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!