Graduated Elderberries - Thread 8

[Cavort]

The over 30's expecting/just given birth to their first little bundle of joy.

Thread 8 already!!

Interesting about the expressed milk trouble. I expressed some yesterday snd want to freeze it as I won't get a chance to use it this week and rarely get engorged enough to express these days.

But I don't know what to freeze it in? I don't have any bags, and don't have any bottle caps (other than teats and lids) and I don't think they'd be suitable. Other issue is because it was from when I was engorged, it's all foremilk, which isn't ideal for feeding anyway.

So much drama. We've had to cheat and use formula when we've been out over the last few weeks due to lack of expressability so it kind of bugs me to just throw it out.

We had 3 wakings last night, I feel the sleep regression knocking on the door.

Amazing DP though not only made me a cup of tea while I was feeding at 630 this morning, he also made me some sarnies when he made his packed lunch.

I am completely baffled Janey as i'm sure my milk has kept well in the fridge and freezer in the past, but for whatever reason it's seemingly going 'off' now. I don't really have the time to experiment properly as I'm not the greatest expresser and I need to build up 25+ spare ounces before next Friday on top of my normal expressing (for DH to help out with a few night feeds so I can get more than 2 consecutive hours of sleep). Aaarrgghh!

Brave I think you could freeze it in any container as long as you sterilise it first? An empty glass jar? I think any plastic containers or bags should be BPA free. 3 wakings is a good night here at the moment.

Here a good night is wakings every 3 hours, average every 2 and then we have those with hourly wakings..

At least eating is getting better - still not great, but better. And loves his baby rice - just one brand though, tried another one and that was firmly rejected. Picky baby.

Ahh bless him hazel, he obviously knows what he likes....little pickle!

Saw the health visitor today and my little chubber now weighs 8lb 12oz!! He was 6lb 15oz when we came home from hospital 2 weeks ago. Crazy how much he has grown already!

Good work mother! That us impressive - took Miles three weeks to get back to his birth weight (not helped by his intensive care stay I'm sure) so he's clearly thriving

I hate to say this after you clearly had a bloody awful night cavort, but things were better here last night. I cancelled all my plans for yesterday (and today and tomz) so I can try to get him back into a daytime routine including a long lunchtime nap. Yesterday was a struggle, and involved me standing over him so I could pounce when he stirred, but we did it. And last night we woke him for a dream feed, he woke at 2.30am but quickly resettled after giving him some cooled boiled water (a tip from a friend, if you're sure they've eaten enough during the day, to get them out of the habit of eating too much at night). I kept him in our bed then until 4.30am when he woke and I fed him, and then he slept from around 5am to 7.30am. Could be coincidence but am on operation two hour lunchtime nap again today....

very impressive mother!

I don't understand babies - Viki didn't eat that much yesterday, so I was expecting hourly wakings through the night, but no - just at 2 and 5 for a quick feed. He did have a 2 hour afternoon nap though, which almost never happens, so maybe it had something to do with that?

Maybe hazle, who knows. But odd that both our boys had good naps and better nights. Was hard work to "make" him nap for that long - for the final half hour I resorted to bouncing him in the sling. Good exercise?!

yay to the better nights for you two!

I managed to get Harvey down at 11.30 last night....yay! Meant he woke at 3.30 rather than 5.30 but felt good to go to sleep before 1am!!

I've been a bit worried about my milk supply as the amount I've been able to express has dropped by about an oz at each pump so I tried putting him back on the boob to boost supply, thought there was no way he'd have it after being bottle fed for a week, but he went back on fine!

Well the dribbling has stepped up several gears, chews everything, runny nose without a cold, has started biting my nipple between her gums (ouch!) and is quite grumpy even when she's not tired, so those in the know with older babies seem to think we might have a tooth on the way, which might explain why her sleeping has gone from being a quite shit to very shit last night, although she wasn't exactly the greatest sleeper beforehand so who knows? We'll see if/when one turns up and I will stock up on teething powder.

Last night was strange as she was obviously trying her best to go back to sleep - was lying in her cot with eyes closed sucking dummy for ages but she just couldn't seem to drift off. She nodded off for 5 minutes on two occasions but woke straight back up again and eventually went back to sleep properly at 06.15 from an initial 03.30 wake up.

I think Miles too is properly teething now, he was so grouchy yesterday evening despite lots of sleep and food, and I couldn't wrestle his hand out of his mouth. Poor babies, can't be nice!

Well it's my bfp anniversary today so I've decided to name change for a more accurate description of myself these days!!
I am exhausted. LL (my new nickname for baby in order to avoid her real name being used) was up the whole night. Feed - cry - fuss - feed... Then decided to nap in the morning and is napping on me now.
Whoever stole my baby bring her back!!!!
I feel for you cav. How on earth you've been coping for so long us beyond me.
Question for all of you: is anyone planning to bf past 6 months and if so how long for? If I wanted to avoid formula altogether how long would I need to do it for? 12 months and move on to cows milk?? Is that crazy???

No 12 months is not crazy at all. I don't have any specific targets in mind, just will do for as long as we both feel like it. I'm pretty sure this will be later than 6 months though. besides I quite like the weight loss part of it

Lol I don't have any firm BFing plans, i'm just seeing how it goes like I have been doing since day one. I will probably carry on past weaning but I am not adverse to the thought of the odd bottle of formula once she is on solids and has lost the EBF 'virgin gut' benefits, so that should take the pressure off as I'm not the greatest expresser. I will also probably night wean on to formula or water at some point as well.

And on the sleep front I only manage because I have to, it's not like I would volunteer for any kind of sleep-deprivation endurance challenge! Very early nights are the key. I just keep thinking it has to get better soon but every time I think that it gets worse! I have to say though, my lovely DH helps out a lot even though he has to go to work he still takes some of the night wakings on so that makes things a lot more bearable. I am still absolutely fucked most days though.

I'm giving up after six months. A massive part of me will be sad, but it will be good to selfishly have my life, freedom and body back more, and also for DP to feel substantially more involved. He can also help more with the nights! To be honest I didn't imagine I'd manage for this long (mum managed 2 days with me and 1 with my brother due to breast abscesses, and my grandmother had them too) so I do pathetically feel it's quite an achievement.

But DSIL fed for 16 and 14 months with hers, and her DSIL until 2 or 3 years old, so I'm sure avoiding formula is more than possible. We've done the hard part! In many ways it's easier to carry on BF than switch to formula I think, just not what we choose. It's such a personal thing, completely understand you wanting to do it

Also I want my boobs to shrink back down. Most of my old clothes fit my waist and hips now, but almost none fit around my boobs

(Am assured by a friend this will happen, will be very expensive if it doesn't!)

You guys are amazing! I'm planning to get to 4 weeks or 6 if at all possible seriously impressed by your dedication! I had just assumed I would be able to BF easily, I had no idea how tricky it would be.

Ladies, sorry to hear the sleeping has been challenging. Fills me with dread at te thought of it!
Anyways looking for some advice on cots and what to use before the cot....
We were planning a Moses basket but have heard that babies grow out of them before they are ready to go in the cot and ours is likely to be a loooong baby so is the alternative a co sleeper? I think I may be pushed for space near the bed in our new house. Anyway would love to know what you chose to do and what you learnt when you were looking into all this stuff

Meant to say the reason I didn't want a co sleeper in the first place is the fear that my duvet/pillows will end up on baby, I'm a v restless sleeper and tend to fling things around

I've got a cosleeper (arms reach mini) which will last miles until he goes unto his own room at 6-7 months in our room, and a Moses basket in the lounge.

Find that set up really useful as means it's so easy to have him in the room with you at all times, as per the SIDS guidelines.

The cosleeper has been amazing, esp post c section. You needn't worry about duvets as on mine there is a small barrier between you and then. Plus you do develop a weird sense that seems to let you sleep alongside them and be conscious at some level that they're there. Our Nct teacher told us that was a benefit of breastfeeding?

I am at the price of a co sleeper which is funny coming from the person who spent a LOT of money on a swinging chair as it was a gadget

co-sleeper, wouldn't be without it. Can just grab the baby, feed and put back without either you you waking up properly. I have this one, they deliver to UK too:
www.amazon.de/FabiMax-Beistellbett-Babymax-Matratze-PROTECT/dp/B009WQFPJ4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385493445&sr=8-1&keywords=fabimax
Have Amby Hammock in the living room for daytime naps - he really loved it when he was smaller, but now also sleeps in his baby jail playpen or pram carrycot.
We have a moses basket, but Viki didn't like it and also I had to twist myself to a weird angle or get out of the bed to get him or put him back. And of course he grew out of it in a second.

mother breastfeeding gets a lot easier. That's the thing, once you get past those first few stressful weeks, it's a piece of cake, not a struggle any more and would not really be a relief to get it over with. It's so much easier to whip the boob out, as compared to faffing with bottles, carrying everything with you, worrying if it's too hot or cold etc.

I got my cosleeper off eBay for £120, and a new mattress for it from here

Agree with Hazle. The first six weeks of BF were really up and down. Now it is sooooo much easier than bottle feeding. Just don't believe anyone who says it's painless from the start. For me it was bloody painful at times to begin with. Now of course my nipples have lost all sensation it's entirely painless and actually a lovely thing to do

I dont mind the breast feeding as such, its the fact we can only do it with nipple shields. I've tried again and again to sneakily fool him into latching on to my actual boob but he screams blue murder. Currently I'm just happy to get to 4 weeks with him on breast milk. Bad I know.

I agree a co-sleeper would have been a god send after my section.

Not bad at all mother. The most important thing is the first few feeds anyway, and if you're having issues every day will be a struggle so completely understand your decision. You have to do what's right for both of you x

Mother - have they given you any tips on how to wean him off the nipple shields? I did manage to get mini monster off them after a few weeks and she was the same originally - screamed the bloody place down if you tried without them. Also has he been checked for tongue tie by someone who knows what they're doing? I was told by about 5 different mws that she didn't have one but when it was eventually diagnosed and cut it helped a lot.

We had so many problems feeding for the first 8 weeks or so so I do know how you feel about it being hard but it did work out in the end for me and it did get really easy once we had got the hang of it if that gives you any hope!