October Babies

[pie]

Not sure if anyone else is ready to join me here yet...bells, woodge???

Been up since 4am, please tell me that I'm not the only one!!!

Sorry to break the news Pie, chocolate, citrus fruits and something else (healthy so I obviously can't remember what it is) all implicated in windy babies - I think it's in GIna Ford and at least one other book.
Really didn't believe it but still no windy shrieks from dd.
If she has another wind attack I'm off to the shops for a mega-sized galaxy

I was eating rather a lot of it - (need a sheepish-looking face here)

Well I love her, but after 9 months of hyperemisis I'm not ready to give up chocolate yet.

I have made an appointment with the The Osteopathic Centre for Children on Thursday with a cranial osteopath, and its totally free, maybe worth looking into Bluebear?

Thanks for the link Pie, Interesting that they treat children up to the age of 18. I was wondering if it was worth taking ds (had lots of problems as a baby and has continued with the poor sleeping and grumpiness as a toddler.) He's actually causing more grief than the baby at the moment, we are trying to relax and ride out the terrible two's/teething/sibling rivalry but with mild (compared to yours) sleep deprivation it's driving dh potty.

I think the reason I B/F successfully was the extra large bar of galaxy I had almost daily. Might have been the reason I did not lose weight

i've cut all caffeine out - seems to have helped reduce wind in dd. also... she has a cold so tht could account for some recent restlessness??

I cannot contemplate small babies without regular infusions of espresso and chocolate (I don't even eat chocolate that much normally!). Hang on with it, pie, it's an antidepressant!

i just had a peek at the september babies thread and they're all taking about babies sleeping through the night, or waking only once for feeds.... when do you think is the right time to start hoping for such sleep bliss??? and i notice everyone talking about gina ford... any of you tried it for sleep routines? what do you think? I havnt even bothered to take much notice of sleep/eat patterns as dd is only 3 weeks old

spod..sleep routines lol

Well I would say that actually as we only have one bedroom with the 4 of us in it. So no I haven't tried one. DD2 can't even tell the difference between night and day yet!

How are things with you?

pie... thank god for that... wondered if I'd missed something and that dd was supposed to know difference btw night and day and eat at regular intervals etc.... dd mainly just eats, sleeps, listens to guns n roses, sleeps, and fills her pants... with the odd bout of being sociable and looking around. she certainly does not know when nighttime is and every night is different... sometimes get 4 hours straight...others she feeds 2 hourly.... all normal!! have had trouble with wind.... seems to have settled and dd has a cold... very snuffly... asked hv for advice but not that helpful... I have dd in bed with me and I've been propping her up to sleep on her back against a pillow... hv says i shouldnt use pillow... what else is there!? she dont sleep on front and I'm there.... cant see an alternative. Dd weighed today and she's put on 1lb 3oz in 2 weeks!! Hows things with you... has the SPD settled yet... how is your dd? still putting on weight?? are you getting help for your PND?? hope your GP is useful...hows that going.. hope your dd is allowing you some sleep too!

Spod, I have spent weeks trying to find safe things to prop DD2 on when she is sleeping. At the moment its just a firm b/f pillow, but when I lie her flat she SCREAMS, kicks legs and eventually farts.

I'm taking her to cranial osteopath on Thursday and am hoping that helps her digestion so I can lie her flat. I haven't got her weighed since the last time, but my arms are really sore so I'm sure she's putting on weight.

Sleep is crazy. As I said we only have one bedroom so at the moment there are 4 of us in two beds pushed together (theres no room for a space between them anyway). Trying to sleep between a 5 week old and a 4 year old is a NIGHTMARE. I usually am up all night and then sleep when DD1 is at nursery

SPD is very slowly getting better. Went for a walk today with the crutches and am paying for it now, total agony, but considering 5 weeks ago I couldn't even walk with crutches thats not too bad.

I have started antidepressants for the PND, so hopefully they will kick in soon.

DD2 had her first bottle of EBM today, and was fine. DD1 fed her the entire bottle and was so pleased with herself. She pointed at me and said 'You can go to work now and I'll stay home and look after the baby'

i watched 'the baby whisperer' today and that was about a 4 month old colic-y baby who woulnt sleep and she used this wedged matress that had a harness on it to strap baby in and it worked a treat.... she also swaddled the baby to calm him... www.babywhisperer.com/

Pie, my ds used to scream when laid flat - he had reflux (stomach contents would go back up his throat when he was horizontal), he also wanted feeding constantly and was very screamy and discontented. Reflux babies are generally very pukey but not necessarily (can have reflux and not vomit all the time). Is it possible that your dd has this???
dd has got a bit of a routine - this is entirely her doing and I hasten to add I have not 'gina forded' her, She tends to 3 naps a day, little one in the am, couple of hours after 12ish and a couple of hours 4pish, feeding is constant if awake , and night-time normally feeds 9pm, somewhere between 2 and 3am and 5-6am. I'm finding this quite freaky after the ds experience.
My PND is escalating, am now having panic attacks 3 or 4 times a day, even when there's no obvious trigger...GP appointment not till next Thurs .
Spent two hours last night wondering whether to ring the Samaritans just to stop me doing anything stupid (dh was on a rare evening out). Can't wait to get some AD's and start getting better (very different attitude to last time.. avoided happy pills as long as possible then.)

I hadn't thought of that bb, how would I find out? DD2 does bring up alot of her milk, and it often seems to 'bubble' up into her mouth when she is lying down.

I had been thinking it was colic though as she cries, kicks her legs and then has greeny poos.

Sorry to hear you are feeling so bad though, but its good you know what to do this time round iykwim. Hope you get some good help. Must be something in the water at QCH

meant to add that it comes back into her mouth when she is actually latched on and it sometimes also comes projectiling out of her nose

does this sound like reflux?

Sounds like it could be reflux! Ds would 'leak' milk rather than burp it up, everything we owned smelt of milk!

Good news is that, if it is reflux, there is treatment.

Get her to the Gp and ask for infant Gaviscon.

Keep her upright or on an angle.. ds would nap in his 'bouncy' chair but not in the pram/cot. We tilted the cot by putting bricks under the feet at one end ( as dd is in your bed using your bfing pillow should work ).

Try not to overfeed - she may be asking for milk because it is alkaline and will temporarily make her feel better.. then it will come back up again. Since reflux babies want to feed all the time they end up with the colic tummy pains and green poos.

If I think of more I'll post again. Might be worth searching Mumsnet for tips, I know that there was a good thread a year or so ago ( I was posting under a different name then). HTH.

BTW, after 2 days of abstinance I have just eaten a 200g bar of chocolate (no willpower) - so I'll be expecting dd to be windy again tonight

Well, I went to see the cranial osteopath today. Apparently Anastacia has a 'severe' neck problem because of the position she was in due to my SPD (follow that? ). I had noticed but didn't think much of it, but her head is permanently pulled back as her neck muscles are so tightly/strangely developed. There is apparently a nerve there that is causing the problems in her stomach, which would appear to be reflux. Also that the neck problems would be giving her a headache all the time, hence her totally constant foul mood.

When I got home there was an answerphone message from the Consultant saying that they needed to talk to me. He had left as I got home so late but they think I should see the GP as her vomitting was clearly so bad (my top was soaked by the end of the appointment) and 'other stuff' but I have to wait for the Consultant Osteopath to call me back tomorrow.

It took 5 hours there and back as my walking is so bad, even with the crutches. Am in total agony and they want to see her every week for at least 6 weeks. It is free, but they ask for a donation, which I didn't know so felt like a total dole scuzz bucket sitting there with nothing but my train fare home. So I'm out of the mumsnet xmas meet.

But it will be good to have a baby that is happy, pain free and NOT CRYING ALL THE TIME!!!

BTW bluebear I tried your suggestions for letting her sleep propped up, 4 hours straight for the first time! Thank you

Fantastic! At least you know what's going on. Hope you get a better night's sleep.

dd is crying her wee head off at the mo, cuddling/bfeeding as I type think she's just tired as doesn't sound like a windy cry, but she's fighting sleep. hurrah, eyes have just shut, maybe bedtime will be before 11 tonight.

Oakmaiden - how's it going?

bother she's woken and screaming again.. byee

ok i spoke too soon.... we're back to grunting, kicking, restlessness at night!! but i dont think its wind as she manages to burp and fart pretty well and her belly aint really hard. Sometimes she wants a feed but not often as she has a HUGE feed before we go to bed. Maybe I'm expecting too much but it seems like she dont sleep enough for a 4 week old! last night went like this (we have a late routine in this house):
change and bed at 1.30am & finish off a big feed by 2.00. sleep till 4.00 & feed for a short while, burp etc. Sleep and awake again at 6, small feed change. Awake at 7. Awake at 8. Awake at 9, feed and change and wind till 10.15, Sleep till 10.50, wake, short feed. Wake till 12... sleeping till now... 1.15... will wake shortly ... will have bath, go for walk etc she'll sleep during walk and wake on return for huge feed.Is this normal?? Worried as shes not having long sleeps, only short ones?? She sleeps in bed with me... she wont go in crib for more than 30 mins... she loves going to sleep on someone!

oh spod xxx wrong person to ask but this sounds pretty much like my baba. However with added bonus of baby not liking being flat so actually have to hold her in the nook of me arm whilst I'm sleeping.

If possible though, you might want to push those feeds further apart, maybe she is 'snackin' and lack of full tummy keeps her awake. If you push them nearer the 3 hour mark, or 3.5, then she may have fuller feeds and feel satisfied.

Hello all. Still haven't managed to put the baby down, which is one of the reasons I rarely post. We are muddling through at the moment. Still a bit sore, although improving - the main problems currently are the fact she does a huge 6 hour feed until about 2-3 in the morning (which I think is why I am still sore) and the fact I just can't put her down without her screaming. The fact dh leaves the room as soon as she cries doesn't help at all.
I am feeling ill today too. And I have a sore breast, which feels blocked, so I'm hoping it's not mastitis. Have been playing "how many different posistions can I latch baby on" today. Got to go - crying baby. Again.

Spod - Is she crying and unsettled whilst awake or just grunting and kicking ( will she settle down if you play with her/cuddle her ). Windy cries tend to be more like screams (often very sudden screams) with a scrunched up face. If she isn't screaming she is probably just having her 'playtime' at night. Fine for her, bl**dy annoying for you.
Do you swaddle her? I didn't swaddle ds (born during a heatwave), but do swaddle dd and I think it makes a big difference.. when she gets tired she starts grunting and kicking her legs about and generally wakes herself up..swaddling controls her limbs so she doesn't wind herself up so much. I try to swaddle her then cuddle her in a dark room from 10pm each night and it seems to be working. Last night she went from 11pm to 6am without waking for feed.. bliss.
Problem for us is that because I put her to bed at 10pm she is a dozy sleepy thing in the mornings (I can't sleep in as I have ds to sort out), so I really need to start to bring her bedtime forward.. can't put her to bed in the bedroom before I go up there as dh still hasn't chosen a baby monitor and I can't hear her.. so either need to sit in dark (darkness seems to be necessary for dd to sleep) with her downstairs and carry the moses basket up at 10pm, or must sit in dark bedroom with her in case she wakes - mind you she tends to feed almost continually between 7 and 10pm so I might as well be watching tv. All together chant 'Early days, it's early days.'

Another thought Spod, most babies wake after 45mins of going to sleep (natural sleep cycle), often if you leave them for a couple of minutes (no more than 10 and obviously if their cries start escalating go and cuddle them) they fall asleep again. It might be worth trying (I know it's hard and I always picked up ds the moment he woke but with dd sometimes I really can't get to her when she wakes and by the time I get there she's asleep again.)

Oakmaiden - thinking of you.. 6 hour feeds - ouch. No wonder you're sore poor thing. (I'd be tempted to give baby a finger to suck on (or dh's nipple - share the agony). Mastitus is really nasty too, worth getting seen by the GP as soon as poss. Have you got a pump.. the last blocked duct I had I managed to clear by continual pumping/feeding - took hours before it went. Although if you're already feeling poorly you need anti-biotics.