May Babies

[GeorginaA]

Have we got enough that I can officially open this thread yet?

How are your little ones doing prufrock, twiglett, snowbird?

I think mine is going down with jaundice. Dh isn't convinced, but it's either that or he's got a lovely tan sigh. I remember all the stress associated with that last time with ds1... hoping ds2 doesn't get it as badly.

He's still being a very sicky baby, about a couple of teaspoons a few hours after each feed (which is odd - I'd have thought if it was a reflux type thing it would happen immediately after the feed?) Midwife seems to think it'll settle after the milk comes in but if not then we'll look at some sort of baby gaviscon. Poor little mite, can't be comfortable for him... and we're sure getting through a lot of laundry!

Feel so bloody knackered at the moment, fed up of bits leaking and being sore, and it's only day 2! How long is it before you start feeling human again? Please tell me that it's sooner than the 2 week paternity leave dh gets!!

Aw linnet, what a cutie!

Well I must say we all were very lucky in producing such gorgeous babes - wonder if the rest of the population are jealous?

Typical, twiglett!

I had just one waking last night at 2.30am, but he was quite snuffly and wriggly throughout the night (due to his cold) so don't feel particularly well rested as a result!

Health visitor came round today. Dd2 is now 9lbs 3oz. she said the same as Twiglett, if she drank the milk and kept it down then it's ok she must have been hungry. She also said that it was probably just a growth spurt. Have been advised to make up the bottles of formula to 5 oz now rather than 4 and see if that helps, she might not take the full 5 oz every time but to see what happens.

Also reassured me that babies won't eat and eat until they explode, she will stop when she's had enough or if she keeps going and it's too much it will just all come back up again.

Also asked HV about the spots on dd2's face. She says that the ones on her cheeks are milk rash/baby acne but it was her forehead I was more concerned about as it was looking quite scabby like cradle cap, which is exactly what the HV said it looks like. Been advised to get some almond oil to put on it to see if it clears up. I did think of putting oil on it last night but we only have garlic oil in the house so thought it might be better to wait, lol.

Found dd1's baby book today so looked to see what weight she was at this stage and at 5 weeks dd1 was 9lbs 3oz and dd2 is the same weight and will be 5 weeks on Friday. And yet d2 seems so much bigger than dd1 ever was. She's even started growing out of clothes already.

we also got weighed today and DD is 9lbs 3. Libb I expressed milk the other night and dd drunk 6ozs as long as she wasnt sick my hv said it was ok.
Today has been a knightmare. I think its the worst day ive had since DD was born. I dont know who's cried the most me or DD. From 9 this morning she has screamed and screamed. Shes been feeding every 1-2 hrs but only for a few minutes. Each time I got her off to sleep and tried to lay her down she just starts crying. I think I may have tried 9 times before eventually giving in as she wasnt getting any sleep which was making it worse.
I know this is a silly question but, how do I know if DD is really hungry. At the moment I feed on demand and when she starts sucking her hands or rooting. But im not sure if shes hungry or wants comfort sucks. When I put her on the breast she doesnt seem hungry. Im afraid not to try and feed her though encase she was actually hungry.

Spots- Was it you whose baby was diagnosed as having reflux. DP was speaking to someone in work today who described the same type of symptoms that were having e.g wont lie down flat, preferes being upright, explosive poos and what looks like discomfort. she said her baby had reflux. If it was how did you discover it and how is DD now?

Dps home from work now and typically DD hasnt cried once!!!

I think it was me who thinks DS has reflux - I posted a thread earlier, Spots I feel for you if you are experiencing the same! He has been a little more settled this evening as I made a big effort to be "cheery" and adamant with the sitting up thing and taking my time, instead of sobbing quietly as he squirmed and sobbed for England. He has probably had 2-3 hours sleep at the most today

He is now crashed out - which will probably mean a very late feed for me, I have to really muster the enthusiasm to wake him after days like this!

kbaby, my dd has gone from being q settled to wanting feeding, or at least, appearing to, all the time, as well. i dont know if she is hungry or not. i put her to the breast and she feeds for a couple of minutes then falls asleep. then put her down,, she wakes up a few minutes later and we go through the same thing again. don't know what has happened. she has started screaming her head off at bedtime too, which didnt happen before. grrrr,

Well, last night was interesting. Dd1 suddenly announced at 5pm that she had a sore tummy and felt sick. So the rest of the evening was spent with dd1 throwing up and she had a sky high temperature. Dh was at work last night, dd2 kept screaming and wanting fed constantly poor dd1 just lay on the couch asking "will I be able to go on my school trip tomorrow?" Poor thing was up all night and has not been able to go on her school trip which she was so looking forward to and we've been counting down the days on the calendar for weeks. To be honest though it's a horrible day blowing a gale and pouring with rain so I don't think it would have been much fun anyway, but you can't tell that to a 6 year old.

Dh is off today so at least I have his help with both the dd's but dd1 seems a little better and dd2 has actually been quite good so far. She keeps giving her big sister smiles to cheer her up

Hope everyone else is doing ok

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ah, kbaby I feel for you. We had a afternoon like that yesterday, only an afternoon though which was bad enough! typicaly when dp came home she was as good as gold!
I think dd is quite small, hv came today and she only weighs 8lbs 4oz, mind you she was only 6lbs 10.5oz when she was born. Unfortunatly I realy don't like my hv very much, I find him very unhelpful, and he never gives me a straight answer, so he didn't really say if that's okay or not. Also her heads only grown 1 cm since she ws born it's now 33cm, but i have a v small head, so not sure if that's okay or not either. anybody got any ideas?

btw, libb did u get my mail? how you doing?

Sorry cat82, have had a couple of fun days with screaming baby not liking his food! bah! I am hoping it has passed for now, he seems a bit happier today - and so am I because he is asleep. I will reply soon - promise!

I've sussed the breast pump! having spent one morning a few days ago crying because it didn't seem to work - I tackled it and realised I'd put the valve in round the wrong way - curse these hormones! Will see if DP can give him the results tonight, only expressed 2.5 ozs but I know I can do better in the mornings so am not concerned - also I can be there to take over with the right equipment if he kicks up a fuss.

It was just a nap . . . . laters everyone!

Kbaby, yes we are reflux family. DD doesn't really show distress or any other symptom except prolific vomits... we wouldn't have done anything about it had it not been for blood vom incident. she is now on gaviscon and another medicine and they seem to help... I forgot to make up a dose in time today (a pain to remember all that sterilising) and was surprised to be reminded of how much comes back up ! quite a waste... Sorry to hear you've been having probs. I have been reading penelope leach who is very good about demand feeding and why you should just go with it. Good that is if you want to hear that your baby's enormous appetite is good. I sort of wanted to hear that she was unusual and it would pass...

However night feeds for us continue to be v. frequent, every 2 hours or so as she just goes to sleep before she's had enough to keep her going longer. She is quite sweet and friendly at that time and I have started letting her sleep in our bed MORE now for the sheer handiness of it. I think maybe we are parenting backwards...

Linnet lovely pic. How do you subscribe to these things? do you have to do a whole album?

How do you all find public breastfeeding? I had to feed dd on the train today which was a breakthrough moment. COMMUTERS SAW MY BOOBS!!!

I'm shameless this time around with public breastfeeding... I was quite shy with ds1 but this time I just think sod it, it's just a boob - 50% of the population have them. Although if someone offers me a private room with a nice chair I'll take it - more for the comfort than the privacy.

like georgina i've been much more at ease about the public breatfeeding this time. am hoping to br doing it on the beach next week.

lovely pic linnet.

have to say that i think dd is getting less settled not more, will try and do something about it after the hol. am hoping she will start to develop a routine then.

DD1 is now back to normal. Must have just been a 24 hour bug. Feel so bad that she missed her trip though. They were going to a wildlife centre and we've told her that we'll take her there in the summer holidays, she finishes for the holidays next Wednesday. I only paid for the trip yesterday and it cost £6.50 do you think they'll give me my money back if I ask them? I feel a bit cheeky asking but at the same time dd1 didn't get to go so...I'll have a think about it. I just hope they don't think I deliberately kept her home because it was such awful weather.

Spots I'm with AOL and you get to make a homepage with them. So I posted the photo of dd2 on a page with them. I've never managed to do a link before so I'm really chuffed that it worked.

Dd2 is lying here wide awake, was supposed to be having her bottle but only took 2oz then fell asleep and now she's woken up she doesn't want the rest of it, typical. Going to go put almond oil on her scabby forehead, poor little baby, it does look a little better than it was after putting some on last night so hopefully this cradle cap will clear up soon. didn't realise they could cradle cap so soon, dd1 didn't get any until she was older and it didn't come as far down onto her face either.

hi everyone. Linnet VERY cute pic Glad dd1 is better now, I don't see why the school should be funny about giving your money back, unless they already said it was non refundable.
So, I went for my 6 week check up today and saw my hv yesterday. Both suspect I have PND. I have suspected I've not been coping that well, but i'm not quite ready to admit i have PND yet, so feeling thoroughaly despondant at the mo. How's everyone else doing at this magic 6 week milestone?
Sorry to whinge AGAIN, i feel that's all I'm doing at the mo, isn't this when it all starts to get better???!!!!

Oh Cat82, I will e-mail you later and chat properly with you (know exactly what you are feeling right now).

DS has really taken a dislike to my putting him down, screamed every time - he has slept for about 1 hour today and only DP was able to put him down when he got home (obviously not smelling of milk). He is now flat out - at the moment. He has been so tired too, I could see him fighting it all day. I did think about putting him in a dark room upstairs with the baby monitor and letting him cry it out but it seems too tough on him. What do you wise ones think?

Still trying to believe "it will get better, it will get better"!

Hi Cat82,
I understand completely what you are saying about not wanting to admit to PND. I did exactly the same after the birth of my little girl 2.5 years ago and delayed getting medication for a couple of months. I think only you know how crap you are really feeling but there is nothing wrong with admitting you don't feel great and getting some help. Please feel free to e mail me privately if you would like to because I do know what it is like...
We are 2 days over the 6 week marker and have had an unsettled day. Am hoping this is a final fling before we enter calmer waters. Sod's Law of course that this is the week when DH gets to work miles away and stay in poncy hotel tonight, kicking up heels, drinking copiously and phoning later to tell me exactly what he had to eat....(actually, not sure about ponciness of hotel, he's in Preston but looking round our lounge...I would say its all relative!!!)

libb - I admit to the dark room and screaming occasionally (and I let ds2 do it too ) - there seems to be a point when they get so overtired NOTHING is going to work and you get to the end of your tether. 5-10mins is the most I can endure though (and it's usually fairly obvious by then if they're calming down or working themselves up even more).

A very last resort option though. Walking up and down the living room carrying him in my arms is a fairly good failsafe as long as I don't need my arms back any time soon...

Only flicked through the last week (you gals write a lot!)
If Gf is working for you and making your life easier (as it does for me) then do it. If it isn't - then just ignore the woman. Seriously, she is only one of the many guru's out there and whilst I love her, and think some of the advice fits all babies (max 2 hours up time being the best) there are lots of other ways to parent.

ds is wonderful - we have had loads of smiles,he's getting more head control and he's coped wonderfully with the last week of disrupted routine, different beds and large numbers of people fighting over who gets to cuddle him (and breast milk that probably had more than the recommended levels of alcohol)
I've just got out all the 3-6 month clothes because he's such a big boy. No idea how much he weighs (only been on the scales twice in his life) but dh reckoned he'd grown in the week we've been away.
He's been going 7 hours between fees, but waking a couple of times in the early hours because we didn't have blackout curtains. But I haven't really been sleeping so it hasn't been a problem.

prufrock, can I ask you a GF question please? Ds2 is doing well on it but a couple of little niggles.

When do you move to the next routine? Ds2 is 6 weeks but he's not managing to last to 10.30am for that first feed so I really don't want to stretch it any further yet. At the moment, he's waking at 10, looking for food, able to be distracted for about 5-10 mins before he gets upset so that's when I feed. He goes longer gaps at other points of the day/night... I think it's more the association of "I've just got up, therefore I get fed" as he doesn't seem overly hungry when he does get on the breast. He also hates the split feed thing at 5 - again I think from association - "hey, don't just give me half a belly full!"

Can't remember what ds1 did at this age, so wondered if your ds was doing something similar and if you just kept on a younger routine until they were able to do it.

georgina, Not sure if this will help but when dd gets niggly 20 minutes before her feed is due, I give her a little bit (just to take the edge off) and then try and keep her entertained until the feed is actualy due.
I'm bottle feeding (i still hate admitting that) and just subtract whatever she's taken from her next feed and it seems to work. if your bf, it's a little tougher but i guess if the book says "feed for 20 mins on right breast" you could give her 5 mins, and then 20 mins later give her another 15?
Eventualy ds2 might forget about the smaller feed, this might not help you, but it does seem to be working with dd

We are at 6 weeks today. hoorah! actually it sort of has been getting a bit better generally since she showed interest in the real world a week or two ago, and started smiling, so I am expecting a whole NEW IMPROVED better from today onwards...ah so. along with the betterness comes a new challenge: she actually wants to be entertained and gets bored if you stay in one place with her in alert state too long. Bouncing or singing or walky talking to her are best ways to keep her pacified. first child priviledges I reckon...She still won't be put down except through stealth. As she gets bigger I look forward to arms like popeye's.

Finding myself quite snippy with dh tho'. Already a schedule has evolved in which I do all the baby chores and he comes home at end of day and has fun playtime. he doesn't have initiative to think of all the little things that need to be done (constant laundry rotation, medicine related sterlising etc.) so I have to 'suggest' that he does them, which is pretty much nagging when you do it in a tired voice. Is there any avoiding this when you are breastfeeding and the father works all day?

Hello. Warning! this is be long. Well, I carted myself off to the GP today who has diagnosed the blues (so much has happened in just one year it was to expected in a way) so have a prescription for a month. I dont feel happy about taking them but they may help take away the fogginess, and I really want to appreciate DS as he is amazingly gorgeous. I also scored very high on the HV test at the clinic today

DP was a complete pig last night, having rolled in from the pub and in the mood for an argument thanks to the footie. As you can imagine this didn't help in any way whatsoever - he has since apologised and we are going to sort it out properly tonight but I came very close to carting myself and DS off to my parents (I still might for a night or two). I realise that he is also finding the impact of DS difficult to cope with too so perhaps a good honest chat will clear some issues, we are both terrible for sharing the bigger stuff to be honest. To be fair though, I don't think a football game is really in the same league as feeling out your depth with a 6 week old baby for the first time day in day out. DP also had to choose the night when DS slept from 7 until 7 with only two small pitstops, and we didn't get to appreciate the luxury. (the git).

Sorry, had to get that off my chest so thanks for letting me vent spleen!

Will end on a good note and say that DS weighed in today at a very reasonable 10lb 13ozs, not bad to have gained just over 3lbs in 6 weeks I guess! perhaps it isn't really so bad after all?

There, that's my soul bared for all to see!

Lordy, didn't mean to put a downer on this thread!

It isn't all bad ... more of a glitch.

Spots, know what you about stealth tactics!

Georgina
I'm not really sure what I do. Routine has been up the spout this last week anyway with being at my Mums. Today I took dd and ds to the shops and he slept in his pram 9.15-10am, then woke up in supermarket, and I ended up having to feed him at 10.15 whilst walking back from the shops, pushing a laden pram and holding dd's hand - fortunately it's a quiet footpath and ds is very good at latching on!
This tends to lead to him waking at 1ish for another feed, then going back to sleep, but I can't really be bothered to get stressed about it at the moment