January 2014 Thread 17 - and the final babies will be here any day now!

[Frizz1986]

Thought i would start up the last thread before we move over to postnatal thread.

puggle atm what works is feeding, winding and putting Cal down semi asleep and swaddled up in the moses basket. And then switching on a white noise app for about 15 minutes. If he's sleepy he'll nod straight off. If he's lively I'll just cuddle him for a bit and try that again about 20 minutes later.

I feel so zombie like today. Cal's taken to cluster feeding in the very early hours of the morning. From about 4am onwards he'll wake every hour for a feed and then go back to sleep. He does this till about 9. How do I cope with this?? Dp is off from work this week for half term so he's been taking Cal downstairs and doing breakfast for DS1 so I can sleep for a bit longer. Can I persuade Cal to move his cluster feed to a different time of day?

puggle Alex is still chest sleeping at 7 weeks. He'll do a one 1hr stretch in the Moses basket at 11pm ish. I've not successfully settled him there at any other time. No matter how asleep he is, he starts squirming and farting as soon as I put him down. I'm tempted to give up trying as he sleeps so well on my chest. He'll do 3hr stretches between feeds and barely needs any resettling. I do worry that it's not very safe though.

puggle I can rarely get Alex to sleep on anything but me in the day, but she sleeps okay in her crib at night. I suspect the carrycot of the pram isn't comfy enough for her, may order a mattress or sheepskin for it.

They're all so different its amazing isn't it? Didn't get on well with swaddling initially then scared myself silly having read something saying babies had to have arms free for co-sleeping - so they can make more of a fuss if in trouble - so binned it. Wonder if we should try again but doubt the swaddlewrap would fit, and I don't have the midwifery magic to make a baby burrito that's baby proof. Any of you wise ladies found a swaddle style solution that works with co-sleeping and grobags?
humpty might try a sheepskin - little puggle loves sleeping on the pillow i use for bfing cos i'm too lazy to hold him up maybe he's in need of a softer sleeping surface like me

I'm very lucky that Henry tends to sleep in his Moses basket in day and night. humpty I agree that the carrycot doesn't look as comfy so I carry the Moses basket downstairs for in the day. I do find if its cold it can wake him up so have used a hot water bottle in there when I have him out to feed. Last few days I've noticed he startles himself awake a few times so may try swaddling as my friends have bought me a wrap which is still in the packet

How much do you all interact with the babies? Henry is 2 weeks today and if he's concentrating and I stick my tongue out he will copy but the majority of the time I leave him to himself while I potter about etc. should I be doing more?

I just used to sing and talk to aurelia at the start. She didnt really respond much and has only really started to properly look at people and follow them/interact now she is almost 8 weeks old.
If she was snoozy then i would leave her in her basket to get chores done, but as soon as she started to get a bit grizzly i took her out and sang and chatted to her. At 2 weeks babies just learn from your facial expressions, they are just taking everything in. I think they say that they should start responding at 6 weeks, but aurelia was a bit behind. Doesnt worry me though as all babies are different.

Henry is almost 6 weeks and he sticks his tongue out at me when i do it to him.

day one of being outnumbered. Ds1 was kicking off so put him to bed, he's fallen asleep on the landing and i don't want to move him. Henry will only sleep on me, he wont be put down which makes it hard

Arghh I'm so annoyed! Had Sylvie's 6 week check and my postnatal check, then her immunisations booked this afternoon and DP has gone to work with the pram in the back of the car had to reschedule for next Monday which means she will be 9 weeks by then (can't believe she's 8 weeks already!!)

I'm coming down with a cold or something and felt awful last night but luckily she slept quite well. Also when I got her out of her crib this morning she laid on my lap and did the biggest man farts EVER. I don't even know how a tiny baby can let rip like that

Hi guys - on the getting them to sleep in cots/cribs, don't know if this helps as Finn is only six days old but he is sleeping well so far in his Sleepyhead. It also makes him nice and portable! He sleeps in it in his crib at night, but means we can also take the Sleepyhead out and have him in it in the living room. Still quite like letting him sleep on me in between night feeds though even though I know it's naughty...

PS - is anyone using nipple shields at all? I've found BFing so painful but really don't want to stop if I can avoid it. Started using shields today and it's made SO much difference - just wanted to see if anyone else was/is using them and if so how long they used them for? I don't want to use them for liger than I have to, but they've made me so much happier about the whole thing.

angel I used nipple shields for the first month because my nipples are inverted and N couldn't latch on so was given them on day 2 at the hospital. I scared myself silly reading about nipple confusion and supply issues, but N's weight gain has been the same with and without using the shields. By week three I was able to do one feed a day on one side without and by one month he wouldn't take them any more. Just beginning to feel now at seven weeks that the latch is getting there. It gets so much easier when their mouths are a bit bigger!

altered thanks so much - this is really reassuring. Felt so guilty presenting DC with a sombrerod nipple this morning, but he seems fine and I actually think he might even be feeding better... Possibly because I'm not recoiling in fear every time his cavernous gaping pain maker rosebud mouth comes near me...going to give my ni

...oops, hit post too soon... As I was saying....

...I'm going to give my nipples another day to heal and then see how much I still need them.

I'm doing a combination of expressed and formula and have recently moved from ready made formula to powder. Every time I've fed him warm formula made up (skin temp not too hot) he's puked up after. Not just a little bit but full on waterfall. He's ok with fridge temp and has never been sick like this from bm. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this normal? He doesn't seem concerned about it

MrsV and anyone else doing mixed or expressed feeds - which bottles do you use? I need to express some feeds for Cal as I'm back to uni at the end of this month. He's very gassy - but not refluxy or colicky, just takes in a lot of air when he bfs and spends the night burping and farting.
I had phillips avent bottles for DS1 but they've warped and I need new ones. I was thinking medela maybe.

Oh and any electric pump recommendations? I'm trying to decide between phillips and medela again. Thanks

angel I did have nipple shields with DS1 and have them on standby for Cal. DS1 was fine when I stopped using them.

How do you manage the hot water bottle? I barely have time to whap my tits out and get her on before she goes batshit! I wouldn't be able to make one up to use while she's out of the basket!

I'm using mainly Avent bottles, but have just introduced a Dr Brown anti colic one, and have some NUK teats to test too.

We use the avent bottles which seem to be good. We tried the medela calma one which came with the pump but Sylvie hated it! There's always good deals on the Avent stuff too. We recently got some new ones in the bigger size from Aldi and I've recently seen some for cheap on amazon. Also I used the medela swing pump (also loads cheaper on amazon) which was good. Although I don't have anything to compare it to!

\hi angel - wish we'd got a sleepyhead but now little puggle is 8 weeks, and also 75th per centile for length not sure its worth it...DH also had a fit after babynest + swaddle blanket had been purchased and refused
We also had to use nipple shields at the start -flat nipples & massive boobs meant latch was really tricky so they were recommended by our infant feeding advisor. Could manage a wee bit of a latch and just kept practising without if he came off mid-feed but did fret about them, googled lots, then kept telling myself the most important thing was a happy growing baby. LO suddenly decided to spit them out at 4 weeks so we gave them up over a day or so.
I think it was the analytical armadillo website that I read - pretty much saying the evidence that shields are a problem is based on one very outdated study with big thick rubber shields not the superthin silicone ones. Also, shields used to be suggested for all problems, eg dodgy latch, rather than the specific instances where they are really helpful - so don't fret about them! (easier said than done I know)

MrsV how much formula are you feeding him? I was told that when they spit up, it's because they have eaten too much so will just spit back up whatever doesn't fit in their stomach. The NCT bf lady explained to me that at the start of a feed they get less fatty milk from the breast then towards the end they get fattier milk. She said they have a 'switch' which detects when they are getting the fattier milk and this switch will tell them when they are full. As formula has the same amount of fattiness throughout the feed, it's more difficult for a baby to detect when they are full and they will keep feeding until their stomach is stretched and can't take any more milk. Sylvie spits up quite often and sometimes it's a hell of a lot of milk! She isn't bothered by it and I don't think she even notices it happening. I've read that keeping them upright for 30 minutes after a feed helps keep it down, and also burping before and during feeds helps too.

Hopefully that explanation makes sense!

humpty we just made it up when we went to bed and it stayed warm most of the night

We use a combination of bottles that we got at the baby show and freebies. My favourite are mam anti colic bottles but I don't think there's a huge difference

frizz that was my first thought but he does it after only 1oz or so so don't think it can be that. It's so strange. I was worried about giving him the chilled formula but this seems to work much better for him. Strange baby

enormouse I have the Phillips avent one which is very good. The breastfeeding consultant has lent me a fancy double one which I think has a much lower suction than the avent and I can't get on with having to hold both sides at once so wasn't the time saver I was expecting

We use the MAM anti colic ones. They are the best ones I've tried. Neither child got on with avent bottles, and i didn't like holding tommy tippee ones.

Dhs friend just visited and bought us a baby bjorn carrier :) so generous. Henry seems quite happy in it too so will make venturing into the city a bit easier as dont have to brave the bus/ train/ tube with pram

That's a lovely gift!

I'm taking both boys out on my own tomorrow to get the implant. It's two buses there and back which should be interesting. I'll have ds1 in the pushchair and Henry in the sling. It means toddler will be restrained while they are implanting me and Henry can stay in the wrap

frying feel your pain with the Velcro baby! The only way I can survive (or prevent the house being screamed down) is to use my moby wrap. I love it!
If one more person says to me that 2nd babies are 'so much easier' I might have to punch them. Yes , I know what I'm doing and I'm a bit calmer/confident, but I've realised that all babies are very different.

We had a nasty shock here. DH was holding Lara on Sunday morning on the bed and dozed off. Lara fell onto the floor. I heard it from downstairs and my heart stopped. I ran upstairs but the wanker denied it and said it was his phone that fell and that he jerked awake which was why she was crying. I took her and she stopped crying after a few minutes so thought the explanation was plausible. Then I noticed a red mark on her forehead and DH confessed when I asked him again. Was absolutely furious with him and won't forgive him. He felt terrible which he should. My poor girl.
I hate him for it and the fact he lied to me. He said he panicked bit now I won't let him hold her during night time at all and in the evenings he has to sit up in case he falls asleep. I'd already told him how to safely hold her (ie. in middle of bed in case you do fall asleep and never on the sofa or chair) but he always thinks I'm moaning.
Ugh..seeing him asleep now I want to kick him or push him off the bed....I'm still so angry.
She didn't have any bumps or bruises just the red mark on her face and she cried far less than from the heel prock test so I'm hoping it didn't hurt her. I just wish I'd know at the time as I was comforting her when she cried, as knowing why she was crying, I might have been better or comforted her for longer.

Fuck you wanker DH.