I am expecting to get paid parental leave which if you have been working for so many months before your baby is born you may be entitled to. Its for 18weeks. And then family tax benefit which I get the minimum but it still helps with a bit of extra food or petrol. I was so prepared financially and had many thousands put aside but my dental bill which was unexpected was over 3K plus I happened to hit someone elses car a week before DS was born. It was the same as my excess so I just paid for it myself. All these unexpected costs has drained me and I guess that's why I am unhappy about it as I did feel I was really prepared to have up to a year from work. My older kids are at private schooling plus I have an ongoing orthodontic expense for my eldest so lots of direct debits.
Centrelink tried to tell me I didn't go in but as I have a medicare card with DS on it then that apparently proves they have it. Which I'd been telling them for weeks. Apparently it was not scanned onto my file and they have discarded the yellow hospital form and it can't be replaced. The hospital wont do duplicate copies. So they have apologised and said there is nothing that can be done without DS birth certificate. Which we didn't put in until he was 6weeks old.
Rosey a week is fine for 8-9weeks old. The longer they don't go the smellier gas seems to be. Is he very windy? A fully BF baby not on solids you would expect a very soft stool. Its not hard at all is it? Is his weight gain still good? Only you can decide the best option for you and your DS with feeding. In Australia really at the end of the day fed is best weather is breast or formula. We are luck to have access to safe water and formula if that turns out to be the better option for what ever reason. Its hard to say if formula is the answer with the stuff you have said. There is a good chance it wont make any difference or even make his discomfort worse but if your getting to the end of your teather then it can't hurt to try.
My DS is a bit more settled now and doesn't seem to have the reflux symptoms as bad as he did 2weeks ago. He mostly gets comfort from feeding so that's good.
Wow Rosie, feeding your DD until nearly 2 is certainly an achievement! I'm sure you will get there with your DS after you've worked through the hurdles. You mentioned that your DD didn't sleep either. Was she similar to your DS? You are doing well working through eliminations. The book "mother food" has a great chapter on foods that can cause colic etc.
Definitely call the ABA if for nothing else more than encouragement. Have you considered working with a lactation consultant? I found it invaluable, not just to assess position etc, but for reading babies cues and understanding his behaviour etc. In our experience we tried 5 different formulas, including a homemade one, before we found one that seems to agree with him. His poo still isn't mustard yellow, but he doesn't seem to be as agitated by it. And he'll actually drink it. So formula certainly isn't a quick fix. How do you feel about chiropractic care for babies?
Hang in there, I know you can do it!
Mildez, that is really rough. Centrelink admits they lost the paperwork and apologises, but can't pay you what you are entitled to? Can you speak with someone higher up about it? I don't think we are entitled to anything. I'll find out about FTB at tax time, but we are needing to cut back on expenses too. Is there something you can do from home to help supplement until you're ready to go back to work?
TD I think I just have to hang in there. For the last 2 years my income has been almost double that of my DH so to no longer have that for now was always going to be hard. Most of the other things I could do is considered a conflict of interest with my permanent job and actually breeches the code of conduct so its not much of an option.
Rosey have you tried the formula and if so did you see a difference? I guess one or two bottles is too much to expect much of a change.
Re: Babies Born ~ December 2014
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