Newborn to 1 Month, January '05

[christy]

oh Mimo thats so hard, Matilda had really bad wind as well... on the CHN's recommendation I tried warm boiled water.. and it helped push through the wind incredibly!! The other thing that helped Matilda was the marena's mixture, and the infants friend... those two worked the best with her...but the water tricked worked the best....

[mooshie]

hi mimo

just a suggestion, have you tried putting the bassinet/cot on an incline, most bassinets you can, with a cot you could prop up the legs with phone books, so bubs is not lying so flat, this may help. my ds had terrible wind pains as a bub and nothing would help, it turned out when he was 9mths old he had a few allergies, dairy being one of them, after he was put onto soy he was fine, i am not suggesting you use soy but maybe something to keep in mind.

and in my opinion dummies are the greatest invention, babies sometimes just need to suck to sooth themself, i would rather have a dummy than a finger or thumb although lani uses both, sometimes at the same time lol.

my ds is 4 1/2 years old and he just gave his dummy to santa without a problem he was a bit old, but over the last few years we have had a terrible stressful time with our first dd being diagnosed with cancer and dying in 2002 so weaning off the dummy was the least of my problems. with my kids i used the dummy everywhere, i used to have it on me at all times however once they hit 1yr old we got into a habit that dummy is for sleep only (or if not feeling 100%) and when they got up it would stay in the cot/bed to keep teddy company lol that seemed to work.

good luck

[hindonly]

Hello,

Finally I can post here - feels fantastic.
But I know that this forum will be a lot of help for us being new parents.
My problem is the same as Mimo!
Bub has terrible wind which seems to make her grimace and cry,cough etc. We burp her during and after feeds but it is pretty stubborn.
In hospital they did show us the trick of propping up the bassinet-which I had forgotten about until reading a post here. Must try that again.

Christy - Is it okay to use your little trick with Cara at 8 days old??

In the hospital there was another trick the midwife had shown us.
They warm a couple of bunny rugs: the 1st they fold into a square lge enough to fit comfortable around bubs chest & under her arms, the other the swaddle her in very securely so that the arms are wrapped as well.
She had terrible wind and within 10/15 mins she brought up quite a bit.
Mimo maybe this will help with your bub.
I must try this again too!
Its amazing how much you forget when your bub is crying hysterically!!:-(

And I too had sworn not to use a dummy- and yes I did buckle! Not just for sanitys sake but to stop her from crying.
It didn't take her long to realise that she wasn't getting anything from it.

Has everyone gone into breastfeeding smoothly??
I have a big problem with bub latching on. And I have to say my nipples are not the best at the moment!
I'm actually calling the b/feeding assoc on Mon to join the local group and hopefully meet with someone for help.. Ouch!!
If anyone has any other helpful hints with wind Pls let me know! :-)

Carol

[hindonly]

Forgot 2 add my details:-)

Forum Name: Hindonly
State: Qld
Baby's DOB: 31.12.04
Baby's Stats: Weight - 7 Ib 5 oz Length - 49.5 cm Head Circ - 34cm
Gender of Baby: Girl
Baby Name(s): Cara Katherine
Baby's Website: Coming
Health Concerns: reflux
Notes: 1 hr 10 mins early :-)

[BellyBelly]

MiMo - I have exactly the same problem with Elijah. The reason they have this problem is obviously that that they have an immature digestive system but the lactose in breastmilk (it's naturally there, nothing we can do) is hard to digest and some babies have more of a problem than others. Elijah is 9 weeks and he still wakes around 2 hours after a breastfeed and squirms and kicks until all the wind has passed, so often I am awake for ages after his 12am feed and 3/4am feed to help him pass it. He isn't as 'upset' with it as he used to be, now he just wakes, squirms and kicks and can't settle til it's gone - i.e. he doesn't scream or cry, more of a whine if that. Unfortunately they will most likely have this problem until around 3 months when they can deal with it better in their bodies.

Brauer Colic Relief is fabulous. We actually had a discussion about wind and things that help in this post here so you might get some good ideas there. Hang in there, poor bub is just uncomfortable and I know you're really tired - it will pass soon.

[BellyBelly]

I just wanted to add - Elijah also had reflux and we gave him a dummy. It helped his tummy so much, although I know they aren't recommended in the early weeks in order to avoid nipple confusion. Elijah did have nipple confusion for a little amount of time but soon worked it out and feeds well. But the poor little bubba with reflux and colic, it really helped him to have something to suck on, and it saved my nipples big time!

[Ambah]

MiMo, try not to worry too much about having to use a dummy. We gave Aidyn a dummy at 2 weeks of age. Although in the beginning he used it frequently, we now only use it to settle him for nap/sleep time and take it with us when we go out, just in case.

hindonly - I also had huge problems getting Aidyn to latch on to me. Maybe if your nipples are really sore you can try expressing the milk with a breastpump? I think its a really good idea that you are hooking up with the ABA, I'm sure they will be a great help to you!

[Phteven]

Carol, I don't think that anyone has ever gone into breastfeeding smoothly, its not as easy as they make it look. Its like any other skill, it takes a while to get the hang of it but you and bub will figure it out soon enough. In the first week or two after my milk had come in Yasin had a bit of a problem latching because my boobs were so full that my nipples went flat and they were really hard so it would have been like trying to figure out which part of a rock to suck on and then once the let down happened there was milk everywhere so it was kind of slippery too. I found the best thing to do was to express a bit before feeding (sometimes into a bottle but often by hand onto a cloth nappy) and then dry them off before trying to get him to latch. Once my boobs were softer and had a nipple he had an easier time figuring out how to use them. Mind you expressing whilst trying to calm a hungry, crying newborn isn't the worlds easiest job but after a week or two things settled down a bit and latching got easier.
re the dummy -all the books and midwives say not to use them, it seems to be the convention at the moment but most people seem to end up using them anyway. I said I wouldn't use one but Yasin hadn't read the books or spoken to the midwives so he had differant ideas. Like Mooshie said babies like to suck so if it makes them happy why deny it. We only use it for sleeping and never had any problem with nipple confusion.

[mipsy]

Carol - not that I know much, I'm on a steep learning curve myself, but the peadiatrician said dummys were fine, and we used one on Ashleigh from about day 3. The reason we started was I didn't know how often she should be feeding, we don't really keep to demand feeding, but stretch it out a bit, and the doc recommended to use a dummy to hold her off a bit so to speak.

We are now using it more for that feral time of day a/a 5pm, and also when going down for a nap or sleep.

On that note, Ashleigh is definitely going into a longer sleep pattern, last night from 7.30pm - 12.30am!!! (for about the 4th night in a row) Then this morning after her 7am feed she went back to sleep until about 10.30. Fisrt I was worried she wasn't napping, then I was worried she's sleeping too much!!!! No matter what the poor child does I'll worry it's not "right". :-s But its our routine and everything is working for us. Wish she would have dropped the 1am or 3am feed instead of the 10pm one though!

Kelly, thanks for the advice on the sling thread, I checked it out and will look at getting one at some stage.
cheers,
Anna

[MiMo]

thanks for all the suggestions, Hannah has been alot better the last few days. Today has been pretty awful though and Im wondering if its the curry we had last night. Does anyone know how long it takes for food to affect your breast milk? I think for the moment curry will be off limits though.

Christy, how much water do you give them and should it be warm?

[christy]

with the warm (cooled boiled water) Matilda used to only have like 20mls at most... sometimes more but only on hot days...

[shazbails]

Hello strangers
Well finally I get to post. I have been on a couple of times, but only very briefly cos as soon as I do a little man decides that it is more important for him to be sitting on a boob than me sitting on the computer!!
He is half-heartedly on the boob now- I've got the cushion sorted so I am able to work hands-free (for a short time anyway)
Maybe I'll even get the chance to write my birth story one of these days, although it wasn't overly pleasant so maybe it's best not to!!

Hope everyone is going well
can anyone answer a question I have re sterilizing bottles for expressed milk etc?
If I boil the bottle/teat etc to sterilize for expressed milk do I need to boil them just before using them or can you boil them and then use them whenever??

Details:
FORUM NAME: shazbails
STATE: Vic
BABY'S DOB: 23/12/04
GENDER: Male
BABY'S NAME: Kane Jayvyn Oakley
STATS: Weight 7lb 12oz 3570gms, Length 50cm Head circ 35.5 cm
NOTES: Posterior delivery with vacuum, forceps and epis from butthole to breakfast (TMI #-o )

Now I have a grumpy little man so will try writing again later!!
Sharon

[Astrolady]

Hi Shaz

You can boil them and then use whenever as long as they are kept in a sterile air tight container.

Love

[*Jessica*]

Hi Sharon it's great to hear from you and I hope your little man 'allows' you more time on belly belly!

I have my 1st mothers group tomorrow, I am both excited and nervous. I hope Aidan behaves himself, but I am very worried about feeding time as I don't plan on b/f in front of others, especially other Mum's who no doubt will be watching each other intently!

Jess

[Antheia]

Jess, hope you have a good time at your mothers' group tomorrow. I can't seem to find one around my area!

Sharon, nice to hear from you. Hope all is going well with your little one.

[bon]

Hi Shaz

I keep any sterilised bottles or dummies in the fridge on a section of shelf I have reserved for Grace's stuff.
Hope things are going well with your little one.

[shazbails]

Hello again
Thanks for the info re sterilized stuff.
Hope everyone else is going well with their little ones.
Kane is going really well. Tends to sleep at night for 3 or 4 hour stretches which is great.
He really varies during the day. Today he has slept most of the day away and just had a couple of little snacks, other days he won't sleep and wants to eat all day. Or just stay awake - afraid he'll miss out on something!!
Hopefully I will soon have some pics to put on a website - I'm part way to getting organised with that ie I've actually got onto the babiesonline site and got a password!! I should finish it now but I really should eat some dinner while the little man is sleeping!
He had his first shower yesterday and loved it. Loves the bath too, just lays back and laps it up.
Babies are the biggest time-wasters aren't they?? You can just sit and watch them all day, even when sleeping. Kane really drops the lip when getting ready for a cry, it's so funny.
Anyway won't ramble
Will go eat.
All the best to you all, and hopefully this sleeping business will keep going for a few days so I can get back and have a good look around the forums to see what's going on.
How funny is it that all these people who were posting daily in the 3rd tri are now lucky to post in the newborn section once a week!! Too busy watching that lip dropping :-)
Cheers
Sharon

[hindonly]

Hi every1,

Just wondering if any1 else has had this exp' with their bub??

Every time she has a poo it seems like she is in a lot of pain, crying loudly, and going quite red its pretty distressing to watch!

Ive asked a couple of child hth care nurses and they have told me that some babies do this but would feel more at ease if I knew others had exp'd this also...

Thanks,
Carol