April 2012 newborns: the insomnia continues...

[LaTristesse]

Hello fellow April mums. Following on from our lovely ante-natal threads, here's the first of the post-natal ones. Join us as we work out how to handle nappies, feeding, colic, crying and all things newborn, or just to celebrate the joys of a new baby!

thaleia - these are what i'm living in atm - am also post-section. Buy them a size or two bigger than pre-pregnancy depending on how much weight you put on. Don't buy the serious suck you in ones yet, you'll be too bruised and tender and they'll pull on your stitches.

Have just caught up on reading the thread, good to hear all your LO's are settling in. Same story here, windy, sicky baby, cries for no (known) reason etc. Having had one very colicky baby already though, this one seems like the most contented child in the world. Expectations help hugely - time in carrycot is a bonus not a given, 3 hrly night feeds are good not appalling (well they're still grim, but 3 is better than 1 or 2). Main issue is breastfeeding, its still painful at 6 weeks. Last time it was painful for four long months. The HV thought this should be a comforting thought, apparently "but at least you know it will get better". Hmmm, do you think that if i'd told her that she'd have to wear a bulldog clip on each nipple, she'd have been comforted by the the thought that it was only for another 3 months?

Sympathies on the painful nipples....this time was easier as I pumped before bf to make them less full, which helped.....it is awful as you just have to carry on. Blissful 4 hours as my dh took DM out with ds and I stayed with baby and watched Mildred Pearce on DVD. So nice not running round after everyone.So fab to have house to myself.
My mum is learning to keep her mouth shut and is talking generally about this generation having lower standards and how ey my dad had it rather than being so personal about me and my home.
Been trying to clean the fridge and make a pizza for two hours now but keep having to stop to feed dd or amuse son. Dh asleep from strain of looking after ds all morning. DM has now just fallen asleep next to me.

I have really been doing lots of jobs around the house this week and frankly the hose looks little different and I feel knackered.....not sure how the house runs.....does everyone just live in a mess most of the time? As soon as I clear, it is messy within 12 hours......

pit I've given up on the house! With constant house guests I'm just making sure the basics get done (by them if possible!). Hopefully when it's just us again I'll be more organised as there won't be other people's stuff everywhere.

Happy Mother's Day! - I might be a Brit but I'm happy to celebrate US Mother's Day!

Happy to say that my house is a disaster zone :). My DH has the ability to leve carnage in his wake :) not unlike a teenager! It's clean and dust free but it's not tidy, if that makes sense!!

I forgot to take an iron tablet Friday night and am I feeling it now :(. Felt rubbish all day yesterday and when changing francescas nappy at 4am this morning I nearly passed out. Called midwife and I need to get iron levels checked again. How can missing on tablet cause so much?

Our house is generally a mess too, looked ok fri morn when it was just me & ds2. I managed to Hoover the whole house/mop floors tidy etc. Then on return of ds1 from preschool, dd from school & dp from work.....a shit hole again!

Yesterday dp went off to do a off roading course (for fun) so I had all 3 dcs to sort. Started off well, managed to get us all to a disco party dd had been invited to etc. Descended into chaos at dinner/ bedtime though. Baby constantly crying unless being fed so teeth cleaning,nappy changing etc all done one handed with him attached. Was rather stressful, dp returned with Chinese takeaway for us at 9pm.

Thaleia if your nipples are red & sore could be your ds' latch is not quite right or maybe thrush? I have the same, think it's a combination of both for me. I'm using cream for me & gel on the babies mouth.

As for the 20 minutes feeding per side. Think that's been widely rejected now, how surprising that it's still being pushed in Germany. Go with what you are doing, sounds fine.

Re the cs pain, I was still in quite a bit if pain at 2 wks. Keep taking pain killers. For me I felt a whole lot more normal at 3 weeks & could drive. Now at 4, nearly 5 weeks it is mostly only sore if I over do it, forget & pick up my 3 yr old son or lug a tonne of washing up the stairs.
Are the hold it all in pants for comfort or to help stomachs mend better without an overhang or something. Might have to consider them if it's for the latter! I am just still wearing giant granny pants to avoid anything rubbing on my scar. So attractive

Happy to say that my house is a disaster zone :). My DH has the ability to leve carnage in his wake :) not unlike a teenager! It's clean and dust free but it's not tidy, if that makes sense!!

I forgot to take an iron tablet Friday night and am I feeling it now :(. Felt rubbish all day yesterday and when changing francescas nappy at 4am this morning I nearly passed out. Called midwife and I need to get iron levels checked again. How can missing on tablet cause so much?

Mmmm. Not sure why I posted that twice!!

thaleia my nipple were really sore at first took about 3 wks to calm down. I do sometime still get bad nipples now and ive feeding for 6 wks. If i dont get a good latch on they are bad, so im really trying to get to full part of nipple in mouth, it still is easy for me!

Little one slept from 10pm-430am last night, the longest she has gone between feeds. I was thinking she would wake around 1 ish but didn't! So nice had a lovely sleep. :-)

Nordic sounds like things are coming together a bit more for you now, a little one is happy?

I'm starting to work out difference between hunger and wind crys, and she is rubbing eyes when sleepy so cute.

Hi guys

I'm glad to read that it's normal for little babies to have such trouble passing wind and poop. We only used the thermometer because a nurse did the same when we took her to hospital about it. I guess in hindsight we were so pfb about it, but she was crying so much and she's such a tiny girl we wondered if it was a premature thing and had her checked out. She was prescribed lactulose but that doesn't seem to help.

Hello April baby mamas - need some advice. Today is my husband's first day back at work since DD's birth. She naps very well in her Amby in our bedroom. I exclusively express milk for her and so there's lots of to-ing and fro-ing from the bedroom where I pump to the kitchen to put my pump parts in the fridge, prepare her next bottle, etc. I can't imagine that I would need a baby monitor for when she's upstairs napping and I'm in the kitchen for 5-10 minutes sorting everything out. I keep white noise on all the time for her when she's napping so even if I had a baby monitor I wouldn't hear anything unless she was screaming the house down, in which case I'd hear her regardless since we live in a small house.

Since it's my first day on my own with her I guess I'm just struggling as to when it's OK to leave her nap for a short time on her own so I can get things done.

I work from home and start up again in a few weeks, so I have a similar question about working in my home office which is in the spare room right next to the bedroom - I'm already stressing that I'm meant to have her in my line of sight 24/7 but when I'm working/on the phone (which is often with my job) I won't be able to be in the same room with the white noise machine so really do need to leave her to nap on her own. I would be all of 5 seconds away, I just would't be able to see her. Thinking out loud, maybe I could stay in the same room with her and just leave the room if I need to take a call (I have a headset).

There's always something with this first-time mothering business, isn't there?

Can you not pump and have her nap in the living room? Even less to-ing and fro-ing for you then

The odd 5 minutes should be fine, but the thing about having a sleeping baby in the room with you is so that they hear you - this helps them to regulate their breathing - not so you hear them if they cry

at you having a baby who will be put down though. DS gets into a tizz if I'm not available almost permanently. Not even DH will do

Hi Flisspaps, we've been living in the living room since we came home from the hospital, I think I just needed a change of scenery. Plus the Amby is upstairs in the bedroom and she seems to sleep better in that these days than in her moses basket (which is in the living room).

Don't be too , she only sleeps like an angel during the day and is a freaking nightmare at night, we went a few days where she was up from 8.30pm - 7.30am, would fall asleep and wake up again every five minutes.

Actually Flisspaps you bring up a good point - LO will only really settle with loud white noise, but then you hear that they need to sleep near you to hear your breathing etc - but I have no idea how on earth she can even acknowledge my existence with that racket in the background (but she likes it).

Got some "bad" news yesterday: at the 2nd weighing, Raphael has not put any (not lost any) weight since the last time, so the same btw. day 4 and day 12. I have till tomorrow 4.30pm to get some food in him and the weight up otherwise ... don't know?

I feed on demand but obviously, I don't have enough milk so they suggested that I pump and top up with formulae. Was very, very upset and still am that I struggle to exclusively breastfeed as I actually enjoy the time with the baby am sad but finger's crossed it'll reverse itself. They said it's likely and that I can go back to breastfeeding only.

The real problem is, that I don't get more food in him. I try to really feed him every 3hrs but should only do so for 20min on one and 10mins on the other side before topping him up. He just doesn't seem to be that hungry??? He takes the breast fine, that maybe 10ml and that's it and if I'm not careful it all comes out again.

Nappies are fine (full), he is not dehydrated.

Thaleia - sympathies as I'm in the same boat!

Can you ask a midwife to recommend that you get prescribed domperidone to increase your milk supply? I've been taking it since Friday & can already pump far more than I used to. Not all GPs will prescribe it but I had a letter from a MW recommending I should have it.

I have no fears about DD being dehydrated as we can feel her fontanelle is not depressed & there are plenty of wet nappies but I still worry she's not getting enough food.

The other day I mentioned that E had done a green poo. It seemed to be a one off so wasn't concerned but now had 24 hours of consistently green poo - anyone experienced this? She's not ill so wondering if it's something in my diet causing it.

Too much foremilk can lead to green poo Vintage. Is she windy? That's another symptom...
Since heard it said that diet has no bearing on milk, but I personally don't believe that. DS was terribly colicky and I swear that was triggered by random stuff like grapes, cauliflower, citrus fruits. The only way to know is to keep a food diary as all babies are different. Sorry that's not that helpful!

I read about foremilk LaTris. I wouldn't say she's excessively windy - seems normal but I don't have anything to compare to. I did have a fairly spicy meal Saturday night. And a lot of cream over the last few days culminating in huge bowl of whipped cream and strawberries yesterday! I think a food diary is a good idea, thank you.

You'd know if she were exccessivly windy, not from the wind itself but from the hours of crying and grumbling that go with it! Dairy might be a trigger, she may have a mild lactose intolerance... Good luck with the diary!

Thaleila - things that spring to mind re upping weight gain/milk production.

• feeding every 2 hrs in the day, 4hrly at night.
• just take baby to bed for 24 hrs, lots of skin to skin, lots & lots of rest & feeding.
• pumping after feeding & if top up needed use this first before any formula.

Obviously you need to be advised by your hcp. Have you seen a lactation consultant to check latch & advise you?

This link might be useful?

kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supply-worries/low-supply/

A link for you too vintage

kellymom.com/health/baby-health/m2m-green-stools/

My two dcs often had green poo, block feeding & trying to get a deeper latch helped. I gave up milk products etc but for us there was no discernible difference.

Thaleia, the hind milk is more calorific, so get as much of that into him as you can! (The creamy stuff behind the watery foremilk).

marsh thanks - will ask for it. Shame re the breastfeeding as I really, really enjoy(ed) the time with the baby :((. I still hope that it regulates itself and I might be able to switch back to feeding breast only ...

buns I'm feeding and expressing all day but I know I'm not doing it right. How and who can do it 30mins after feeding? My son isn't asleep by then so I feed to close to breastfeeding, so he's sucking on almost empty breasts. Well, apparently they just need to be that but still. From this morning at 4.30am till now he took 50ml of formulae. Is that a lot, too much = showing that I don't have enough?

Haven't seeing anyone about it yet, I have to wait and see what happens tomorrow.

latris I have a feeling, after all this pumping, this might just be what's left

I wish they would back of and give me more time as I know that he's a good healthy boy and he still is very, very long and still heavy with 3760gr.

Thaleia we were typically giving DD 40ml of formula after a feed as that's what the MW advised starting her on, but she said 'give her more if she's still hungry after that'.

Now we find we're giving her 60 or 80ml after a breastfeed - I would guess she's getting 1/3 breast milk, 2/3 formula. I'd really like to shift those proportions towards the breast milk but whatever we do, she still seems hungry for more!

Thaleia there's no 'right' way, it's whatever works best for you and your baby. He's still so young, so don't put pressure on yourself to have this nailed: it's a skill you both have to learn.

Also I believe that the charts in the red book are based on formula fed babies, which tend to be heavier anyway, so don't be surprised to see breastfed babies lower down the graphs.

The main thing I wanted to say though is that breasts aren't ever empty. The more they drain the more they make, so he won't be sucking on nothing, he'll be taking in nutritious hind milk, which is good news!

And the more babies fill up on formula and stretch their little tummies to accommodate it, the more breast milk it will take to do the same job. Image pigging out one night and then trying to allay the hunger the following day with just salad...
I'll shut up now!