regular girl and we havent missed 1 day in her 17 months of life without a poo!

Georgie... omg the beach sound good today .. but i am having my coles groceries delivered this mornig.. and cant leave the house

[SamiH]

Belfie - I know, boohoo - but might be down late January instead Oh, yeah to the poo question, and then they have a big up the back, out the sides, explosion when you are out doing your groceries or something .... true!

Georgi - yep they are buggers with their day sleeping! That's why I don't get any sleep during the day - easy to say to DH - oh Z had 2 hour sleep - but I had to resettle him twice so didn't get any myself! Thankfully he is good overnight at the moment.

Re - doing anything to drop a feed - unfortunately no. Up until 6 months it is quite normal for breastfed bubs to feed overnight - but that doesn't stop the wishing! Riley first slept through at 10 weeks and pretty regularly after that, Giselle was 8 weeks the first time, but just to trick me like the little minx she is - continued to feed overnight most nights until she was 10 months old - she is little though so needed it. I am hoping cos Zander is doing well in feed and weight etc that he could drop it around Christmas so I could have a couple of sparkling drinks on NYE after expressing a few feeds ... been far too long .... anyway, I digress, only thing to try and encourage it is to ensure he has enough feeds during the day for his quota, so if he wants to cluster feed in the late afternoon/evening let him - I know it is hard to just sit for 3 hours on end though sometimes - that's why I express 80ml for Dh to give him when I am looking after the other kids pj's, teeth, books etc.

PP - Ethan is 2 weeks younger than Zander, so you just never know what will happen in the next two weeks! I felt like the cluster feeding overnight was never gunna end, but it did all of a sudden around 1 month. So there is definitely some light coming your way!

Last night zander went from 6.40pm feed (bed at 7.30) to 2.30am - back in bed at 3am (grunted and groaned for an hour but I have come to learn he does all that in his sleep ...) and then woke again at 6.40am .... However my poor darling daughter woke with a 38.5 temp and water vomits at - you guessed the time - 3.15am so I was up until 4.30am with her Oh well such is life and I still feel ok. She seems alright this morning, but is watching playschool with only one eye open ...

Better get the washing on the line whilst they are both quiet!!!

[Georgi]

PP Yeah the beach would've been nice. Though DH has gone back to work today so I have the house to myself.. Yay! I can finally get some cleaning done & make sure Byron sticks with his routine. DH always puts it out.

SAMI Thanks for that. Byron is a regular routiner so he rarely cluster feeds. He did last night though, but I was re settling alot, boo hoo. I thought last night he'd sleep through. I fed him at 3.15am then again at 8am, but I had to co sleep with him from 4am so I doze rather than sleep. Hope your DD is feeling better today

[kylieb77]

Hi girls - just a quick drop in to say that i have finally uploaded some photos of Logan in my gallery. Still to organise a ticker though lol

[SunnyRain]

Itsme: 40mL was a pipe dream when I tried, but I got 40mLs later when I expressed while breast feeding. I finally started to get the hang of letting Jude be more upright instead of horizontally across my chest so I can fit the pump on my other boob. I can only express when I have a very full boob, but that's not that often for me. I just tried now and I got 20mL.

kylieb77: I have a spare terry nappy down on the change mat and after I take Jude's dirty nappy off and wipe his privates I fold the nappy inbetween his legs and over his willy while I prepare the next nappy. He's only peed all over the place once. Watch the willy, it goes up like a flag pole just before he pees.

I also use sudocream like Amanda because I have 2 sample tubs that came in the bounty bags, I use the smallest amount because we use cloth nappies and nappy rash isn't a problem, but the red bum after hot runny poos needs a little soothing sometimes.

Georgi: I did some of your exercises just now, it was great fun for us both. I don't think I've been very good about bonding time with Jude, I feel so busy feeding then settling all the time.

Belfie: 1 poo a week sounds good, Jude did the most disgusting green poo last night. It stank!

SamiH: You put your xmas tree up already?

Weird weather we're having here at the moment. I don't know if it's going to storm or not. we went out to a friend's b'day party last night and Jude couldn't settle at their house, so he was awake and got really upset, the worst I've seen him. Luckily he settled in the car on the drive back home. Phew!