Post Grad Brookers - we're in here....

[Biscuitsandtea]

New thread - t'other one got full up....

Find colief infacol!

Sht, sorry, wires crossed Dream*! I meant next Sunday, not today. Oops. Have been at Mum's so no internet (well, there is, but there are also scads of nosey relatives with no concept of internet privacy wandering past the PC). I just got back and logged on. That's not going to encourage your DH to like MNers, is it? It's entirely my fault - for some reason in my family 'this weekend' means the one coming, and 'next weekend' means the one after. I am so sorry. How is next weekend for you? Timing depends on how far you are from PIL - will PM you. Would early afternoon be okay, after lunch?

Will read properly now.

Pomme glad things are improving. :)

Dream it must be so frustrating when one boy has a good night and the other doesn't. Surely there will come a night when they both sleep?!

Just checking in to send my no brooking cheers to those who need them. D still feeding loads during the day but is more content between now although mornings are a lot calmer than the pm. I am no longer sore:). I will get him weighed tomorrow and try and sort out our 6 week check( should I have been sent an appointment by now?) .
DH has gone away with work again :(
I was really happy yesterday as I was able to fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans. How is the shred going for those doing it?

Fck, fck, fckity, why am I such an idiot? I hope you didn't spend ages tidying up for us, Dream*.

Biscuits and Hawthers, yay for sleeping through! M has regressed and was up at 1, 4 and 6 on Fri night, and at 2, 5, 8 and 9.40 last night/this morning. I'm counting those last few times even though it was daytime because she fell straight back to sleep after feeding instead of wanting to play so I think she was still in night mode. It could have just been the strange cot and the busy weekend, though - we'll see what she does tonight.

Pomme, glad A is improving - hope you can get some Colief soon. Going dairy-free is hard core - you are the best mummy to be doing that!

Hawthers, hope you had a lovely birthday!

We took M swimming yesterday and she was so good! Lasted ages - we eventually got out after half an hour because we thought we were beginning to push our luck, but she was just fascinated by the other kids and the lights in the roof, and the noise. It was really busy but I think that helped because she was focused on the other children.

I'm hacked off with BIL and SIL. We've booked M's christening party for 18 Aug, so nearly 2 months away. I did forget about the Edinburgh Festival when I picked the date, and it seems that for a family of 4 to fly up and back from London it will cost £900. However, first of all, there are more ways than one to travel. It's only 4 hours on the train - and ok, that's 4 hours with a 6yo and a 2 yo, but still. There's the sleeper, which would be a huge adventure for the kids, although SIL would probably get no sleep whatsoever (BIL can sleep anywhere). Secondly, a quick look at BA flights quotes me £567 for the 4 of them. Thirdly, PIL offered to pay for the flights because they thought it was important for them to come to M's party and BIL said no. Fourthly, they have already been to the South of France once this summer, hated having the kids with them, so are going again, child-free, at the end of Aug, and leaving the kids with PIL. Yes, that's leaving a 2 yo for a week with relatives she doesn't see all that often. My sympathy levels for their money problems are therefore a bit depleted. I think that for events such as weddings, christenings and funerals of close family, you suck it up and you get yourselves there. We trailed down to London for their kids' christenings, and yes, that was before we had kids, but we would have done it all the same.

Ok, rant over!

I'd be pissed off as well too. They're refusing every solution - they're trying to get out of it and that's a bit pants.

dream - googling a bit seems to suggest that cmpi is different to what colief treats which is an inability to break down lactose? This is all very confusing, I should probably ask gp really just wanted to get started this weekend in case it works.

Yy - train fares would be £275.

Nuts, just attempted The Transfer and M is starting to yell. She looked so fast asleep!

M back on lap scoffing again.

One hour ten into settling post first night feed... How can insomnia be a side effect of a drug?! Argh!

hopefully last feed just finished here before we get a couple of hours sleep...

it's been a poofest by DS2 today so no doubt he'll continue at night.

i did do a post yesterday but my phone or Mumsnet ate it and i was too tired and in the huff to do another. I'm sure it was guff anyway.

just heard poor DS1 having a wee bad dream over the monitor. i so wanted to go and give him a cuddle, but he'd go loopy if i woke him up so i resisted.

I'm such a bad mum that forgot to tuck him in last night, surprised he didn't get cold and wake up! he likes to fall asleep 'out of the covers' so we have to sneak back in and put the duvet on. he was still pottering around late so i said I'd tuck him in when i was up with DS2. needless to say i was so tired i forgot him all night and he slept uncovered.

Too can't believe your BIL and SIL! How rude.

Pomme is insomnia seriously a side effect? My God! Are there any similar drugs which don't have that as a side effect?! Hope you got a better night in the end.

Never mind, Jaggy - I guess if DS1 had been cold he would have woken up?

Wants nice to hear from you. How long is DH away for?

yeah pet he would have woken up as he seems to love being warm. i think i just feel bad that he's a bit neglected at the moment and i completely forgot him!

got a work friend coming round and the place looks like a tip. DS1 had morning tantrums grumps so has only had biscuits and orange juice for breakfast. it's all going well...

Hi pet DH away for the week.
Just got back from clinic and d has not gained any weight in 2 weeks :( He has dropped from 25th to 9th centile. Hv suggested switch feeding for the next few days to increase my supply and to go back next week.

Wants my DS has also dropped down the centiles (from just below 50th to below 9th) and I didn't get any advice except don't worry! So of course I'm worried... HV is coming back in 3 weeks but I might get him weighed next week because if there's a problem I'd like to do something about it sooner rather than later! Let us know how things go with D. I'm sure he'll have a growth spurt this week and pack on the ounces!

Morning ladies. Just nipping in to say hello y'all

Dream I've just been chatting to a friend who has a 4 mth old who has had bad colic / reflux probs (they're using Gaviscon and some medicine as well) and she has been going to a cranial osteopath and says it has really really helped. Is there anything like that near you that you could try for the Dreamy twins? Maybe you'd get a bulk discount?

Scarlet the one she uses is v near you I think if it was anything you thought would help with dd

DD now weighs 9lb 2oz, so only 15oz on in the 9 weeks of her life and only 5oz on in the last 12 days. She was born on the 75th centile and is now on the 9th . HV didn't seem concerned but I feel very worried and deflated with it all to be honest. BF is just not working for us clearly. I feel that I've struggled from day 1 what with the infection and anti-b's and I've persevered with it as much as I want to now. I've given it my all and now I want to see DD gaining as she should be and I don't think that's going to happen for us through BF. I intend to continue for another couple of weeks but gradually introduce more formula too. Last night for example she cluster fed practically all evening then still managed 4oz of formula straight afterwards. She looks so satisfied when she's finished whereas she rarely does if she's fed from me. She's very long and skinny, has a thin face and now I look at her and think it's time she gained some podge.

Sorry to hear you're going through it too Wants. I've tried switch feeding the last few days and am still going with it for now. Hope you have some success with it.

Pet are you having DS weighed again this week.

I know the one you mean Biscuits, that's the one my friend used for her DS's sleep problems. She rated them highly.

Afternoon to y'all!

Grr, I spent all morning trying to get ready to go to the post office with my driver's licence form. This involved finding my birth and wedding certificates and my chequebook to write a cheque for £20. I was also supposed to sign the form in black ink and couldn't find a black pen anywhere so was intending to buy a black pen, stamps and an envelope in the PO. M really did not want to be put down while I rummaged around the house, so kept howling from wherever I had laid her temporarily. Anyway, I eventually get her into pram, raincover on, purse, letters, forms etc, plastic bags for poop-scooping, dog on lead, cagoule on, and trail down v steep hill to post office. Our post office is a secret private post office for residents only , run from a private house and only open Mon-Wed mornings. I was being virtuous and supporting local business, rather than sending my form in with DH to post at work. Only, naturally, the woman who runs the flipping post office is on holiday for a week and her cousin was dog-sitting but not post-office-sitting. Grr. And her cousin gave me the third degree (in a very polite, posh sort of way), with questions including 'do you own your house?', 'are you feeding the baby yourself?' and 'do you have a mother?' after I'd mentioned Dad. (Answers: no, yes and yes!) And then I had to climb back up the really really steep hill in the rain without having managed to post my letters. I'm really not making much progress in village life!

Very sorry to hear of all the skinny babies. I hope they all have a spurt and put on plenty of weight this week. Does switch feeding mean changing breasts after 10 mins each side, or does it mean changing breasts at every feed? When M was losing weight in her first couple of weeks, the MW got me to feed more frequently (every 2 hours) and express so I could give top-ups with a syringe, so she got some food that she hadn't had to work for. And that boosted my supply, too. Oh, another tip was to keep the house very warm so she didn't expend energy on keeping herself warm. You wouldn't think that would be necessary in July, but it is pretty cold here today!

Switch feeding is switching boobs after 10 mins or so, or before if baby slows down/stops sucking. You do this twice for each boob then allow them longer on each one after that (I think). I read about it online rather than through my useless HV. So I could have interpretted it incorrectly and be completely wrong.

Too that sounds even worse than your trek to the vets! You make where you live sound very Royston Vasey-ish! "Local shop for local people" and all that

Scarlet how long have you been topping up? Quite often the 4oz is enough to get them gaining. So if you can stick with that for a while and see? Unless you want to, there is no reason why you need to completely stop feeding, as then you get all the amazing protective factors of breast milk too.
There is no shame in topping up if you have to either. 5oz still seems pretty good over that period, shows recently she has started to gain well, if she had put on 10oz over 7? odd weeks previously. And then put on 5oz over 12 days is amazing!
Also some babies don't pile on the weight, my Dd certainly didn't. You mention Dd was cluster feeding, this is a great sign that she is trying to boost your milk supply.

Pet I would try and reduce the dummy use, I am sorry if that is harsh and I know they are really useful, but if you are having him weighed soon, could you take it away and see if his weight increases?

The other thing with the drop in centiles is that quite often babies are born fatter than they naturally are, for a number of reasons, one can be the type of labour you have such as having a drip makes a huge difference as they retain water weight that isn't 'real' weight, next the baby is being fed constantly through the umbilicus, add in extra factors like mothers weight and diet and you can see why maybe after the baby is born they may drop centiles. I really wouldn't worry if the HV isn't.

Other reasons to think of less weight gain can be; jabs, illness on either party, being distracted from feeding cues again either party (especially as babies become more alert bless them!) Also babies weight gain does slow down after 6 weeks, especially compared to artificial milk fed babies. This again is really normal and to be expected.

You are both doing so well, think of all the lovely mummy milk you have given your little ones and you are both still trying so I really don't want you to feel like you have to stop if you don't want to. Neither, and this is where talking about it on the internet is hard, do I want you to feel pressured to continue, but it really is the best thing for both of you and baby.

Have a google of Galactagogues and see if any of these appeal to you and also breast compression may help also :)

Part of one of my pieces of work... I hope it helps though!

Once you have had your latch checked, and are confident it is a success, switch feeding and breast compression can be explored individually or work very well together.
Once your baby is coming to the end of a feed, and their sucking and swallowing rhythm is slow you can help restart the feed using breast compression.
Make a C shape with your thumb and index finger; grasp your breast behind the nipple, with your index finger under the breast and thumb above. Gently squeeze your breast by drawing thumb and index finger together, hold for a few seconds and release. Repeat a few times. Hopefully this will stimulate a let- down of milk and your baby will start to suck (like at the beginning of a feed) again.
You may be able to restart the feed in this way a few times, if not; we can move on to switch feeding. This is simply offering the next breast in the same feed to increase the volume of milk the baby receives. It can often be useful to use breast compression again to see if you can restart the feed, before switching back to the original breast if required.

Scarlet I just reread my post and I didn't mean to make it come across as if your DD was some sort of 'problem' I just meant if there were colic / reflux etc issues.

It sounds very stressful all these babies dropping down the centiles. Much brooking for you all. For what it's worth I think happy mummy = happy baby and however you get nutrition into your baby is only one part of the contribution you make to them as a parent.

Also Scarlet don't forget that dd's birth weight was probably artificially 'inflated' (prob not the right word but you know what I mean ) by the induction / CS, so that could be skewing the centile on which she was born iyswim?

A friend of mine had a similar EMCS type birth and they're also struggling with the bf thing and having to do top ups. I know she finds it difficult too and finds it hard that her dd isn't 'satisfied' after a bf but is after a ff? I don't know if I can say this to come out right but really if the babies are satisfied then to my mind it's job done. They still associate that content 'protected' feeling with you, whether you've bf or ff I think. Sure, there are differences in bf and ff and in an ideal world bf would just work for everyone. But the fact is, it doesn't work for everyone. You obviously have the option to persevere with bf to whatever degree you wish to. My friend says she quite likes that she can still use bf to pacify her dd if they're out.

Anyway, I never manage to make what I want to say come out as I intend it so I'd probably better shut up

D has decided to not play ball and is doing his own thing- he slept for nearly 2 hours when we got back from the clinic (usually 10 min catnaps) so had a really good feed when he woke up! He has been really happy and content ever since. He has just finished another feed and looks drunk! That doesn't sound like a baby who isn't getting enough. I think I will just see how things go re switch feeding.

Yay for a good sleep and feed Wants