were doing ok here..well kind of Milly has been really good at night for the last two nights...sleeping between 6 and 7 hours straight but during the day she has been just awful wont sleep for longer than about 20minutes at a time Im not complaining because at least im getting sleep at night so im rested enough to deal with her but its just hard trying to amuse and play with DD1 when im trying to settle Milly all day.
Eluned+Milly isnt a fan of the car either but Im lucky because DS sits in the back behind her so he is getting good at dummy duty lol
harleysgirl+ that must have been scary about the bruise its good you got to see a doctor asap to put your mind at ease.
I cant belive how fast our babies are growing its almost scary.
Hope you are well. It's stinking hot here in Adelaide today. DH and I took Darcey to the movies this morning, it was a 10.30am session, and the only people we saw buying tickets, or in our session were mums with babies in prams, pregnant women or grandparents! So I didn't feel guilty if she cried. She only let out one little cry when she woke up, I fed her, and then she fell asleep in my DH's arms. Everyone was happy, including me. The movie, Invictus, by the way was great, but I think Morgan Freeman could read the back of a cereal packet and I'd be rapt. What a great actor.
Got a couple of questions, wondering if anyone is interested in comparing notes?
If you are bf'ing, at the moment, how long are you feeding for, on each boob? Also, on average, how much sleep in between feeds? How much time is your baby alert for?
With the exception of the last two days (and some of the problem day/nights), wer're generally on 3 hourly feeds. She will take one boob for approx 20 - 25 mins, and then I'll swap her over for another 15-20 mins on the other side. Total feed time is normally between 35 to 45 mins. Plus of course, 5 mins rest time in between. We then burp for a while....5 mins to 45 mins, depending. I then spend time settling her (especially at night), so she's getting maybe an hour to hour and half of sleep within a three hour session. We also have at least one session, where she is completely alert, awake, not interested in sleep at all. I'm OK with this, now that we've managed to move it from the 1am feed to any other time!
We've changed our routine the last week, so that Darcey is having a bath around 9pm at night (seems late I know, but its working), when she wakes up for the 9pm feed, we're bathing her, then feeding, burping, settling. This is working well, as the last few nights, she has slept from around 11pm through to 4.30am/5.00am. I'm finding that sleeping through this particular time period is very, very restful for me, and I'm less tired in the morning. Hopefully it will continue.
Does anyone have any successful tips for settling, or keeping days and nights in the right order?
Also, if anyone is bf'ing, have you been expressing and letting DH feed breast milk with bottle? My DH is very hands on, he bathes Darcey (I just hold the towel), takes her for burping when she is very upset. He even changed her clothes the other day, to a "prettier outfit". He really wants to feed her as well, he went and bought a manual breast pump at the chemist, and spoke to the chemist about expressing milk... for effort I haven't pulled it out of the box yet, I just keep thinking she is too young??? Also, I'mthinking that the way they suck on bottle is different to sucking on nipple, and we already have challenges with her sucking and pulling and chewing on nipple as it is. Ouch, ouch and more ouch. (And no, it's not an attachment problem, it's a sucking problem) Any thoughts?
Thanks, and hope it isn't as hot for you in your neck of the woods.
Petal
Eluned and Party of Five - I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the name Amelia and Milly.
Amilia has always been my "If I have a baby girl, I will call her..." name, which I would then shorten to Millie as a nickname. I just adore the names.
We were told that we would never, ever have children. Much heartache involved, more than I could ever express out loud. Soooooo, we bought a dog, and named her Millie. My Millie has been spoilt rotten, but she has been a godsend too, got me and DH through a terrible time.
And then the planets aligned, centuries of good karma were repaid to me, and we fell pregnant. Couldn't use the name Amilia as we had already given the name to the child substitute! What a delightful problem to have - coming up with a new favourite name for our child.
So anyway, I love your choice of names, couldn't have picked better! Oh, except for Darcey , my new favourite.
Petal, sounds like you've got a pretty good routine there. Our feeds are taking a similar amount of time although we are feeding roughly every 2ish hours. She has a big sleep (3 hours) in arvo most days and another big sleep from about 10pm to about 2am.
With expressing, I'd personally wait until at least 12 weeks to feed via bottle. They are still learning and your supply is still sorting itself out. So I'd just give it a bit of time to iron out the kinks and get established. There will be plenty of opportunities for your hubby to feed down the track especially when solids are started.
ETA... Thanks petal, we were really stuck for girls names but both of us just loved Amelia. Turns out it was also DH's great grandmothers name as well although we didn't know it at the time.
I have been keeping up with everyone's posts but not enough time to reply!! So hello to everyone and sorry that I'm not going to do personals, but seems to be a common theme here
We're getting at least 8 feeds a day, but not '3 hourly', I really feel blessed as the longer sleeps are at night time (touch wood!) where Henry will go at most 5 hours between feeds (usually one long 5 hour gap and then followed by a 3), by the time he wakes up and I wake up I realise that my BBs want to explode and pray that he will take both sides to deflate them a bit, cause they're so big he often doesn't though I let the other one drain a bit while feeding the other side so can go back to sleep. During the day he empties them fully by around lunchtime and in between I am massaging both to prevent another bout of mastitis. During the day he'll got 2-3.5 hours between feeds.
The time I take to feed varies...at night the feeds are very short...sometimes only 5-10 minutes of sucking (which sucks for my full BBs) and then I burp and try and try and try to get him to have more but don't suceed so have now resigned myself that he wants only a nighttime top up and I should go back to bed! During the day sometimes he'll have up to 30 minutes on one side but if he does that usually doesn't want the other. On average during the day he'll have a total of 20-30 minutes sucking on one but usually both sides...sometimes up to 45 minutes but then it's more a comfort for the last 15 minutes where he only starts sucking once I try to take him off
He never really cries except for most afternoons around 4.00 where he'll need to be cuddled lots but settles after about 15 minutes. I think I have it quite good?
He also has some stints of wide awake time too where he won't sleep at all between feeds (or sometimes between 3!) mostly in the morning - he has a bit of tummy time, lying in bed, cuddles with me and in the bouncy thing. I also noticed today that he's smiling more...I don't think it's wind anymore, he smiled everytime I wrapped him today and often does little smirks, very cute.
I have been meaning to collect what milk I let drain on one side and store rather than soaking a towel or nappy but haven't gotten around to it...a job for later this week I think.
I've been out and about today, I went to visit by work today so that was good and feeling very chuffed with myself for the big trip that we got home had a feed and then did a woolies shop in the Bjorn which was fun to wander around chatting away to him...was tired by this afternoon and did a wash not realising that somehow (???) a disposible nappy got caught up in the washing and went through the washer....you can't believe all the gel crap that came out of it....so awful. So that was cleaned up before my afternoon nap
Henry's 4 weeks today and talking to DH I feel better each week...I'm not worried about feeding anymore as he's gaining weight (360 grams in 8 days was last measurement!!) and now I'm just going to go with the flow.
I hope everyone is going well. Gosh I hope what I've written makes sense!!
Had to go back into hossy last night to get my ceaser wound opened and drained ewww the local didnt work so it was nice a pleasant....not....but hopefully now with the antibotics everything will started healing so i can go back to normal!
Sebastian feeds every 2-3hrs during the day except between 4-8 where he cluster feeds every hr. Very time consuming especially when trying to get tea organised and fit in time with DD. Most nights he will have a long 5hr stint then 3hrly after that so its not to bad.
Is anyone having trouble with wind? Seb seems to have a lot of it and we are having trouble getting it up. Have been using infants friend but it doesnt seem to be cutting it anymore.
Hope everyone is doing well...will try and keep it with this thread more often
Petal - to be honest i am not 100% sure how much time on each, some days she has a good 15min on each, others it's say 15min on 1 side and 5 on the other.
At night when my (.)(.) are full she mainly takes 1 side and then the other side enough to have a bit of a let down.
I do 1 side, change her bum (to wake her) and then the other side, if she's still awake then i put her on the floor for a play with DD1 but i think she's normally awake about 45min - hr, then sleeps about 1-2hrs and then up for another feed. sometimes she doesn't sleep in b/w at all.
With day and night all i do is use a touch lamp in our room at night, keeps the room nice and dim, during the day she is in the lounge with us, curtains open and there is ALWAYS constant noise, if were not in the room i turn the radio on.
I'm even horrible enough to NOT tell DD1 to be quiet, it's not fair on her if i'm constantly telling her to shut up and so far it works Z sleeps through her and even the vac under her bassinet (most days).
Will do more personals tomorrow as prob wont get a chance today.. we are taking Ava to her allergist appt, 4hrs at the RCH doing skin ***** tests and a food challenge, my poor baby girl! (well not my baby anymore but you know what i mean)
Worst part is the appt is at 1pm, it's about an hr drive in then we have to be there 4hrs PLUS possible an extra hr to make sure she has no further reactions.
So chances are we wont be leaving until 6pm and then i might have to go to the real estate to sign docs as we may have sold out block, thats an 1.5hr drive.
I'm nuts, really i am 2 kids by myself in the hosp all day.. lets hope today is the day Zara decides it's ok to just eat and sleep.
I hope my poor princess Ava is ok, she HATED the skin ***** test last time.. makes me feel sick to think they are going to feed her something she could possibly react with
Sorry its taken me so long to find this thread....my name is tracy and my baby girl was born on 15th January. I cant believe she is nearly 4 weeks old already.....although it has been the toughest 4 weeks of my life thats for sure. Nothing prepares you for what it is really like and I am finding I appreciate my Mum a whole lot more now that I know what she went through for me
We are going OK although I have pretty much given up on the BFeeding....I am expressing and giving it to her in a bottle. She also has formula in the evening cause the breast milk doesnt seem to sustain her long enough. She is a big bubs, 4.5kgs born and I weighed her yesterday and she was 4.65kgs. She wasnt getting enough from BFeeding so I decided to express it to make sure she had enough and if not then top up with formula. I do feel quite sad about it though, would have been nice to BF properly.
She has also started being miss cranky pants in the evenings, its like a switch goes off at 6pm and shje wont settle, just cries and cries unless I am holding her, she then seems to drift off to sleep but everytime i put her down she cries again, its so frustrating. Its always in the evenings too when I am most tired. Anyone else experiencing this?
JenJams, Illey, Bun and Daytonas mum so good to see you in here, looking forward to continuing the journey with you and also looking forward to getting to know the other mums as well.
I started writing this post at lunch time and have just finished it now.....lol....I guess thats what happens with a newborn hey.
Caroline is the same in the evenings. screams and feeds almost constantly then passes out at 10.30/11.30pm and passes out until 6 or 7am. that's been the last few nights anyway. she has only had short feeds during the day so i'm thinking its catchup.
Petal - DH would love me to express so he can feed her but the MCHN said to wait until bf is well and truly established to avoid confusion and possible nipple rejection.
Welcome Tracehb!! Henry is a bit cranky in the afternoons, but luckily for me not as bad as you (YET!!!) after the feed around 4.00 or so (not that we have set times, but would be the one closer to this time) he won't go down to sleep even though he's tired unless I am holding him...though I really only have to cuddle and rock him for about 10-15 minutes and it's quite nice, but if I put him down straight after I wrap him up then he will grizzle and then cry unless I tend to him.
I wrote a post last night about how good he is at night and of course last night he was quite unsettled after a 1am feed! Always the way, I never should have put it in writing!!! Hopefully he was overtired as we had a big day yesterday.
It's a shame about your BF, it's so hard when you have to feed so many times a day and you have problems, always questionning if they are getting enough, are they sucking on each side long enough....every time I read a book or speak to someone I have different opinions!! Don't feel sad that you are no longer BFing, you just have to know that you are doing the right thing for you and your baby!! You never know, with the expressing your supply could increase to enough to feed her fully on EBM!
I had problems earlier on with oversupply, damaged nipples and mastitis but the worst seems to be over however I am still using nipple shields...though I have tried a couple of times over the last day or so to get him onto the nipple without the shield and he spits it out! So not sure if I'll be able to convert him or if we'll be using them forever....nobody seems to approve of them!
ZF - How did Ava go today? Do you have to get her tested because you have allergies in the family?? I hope that she isn't allergic to anything too common and that she wasn't upset by the tests.
Hummingbird - I use shields all the time also because i have flat nipples. my son would never attach to them, didn't know what to do but Caroline jumped and was fine. i also had mastitis and grazed/bruised nipples (right at the beginning before i could use the shields). am happy to keep using them if i need to, i do feel very self conscious though in public. oh well!
MINNY - So sorry I forgot to put in my earlier post, I am so sorry that your incision had to be re-opened...how scary and horrible for you I hope that now you're on the mend and you can move on with your life!
ILLEYENA I think I might have to keep using the shields too, I know my supply isn't being affected yet as when he has a break the shields fill up and I have to empty them a couple of times before he's ready to start again..Strange thing is that he was feeding OK on them when he was first born without shields but now they seem too small for him? Perhaps the shield is easier for him so he doesn't want to bother with the straigh BB. I will go to the local BF clinic to see if they can have a look.
Hi Trace. Welcome over here. Don't beat yourself up over the feeding. You are doing what you feel is right for your bubs. My DD1 was a 4.5kg baby (if not more 10lb 4.5oz in the old scale) and it was tough knowing whether she was getting enough too. She did have some formula at times as well. Bigger bubs are robust mate. Remember the saying... happy bubs, happy mum (or is that the other way round?)
Minny, I hope you are feeling better now you have had your incision drained. Was it very sore? Hopefully now it is onwards and upwards.
Zarava- How did you go being out all day yesterday?
Illey- Thats a decent sleep C has. How is she going during the days?
Petal- Our feeds vary. She sometimes goes for 10 minutes a side or she will go longer. I think my letdown is a bit fast for her at the moment. She seems to struggle to keep up at times. Also meaning extra wind. She also chokes on the milk too.
Hummingbird- Hopefully Henry settles down again and is unsettledness is a one off.
Hello to everyone else.
I bought a woombie a couple of weeks ago. If you google it you will see its a swaddle they cannot get out of. I had read a lot of reviews before I bought it and they all seemed positive. She looks like she is in a straight jacket but she seems to sleep ok in it.
We had our MCHN appointment on Monday and she put on 400grams in a week! WOW! I knew she had a growth spurt last week but that is rediculous. She is now 4335 grams, 54cm and her head is 38cm.
How often are people doing tummy time? I have to try and increase it I think. I also might be brave and attempt to take both girls to my work today. That should keep the toddler occupied for long enough.
Terrible two's in toddlers is shocking!
jenjams - during the day (the last few days anyways) Caroline is usually back asleep by 8.30/9am and will sleep until about 11am. I'll feed, change and play with her til noon and wake her about 2.20pm to feed her (i have to leave to pick my son up from school at 3.20 hence the wake up). it's been after this though that hell breaks loose... she's yawning and ready to sleep again by about 4pm but doesn't quite get there and she gets over tired and it snowballs in to evenings of screaming and feeding with my guess that it is because she is over tired and the wind has caught up with her and maybe some cluster feeding to catch up from shorter feeds during the day? the list of possibilities is long. Not happy that we left that Caroline instruction book at the hospital
Yesterday out of desperation I got her to sleep on my chest and kept her there til she woke up 45 minutes later. I usually put her in her bassinet before she falls asleep and she is able to settle herself to sleep but as she hasn't been sleeping at this time the last few days I was taking what I could get! it didn't help with the evening though.
Minny - the drainage sounds painful! hope it's all better now and heals up for you!
i'm sorry for not doing many personals, I want to but haven't been able to keep up with those that have gone to formula try not to beat yourself up. My son didn't bf because he couldn't latch on to my flat nipples and didn't know what to do with the shields. I expressed for two weeks and then went to formula and he has turned out fine. His immune system is fantastic as is his intelligence so I personally don't buy in to the myths that bf bubs are smarter and healthier. I mean it's all great if you can but definitely not the end of the world if you don't. Same with c/s vs vag births - my first was an emergency c/s after a long and fruitless labour and the guilt over not doing it "naturally" on top of not being able to breastfeed however at the end of the day (and I know we hear this all the time!) it's about getting our darling babies out safe and sound. they don't mind! this time round I had a planned c/s and while it took me a little bit to come to terms with the decision I had to remind myself that it was about getting that healthy baby out and any risk was not worth taking.
Welcome trace! Don't beat yourself up about the feeding. We all do what it takes. As long as she is having about 5-6 wet nappies and a couple of poos in 24 hours then she's getting enough.
The cluster feeding is hard to deal with but it's just their way of catching up and increasing your supply. My DD has two periods of cluster feeding - mid morning and evening. It's bloody hard entertaining a toddler as well! Thank goodness for the wiggles!
I am getting through it by telling myself it's not going to last forever. And it won't ya know, it's such a short time in the big scheme of things.
Minny, how are you feeling? Sorry to hear about your scar. Hope you are feeling better
Leah- how did A's tests go?
Sorry not many personals, am on my iPhone and can't scroll back to see all the posts!
hey girlies, just popping in quickly cos I have a quick question... has anyone dtd yet?? Are we allowed to or do you have to wait the 6 weeks? I didn't have any stitches, just a bit of a scratch, but everything is feeling pretty much normal down there now... DH and I are getting toey ><;;
I have been lurking and reading everyones posts, which are helpful!... being a newby mum I don't have much to contribute!
Re: Babies born~January 1st-15th 2010 #1
but during the day she has been just awful wont sleep for longer than about 20minutes at a time
Im not complaining because at least im getting sleep at night so im rested enough to deal with her but its just hard trying to amuse and play with DD1 when im trying to settle Milly all day.
that must have been scary about the bruise its good you got to see a doctor asap to put your mind at ease.
for effort
as we had already given the name to the child substitute! What a delightful problem to have - coming up with a new favourite name for our child. 
Hi All!
though I let the other one drain a bit while feeding the other side so can go back to sleep. During the day he empties them fully by around lunchtime and in between I am massaging both to prevent another bout of mastitis. During the day he'll got 2-3.5 hours between feeds.
question... has anyone dtd yet?? Are we allowed to or do you have to wait the 6 weeks? I didn't have any stitches, just a bit of a scratch, but everything is feeling pretty much normal down there now... DH and I are getting toey ><;;
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