May 2009 - we're all here! btw, does anyone know what the Hungry Cry sounds like?

[Momino]

phew! how many threads have we done since last aug?

[emmabemmasmom]

Thanks for doing the new thread. I would have come up with something stupid like 'To tired to come up with a good title'

I only joined in the fun I think in March and it has been at least 5 threads (if not more) since then! Were not a shy bunch anyway!

[Blottedcopybook]

[llareggub]

hellooooooooooo

[emmabemmasmom]

Everyone is missing in action today

[runningmonkey]

Thanks momino for he new thread.

[pulapula]

Hello all, thanks for the new thread Momino.

We've been out at DD and DS1s nursery sports day- a bit daunting with 3 DCs including a screamy baby to manange but we made it!

Does anyone else have a baby that doesn't travel well? With DS2, we find he can drop off in the car if he's tired, but if he's disturbed, say if the car slows down/stops in traffic he will scream and scream and even when it starts again he doesn't calm, which i'm sure my previous 2 would do. I know he's only little so maybe things will improve but it makes going out tricky. The same happens with the pushchair where quite often i have to lift him out to calm him, or transfer him to the sling . Not great for shopping trips.

[pulapula]

oh and S has never slept more than 4 hours straight, so am and at these babies doing 6 or 8 hours!

[Grumpyoldcaaaaaaaa]

Momi I do wake Sophia up for a feed if she's been asleep more than 3.5 hours, otherwise I can't bear the 'exploding boobs' sensation (and usually can't be bothered to express, which would be the obvious solution). She has bobbed on and off all day today, lots of comfort sucking.

MW been today, Sophia now 8lb 15.5oz, so a healthy weight gain, I am very happy indeed.

The stream of visitors has finished for now. I managed not to tell MIL's husband (he's an old fart) to get stuffed, but it was a close-run thing and my fixed smile was getting harder and harder to maintain.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand relax.....

Does anyone else's LO do the 'laaa laaaa laaa' hungry cry? Both DD2 and Sophia 'andlaaa andlaaa andlaaaa' when they are/were hungry .

I hope everyone's having a happy Sunday!!

[FiKelly]

thanks momino for new thread

i think i may possibly have low milk supply prob

over last 2/3days no matter how long grace feeds for (and i mean for hours in am then pm then eve) she's been very unsettled & crying .. it's not wind or her nappy etc. my boobs rarely feel full.. the only times they do is when g has fed for over 4hrs on my boobs, had a formula top up and then occasionally slept for 6hrs. are everyone's bf babies in any semblance of a pattern at 3wks? am baby whisperer fan and would like the EASY routine to work but can't seem to get past the eat part.. she's not satisfied it seems after a feed as she won't stay awake without crying.. unless she gets more boob or a bottle top up. i think i'll start fenugreek and buy a b pump.. what do you think? i'm not wrong in thinking that grace should have some quiet alert and happily full times? rather than feed/wind/pooing/crying repeated over and over for hours? something's not right.. or is this normal for bf?

[pulapula]

fi - S was unsettled around 3 weeks which i thought was a growth spurt. He has calmed again in recent days, but generally i can stretch his feeds out to every 2.5 to 3 hours in the day, but he doesn't always want any activity and I don't force him to wake up either as he would then be grumpy - sometimes he just falls asleep feeding. Evenings and nights vary greatly so no pattern there. I am hoping like you do that things will improve with time! I find S cries a lot when he is falling asleep and then disturbed, so could it be that G is getting sleepy when feeding, then cries as she didn't quite drop off?

[pulapula]

fi- my boobs rarely felt full when S was unsettled and feeding erratically (and in the evenings they were sooo empty), but now feel full again after 3 hours or so. Never engorged though, but that's probably because he feeds every 3 hours around the clock

[FiKelly]

you may be right that my boobs don't ever feel full due to the constant feeding without a decent length of time between feeds.. I think we've also sussed that my left boob doesn't settle grace as much as my right!?! this am after she wouldn't settle after feeding on lhs we topped g up with formula rather than my right boob. she then slept happily for 3hrs.. fed on fully re charged rhs next.. and happily fell asleep again. she should wake up anytime soon I think for next feed. hoping we've broken the continuous cycle and will keep an eye on lhs feeds see if need to up supply on that side somehow?!

[llareggub]

fi, you'll need to be very careful with the formula top-ups. Giving top-ups can reduce your milk supply as generally milk production is stimulated by sucking, so less sucking will mean less milk. I always mix fed DS1 without an impact on my supply, but I know that I was very lucky. G feeds a lot in the evening, and cluster feeding is very common when they are so tiny. I settle down on the sofa and feed and feed and feed, and he settles eventually. With DS1 I thought this meant that he wasn't getting enough milk from me so topped up, but I've since learned that cluster feeding is quite normal. Have faith in your norks!

[llareggub]

Oh, and both my boys have had a favourite side for feeding. They both use the left one for comfort sucking and feeding to sleep. Very handy tool!

[FiKelly]

I've been letting g feed for many hours at a time.. only resorting to FF top up when I've fed her for 4 or 5hrs only for her to do a huge poo , be ravenous all over again, me shattered and nips starting to get sore.. at that point I can't face another 4hr marathon on the sofa with ds desperate for some attention too.. you know what it's like. difficult to balance bf clustering and ds occupying. the last few days g has been clustering 8am to 12 screaming while I go for a wee then feeding again for another marathon sleeping a short time between 5pm and 7pm then up feeding again till midnight when I've caved and given her formula.. has been exhausting as up till last night she also fed at 3am too!

[sausagenmash]

Hellooooo!

Omg, have done my first expressing sesh - my poor nips look like button mushrooms! I got about 40mls-ish - is this normal / ok / wot?!

M and I went for a parade around the park earlier whilst dp did some painting. It felt very Sunday-ish. She wailed for a feed, so I very bravely sat down under a tree and ssubtly started to feed. Felt very proud of myself until she yanked herself off and milk spurted all down my top. Hmf.

[FiKelly]

I was expecting growth spurt days like this just not 3days like this on the trot with her seemingly starving all the time..

[emmabemmasmom]

Fi I never feel painfully engorged either. Infact they never bother me at all. The only time I do feel a little harder is early morning when she wakes for a feed and it has been 6 hours or so. I also think it depends on the baby. E cried and cried no matter how much she ate. I remember running the hoover at 3am just to make her stop!
However, S wakes and can lie happily in her cot for nearly an hour! She is always on me wide awake too. She does not cry really at all...just little cat calls when she is hungry. I think she will just be a more quite child but who knows!
Just a bit of fyi: I noticed a weird right boob issue and I mentioned to the HV that something was just different and it turned out I had thrush on that one and S had it in her mouth. I caught it before I had pain and thankfully I did so maybe just keep an eye on it

[Febes]

I had such a crappy day tomday. DD is really acting up and I smacked her and then felt bad and she has been screaming when going to bed for the past week or so. Please give me some advice those of you with an 18 month gap between DCs. I feel really down today. I'm trying to give her lots of attention and cuddles. This afternoon was alot better but this morning was reaaaaaally bad.

[llareggub]

I can't really give you any advice Febes, I'm still looking for the holy grail of patience, 6 pairs of hands, enough sleep and the ability to breastfeed whilst entertaining the toddler. It's bloody hard, isn't it? I smacked DS out of sheer frustration the other day when he was literally hanging off my neck while I had G in the bath. I was terrified that I'd drop G and lashed out. It scared me senseless.

When I'm in control I'm much better. By that I mean thinking ahead for tiredness cues, low blood sugar and distraction. But mostly I'm too tired or stuck on the sofa breastfeeding so poor old DS gets more and more hyper.

Have some unmumsnet hugs!

[FiKelly]

febesllareggub i'm so with you on the shorter fuse with ds.. just hoping that when g does settle into any routine that it'll help ds..

[emmabemmasmom]

Ohhhhh Febes I so feel for you. I also have an 18 month gap and I think that is part of the reason I have been feeling so down. I don't feel any issues with the new baby but have been starting to feel anger toward DD. I spoke to my HV which helped really just to get it off my chest and hear that I was normal. I have also lost my temper and screamed or smacked her hand which I also ended up in tears. The only things I have started which seem to help is time outs, spending as much one on one time as I can with her (with no tv as I sensed this was causing her to be hyper and noticed a big change in her since I started leaving it off), and I put a small tv in her room (totally against my rules having it in her room) but is so helps to be able to feed S in peace on the couch with her in her room safe for 15 min as it gives us both a time out rather than her watching something in the same room with me but I always turn it off again once I am done feeding or have hands free again. I am not sure what your DH's schedule is, but I also have found that having him take over DD when he gets in helps. He does everything once he walks in the door. By this point we both need a break from eachother so maybe worth talking to see what breaks he or another family member can do. FIL has planned 2 days a week to take her for an hour or two and this gives me something to look forward to.

Sorry so long, but I have also tried everything it seems and just wanted to share any knowledge I have as I know how hard every moment can be. Hang in there and think about when they are older and how great it will be to see them grow up together...

[FiKelly]

emmab my boobs only feel full like yours.. but will keep an eye on lhs. i think the lhs is maybe a bit behind as it's the one that had the bad crack at the start.. and took a while to heal so i had to use a shield which made it harder worth for g to feed through..

[emmabemmasmom]

Oh god, I hope that did not sound like I am an 'against tv' mom

I will say that I used to have it on from morning until night mostly as background noise. DD never really seemed interested except for certian shows. I started turning it off mostly for silence and my own sanity and have noticed a huge change in her not having the noise. She does seem much less hyper and has more time for concentration when we play together.

Just wanted to say sorry if that came off as anti-tv, dissapproving mom ideals that may have offended anyone who does have the tv on all day...god I hope that made sense!

[Tummum]

Hello all. Thanks for setting up the thread Monimo

UnMNetty hugs to you all figuring out how >1DC works. I have no advice to impart I'm afraid, other than reassurance that these early days are the worst. I found after a couple of months (sorry!) I started to get into the swing of having more than one. I'd also like to reassure you that in the long run, it's actually easier to have 2 DC as they entertain each other and play together leaving you to be able to do stuff, which is fab! I suppose my advice is do what works and take it easy on yourself if you have a bad day... it really doesn't mean that you are a bad mummy and you won't be harming your DC in any way. We are all human which means (unfortunately) not perfect !

Can I also say that I have smacked my DC at times when I have lost my rag, (and instantly regretted it and sobbed afterwards!) and it is reassuring that I am not the only Mum in the world that has done this.