Nappy changes leading to bankrupcy

[BigNoseBaby]

We have a new 2 week old.

She wouldn't finish her bottle and was losing weight so we decreased the amount and increased the feed times to 8.

This worked (hurrah!) but there is another issue. Basically she just poops and pees endlessly and it's causing me intense frustration. I'm looking for help.

The pattern goes like this.

1. Check her nappy and change her
2. Feed and burp
3. Nappy check - usually a poo or at least a wee.
4. Change nappy and swaddle
5. Oh she pee'd again when we put the new nappy on.
6. Change nappy and swaddle
7. Oh she pooped again in the new nappy.
8. Change nappy and swaddle.
9. She is drifting off to sleep (little angel)

10. Oh no! Crying again, what's wrong? 11. Oh she peed again - new nappy.

Etc etc

I'm getting through between 4-5 nappies every feed! She feeds 8 times a day. This is unsustainable. I dunno what to do. I tried putting her on an absorbent matt and moving her around after every incident. It worked great but! BUT! She's not swaddled and so can't go to sleep.

I don't want to leave her in a dirty nappy (she cries anyway) but at the moment she literally seems to time her next bowel movement for the second we get a new nappy on. I'm at my wits end!

You should be mimicking breastfeeding as far as possible.

All babies are different. There's no 'should be' with regards to bottles, formula, feeding times or quantities.

This is a bit like wearing a sanitary towel and changing it as soon as you see blood (sorry for the analogy!) . The nappy is designed to absorb wee. Change for a poo or when it's full of wee.

We were using sudocrem for ages with my little boy, but it stopped working for nappy rash after a while. The only thing that’s helped since is the yellow metanium. Helps every time!

Just a thought… DS had nappy rash with one particular brand of nappy, have you considered changing see if that helps?

It’s not a scam. It just shows you the baby has weed. It doesn’t tell you to change the nappy.

Are you drying her bottom completely with a muslin or similar and cleaning it? This is the best way of preventing nappy rash.

The nappy rash could be due to wiping and changing too often.
wet wipes are the devil, next time you have a cold, use them to wipe your nose and they sting like fuck. All the toddlers running away when they have their face wipes is because it genuinely hurts! Even the gently ones.
it sounds like you’ve got a good GP etc looking into CMPA which sounds possible.

but mainly, congratulations and you’re being a great mum to be checking so much, you’re doing great!

She probably cries and fusses when she has done a small wee as she is used to you changing her instantly? Definitely ignore the blue line and change when it feels full/squishy or just for a poo

If she has nappy rash definitely try to clear it asap as urine may sting it - hence the fussing maybe? Yellow metanium cream is a good one and plenty of bare bum time.

I would monitor your DD for lactose intolerance. My DS despite feeding a lot didn't pile on weight like the other babies and we were put under a lot of pressure re his weight gain / weekly weighings for eg. He liked to feed little and often and we ended up doing combo feeding. He wasn't a good sleeper and the only way would go to sleep was lying on me and he wanted lots of cuddles. He had a lot of wind generally, would arch his back a lot after feeding.

Not one HCP mentioned the possibility of lactose intolerance despite knowing all of the above and at age 5-6 months after an illness he seemed to be pooing constantly; sometimes while feeding. He got bad nappy rash and the yellow metoniam cream was a godsend. For weeks we were told it was a viral infection but eventually my GP really listened and said cut out dairy if you are breastfeeding and try this lactofree formula. My god, the difference - within 2/3 days, down from 8-10 poos a day to 2-3, nappy rash gone. I think the illness tipped him over the edge but he had been struggling with lactose for a while. I wish there was more awareness about lactose intolerance, as it is less extreme than cows milk protein allergic so more easily missed

The blue lines are there because it's so difficult to tell if a newborn has done a wee due to the nappy being so dry afterwards! There is zero need to change her after one wee.

I'd leave her in a dirty nappy for a few minutes too, as sometimes it takes them a while to finish pooing. Make sure she's finished before changing her.

Don't use pampers.

Buy eco by natty and use water wipes until she's a little older.

It sounds like the rash could be caused by the frequent nappy changes? As long as the nappy isn't absolutely heaving with wee and you've got barrier cream on I'd cut back. The more you wet and wipe the area the more it will irritate it

A few things stood out to me:

"She wasn't finishing bottle" - this is totally normal. None of mine finished or drained bottles. We don't eat the exact amount each meal either do we? It's fine for baby to pace itself and decide to eat a smaller amount for one feed and a bigger amount for the next. A BF baby would be doing this without mum really knowing it, for example.

Please stop changing for every wee. This is absolutely not necessary at all. I only really change for a poo nappy or if the nappy is really really full with wee. If you're using decent nappies (and even cheap supermarket/Aldi nappies are really very good these days) then they are very efficient at soaking up the liquid so that the layer which touches baby's bum is actually quite dry to touch. There is no need to keep constantly doing nappy checks - you'll know when its time to change baby as they will stink!

No need to change straight after a poo. Give a few mins as often more arrives!

For nappy rash - yellow metanium cream is the best. A thin layer, let it dry a bit. Then cover with sudacrem in a thick layer all over.

If baby is crying lots around feed time and fussing, then at 2wks old this is actually quite common and is likely wind. Lots of time burping baby and if necessary use Infacol before feeding as this will really help produce some big burps and make baby more comfy.

Another idea for you - if she poos a lot You could always stick a nappy liner (the type you use with a reusable nappy) in the nappy. You could then remove the liner and poo and reuse the nappy....

I remember we bought in bulk, a pallet at a time from Costco.
The nappy changing slows down with time, eventually, we left them both with dangling nappies and changed them when they were ready. As they get older they'll take them off anyway.😁😂

Look up paced feeding because the baby could be pooing too much as they are overfull.

Babies don’t poo too much from being overfed, they throw it back up if there’s too much in their stomachs.

Paced feeding is a better way to forumla feed but the OP doesn’t need specific bottles. It’s about the way you feed, is used MAM bottles and the midwife showed us how to do paced feeding. I think most people get told about it by midwives or health visitors or at antenatal classes these days.

First baby? That's kind of all they do for a while...

Try mataniumn nappy cream, it’s the best.

Also recommend the yellow metanium ointment for nappy rash, clears it better than anything else.

Metanium is brilliant and don't use wipes just cotton wool and warm water when she is sore.

I didn't use normal unfragranced baby wipes on my DD until she was over a month old as due to the fact I suffer from contact dermatitis and wasn't sure what her immune system would be like. I just used cotton wool and water then water wipes.

Also don't change her every time she wees that's partly why she is sore due to continued wiping. Wait until her nappy is full - the blue line will be a strong blue line - or she has done a poo and finished before changing her.

In regards to nappies most supermarket own brands are fine. The exceptions in reports seem to be Co-Op and Boots. Just find a brand that fits your baby's body shape. You may have to change brands as she grows.

Using baby powder really helped my nephews. Even patting them dry and waiting left their skin just a tiny bit damp and a bit of powder absorbed the last bit of dampness. Iirc it was cornstarch based so no worries about talc.

Oh and the NHS has advice on nappy changing - www.nhs.uk/conditions/baby/caring-for-a-newborn/how-to-change-your-babys-nappy/

DS was allergic to Sudacream. Newborns have very sensitive skin. I didn’t use wipes until DS was over 6 months old and then only water based ones. The cheap ones are very astringent, try them on your face.
Water and cotton wool are so much cheaper.
Waitrose use to do a barrier cream, Bottom Butter, it was olive oil based so not a mineral oil. They no longer sell it but I’m sure if you google you can find an alternative non mineral oil based cream/ointment.
Also do not trowel it on, a very thin layer is much more effective.
If they have no rash there is no need to use a barrier cream especially if you change them regularly.

Aveeno make a good cream.