Babies Born October 1st ~ 15th 2008

[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?