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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Shares in my soul if you can help- breastfeeding will be the end of me

168 replies

ShowOfHands · 30/06/2007 16:49

7wk old dd is draining my life force. She is exclusively breastfed and is officially the hungriest baby in the world. She does not stop. I am not exaggerating. We can perhaps manage 20 minutes of smiles and alertness before she is demanding to feed again. Add to this that she doesn't sleep at all during the day and I feel a lot like I'm swimming uphill through blancmange. I thought it would get better at 6wks but it's getting worse. She did at least manage to sleep at night for 4 hours at a time but she hit 6wks and decided that she needed feeding every 1.5/2hrs overnight.

I had an emergency cs after a difficult labour and am still quite anaemic and have very low blood pressure. Also have flu at the moment. Have slept 2hrs in the last 36. DH works very, very long hours so have no help, no family nearby.

I have tried stretching out feeds, she will not have it. I jig her, sing to her, rock her, put her down, put her in the sling etc and she screams and roots. She is not comfort sucking. Weight gain is extraordinary. She is happy, alert, very smiley and absolutely beautiful but I am going to flush my head down the toilet.

Please please please help. Or at least tell me when it gets easier.

OP posts:

Indith · 01/07/2007 17:03

I just wish I had one nearby! I would love to go to the cinema. Not that I ever went when I didn't have ds but you know how much more you want to do things when you can't!

dueat44 · 01/07/2007 17:52

Thought it was just me who still treasured the Elizabeth Garvie and David Rintoul P&P - much better than that other one ...

Such a shock to switch on Hornblower and find that DR had lost his hair ...

Indith · 01/07/2007 19:48

So much better

Thankfully BBC America do it on DVD so I no longer have to worry about the old videos giving up the ghost.

twelveyeargap · 01/07/2007 20:40

AMAZING what a half a decent night's sleep will do! 5 hours must have made you feel almost human.

I have an in-law "do" in Yorkshire on Jul 21st. Gutted, because I'm bound to miss my Amazon delivery of HP.

Veggiemummy · 01/07/2007 20:54

interesting about the adult insomniacs. i had a friend whose DD literally never slept for more than half an nour for the first 6 months of her life and is still not a very good sleeper (almost 2). Her father is an insomniac (perfect for looking after baby overnight) he sleeps a few hours then can't sleep anymore, can that sort of thing be genetic?

twelveyeargap · 01/07/2007 21:09

Dunno. I never slept as a baby. My mother was ready to chuck me out a window, but I sleep just fine now. I can manage on little sleep, but deffo not insomniac.

Indith · 01/07/2007 21:46

Hey TYG, swap Amazon deliveries? I'm in Yorkshire and have to be in London on 21st!

People are so inconsiderate having other things to do on Harry Potter day

aprilmeadow · 02/07/2007 08:05

I ordered my HP book from Waterstones and they asked me if i would be collecting it when the store opened at 00.01. Err no i dont think i am that desperate to get my hands on it!

FlossALump · 02/07/2007 08:54

SoH - glad you managed to get a better nights sleep when you last updated!

I just wanted to add a couple of things. I used a dummy with DS when he would be up till 2 in the morning every morning screaming. I didn't really have any huge aversion to the dummy until I saw it in his mouth. We carried on using the dummy with varying success until he was 4 months old. It helped him to learn to get off to sleep on his own. Now he is a fervent thumb sucker!

The nappy thing, please tell me you are joking about worrying about the Lentil weavers? Mn is a fabulous place, this thread proves that. But sometimes it gets into your head more than it should do, at no time more than when you are tired, vulnerable and unsure ie, when you have just had a baby!! Many people have very strong opinions and you just have to put that out of your mind.

The thing your lovely DD most needs is a happy and healthy mum. And for that to happen you need to take the pressure off of yourself. The birth of your DD sounds horrible but it is not your fault. You have nothing to make up to her. She is here, she is healthy. You not contracting was not up to you!! Lots of people you will meet from now until your child has left home will have opinions on what you should and shouldn't be doing. You have to do what you feel you need to do, instincts are wonderful things if we listen to them.

Also 8th 9th or 10th the shout out for spa tone - much more digestible and available in more and more places. Take care, get better and please stop worrying!!

Professorfilthymindedvixen · 02/07/2007 09:58

Indith? Yorks? Thought you were more northern? Come on our meetup at leeds!

cheritongirl · 02/07/2007 10:27

morning SOH! Just wanted you to know i have been thinking about you and just wanted to encourage you.. you are doing a FAB job today whatever is going on with DD. Just read your birth story, i am so so sorry that happened to you and think you are just AMAZING for having coped so well after all that. Well done you!
Lots of good vibes coming your way...

Original poster

ShowOfHands · 02/07/2007 10:39

Thank you for thinking of me everybody. Had a terrible night for different reasons- have passed my flueyness onto dd and she was fractious, unsettled and grizzly all night. This morning she is sleeping lots and feeding much less which is what I wanted all along but not like this. Want my smiley little, non-sleeping guzzler back. Doc has said Calpol and saline drops are the way to go. Poor thing's got a nasty cough too.

Think I might pick my HP book up at midnight as I'll no doubt be up anyway. Local shopping mall is having a big all night and next day thing. You have to be sorted to get in, sit a NEWT and there will be potion making, flying classes etc. Lots of treasure hunts and competitions too. All very good but not sure the local farmers who just want to nip in for a bit of tweed and some tractor fuel will be too keen on the dementors swooping about the place.

OP posts:

Indith · 02/07/2007 10:49

Am Yorkshire for a bit, usually Durham but we are sort of homeless so staying with family in Yorkshire! Will be in Leeds from tomorrow actually

Am so going to pick up HP at midnight, only way I'll get it read before the wedding!

Poor coldy baby SOH. Calpol is ace. A drop of olbas oil on a tissue tucked in her clothes will work wonders on a stuffy nose too.

ProfYaffle · 02/07/2007 10:56

SOH - aren't we in the sameish area? Is there anything I can do? Food delivery, some hoovering? Wet nurse? Red Dwarf on dvd? Honestly, on Wednesday and Friday dd1 is at nursery all day so it's just me and dd2 and we're footloose and fancy free. If there's anything just let me know.

(Was joking about the wet nurse thing though - just so's you know )

lyndyloo · 02/07/2007 11:57

Poor you but I was there...My Lo now nearly 1. The first apx 10 wks were as you described then it slowed down a bit. Now it's really easy and I never thought I'd get this far. She would feed for nearly an hour and then 15-20 mins later would be wanting more, nearly all night. I too was anaemic and as desperate as you sound. I too had no family nearby and was as stubborn as hell that I was going to avoid FF.

The thing is - I managed it! You will too. Great advice on here. For what it's worth - here is what worked for me....

Feed lying down, co sleep, get DH to cook, drink smoothies to keep you going, live off fresh pasta and sauce as only takes 5 mins to cook, USE A DUMMY, go for a drive with LO in car and when she drops off, park up somewhere (I used Tesco car park! You may pick somewhere nicer but safe)and recline the seat and have a doze, take a flask and a snack with you.

Eat what you want when you want and when you can. Get made up sandwiches, buy chips for lunch - I know it's not healthy but take some multi vits and it's only for a short time.

You are doing great and yes it DOES get better - honest!

cheritongirl · 03/07/2007 09:33

how you doing SOH? Hope you had a better night.. please just ignore this if its not helpful but if you are still v much against a dummy i would just say that taking away a dummy later on is probably easier than taking away a lovely snuggly mummy that you have co-slept with! But PLEASE just ignore me if you are finding co-sleeping a positive thing - just talking from my experience.
Anyway, have a good day dear

mistlethrush · 03/07/2007 09:42

When I've had anaemia, I ate lots of carob - you can get bags of carob flour in wholefood shops or you can get bars of it a bit like chocolate. (Don't think of it as chocolate - it is not a substitute, its something totally different even if it looks a bit the same). Carob is very high in iron and as it is a food source it is fairly easy to absorb. All I know is that I managed to get back to a respectible blood level after only 1 week when iron pills should have taken 3 - 4 weeks to achieve the same results (this after loss of 1.5l+).

Take care of yourself. I had to miss a wedding that I wanted to go to due to having cs - its a major operation - no one would expect anyone having major abdominal surgery to be doing lots of things soon afterwards, and that's what you've had - and you've got a small baby as well.

Don't be hard on yourself - it does get better.

Good luck

pamplemousse · 03/07/2007 21:34

Hope you are having a good day SOH, have you CAT'd me your address if you still want the book?
Never knew that about carob, always just thought it was a poor excuse for chocolate, will look at it with renewed respect now!

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