Oct/Nov babies - finally earthside! ❤

[MyGrassIsBrowner]

Welcome earthside little ones! 🌍

@NW2021 defo don't feel guilty, most people that I know who BF long term give a bottle of formula at night, sometimes they won't take the bottle, but if they do then go with it! Combi all the way. My boobies do end up massive and leaky by the morning though.

Baby was up 4 times for a feed last night so I am shattered and still ill. Think she's going through a growth spurt which is great as I've been so worried about slow weight gain.

Xx

@summerhillgang I’ll take a leaky boob if it means a decent sleep 😂 I’ve given her a bottle of expressed milk once and she has a dummy on/off so fingers crossed she should be ok. How much formula does your little one have? Mines 5 weeks old not sure how much she should have tonight?

Aww not good with you being ill as well, hope you had a lazy day and chilled today. Really positive if it is a growth spurt! Mine did the exact same a few nights ago and I wondered if it was a growth spurt, I’ve got a little chunk now weighed last week 9.5lbs! Can tell her cheeks have filled out 😂

Hey ladies
Not to be a total twat I'm genuinely curious as have seen a few people do the bottle of formula before bed thing on my pregnancy group on FB. I EBF my little one is 3 weeks and 4 days and the last 2 nights has done a 6.5 hour stint .. is formula meant to fill them for longer ? Or Isit so dad can give and your can get some shut eye ? Xx

@NW2021 I think I give 2.5oz's - just have a premade Hipp Organic bottle. I might switch to Kendamil though. Mine is 6 weeks, she's not far off 8 and half pounds. She's really long, I think she might take a while to fill out but sure it will happen.

@mrssunshinexxx wow 6.5 is amazing! I do it cause by end of the day I am knackered and baby is too, as she doesn't sleep much in the day, and feel like she is super hungry and can't be bothered to suck. Plus she is slow to gain. So that's why I am doing it. Also if she can sleep longer that is a bonus. Formula supposed to take longer to break down so keeps them sleepy for longer. But I think it's more them being full in the first place. I express extra milk some days if I have time.

That's interesting to know re slower to break down o hope it brings you more sleep! @summerhillgang xx

@mrssunshinexxx I’m so jealous at the 6.5hrs!! I’m currently EBF but I’m just trying to get a few more hours sleep by introducing a bottle of formula to be honest. At the moment she’s on and off the boob none stop from about 8ish to any where better 12-2am. I’m hoping to give her a bottle as her last feed (10/11ish?) and she’ll sleep for longer. When she does go down she’s waking after about 3hrs on a good night! The other night she was waking every 40mins 😩 she’s 5 weeks today, I was hoping to wait till 6 weeks but the last 3 nights we’ve just had no sleep I’m hoping 1 bottle won’t have much of an effect on my milk supply as I still plan on carrying on bf for the rest of the feeds.

@summerhillgang I’ve got 2 of the pre made cow and gate stuff so going to try one tonight and I hope I just get a few more hours sleep 🤞🏻
She’ll defo fill out might just be taking slightly longer.

@NW2021 it won't make a difference to your milk supply! Sounds like she absolutely loves the boob and will continue to br on your during waking hours 😊

Hey guys 

6.5 hours @mrssunshinexxx !!! Omg that sounds like a distant dream 😂 my baby is 4 weeks old on Thursday and still only sleeps 2 hours at a time max. I'm giving a couple of bottles a day and breastfeeding the rest, unfortunately formula doesn't seem to make any difference to the length of his sleep.

Praying his sleep starts improving soon for the sake of my sanity! I'm contemplating moving him onto formula completely around Christmas time but still haven't decided (and feel quite guilty about it as hes doing well BFing and has absolutely piled the weight on since birth).

@mooloop don’t tell me this, I’ve got this image of me having a lovely 6.5hrs sleep tonight after giving her the bottle 😂😂 (I can only wish!)
I know I’ve read a few posts saying formula doesn’t make much of a difference to sleep and others swear by it. We shall see tonight I suppose. Either way I’m glad she‘ll get use to a bottle hopefully.
I feel the same, guilty about thinking about formula full time because she does well bf. I’ve given myself till Feb to fully go from bf to formula, I’ve got lots more plans from Feb onwards so hoping to leave her with grandparents.

@summerhillgang that’s good to know it shouldn’t effect supply 😊

@NW2021 sorry 😫 I'm just enjoying it while it lasts

Well formula feed was a slight success, she took most of the bottle (4ish oz) I think but still had to put her on the boob to sooth her. Went to sleep about 12.30 and woke at 4! She did have a little winge at around 1.30/2 but turned white noise back on and she went back to sleep.
I’ll take 4 hours solid sleep for now! Least it was better than the previous nights.
She’s just had a massive feed on the boobs now though so must of been hungry. Let’s hope she goes back down for a few more hours 🤞🏻

@NW2021 fantastic! Hopefully baby keeps it up for you.

I'm feeling like a bit of a failure tonight. My baby just wants small feeds all the time so he isn't doing any longer than 2 hours of sleep at a maximum. He's mixed fed and it seems to be the same whether it's after formula or BM. Won't sleep in his next to me either so he's cosleeping with me to try and save some of my sanity. I feel like every other baby in the world is sleeping better and like I must've mucked something up to make him like this

@mooloop please don’t think that, you’re a brilliant mum and defo not mucked anything up!! 2hrs in between is normal I believe for newborns.
Last night for me was a one off!
If it makes you feel better I’m having an awful night already. Baby will not settle, crying constantly, won’t go on the boob just keeps shaking her head and pulling away. I’m currently walking round my room as it’s the only thing keeping her quiet. It’s going to be a long night!!

@mooloop all sounds pretty normal, also things change quickly and without any apparent reason. My baby was sleeping 11-5 but now waking every two hours, I think she's going through a growth spurt and needs the extra feeds. Last night she wouldn't take the formula feed and just wanted boobing. I think she's going through a leap basically. Check out the Wonder Week weeks app, it can show you when the baby is likely to be unsettled.

@NW2021 I have the same thing with Ems, fussing over the boob. Sometimes it's gas, they think they want boob as it can help to soothe but really it's gas. Or just over stimulation, I have been going to bed early when that starts happening and listening to relaxing music or a podcast whilst cluster feeding.

So utterly exhausted but have some help today so treating myself to a bath 🛁

@summerhillgang I’m going to check out the app! I’ve got a book my friend gave me and it says around week 6 they can be really restless and growth spurt happens. I think I’m at that stage as well.

My LO didn’t go down till 12.30am then woke 1.45am small feed and back to sleep for 2am then awake at 4.30am was wide awake till 5.45am 😰 then woke at 7am. I ended up getting out of bed for 7.30am and doing housework seemed pointless just lying there with her not going back to sleep.
She’s really fighting sleep at night, I don’t know if I’m keeping her awake long enough in the day or if she’s feeding enough in the day. Or if it’s just normal for her to be so restless at night.

I chucked a podcast on last night just to pass some time whilst she was wide awake on me.
I’m going to have to get an early night tonight & lots of coffee today!

Do you use a dummy? @NW2021
Do you wake her for feeds through the day ? Is she getting the recommended 8+ feeds in 24 hours ? Sorry for all the questions just trying to help x

@mrssunshinexxx no don’t worry, any help will be grateful!
Yeah we’ve given her a dummy, most of the time she spits it out to be honest but when she’s really tired she’ll sometimes keep it in.
No I don’t tend to wake her, I just go by her really. She can have naps any where from an 1-3hrs at a time. On average I recon her naps are 1.5/2hrs long.
I’m not really timing feeds (I did at the start but couldn’t keep up and kept forgetting) but yeah I’d say she’s getting the 8+ feeds, all different lengths though.

@NW2021 doesn't matter about length of feeds so don't worry about timing them you have enough to do. Great that she's having so many from what you've said if you wanted to trial getting better sleep overnight I would wake regularly throigh the day so she's getting plenty of milk in day time hours I do this then she clusters from around 5pm-8pm then I rock her to sleep and pop in crib 90% sleepy most of the time she will self settle if she's really ratty and overtired I make sure ive
Got her in a deep sleep. Re dummy I hate them but when I got desperate with my first I tried to get her to take one but she never would tried with this baby and she likes it it really helps we use the MAM ones might be worth trialing a couple diff brands could be a game changer. I take it out as soon as she's asleep for me it's great when I just need to change toddlers nappy or run her bath / dish up tea I can't bare to leave baby crying even for a min so the dummy just gets me a few mins respite

@mrssunshinexxx thank you so much for your advice! I’m defo going to try waking to feed in day. We’ve got the MAM dummy as well, she doesn’t mind it at times but it falls out most of the time when she goes in a deep sleep.
How long do you let you’re nap before feeding again? 1.5hrs? Or longer/shorter?
I’m going to try it tomorrow. I desperately need more sleep!
We’ve had a terrible night so far, she woke at 7pm so feed and bathed then from 8pm she’s just fought going to sleep, went down eventually at 12.30 to then wake every hour so far 😫 currently got her on my chest asleep, as soon as I try her in her crib, wide awake!
I’m drained. My nipples are killing! She spend 8-12 just on and off them, not even feeding half the time, just for comfort.

@NW2021 bless you , you are doing an amazing job it's so tough she sounds really overtired like she's fighting sleep in the evening? Mine has started doing the same I find it much easier to get her to sleep stood up rocking her or just walking around getting stuff done I put a Muslin inbetween me and her face and she nuzzles right in and drops off then I move it obviously but that was my trick with my toddler she's now 17m and obsessed with Muslins for comforters. No I wake at the 3 hour mark because I'm going off roughly the 8 recommended feeds in 24 hours but she will feed like 3 times in the first hour of the day then cluster feeds early evening so I feel confident she's getting over the 8 xx

@mrssunshinexxx that’s exactly it, she’s fighting it at the evening. Tonight though she’s been fab! I dunno if it’s because she’s still knackered from last nights no sleep 😂 her last nap was 6-8pm and I thought god we’re going to be up all night now as it was a late nap but she was asleep again by 9! And was down in her crib for 11.30. She’s woke up to feed at 1.30 and 3.45 but pretty much gone straight back off.
These babies are just too unpredictable no idea what they plan to do at night 😂

Ive defo got a cluster feed in the evenings as well! And she’s always on the boob for longer in the mornings. I feel good she’s getting the recommended feeds as she never really goes past the 3hr mark.

Hopefully in the next couple of weeks as she gets older I’ll start seeing a bit longer stretches at night. Fingers crossed!

@mrssunshinexxx the muslin trick sounds good, so is this with her in the carrier? Is the cloth to the side of her face or over it? I wasn't sure

We're finally out of leap 2 I think, baby seems much calmer and content. For the last week or so I've not bothered with any type of routine and have gone back to bed sharing on the most part. But I'm going to try to get her back in the cot this week.

I've left the babe with her hungover Dad today, expressed a load of milk (worked out that rice and anything with coconut seem to really help boost supply as well as staring at her whilst I express) and gone out for a few hours to get my hair done. Feels bloody weird, the longest we've been apart ever.

I'm up and running with my car finally so have been taking her out and about, feel a lot better for that. 6 weeks couped up the house was not good for my mental health at all.

@MyGrassIsBrowner @Peacefulspirit hope you're both doing well and looking forward to Xmas x

@summerhillgang no just when I'm holding her but I would slide it down in the carrier too but she doesn't really o in the carrier yet. Just to side of face not over it but she really nuzzles her face in so I let her get in a nice deep sleep then I move it abit x

Ahh hey everyone just catching, I must have stopped getting alerts when there are new messages. I’m just tired read back! Hope you’re all canny though xx

I stopped getting notified on this thread. How is everyone doing!

Merry Christmas with your babies and happy new year!

I got engaged this Break (eeeek) so planning with our new flower girl. Baby girl doing very well and has been sleeping through since 6 weeks old. last bottle at 9 ish and then wakes at 7. Started getting very cranky between 6 and 9 though l, perhaps tired? But she needs another bottle so its a tricky one. She was so windy at the start but that has sorted now and she is just a delight. Minus the crying for sleep whilst she insists on cat naps, all good here.

How are you all and what are you doing for activities. She seems frustrated and a bit bored now so sensory with legs is all we have atm.