August 2011 - a place to wAit until the rest graduate !

[MrsVidic]

Hi,
Thought I would start us a postnatal thread. Were still in hospital, here till Tuesday monitoring dd (now named Eva) and giving her the anti biotics. Im missing dd1 loads as I only get to see her at visiting and trying to contain a toddler on the ward is tough.

eviepoo Willow had a cold that left a terrible chesty cough 2 weeks ago and she is still occasionally bringing up a full feed if she gets a bit of a tickly couch after she has had a bottle, its such a shame for them.

sorry sargesaway i hadnt answered you when you asked if willow was more sick since going onto bottles and the answer is yes but i thinks its mainly to do with the lingering cough, i am slightly wondering if its a bit of silent reflux too but it only happens if she slightly coughs first? does Bertie bring up a lot of milk each time or just a bit? i have no experience of reflux but one of my friends baby who is 10 weeks old has it and shes finding it very hard, hes on the comfort milk and the gaviscon too.

Hi everyone...

Question about sleep and naps. Has anyone got a routine going? Also how many naps are your LO's having during the day?

DS has started waking at 3.30 and ready for the day, he doesnt want feeding till about 6 though sad Im knackered!!! He falls asleep about 7ish without fail, there is no chance of me keeping him up later

WinterLover so weird that you're asking about naps! I was just about to come on and ask how people's babies are sleeping.

We're not in a routine so this is a bit vague. Harriet usually has her first nap in the morning about 10am and it's usually for about an hour ish, though this is sometimes cut short as she wakes up to do a poo! Then she'll nap at some point in the afternoon, sometimes it's a good long one and other times it'll only be 45 min. If she goes in the pram at any point that will be an additional nap as she always falls asleep in the pram. I do go out with the pram most days for about an hour.

Her bedtime which is the only routine-y bit of the day is around 7:30pm, she'll wake around about 12-1:30am, she needs a little feed and put her back down, she'll sleep until 3:30-4:45 depending on when she was first up, she'll take slightly more feed and then back down again until 7-8ish. The night time timings depend on when she settled.

Bedtime routine is lights all turned down, bath, new nappy, put her into her grobag, feed her and sing to her, and then she's usually either asleep or really sleepy, and put her down then. She sometimes wriggles a bit but usually settles pretty quickly.

Last night did not go like that though, she was up for ages in the night, needing to poo and spitting up, all sorts... hoping it is a one off

WinterLover hope you don't mind me asking but how are you doing with your PND - it was you that posted on here saying you had had that diagnosis? No worries if you don't want to say, you can just ignore my question :o

My DS doesn't sleep much during the day - he might have 4 power naps of 15-20 mins each and that's about it. He does sleep for 12 hrs at night though so i can't complain at all. the only day that he deviates from this is Tuesday which is my browse around the shops day when he might sleep for 90 mins in the pram. We have no routine for daytime naps though and he generally only cries during th day when he is tired, so a quick cuddle and he usually falls asleep.

I am leaving him with my MIL for the first time later whilst I take DD to a firework display and DH has to be at Basketball (we run a semi-pro club and have a home game tonight).

hope the poorly babies are feeling better, rafiq had that cough and cold too he still has a bit, poor thing. atleast now he is gonna be 3 months can use the snuffle babe on him if he needs it. it has gone round all the dc, my 3 yr old has it the worst now

as for naps and bedtime we are still not really in a proper routine it varies alot, if people are round and its too busy in the house then he wont nap much, it will be just cat naps but if its just me and kids in all day then he may have a few good long naps, so just depends. and still not sleeping through either

cant reply to all the posts as its so many, i forgot to come and check the thread, but nice to see how everyone is doing and lovely pics

Thanks for your info, DS is just driving me mad at the min lol

Teladi yes it was me - Im doing ok thanks, on a low does AD and it seems to be helping most days now :)

Hooray...I found you all again! I lost the thread and had to do a search.

Not getting much time online these days but things are getting easier at last.

Your contraception talk is interesting. I'm still having dilemma. Don't want anything hormone related because of high bp. We used to just use condoms but not exactly pleasant and (sorry if this is horridly personal) things downstairs are not what they were after episiotomy & condoms make it more uncomfortable. :( We've only really had 1 attempt but it was so painful had to stop. Hoping I will 'stretch' again but doc said if I don't the only option is to go back under knife for resuturing, which I really do not want to do. So strictly speaking not in desperate need of contraception but if I want to keep my marriage, will have to get it sorted soon! DH is very frustrated I think.

On a brighter note, little Harry is doing great guns. Not sure of his weight as haven't been to baby clinic for a few weeks but he was 12lb 8 at last check. He is just dozing on bed next to me as i type :) I'm really smitten at the moment. It's like being in love, I could gaze at him all day.

He has been sleeping longer at night and also is easier to put back to sleep again when he does wake up for feeds. Stil ebf which is fab. Feel v lucky that it has worked out. Just looking at options for return to work at end of January. It's come around so quickly. I know it's another 2-3 months but it will fly. Seeing a nursery tomorrow. :O I will only be working 2 mornings a week which is enough as I don't like the thought of leaving baby any longer than that. Going to chat to HV about options for feeding when I go back too. Don't want to give up BFing necessarily though he'll be starting on solids then too.

When do you all go back to work (if you go back that is?)

I'll try and have a read through and catch up your news now. :)

I left DD for the first time today, I went into town on the bus to buy her an outfit for a photo session we have booked next week. I was gone for about three and a half hours. Even though I knew she would be fine with DH, it was really weird. I missed her! I'm going back to work in May, I can't imagine leaving her all day. :( I have a nursery place booked for her, I am hoping to go back three days a week.

WinterLover glad you're doing OK, this parenting lark is hard enough without PND, I have been thinking of you!

I'm glad you're not all saying your babies are sleeping through... it would be amazing if DD slept through soon, the sleep thing is what I am finding the hardest about having a baby, but am not holding my breath! TBH it is probably better in a way that she isn't, as I am still expressing milk for her (she never did learn to latch) and if she started sleeping through there is no way I would still be getting up to pump in the night. At the moment I pump after I have dealt with her and settled her back down. I only get a little bit more than she takes in the course of 24 hours so I would probably have to start mix feeding if I didn't do the night pumps.

Thanks :)

DS is sleeping 8-9 hours at night then wakes up wanting to be up for the day at about 4am.

Have any of you started with baby rice or porridge yet? Apparently guidelines are changing yet again to 16 weeks for weaning...

Hi sarge

My 13wk old has reflux..think I have saw your posts on the reflux thread. Has been pretty hard going. He's been on a variety if meds which I am not convinced are working. We are waiting for a referral to hospital - having to wait up to 12wks!! Hope things with your little one are improving?

Hey all, glad to hear everyone is coping well with our little people :)

Leo is usually touch wood sleeping from 8pm to 5am now. I am using baby rice in his last bottle of the evening at 7pm, in an avent bottle with variable teat, and he's yumming it up! He'll be 3 months old tomorrow, so weaning is early, but this way worked for his brother, as we were able to introduce foods really slowly and still have him weaned by 7 months ready for my return to work.
I shall be trying baby porridge with Leo soon. (I've never really paid attention to guidelines if I'm honest )

My return to work at the mo is totally up in the air. If I stay in my current job, then I don't have to go back until mid-april, but I shall be looking for something else after Xmas, as my current job is mind numbing :(

Contraception = abstinence!! I am on the POP at present, recommended by Dr to stop postnatal bleeding, and help everything to settle down. Got 2 more months of that, then back to condoms. Tho I am yet to dtd with hubby, have got no libido what-so-ever at present

What has everyone been getting for their little bundles for Xmas?
I've been trying to get DS2 as many pressies as DS1, just so DS1 realises that Santa brings pressies to his little brother too! DS2's pressies mainly consist of things I would need to buy him anyway, such as weaning pots and spoons, teethers, clothes etc, and he does have 2 new toys. With DS1 it is all about quantity not quality!!

hi everyone, Willow was up for 3 feed last night! since her first injections on Fri she seems to have a funny spell everyday where she just wont feed, I know shes hungry but as soon as the botte touches her lips she screams, then after a while shes fine and drinks it, its at different times every day, only happens once and she is fine after and has all her other feeds as normal, its really weird! Anyway ive tried dreamfeeding at 10.30-11pm a few times and sometimes she drinks it and sometimes she only has an ounce but it never makes her sleep any longer, she still has 2 feeds a night which im getting really tired off, dd1 was sleeping 12 hours by 6 weeks with a 11pm dream feed, ds only finally slept through regulary at 15 months when he could walk so who knows when Willow will, really hope its sooner than that!!

Is anyone else dreamfeeding? and is it working?
I bought Tracy Hogg book on Sleep but to be honest ive got lot of books and they all seem to make me feel anxious as i cant follow what they say should be a routine and it makes my routine (or what little there is) go wrong!! so i think im just going to carry on as i am!!

im starting to recognise better when she needs a nap (she does not sleep much in the day and fights it) so ive started putting her down upstairs in her crib and shes napping much better than falling asleep on me and then me trying to put her down in the pram carrycot. so im hoping were getting into a bit of a better routine.

I thought id sorted the contraception out with the mini pill but ive been having constant heart palpatations since starting it, i was getting them anyway but not often, the ECG showed an extra irregular beat coming from a lower chamber which is v unusual so ive been referred, so ive stopped the pill to see if they calm down, so its back to condoms for now :(

Im so glad Willow will not have a dummy even though i have tried, DS is 3 on Sunday and we really have to get him to send his away even though he loves them so much, he has started chewing the ends off, which i think is a bit of sign hes ready to give them up, so hes using all the girly pink ones i had got for Willow, he doesnt care! he would have one 24 hours if he could!!

you have got me thinking off xmas presents now for her, jumparoo sounds good!

good luck with the new medicine sarges hope it works

Jumperoo's are brilliant. i bought one for DD as my going back to work present when she was 6 months old. She absolutely loved it and would go mental in it - jump up and down like crazy and laugh like mad. Will be digging it out of the garage for DS to use soon - he still hasn't got full control of his head (I blame it being so enormously large) yet, but when he does, the jumperoo will be waiting for him.

I am up at this time with painful IBS - had a flair up today (if is effected by wheat) and I am now waiting for it to not be so painful so I can go to sleep.

We are going to try the Fisher Price Froggy Bouncer for Morgan for Hannukah/Christmas. It is a spacesaver, so smaller (cheaper) than the Jumparoo and looks like just as much fun. Anyone tried it? I saw it as Costco for £50 inc VAT and it is also on Amazon for £60. We put her in it and it was a bit much yet but she fits great.

Speaking of toys, we bought the Galt inflatable ring nest and gym and it deflated with an hour. Very disappointed as she/we love it. Although I couldn't believe how huge around it is!!!

One more thing, if you haven't gotten Sophie the Giraffe yet for teething, you MUST. It is brilliant.

Don't know what we're going to get DD for Christmas, it seems like a bit of a pointless exercise as I am pretty sure her grandmas and aunties are going to be going bananas. I think I might get her a Sophie Giraffe but only if I haven't had to buy one already!

I think there might be something going on with her teeth now, just this last couple of days she seems to have discovered her hands and she just seems to be sucking them constantly! I didn't mind to begin with until I saw how hard she was sucking them, leaving red and sore marks on her hands. So it's back to the scratch mitts for the mo. I also gave her a dummy for the first time last night as she just seemed to want to suck, she took way too much milk and spat heaps of it up. It wasn't something I had really thought about giving her before but it came with the bottle set we bought for her ages ago. She seemed to like it but I'm not really sure when it's appropriate to use, she is OK at going to sleep normally. I take it this is normal baby stuff, if anyone has any similar experiences let me know! She is 10 weeks old atm.

never I have the Baby Whisperer book but it just made me annoyed because DD was clearly not going to do the stuff in the book. One book I do like for sleep is the No Cry Sleep Solution, it is a bit more sensible I think.

Hope you are feeling better soon Hersetta.

never so glad to read your bit about daytime napping. Lewis is exactly the same, doesn't nap much during the day but fights it when he is tired. I have not tried putting him in his cot for daytime naps, I read somewhere it's better to get them to try and nap somewhere different to where they sleep, but you know I am getting so desperate for some peace during the day that I think I will try the cot after all, as he does sleep very well in the cot when he's put down at night and his first nap of the day is also in the cot and he's very quick to go off then too. At the moment, that and some wind (Lewis's not mine) are our only problems, apart from worrying about Xmas and who to offend this year re who will go where etc...

wishwales i've got that galt nest and have just left it up inflated for a couple of weeks so far and its not deflating at all even though my older 2 have jumped on it too! so i would take yours back and see if you can swap maybe got a hole in it somewhere?

i also agree jumperoos are good, i have mine from ds1, ds2 used it too and its up ready for ds3 to be big enough for it so have got my value out of it! we dont do xmas but it was eid on this weekend but have to admit i didnt get rafiq anything sounds soo mean, but tbh he doesnt need anything cos he doesnt play with toys yet and we have so many things already so i just got for the other 2, but i definitely will get him something next eid!

as for contraception we are just back to condoms, although i dont particularly like them but all the other methods seem kind of 'invasive' by being longer term type things or hormonal ones which make actual changes to your body, which im not comfy with. but i do really wanna have a longer break inbetween kids now, so i would have prefered something more reliable but there does not really seem to be any other options.

Speaking of contraception, does anyone have any experience with the Depo shot? How long did it take to get pregnant after the last shot? Did you still have periods? Any other side effects?

Wishwales I used depo about 10 yrs ago and bled constantly or not at all, for the 3 month slots. Not good.
Also re weaning they r different guidelines for prem babies. I'll be holding out as long as possible to the guidelines, 6 mths. I like blw and it's so much easier. I'll be trying a sippy cup at 5 mth thou if she still refuses the bottle.

We r trying to get the bottle thing sorted ATM- every morning we try and still no drinking but tiny improvements.

Re Christmas I'm getting dd2 clothes, grow bags, tooth brush and perhaps that teether giraffe thing.

Eva is 13 wk old now and has suddenly "woke up" giggling and interacting lots. Also the feeding has relaxed which is good.

I used depo both before and after both DC's. With DD it took 3 months for my periods to return and 6 months the last time with DS.

Side effects are it can lead to weight gain and a i have heard a loss in sex drive.

i didn't have any periods at all - a real plus point for me.