October 2011 - Let the poo obsession begin

[PenguinArmy]

Come chat, moan, boast (by stealth of course), vent, rage, relax, worry and be reassured. Welcome to all the new babies. Stats thread here

Cheshire there are so many different opinions and you have to ignore them and go with what feels right to you? How old is poppy now? If she is putting on weight then I would personally feed her every 3-4 hours in the day (which should virtually be on demand as she's unlikely to go much past 4 without wanting something) and on demand in the night time. I did a week of waking the girls every 2 hours through the night when they were small and it almost tipped me over the edge as they weren't really fully hungry so feeding took longer trying to wake them up and get them to suck properly! They wake up naturally between 3-5 hourly over night now and feed well each time.

As for sides etc again whatever works for you - I tended to feed on one side per feed with ds and then swap over for the next one obviously with the girls they get a side each and that's their lot

BB3 - she seems to be feeding for most of it with sleepy moments, but whenever I take her off she goes nuts. She does get bad wind so that may be it, but I am vigorously winding her. What do you do to distract Edith-may and stop her suckling? Or do you just go with it?

Cheshire - conflicting advice is really hard to deal with. I was told last time (which I went with and worked for ds) was to use both boobs each feed as it helps stimulate milk supply in the early weeks, to wake after 4-5 hours for a feed if he didn't naturally wake, and to try and avoid feeding more often than every 2 hours during the day as it encourages snacking, and they don't get the hind milk if they don't feed for long enough. I was trying to follow the same this time, but dd seems to need a cluster feed in the afternoon which means only an hour and a half between feeds. Both mine feed for 30 minutes at least each feed though, so I can see if it were shorter I would only use one boob.

He all, Josephis 3 days old and have poppedover to say hi

Feeding is painful butseems to reduce over the feed to hopefully we are getting it right. He is on each nip about 30 mins and sleeps for a bit between so feeds are 1.5hrs on total. Wil this reduce when my milk comes in?

Side from that all good tho v tired and painful vag!

Cheeky I take her off and go through about 10 different positions until she finally burps and then she's back on. She's better in shorter burst on and off 3-4 times per feed rather than staying on. Also she's just finally accepted a dummy and it's a life saver she falls asleep on it then spits it out after 5 minutes when it's served it's purpose (although not everyone likes to use them).

Oh and I can't cope with the suckling - it hurts like hell!!!

Oops Lots of sp mistakes (one handed typing). Interested to hear the answer to cheshire's q, so much different advice on bfing..

cheeky generally HV advice re:BF and sleep should be taken lightly IME

second what BB3 says just do what works for you. The only reason to start timing and ensuring feeds by X etc. is if there are medical reasons to e.g. very sleepy baby due to jaundice. Cluster feeding is normal (DD did hers in the morning) and for a while HCPs got too eager about the fore/hind milk stuff. Most people it doesn't matter if you go with the flow. Also your baby willl probably need a completely different feeding routine in a few weeks, they like to do that. Nothing wrong with snacking if your fine with it. It's the way babies were naturally wired to be.

sorry that was chesire

Thanks BB3 Cheeky and Penguin I felt like we were doing what the HV asked last night and it just made everything go wrong. She was up on and off most of the night and has been feeding on and off all morning - when she would usually be sleeping now.

Poppy is 15 days old and has put on weight so I figured what I am doing must be right.

Also now (and this is really bad) because I am stuck upstairs feeding I can hear DH downstairs and it sounds like he is ironing - which is usually my job. God help what our clothes will look like now

Quick question, how do you time between feeds - start of one to beginning of next or end of one to begining of next? Doesn't really matter as I am doing on demand but interested to know what he is doing.

beginning of one to beginning of next

Hi al, just found this thread.

Cheshire I've been doing demand feeding, as I did with DD. Generally he goes 3-4 hours between feeds but I do try to encourage more feeds as the day goes on so he fills up and we sleep better. I do one feed on per side. Boobs feel a little uneven and sore at times, but I massage them during feeds to get rid of any hard areas and ward off mastitus.

irish you poor thing. Rant and talk as much as you need to, you can't bottle that up. Enjoy your little boy and hopefully the memory of the trauma will ease.

penelope I cover him with a cloth when changing. It's one of the things I was dreading with a boy. I remember at baby massage with DD there were lots of boys and 2 girls, my friend got wee'd on every week. DD only got me once. So far Seth has missed me and DH, and just hit himself :o

I'm still very weak from the anaemia, but Seth is feeding well and sleeping lots so I'm having a couple of days of lounging on the sofa eating dried fruit trying to get my iron levels up. This weekend the families descend. DH's parents return from Vietnam on Saturday I think they're coming straight here from the airport if jet lag allows. They fly into Heathrow but we're up near Manchester.

Today is DH's birthday. It's been a quiet one, but tonight he's got a few beers and said he'll sleep on the sofa. It sounds cruel but he offered as he snores after a drink, and Seth has been co-sleeping. DH is a smoker so there's a cot death risk anyway and I don't want to add alcohol into the mix.

I've editted the stats thread as Seth's weight and date of birth were wrong. I thought Seth was the heaviest, but having read irish's he's not. I never expected to be near the to on the heaviest baby though.

I should also say Seth does have a middle name, but it's my surname/maiden name and as it's very unusual I'm not putting it down :) DD has the same middle name.

Thanks for the advice on preventing ds peeing on me! I will give it a go.

On the feeding, I will wake him in the day after 3 hrs or so, but that's because the mw at hospital told me to do that to make sure he sleeps more at night. Not sure whether it was good advice, but still. I made the mistake of reading a baby book that said you shouldn't feed more than every 2 hrs which worried me as sometimes i do, but checked with the midwife and she said it's fine to demand feed at this age.

Tonight's cluster feed has started so I'm bed with the laptop while DH cleans up.

DH We still haven't got to grips with being able to keep his penis covered in nappy changes. At some point I'll start changing him as well, but we have the arrangement of I feed, he changes and bathes.

I'm enjoying our Phil and Teds although it seems that half our town own one, they're everywhere but there are lots of narrow alleys, shops and doors.

He's not yellow anymore either :)

Is anyone else co-sleeping. He ends up on his side a lot. Plus since he seems to feel the cold, we have way beyond the 'recommended' layers of blankets.

penelope how would that book deal with cluster feeds then

We've been co-sleeping, he usually ends up on his side with me cuddling him he really likes to be snuggled up. We both fell asleep with him still latched on twice last night. I do keep trying to put him in the carrycot but he stirs and cries... he's happy in there during the day though... and right now. Awkward lad!

I really should read up more about co-sleeping, but I'm worried because DH is a smoker and I know that's a big risk so I'm sort of burying my head in the sand. Oh for an extra bedroom... we have one, it's currently DH's office, but there's not enough room for a bed at the moment. It will eventually be Seth's bedroom.

Penguin Hurrah for not being yellow. Seth is still a bit yellow, and a bit red from facial congestion.

I got wee'd on for the first time tonight, just as I got him out of the bath. He really really does not like baths. Or being undressed. We've had 2 nappy changes in a week when he's not screamed the house down. I find it very odd. DD loved her baths and would cry when we got her out. Seth cries screams from the moment you start undressing him, until you get him a layer of clothes back on.

Busy day tomorrow. My brother, wife and 3 nieces are coming up in the morning to meet him, then hopefully in the afternoon, so long as jet lag doesn't defeat, them my in-laws will arrive to meet him.

I can't believe it's been a week already!

I haven't tried feeding laying down, for some reason I felt I needed to get my nipples fine before hand.

Yes you're right regarding the smoking I'm afraid. Could DH sleep on a single mattress on the floor anywhere until it's sorted? I mean to read more about it as well as I got all lax with DD being so old.

DS is the same with baths, in fact it's really the only time he cries (but that's mainly because I just shove boob in his mouth whenever he stirs). Although DD did wake up crying, he has more of slow wake-up with him refusing to admit he's no longer asleep

I too am in bed with laptop and Poppy hoping she will go to sleep soon - it has all been messed up since HV came and she is terrible through the night now :(

I was worried about laptops near babies but googled it and it seemed to be okay, hope I am not frying her brain or something.

DH out tonight to wet Poppy and 2 other babies heads so alone for the first time with a new baby eck!

i would be too scared to do the co-sleeping, I made DH wash and change Poppy after my Dad had been round because he is the only one in our family who smokes and I could smell smoke on her head (where his hand had been). I am pretty sure I am just being neurotic and PFB though

Pene is Amotai the name your Sister wanted?

cheshire yes it was - it's a Maori name and a name of a family friend which is how we came across it. She didn't seem to mind that much in the end though which was nice - I wanted to use it as it was the only Maori name dh liked (in spite of having one himself!) and is easy to pronounce as doesn't have any 'r' sounds in it! It came down to Amotai or Oliver for us - very uncommon or very common!

I can't feed in bed as have a sore tailbone still that seems worse when feeding in bed, so haven't spent much time with Amotai in bed.

penguin I have decided that the book sucks and have resolved not to read it anymore!

Cheshire hope poppy had a more settled night?
Penguin yay for no more yellow! Elijah is still yellow and I had one of my friends comment on fb how lovely that he had inherited my olive skin tone and what a lovely colour he was She is tanning obsessed and I has to explain that it wasn't a tan it was jaundice .
Feeding seems to be entering a tricky stage where E has decided to not latch on properly and keeps pulling back to suck/ chew my nipple. not sure why he's been great up until now.
Booker has been broken for last three nights so we have had to have him in bed with us to keep warm which petrified me as I too am not brave enough for co sleeping, but last night managed to borrow a heater and he's slept successfully in his Moses basket so feeling like it's been a successful night

Boiler not booker

Hello everyone

I have started to emerge from the newborn haze, or at least enough to switch on the computer.

We have found the first few days hard work, which was obviously expected but still a shock to the system! Abigail is a sleepy baby which means the demand feeding approach didn't work as she didn't demand anything. This means she was a bit jaundiced and when we went to the hospital for the test (which showed an acceptable level) it turns out she has lost 9% of her birth weight. I felt like a bad mummy

We have got our act together though and had a strict every 3 hours feeding policy which has just resulted in her waking herself up for a feed right on time! Also the midwife said her colour change since yesterday is one of the quickest she has seen for a while.

I just re-read my post and it makes it sound like I didn't feed her anything at all! Just wanted to clarify that isn't the case.

mrsp glad she is picking up colour wise, how you finding it now haze is clearing (worth noting that haze occasionally pops up again )

pebble I always think it takes about 4-6 weeks for feeding to really settle on both sides so don't worry about him playing up a bit. Ede did it too for a while. You might have to be quite firm and take him off when as soon as he loses his latch so he goes back on nicely each time and hopefully gets bored or playing around xx

We are doing ok ish I think. Ayse-rose still hasn't quite shaken her cold but getting there. Actually managed to do some house bits today and spend some quality time with ds (albeit just an hour) and going to try my hardest to take him swimming for an hour in the morning - but we will see how it goes xxx

Oh and mrsp, not a bad mummy at all. I fed girls every 2 hours religiously the first week and ayse still lost 6% x

Oh and I love co-sleeping. Dh is away and for the last two nights I've put girls in with me after their 12-1ish feed and while they are still a bit sporadic in their waking I sleep much better when I am able too. It's almost like having my arm round them makes me relax more. Not sure what will happen when dh is back as there is not enough room for all 4 of us in the bed. My hope is over the next week or so to try and get them into a routine but I may be fooling myself x