Sleepy - I'm a particular fan of American religious shows on in the early morning hours - not! My SIL went to Zumba class a couple of weeks ago and loved it - I reckon it almost makes exercise look like fun!
Traylee - Boz has been feeding every 2-3 hours since last night, taking almost an hour to feed, then at least an hour to settle (DH and I have just spent 4 1/2 hours and he's only just gone down!), doesn't seem to matter what we do, he won't sleep. His little eyes fall closed but as soon as we move him even the tiniest amount, he wakes up and cries his little eyes out. I am not coping all that well atm, hoping it will stop. DH has suggested expressing some so he can do a night feed and maybe I'll feel better with a bit more sleep.
BW - Tell me more about expressing and storing milk! You have an Avent pump - did you buy or hire? When do you express - after a feed, between, or before? Can you express enough for one feed in a single go? How long does it take to defrost? And anything else that you think I should know about EBM!
Phoenix - Have you tried expressing yet?
AFM - As I said to Traylee, I'm not coping too well when Bosley is so difficult to settle. I hate seeing him upset and crying but resent the fact that he needs to be held for hours on end and still won't go to sleep. If we put him in his bassinet awake, he gets himself so worked up and it just takes that much longer to settle him. What we do works sometimes but not others, which makes it all the more confusing. We're going to a new baby session at the Community Health nurse tomorrow so I reckon I'll have lots of questions to ask and hopefully get some decent advice.
JLeigh - It is completely normal for little babies not to self settle. They are used to being held inside you and it is a big shock for them to be on the outside. It doesnt make it any easier though. My first was like that. I honestly could not put her down and even when she slept it was for no longer than 30-45 minutes. Generally it was only for 20mins at a time though. It is really hard though and lack of sleep makes it seem even worse than it is. Expressing so your DH can do a feed is a good idea, try expressing from the other breast to what he is feeding from while he is feeding - it will help with letdown and could help get more milk. Also normally you have more milk in the morning so try expressing then. If you ever want to talk feel free to PM me. I really understand what you are going there. My first year with Tiana was exceptionally difficult. Oh and if you need to stand in the shower and cry, there is nothing wrong with that!
Hope everyone else is getting some sleep!
Apparently I am a good cow! We had Phoebe weighed today and she has put on 400g in one week! My little porka is now 4.3kg! I am excited too, I am off to get my hair cut soon! I was meant to get it done but bub came early so I will feed her and John will stay at the shops with her in case she needs me while I get it done. But it will be so nice to be able to wear my hair out again!
Just popping in to see how everyone is going. Good to see that most belly buddies ended up in the same thread. Would it be alright if I stalk you guys in here?
We are going ok; Ben is just starting to get a bit harder to put to sleep and he has a lot of wind. I can't wait until he learns to keep up with my supply and becomes less windy. I have to say that my letdown is a bit scary; if he pulls off, he gets a couple of jets in his face, poor little man.
Thanks Marnikat. The logical part of my brain knows that everything is normal and that Bosley is actually a really good baby, but sometimes I just feel out of control. I've heard it said that teachers are some of the worst for coping with new bubs because their whole work life runs to a set timetable and suddenly they have a baby who's in charge and there is no timetable any more. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of expressing - perhaps just being better rested will make all the difference...
BTW - Have just had a good cry in the shower. Were you watching???!
jleigh im the same with scarlet,
she seems to want to be held to sleep also, and 4am early mornings she seems to wanna play up more lol,
my first hayley was quiet good went in her bouncer at my feet during day and was happy, but scarlet nope wants to be in arms
i no how u feel, i have had help from troy since im doin formula but during day when i have her or the odd nights im like oh please go down lol
she isnt to bad early in nights, i can feed burp change, feed more then put in bassinette she makes alot of noise in her sleep though.
but i think they will change soon and settle more im hoping , even her swing she doesnt really like it so im beat as to what to do besides hold her cause i dont like the crying either
Traylee and Jleigh - sorry to hear bubs are being a bit hard to settle - I know I would be feeling a bit out of sorts if it took Hunter a long time to settle - I hate when he just crys for a minute or two when I am getting him dressed. I have been lucky he is a content little man most of the time and self settles or just wants a quick cuddle to get to sleep...not sure if I am feeling better about things because he is formula fed and feeds on a pretty consistant routine. I think (not sure if I sound a bit wrong in the head) HUnter knows the difference between night and day, in the night he feeds and goes straight down most of the time - I can hear him fussing most mornings about 430am-530am...he gets to 530 and crys to be feed...so I dont get to watch the quality TV you guys do :-) I keep thinking he is going to change to a very unsettled baby at any moment.
To the mums with other children or bubs slightly older than my bub...do they get more unsettled as they get older?
Also, I think he may have been going through a bit of a growth spurt yesterday...he had to feed every 3 hours when usually he goes 3.5 to 4 hours between feeds - is this normal? I gave him a bit more formula at his last feed but he promptly brought most of it back up. I am not sure if he needs more??? It has been 3h15minutes since his last feed and he isnt stiring yet so will probably make it to the 4 hours again....I am just not sure what he needs :-( We dont go to the child health nurse until monday so I dont know if he has put on weight or if I am feeding him enough...any assistance would be great.
JLeigh - Have you tried co-sleeping? I fnd it is good for Eli. He loves the closeness, and the warmth, and I can lie down and feed. I use a V pillow for Eli. It keeps him snug and warm and it is raised to I won't roll on him. and it might help if Bos doesn't like being moved too. I will be putting him into his bed soon, but for the moment we are gettng sleep so it's working. I'm sorry you're having a hard time at the moment, and I think expressng is a good idea if it let's you get some rest and space.
Sleepy - I've almost been convinced to buy the Wen shampoo they are flogging lol, I've resorted to watching ABC black & white moves lol. That being said little miss has been waking around 4.30ish past few nights so I get to watch the US today show.
Traylee - sorry to hear you had a rough night the other night.
ohhh I'll be back a bit later to do more personals, little miss has decided it's feed & nappy change time and there's not putting that off when she decides it's time
superstar, hunter would cry alot if he wasnt getting enough, plus he would wake up alot more than every 4hrs, lol
seems like ur little man is very happy and content you are a lucky one, scarlet only has about 90mls every 2 to 3hrs, soemtimes she will go longer, if im lucky
i think scarlet has gained a bit, we got on scales with her so i think she is slightly higher than her birth weight now, i was gona take to chemist to get weighed today with nurse person but had to drop hubby off for train and then went into target and woolies etc so just couldnt be stuffed
sleepy and jleigh, yea i have put scarlet in with me 2 times now when she is really stirring early in mornings when troy brings her in to me, she snuggs up next to me, i put my arm under her head and she lays on pilow to and snugs up and sleeps, although makes funny noises still, but sometimes it works,
but i dont want to get into a habit of it with her cause i dont want her wanting that al the time and getting use to it, she needs to learn to sleep in her own bed lol eventually
heehee ok, I'll try again for personals later, but re expressing:
I have an avent pump (though there are plenty of other good ones out there). I purchased it for $60 on ebay (it was brand new, still wrapped in its plastic packaging) though even from k-mart they are only around the $99 mark...there are all different avent ones. The "disposable" milk storage ones are hard to come by now, as they no longer make them, they have a bottle without a base in it.
You can express into storage bags, or avent make a product called Via which can be used with the pump, and you can attach a teat to it etc, and can be stored in the freezer and so on.
Ok...so, I only feed Kaylee from one side at a time, so then I express the other side (otherwise I explode!). If I'm full, and its a good hour or so before Kaylee's next feed, I'll express then too.
At the moment I get between 150 and 200ml per side when I express, and I fed Kaylee from a bottle today, and she took 100ml, so I'm definitely getting enough for a feed each time I express (this morning before I left the house, Kaylee was due for a feed, however I was giving her an expressed feed, so I expressed, and got a total of 350ml.
EBM can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months, and defrosted in either hot water, or a bottle warmer. Its very similar to watered down milk in terms of how long it takes to defrost...left to "air" defrost its a good couple of hours, defrosting in hot water only takes about 10 minutes...but when I was feeding boyo solely expressed milk from a bottle, I would take the days feeds out of the freezer in the morning and place them in the fridge, that way they had started the process before he needed a bottle....I'd also put them in the hot water about 15mins before he was due for a feed (assuming 4 hourly feeds) so they were ready before he wanted them!
ahhhh just lost my post b*gger!!! Will try the shorter version now lol
Jleigh - Sounds like you've had a rough couple of days, I'm a fan of having a good cry when it all gets too much. I've just been for a walk down to chemist and got some breastmilk bags and going to sit down and do my first "proper" express, rest I've done have just been to give my breasts some relief when they feel like bursting. Going to attempt a semi bottle feed tonight as A has taken to cluster feeding from about 5-11pm and my nipples need a break lol.
Superstar - I'm with you on the sleep, I LOVE my sleep - I've got a good sleeper and still feel like a zombie. I'm lucky she knows night from day too and her nightime feed is a dream feed where she barely wakes up and goes straight back down. I used to rub my belly everynight when I was pregnant before bed and tell her that it was bedtime & time to sleep, maybe she got the hint hahaha.
BW - thanks again for the expressing info, it's all such a learning curve this motherhood thing and nothing you read before really prepares you. Great news that you managed to get an appointment with the specialist so quickly and not the usual weeks or months that appointments can take.
Marni - wow that is a great weight gain, glad to hear little P is growing well.
Esme - hello, good to hear from you and that B is doing well too. Got a giggle with you squirting him in the face, I got myself in the eye other day trying to get her to latch properly.
Hello to anyone I've missed. Waiting excitedly for the other new mummies to join us when they can.
Not that much to report here except A is either having a grown spurt or trying to increase my milk supply as past couple of nights between about 5-11.30pm she has become a cluster feeding nightmare and my nipples are peeling like they were when I first started BF'ing OUCH. She only goes down for about half hour/hour and then up again crying unless she's being held or fed. That said once she is down and settled she is out for the count and went right through till 5.30 this morning
Have the CAFHS nurse coming for our home visit on Friday morning, she has to have her hearing rechecked as it came up a "refer" in hospital, so fingers crossed this one comes back normal and will be good to see how much she's put on since last week.
What are you noticing about your little bubs that they've inherited from you and DH. A has my ears, nose & fingers and my slow waking stretching & crankiness lol. She has DH's lips, chin & toes and I joke his impatience
Phoenix76 - Elijah has almost everything of his daddy. His toes, lips, nose, ears, cankles.....lmao. Eli has my shape head tho. I guess that made birth easier. Cooper has daddys head, big and block shape lol. Oh and Elijah frowns alot. So does DH!
Phoenix - P has everything of her daddy. Both of my girls have been spitting images of DH. No mistaking who their father is, lol! With your nipples, you could try nipple shields until they heal, I've had to use them and they really do help when you are in pain.
Sleepy - I have considered alcohol, but havn't drunk any - I didn't while pregnant either.
Erin - Babies do have a growth spurt around 2 weeks so it is likely that is what is going on.
Traylee - Hope you get some sleep tonight!
JLeigh - I used to cry in the shower alot! You don't feel as bad when there is water mixed with your tears either. Also I think you can hire a breast pump from chemists or hospitals if you want to try them before you buy one. Might be something to look into.
Hi BW, Pish, Socks! Sorry if I missed anyone Hope you are all enjoying baby snuggles!
Hi girls! I've been meaning to mention this for weeks (before the births even started!)
There's a great book (but I saved my money and looked at the chart on the website) called 'the wonder weeks'.
It outlines specific weeks in a childs (any childs) life where they have a burst of development. These developmental births often coincide with increased crankiness, feeding, sleep disturbances etc.
It's great, and accurate (we matched the markers with boyo!) the first, as most of us have seen is around 2 weeks (remember the 2 hour feeding etc?!).
It's worth a look!!! (just google the wonder weeks)
Better get boyo to crèche (am writing this on my phone while little lady has brekky!!)
Sleepy - I've been having the occasional half glass of red wine with dinner, A usually feeds around 5.30 - 6.00 and we eat straight after she's finished and my glass of wine with dinner was one thing I really missed while pregnant. So far it doesn't seem to be causing any problems wind wise, she's been really unsettled from that feed anyway till about 10.00-11.00pm for past few days, so figure it's good for me LOL.
Jleigh - I've got a closer to nature breast pump, I got out about 30ml yesterday arvo and defrosted what I had in freezer for DH to make up a 50ml feed which she took from bottle & guts down no problems. So relieved she will take it and DH can feed her if I ever need. I topped her up afterwards.
Marni - was looking at the nipple shields in the chemist yesterday, have been coating them in lansinoh between feeds & they are better today coz I got a good break overnight, I'm almost ashamed to admit she slept from 10.30pm til 5.00am the past two nights after reading about everyone's sleepless nights
Not much to report here, just about to go and attempt to express because I seem to have a load more milk in the mornings.
We had a pretty good night sleep, Elijah fed at 9pm, woke at 2am for another feed, then was grizzly at 5am with wind pains. We went out for dinner last night as it was DH's birthday, i had a fair bit of coke (still afraid to have alcohol yet), but not sure if thats what did it. But he has been asleep since about 10ish now, and is starting to stir for another feed...I probably should have had a nap...but i think it's too late now...oh well.
Anyway, hope you're all having a great day with your bubs, and enjoying all the little cuddles and kisses....I can't stop kissing Elijah..he is just sooo adorable....and i love the way he stretches, and arches his back..and purses his lips....just wanna eat him up....lol
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