Due April 2008 - the one where Mollyfloss does not have a rat!!

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Hope this works - and someone finds it

I'm never sure where all this pressure on women comes from. While two-thirds give at least one breastfeed, less than half of all mothers are breastfeeding at all at six weeks and only a quarter at six months. In terms of exclusive breastfeeding the figures are even more striking -- less than half are exclusively breastfeeding at one week and only one in five at six weeks. So it's still a minority thing to do.

I think rather than there being extreme pressure on women to breastfeed there's an imbalance between encouragement to breastfeed in theory and support to do it in practice -- there's actually very little education or training on breastfeeding for most midwives, health visitors or GPs (i.e. the medical professionals a new mother is likely to come into contact with) and as a result it can be difficult to get constructive help or advice (you are often lucky if you don't get downright bad advice). So women are told all the benefits of breastfeeding but then left to get on with it unaided, and wind up feeling that if they don't it must be their fault.

Interestingly (and, admittedly, anecdotally, although there may be some proper research on this somewhere) in countries where breastfeeding is properly supported by the health system women who have to or who choose to ff seem to feel far less guilty about it than seems to be the case in the UK.

Oh my goodness MF ... how much of a shock would that be!! With DD I had to go into hospital for checks at 36 weeks because of high bp and they mumbled about inducing etc. It was enough of a shock at that stage, never mind 8 weeks early!

I think if this LO is a slow feeder, I'm going to make a really big effort to get support rather than battling on unhappy. I don't think I did enough last time to find out how I could make it better and in the long run that just made it a whole lot harder.

DH is off on his Everest base camp trek on Wednesday. I am not having this baby before he gets back, even if I have to Superglue my legs together to achieve that...

the other thing with my SIL's friend is that it is an IVF baby. She had problems for a couple of years that had to ve fixed before they could even try IVF, then it worked on the 2nd or Third go and now she has eclampsia. It is not easy fro some Mum's is it!

I wouldn't know what to do if my LO came out now even though I actually have almost everything ready. It would be such a shock. By the way, because I am an over organised freak I already have the cot made up with sheets and blankets even though I have a moses basket too so I won't be using the cot for moths yet so now I'l thinking will the sheets on the cot get dusty

By DH nearly burst out laughing in the NCT classes when the lady asked if anyone had been nesting. Afterwards he said I didn't dare tell them you already have the sheets on the cot!

Mollyfloss I'm dying to get the baby's room completely set up but am forcing myself to wait til I go on mat leave in 3 weeks, not least because dd was 2 weeks late so I need to leave myself some stuff to do or will go mad.

On the bf/ff sleeping issue, my dd was ff from 3 weeks and was a NIGHTMARE sleeper, often not settling til around 3 a.m. I think it depends more on the baby than how they're fed. I'm very much hoping to be able to bf this one.From a purely selfish point of view it would be so much nicer to just bring her into bed for a snuggly fee in the middle of the night rather than having to faff about with bottle warmers.

Is anyone else getting painful Braxton Hicks?

I'm still not sure about Braxton Hicks. I didn't think I had any last time round, but this time I do get the odd tightening which i recognise from last time that i think might be a BH now that I've been through labour. They're not painful though. I do have a friend who's due in June and is having some really uncomfortable BH's.

I got some painful twinges on Saturday around the bottom of my bump. Not sure if they were BH though as I never had any last time. They didn't feel very contraction-y if that makes any sense? (mind you, DS was posterior so I had weird contractions last time anyway that were more in my back)

sagitta, you're right about bf babies being less likely to get ill, a babies stomach is sort of sterile when born and stays this way until anything other than breastmilk is introduced so is less likely to get stomach bugs etc.
I do have tons of links about risks of formula feeding in relation to the difference breastmilk makes and if anyone want's them I'm happy to post them.

Oh also just noticed something Piccalli said about bottle warmers in the night, the standards for making up bottles at night time have changed recently, it is no longer thought safe to make up a babies bottle at any less than 70 degrees and they are not safe to be made up in advance and just warmed through.
However, it is safe apparently to have the water in a thermos flask and add the required powder to it rather than having to boil a kettle etc.
More info here

VS does that mean the water in the flask has to stay at more than 70 degrees otherwise how is that safer than doing it in a bottle warmer and then adding the powder?? Really confused about the whole bottles thing.

I think it has to stay at 70 but then it will be still quite hot, though not too hot that it will take forever to cool under a tap.
Or, alternatively you can just buy ready made cartons for nighttime

God, the bottle thing sounds so tedious... I really want BF to work out...

Molly, if you're willing to ask for help and can get through the beginning stage where it seems to take forever you'll probably be fine.

What I loved about BFing was that after the first few weeks of getting used to it I felt like I was just cuddling DS and once you get past that first month or so, oh, the freedom!

I never had a changing bag for DS, just a larger handbag with a small bag of cotton wool, a spare nappy and a muslin for if he was sick, and I could go whereever I wanted, never had to think about bottles, the amount of times I went to meet friends for lunch or w/e and they'd say 'Come back to mine' and I could and not need anything was phenomenal.
DS would just fall asleep in his car seat.

You can always pop to the shop and get a pack of nappies if need be, bit harder to get a bottle and some milk and make them up and sterilise etc etc.

My SIL just told her HV that in her house the bottles were going to be made up in the same way as for her ds 2.5 years ago as he survived just fine! But I know if I were ff I would probably be very anal about following the guidelines to the letter, so just as well I will be bf!

it says basically to try to make up each feed as you go; but if making in advance make at water +70c, add powder, then cool fast and refrigerate at less than 5c for no more than 24 hours.

Thats what i have always done and will do this time. I dont have time to make up feeds each time!!

oh and that you can use water from a flask - many places sell baby thermos flask and formula cases - may invest in this, may not... i just think being clean is the key and making really sure the water temp is right and that you throw away any feed within 2 hours. Also keeping it cool during transportation if pre-made - my bag has insulated cold/hot pocket but you can buy bottle holders for this.

Cartons of ready made milk are fine and sterile and can be warmed, also transported without the heat worries.

That's what I did too Scorpio 7 years ago!
Apparently there's been a recent scare about bacteria(?) in formula milk so that's why they say don't make up in advance if possible, but it'd be a right pain in the butt to do so.
Anyway dear, why would you make up bottles, you're BFing aren't you

lol it took nearly the whole day VS

It does say in that document though that if you want to make up in advance do it that way...so i will!! (am very aware of cleanliness anyway).

Ellie, there's a lady here who could do with some advice from a social worker if you get a chance.

Morning

Shall i go swimming ths morning or not? 2 small bus rides away. Can't make up my mind! Don't know if i can bothered to get wet and then dry!

Morning! Go swimming - you will feel better for it! Wish I was going swimming instead of sitting here at work! Can't wait for the 14 March - last day in the office! Actually in saying that, I wouldn't mind working right up until I give birth, but my journey to work is just so horrendous that there is no ways I could! I would kill someone I think!

have just checked pool timetable and it looks like schools are using the pool until 1pm which is a bit too late for me....i might ring them.

Have posted VS, poor lady.

Go swimming scorpio - will be good for your head. Is always good to get out and then you can feel all smug.

Am really pissed off today. All this media crap about us covering up stuff - is all lies and misinterpretations but no one will care about that. This bloke who is saying it is a nutter but comes accross as being very plausible and he is just EVERYWHERE, and we have no right to reply, and anyway no one is interested in anything reasonable and not salacious. Makes me so and becuase we are all so dedicated and work so hard and care so much about the children we work with, and no one will have any faith in us now. Not that I'm saying we're perfect - we're not - but we ain't bad and we work hard and defo don't cover up mistakes.

Anyway - on lighter note - went to NCT 'Speed bumps' evening last night and was great! Met loads of nice people and chatted to breastfeeding counsellor about the baby cafe and am going to go to the coffee mornings and meet other mums. Will all be very nice.

Sorry it's been a bit me me me

sounds crap for you, Ellie. Didn't you say he used to be an MP but is no-longer? Funny how much 'credibility' someone can get from a title from yesteryear.....You do do a fabby job and you know you do - its not your fault and is from before you worked there anyway.

Pool is not open for general swim but may take everyone after dinner if DH not going training tonight.

Your speedbump thing sounds good we dont have anything like that here...the only other place you meet pg mums here is at antenatal...nearest NCT is 100 miles away . Antenatal classes start next week; i might go just to meet others if times are right for my childcare.

DH got to work at 8am this morning to find it had rained and blown so much in the night that the digger had fallen over on the side! not much work happening today i dont think...someone is there fixing it now.

Things are better here; spoke to DH last night that i need more cuddles at mo and he has been really good - new job prospects are looking up for him too so he is more chilled. I have MW tomorrow to check up on my nuttiness

Ellie don't worry about it, SW's are just easy targets. Used to do a large percentage of my job alongside you lot and yeah OK, we whinged a lot but we KNEW that the problems weren't with the SW's on the whole, it was with funding and all that. Even the SN famillies here know that in the main that's the issue- I've probably worked with about 20 SW's and I can name only 2 I think are genuinely shite, isn't that the same in every business?

TRhe whole sector needs a big input of cash- it's relying too heavily now on the charity sector and that isn't going to work (its what pushed the chairity I worked for into bankruptcy), I know the NAS are really spitting about it, but again its not the fault of the individual SW.

Morning all

Ellie - sorry things are crappy for you at the mo. Can kind of sympathise - I work for the NHS, all you ever hear is how rubbish it is, rarely seem to get praise for the fantastic job it does the majority of the time, how we all work our socks off for loads less money than we'd get in the private sector.... rant, rant. And social workers get it even worse than us

Please have some birthday cake on me - it's a Victoria sponge with raspberry jam and butter icing

I'm now 32 Have day off and am off out for a massage soon Then meeting dh for lunch and chilling out for the afternoon

Reading all the bf/ff stuff with interest - like most people, I hope to bf, but have no idea how much support there is around here if I have probs - what's this baby cafe thing?