April 2011 - cake-offing, gin-guzzling, wine-sipping, dreams of sleeping

[fraktious]

Thread 3!!!

Thanks Dairy and Cycle.

Oooh, and I highly recommend hot honey and lemon with a bit of Ginger in it. Mmmmmmm

Aussie I'm a bit late catching up as I haven't checked in for a few days and got behind. Your situation is a bit similar to mine - in my case, Joanna regained her birth weight pretty quickly, but then subsequently lost a lot of weight rapidly at 4 weeks, dropping from above the 25th percentile to the 2nd. She was hospitalised overnight (although only so they could do tests to check that all of her digestive functions were working OK, which they were). Prognosis: top-up feeds. I asked the paediatricians working with her if they thought she has a tongue tie, because I had suspected one, and they said no without really checking her properly and were actually quite dismissive of me and my wanting to keep on exclusively breastfeeding - they seemed to think I was being a PITA and their attitude was very much 'well, whatever, she's not gaining weight, so give her formula and stop banging on about BF'.

I subsequently saw an NCT breastfeeding counsellor who thought she might have a tongue-tie and wrote me a referral email to a specialist tongue tie clinic. We waited 5 weeks for an appointment but it turned out she did have a posterior tongue tie and it was snipped - PM me if you'd like the details.

Since her hospitalisation at 4 weeks we've been BF at every feed then 'topping up' with formula, although the 'top up' has been almost all of the feed (up to 120ml each feed after BF). Since she's had the TT snipped, I am VERY GRADUALLY trying to tail off her formula intake to get her to increase her BM intake - so every 3 or 4 days I'm reducing her feeds by 10ml except for the last feed before bed when I let her take as much as she likes because I am lazy and I like sleep . It seems to be going OK but by now my problem is as much increasing milk supply as anything. I'm taking Domperidome and Fenugreek (get doc to prescribe domperidome as otherwise it costs a fiver every couple of days!!). It's helping a bit, but I'm by no means back to exclusive breastfeeding. Overnight feeds she's generally satisfied with just BM and falls asleep without wanting top up. First feed or two of the day she takes less top-up than up I offer, but by the afternoon my milk seems to be running dry and she's back on full top-ups. Last feed of the day she'll often take 150mls on top of 30 mins breastfeeding. Sorry for the essay, but thought some comparison might help. I should be pumping more, and I hired a Medela symphony from the NCT but in all honesty a) I really struggle to find the time to pump, what with BF then FF at every feed already and b) I f hate it!

Lis really sorry to hear your bad news - what a rough few months . On swim nappies - the classes we do require a disposable swim nappy underneath a Happy Nappy which has worked well - in 10 weeks I've never seen a single leak from a single baby.

Frak hope moving stress is worth it!

Dairy,Jo and other reflux-sufferers my heart goes out to you - it sounds awful. Hopefully not too much longer to go...

Jo just rolled over for the first time!! 13 weeks today. I know lots of you are on 2nd 3rd or more, or have LOs older than her, but I'm very proud . Just ran in to tell DP who is still sleeping and just got a grunt and a refusal to get up and come and see whether she'd do it again . So I am telling you lot instead . Front to back (and sh was in a cloth nappy.

wow, front to back! F is 17 weeks and still hasn't managed that. (tried to encourage him earlier, but it just ended in a mega screaming fit).

He did just roll onto his side (in a cloth nappy), but only so he could see the grand prix (DH is watching it on sky+)! I fear for my future sanity...

Ok, this is a really stoopid question, but weare all friends here. Can babies blow? Like through their lips?? B was lying on his playmat staring at one of the dangly bees and it moved, all on its own. Either he blew it or he has the power of telekinesis(sp?) or as DH said its the ghost of my DGMa, FIL or DGDa . Personally,I'm going with the blowing, but I don;t know if thats even possible!

We had another rough night. I'm putting it down to the jabs yesterday. Cycle B does that nightmare thing. He screams and thrashed about, but he is still asleep. A quick cuddle and some shushing usually sorts it and he goes right back to sleep, but again, I don't know if babies can even have nigthmares. Poor wee things.

I reckon they can blow. P certainly blows bubbles but not sure she could blow hard enough to make one of the animals on her play mat move!

P had a good night: 8ish - 5.20 (with a dream feed) and then back to bed until 7.40. Practically a lie in!

I, on the other hand, didn't have such a good night. Woke up at 3.30 in a lake of milk and with a left boob the size of a football. Had to get up, do a full outfit change and express. It felt wrong to be up in the early hours while P slept! Pumped 4ozs off, which just took the edge off the engorgement. What was even worse was that the expresser hadn't been sterilised (and in my current knackered state, I couldn't face doing it), so had to be chuck all the milk away. Seriously rubbish...

Ecuse meh to your DP, we'll happily celebrate J's rolling over. I raise my to her!!

Buck I think F and S would get on very well. S perfected the roll to the side while watching the Grand Prix at the weekend he can get very stroppy if anyone gets between him and the F1. The noise of the cars usually lulls him into a nice sleep by the end as well I like to think that all the time I spent talking about F1 when he was in the womb had a positive effect!

Lis surely babies can blow, right!? S sort of blows/makes a raspberry so just blowing must be possible. More I think about it the more I question it!

We have baby nightmares as well, the cry he makes is gut wrenching but thankfully easily soother away.

Just been for 16wk jabs but that's it till he's 12 months He was very good actually and sat flirting with the doctor between injections having screamed when the HV weighed him

Don't know if I want to tell you this Starshaped, but I don't sterilise my pumps anymore. I just wash them in the dishwasher, once a day, along with all the bottles. A wiser MNer told me that because BM is a sterlie liquid anyway as long as the botles have been wshed in hot water they are ok. I wash them inbetween sessions in hot soapy water. I think the only time you should def, sterilise is if you have thrush as the dishwasher doesnt get hot enough to kill the ?candida??

hi all - sorry I just wanted to say thanks for the napping advice the other day. I know that was aggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssss ago but I can't keep up with the speed of this thread sometimes :)

J still doesn't so any rolling - she is 13 weeks. She HATES tummy time. We have 5 mins everyday but it always ends with screams!

DairyBeetle Asda had a baby event on, and they have a pop up cot on offer. Not sure if its any good but link here. Might be a bit small.

Lis Thanks for the link. I've actually been looking at the cot version of that one (which is cheap on Tesco at the moment. The other that I'm currently swaying towards is this one by NScessity for some reason the blue is cheaper than the red?! Any opinions ladies?

Thanks ecuse, hope your supply improves and it's so impressive that you are working so hard to continue BF. Can't believe you are trying to find time to pump too. Respect. Somewhere in your future is a life without a steriliser or pump! Congratulations on the roll!

Daisy the pediatrician I saw recently told me to stop bothering with tummy time for refluxers, as they all hate it. He's particularly hot on reflux, so I am sure he knows what he's talking about. I asked him about it specifically as C really went bananas when I put him on his tum. The Dr just said he might not crawl but not to worry. Recently he has been rolling onto his side but he's yet to flip over.

Frak - Norfolk was nice, mind.

Am also going to book swimming soon. I can't wait to take C, he's going with a little friend he met in hospital. I like to think of her as his girlfriend. Last week he held her hand (well, grabbed her sleeve) when they were on the playmat together. Swoon.

I'm not sure how many weeks C is. Is that awful?! I think 21, corrected to 13. I had better check!

Dairy that travel cot looks great. I've just added it to my wish list as I'm sure well be festivalling again next year.

Bad news here today for maternity services - our midwife led birth centre is closing (for at least 6 months) on Friday due to lack of staff to cover both the centre and the main hospital. The centre has been closing intermittently for ages due to staff shortages and this seems to be the excuse needed to close it permanently. Story here if anyone is interested. I used the full range of maternity services having started off at the centre and then being transferred in the end. Others give birth in the main hospital and transfer to the centre for breastfeeding support during the first few days. It's a great place and I suspect the campaign to get it re-opened on a permanent basis may now pick up again.

La la la la laaaah... [sticks fingers in ears and pretends she hasn't heard Lis's advice about sterilising!]

Gawd, I hate to think that not only was I up at 3am for no reason, I also chucked a whole feed worth of BM away for no reason. Arrgh!

Oh well, at least I know for the future!

Urgh just typed long post and iPhone deleted it

Thanks Jo I will stop trying so hard with tummy time! We had appointment with gastric paed yesterday and it would appear Js reflux symptoms are caused purely by milk allergy - have posted long update on reflux thread. Hope your LO is doing better...

H had a big strop again earlier. He's started screaming for attention sometimes. That's all he wants, just to be picked up and fussed over. It's so frustrating when we're out.

Glad to hear I'm not going mad about the nightmares though

This cold is rubbish. Had barely any sleep last night as kept waking up coughing then had to drive to and from Cheshire today to see my aunt and uncle as has been arranged for ages and was looking forward to it. Result is I dont think I've been this tired since after the 24hr labour!!!

Sorry to hear about your Granpa Lis

Sympathies to all those suffering with colds, after 3+ weeks mine has finally gone. Hurrah.

I've just ordered some of these bras. I'm planning on wearing them in bed. I just hate having to wear a proper bra to bed but if I don't I always wake up in a milky wet patch. Hopefully these will keep my puppies and the breastpads in place.

after ages with just one wakeup a night, we're already on the 2nd tonight.

Is it because he's 4 months today?

rubbish.

Gah, 2 sons in bed with me! And DH in the spare room getting some sleep in preparation for new job on Monday.

Worst. Night. Ever.

He went down before 7, and stayed asleep until 11.15, except DH and I only went to bed at 9 and I'd barely slept. Still, 5 hours is okay. Then woke again at 1, and 3 and decided it was playtime so wouldn't sleep until he was slung around 5.30 whereupon he dropped off instantly and I stopped clockwatchinh in the hope of getting some rest. It's 11 now so we're up for the day but I hate to think what further damage this is going to do to his routine. I can see how he disturbs himself now and there's feck all I can do so we just need to ride it out I just wish this bloody tooth would sort itself out and stop causing me a huge ulcer and that the bloody dentist could find time to see me!

chilli that's appalling about the MW led service. And they're always saying there are too many trained MWs who can't find work too :(

Aww Jo that sounds so cute! Are you planning his wedding already? You need to find the right hat you know

Yay for rolling over ecuse!

Morning ladies. Yeah, rubbish night here too. Lots of grunting and farting all night, (Conor that is) combined with the new trick of chucking the dummy and wanting it back. Fed at half one and half four but I'm not even sure he was hungry. We got up at seven for another feed. He's now FAST asleep in his buggy, at half eight, clearly shattered! I've got a meeting with my boss today, to discuss plans for next year (gets matchsticks) and DH has developed insomnia.

I think we have teething. Seems to be lots of dribble and shoving hands in mouth. Can the experienced mums tell me, do we just live with that or is there something I can do to help? Obviously Calpol if it's bad but I can't give him that every day. Tempting as it is. I call it the Magic Pink.

Not sure what to do about the dummy game either. I don't really want to take him dummy away. He loves it and it clearly makes him feel better. It's also very useful when we play our other game, Get The Milk In The Baby.

Sleepy waves to Ali and Frak. Hope others had better nights.

We're off to the doctors this morning to get Aptamil Pepti, in the hope that it helps with feeding. I think I've been at the GP more in the last four months than the rest of my life put together!

almost the same pattern here frak, down at 7:20 then wakeups at 11:30, 1:30 and 3:30. He was also pretty awake at 3:30, but I just chucked him back in his cot and went back to bed. Thankfully he went to sleep after talking to himself for a while.

And he's bitten me after the last 3 feeds. That one tooth is mega sharp! He'll bite my nips right off if he's not careful.

Ouch Buckminster biting does not sound ilke fun at all!!

R slept 10-7 on Tuesdasy night and last night had her sleepover at grandmas so not sure how it went yet! I on the other hand was looking forward to a long lie but no, DP woke me up at 7 when he got up for work and then at 8, work men started digging up the road outside my house I suppose that's something to do with karma!!