September 2012 babies - warmest welcome!

[Macaroons]

Here's the new thread for September babies fresh from the oven!

I'm a first time mum and I'm struggling with breast feeding at the moment, my 6-day old DS always seems to be hungry (a feed every 2-3 hours, each lasting roughly an hour), and when he's hungry he's very aggressive towards my nipple it really hurts! Any tips out there? And how often do you feed your baby and for how long? how do you teach your baby to be gentle on the nipples?

Good luck to those still waiting for their babies to come out! Will be watching out for more baby news!

Dear all; yes 'seedy' pooh is good.i was out all day yesterday (school run, sainsburys, hospital miles away, PILs for lunch, school run) poor baby was good the while time, I'm now back on prednisilone for my eczema which "may make her more alert" which is not a good thing at night and its maybe psychological but even when she was asleep last night my mind was racing....it doesn't usually affect me that much...anyway take care all have a nice wind

*whole time

*wknd

(was also at pharmacy for ages yesterday)

cjbk I don't know how you do it. Ive only been out when necessary - about 5 times in 3 weeks. Only got dressed 5 times too! And have discouraged all visitors too except family. Just haven't felt up to it and never seem to know when a feed or sleep might happen! Been too desperate to nap myself perhaps! Longing for some sort of structure or pattern! How's everyone else finding it?

Re whoever said they were getting a stiff arm during breastfeeding, i simply put a pillow under my arm so that i can rest my arm on the pillow, and DS head on my arm, so i'm not actually holding my arm up at all, makes life a lot easier, especially as he was 12lb 9 1/2 on Wed so probably over 13lb now! Re clothes sizes, DS has been in 0-3 since his 1st week, only got a few days use of the newborn size! He is now comfortably into size 3 pampers baby dry, and filling 0-3 baby grows, i expect that he will be into 3-6 month baby grows within the next 2 weeks...thankfully we don't need to buy anything as can just reuse DS1's clothes, but DP is already grumbling about how many trips he will have to make to the loft putting clothes up there and bringing others down :) trying to keep him positive about us having another 2 DC's, but he is already thinking it's a mad idea :(

Re routine thali it is impossible to have one at this early stage, the best thing to do is to let them feed and sleep on demand, and they will be very content and quickly find their own routine. Lots of people i know tried to enforce routines and none ever worked and it just created lots of stress and took their enjoyment of those early weeks away. DS2 is now 4 1/2 weeks and we are getting into some sort of a routine, but it's of his making. He is feeding early evening and then sleeping until around 9.30 -10, having another feed, sleeping till around 2-3am, having another feed and then sleeping till 6-7am, although have had the odd night where he's say woken at 1am, 4am, and 6am, just to keep us on our toes! In contrast, DS1 at this age through to when he was 5 months would cluster feed (feed non stop) all evening through till about 10.30pm, but then from 7 weeks he would sleep through till 6.30ish without needing any night feeds. Daytimes, we don't yet have any sort of established routine, sometimes DS2 will sleep after a feed, others he is wide awake and then has another feed before having a sleep. By 1.45pm he is usually feeding as it clashes with DS1 needing his pre-nap milk, but then DS also wants to sleep, so we've had quite a few afternoons where they are both here and asleep at the same times, which is rather odd! Our biggest problem is getting DS2 to sleep in his crib, it's not an issue during the night, but during the day he prefers sleeping on me - but we are perservering, but can only get him to sleep in the crib by getting him to sleep on me and then transferring him and rocking him gently till he's settled. Have been using merino wraps so he is snug on me and then when transferred is still snug and warm, and as of today, have tried him in one of the merino sleeping bags and he went down straight away and is currently sleeping soundly in it in his crib :) (we tried the sleeping bags in his first week and in his 3rd week but he didn't settle, i think the material was a little heavy for his legs at that stage, but he looks so content now, so think might be using those from now on. DS1 slept so much better when we moved him into them, i think all babies sleep easier/for longer if warm, so whoever said their room was cold, if you put your heating up a bit, they will probably sleep better for you. With DS1 we also resorted to putting a hot water bottle in his moses basket in the early days (wrapped in a sheet) so that he wouldn't think he'd been moved from me - seemed to work very well and after a few weeks we didn't need to bother doing this. However hv's had differing views of this, a few were very much against using hot water bottles, but it worked for us, and i know it would never have leaked and it wasn't hot enough water to cause a scold even if it had leaked...

Thali I'm like you - have discouraged visitors apart from close family right now. Really can't be bothered to get dressed myself!

Have invited some friends to visit next week so have bought more nursing tops. I bought mine from jojo maman bebe. Any other shop would anyone recommend? I wanted done cheap nursing night dress / pj but all I can see are like 20-30 quid. I usually just wear old t shirts so 20-30 quid is abit steep! Any recommendation welcomed.

Re routine before baby was born I thought about putting a schedule in place. But while DS seems to have his own schedule I don't see how they'd possible yet. I don't mind being flexible during the day, I just want him to sleep through the night sooner. He tends to fall asleep at around 7.30 or 8pm wake up at 10.30 or 11 for a feed then sleep again, and another feed at around 2 or 3. Then another feed and wake up before 6 for another feed. Any tips re how to encourage sleeping longer during the night? (I understand his stomach is still small so I have to be patient.)

Loopy it was me with sore arms, and my DS is only 9 pounds! Will need to learn how to place my cushions / pillow to make life easier for myself.

I got given a sling there by a friend so I'm going to give it ago but I'm not sure what make it is. Will have a look before I try it.

Re: going out, I get dressed everyday (although its usually very late) get baby dressed and I try to do something everyday, even if its a walk, visiting my mum. But my mw was concerned because when weather was bad at start we didn't get dressed or leave house and she told me to do something at least every other day. (I only do what I can be bothered)

Okay so need some advice on how to deal with my boyfriends mum. I actually hate going to his parents house and now refuse to go unless he kicks up enough fuss. We live at the top of their garden, they put a gate in (which I didn't want) and just come up whenever they like, they also expect us down every night. When I do go down, if my lo starts to cry or gurgles she demands that she has him. If I'm holding him and he cries she will say, aw just give me him here. And she will grab him before i have a chance to say no. it makes me feel useless, she never gives him back to me always to my boyfriend. It's always oh daddy will feed you, daddy will do it. It's really annoying me as it makes me feel like a useless mum. Any advice on how to deal with this would be great as its really ruining my experiences. :(

loopy yes I realise ur right about routine and I shouldn't want to rush it. Just desperate for some sort of pattern so i know what to expect/ kno if im getting things right but I should try relax and enjoy her I know.

She's got me worried at the moment as she's sleeping a LOT (will be 3 weeks old on Mon) and waking for really short feeds. 5 mins or 10 mins if I'm lucky. This doesn't seem right... Is this maybe cluster feeding? Been happening all morning! Any advice?

macaroons - you could try to encourage longer feeds by keeping him cool, i.e. take him out of his sleepsuit (don't let him get too cold obviously), tickling his feet, wiggling his arms etc. Or feed, change his nappy then feed immediately afterwards again. But really it sounds like he's doing great. My DD cluster feeds from 10pm to 3am every night then sleeps for 2 hours, feeds again then sleeps again.

I got some good nursing pjs and nighties from mothercare last time. They weren't very glamorous but super comfy and not pricey.
Rachel, that sounds really tricky with your mil! I don't really know what to suggest other than explaining how it makes you feel to your dh and hope that he understands and has a quiet word with her? She probably feels she's being super helpful giving you a 'break' but its horrid when people take over.
Re feeling love for the LO; I worried that I would not be able to love new ds as much as I do dd but I have been surprised to find that I do. I love them both with a passion

I've had the afternoon from hell. Was already feeling a bit stressed and tearful as was feeling really tired, the house was a mess and had to do a very stressful weekly shop with arguing kids in tow. All DH was bothered about was his baby's head-wetting session tonight. Fed Lola at 2.30, half an hour later, she vomited and started choking. It was terrifying. Mucous was bubbling out of her nose and mouth and she was turning purple. We threw the DCs in the car, and I sat in the back and vigorously rubbed Lola's back. Luckily we only live 5 mins from A&E. Lola thankfully recovered when we got there, and the staff were really good. Her pulse and breathing were very fast to begin with, but after 2 hours we could go home. We've got open access to children's A&E for 48 hours just in case. I really didn't want DH to go out tonight, and told him as much, but he's gone anyway. He always gets in a state, so I was probably a bit harsh and told him not to bother coming home at all.

Hope everyone else has had a better day!

Oh moomin that sounds terrifying, so glad your little one is ok but what a scary experience. Hope your DH is apologetic tomorrow, I can see why you'd rather he didn't go out after the morning you've had.

We did a Red Cross course a few weeks back as situations like that scare me so much & we wanted to be prepared but I always worry I'd just panic, well done for keeping your cool & even if tonight hasn't worked out how you wanted at least now you can snuggle up with your daughter and hopefully tomorrow is a better day :)

HOw scary moomin hope all sorts itself out. Congratulations to a the new babies!

We are up and dressed every day and out by 8 for the school run and dog walk. Which means I'm out and about a lot, so I've settled into a couple of baby groups now. We've been finishing up the DIY, lots of trips to Wickes and trips up ladders getting it done before the winter hits, and we're halfway through buying a house so the baby has spent a lot of time at the bank and the mortgage advisor and estate agent and solicitors! Today we were out all day looking round garages trying to buy a new car. We had dinner out though which was nice and wer'e going to the cinema tomorrow. I've done two of my KIT days at work with baby in tow which has been interesting.

Had to laugh at the contraception talk, we were in Tesco last week and realised we were buying coffee, beer, dummies and condoms Good job we're past caring what checkout people think.

The baby stil BFs all the time and doesn't sleep and won't be put down, and we're having jealousy issues with DC1, it's all a bit crazy over here! And yes the dog is jealous too!

Hey funchum and mikyah . Nice to see the rest of the September ladies that made it to October, like me. Congratulations.

Oh my Moomin , how scarey for you. I remember ringing an ambulance after ds desaturated the day after we got him home from neonatal. He was fine but it terrified me and I would have been mighty pissed if p decided to clear off out after.

I would really love to have visitors discouraged. 5 days on and now the hoards of his family are starting to descend. Annoying me a bit actually. I'm still not feeling 100% as although I didn't have any stitches, dd lacerated me quite deeply on the way on by having her hands by her face. I'm still taking painkillers and feel really bruised and raw down there. Of course I'm the one making them cups of tea and clearing up on top of the housework, looking after ds, feeding dd etc and the joke of it is we split up two months ago and I'm getting the feeling he still hasn't told them Really was trying to be reasonable by allowing him at the birth and staying at mine for the first couple of weeks to bond with dd but now wondering if I've done the right thing.

With regards to feeds, I have to stroke dd's face and change her in the middle of it to keep her awake and continue feeding. She is feeding 3 hourly atm and has nearly her birthweight again so I'm now happy enough she is getting enough milk from me.

I have to say I fell totally and completely in love with her. With ds I grew to love him so I expected it to be the same way but I even cried today because it's going to be my last baby and I wish I could do it all again already. Yes, my hormones are officially going mental today.

Madmonkey and leetleloo - thanks for the tips!

Heff - we are thinking about doing the red cross baby first aid course too, just to be more knowledgable. Did you find it useful?

Moomin - sorry you had that incident, glad your Lo is now fine! I'd be very cross too if dh decide to go out especially given what happened!

Hope everyone will catch some sleep tonight!

Macaroons - yes it was definitely worth doing for peace of mind. We got a group of us from our NCT class together and booked it so we got a small discount but I think iirc it wasn't that expensive anyway. Neither if us had fine a 1st aid course in a long while so we felt much more confident afterwards.

I'm definitely going to do a course. We live in the Peak District so quite a way from a hospital and poor DS would have no chance if something like that happened. Glad everything is ok now moomin.
I'm going to research courses now.

Moomin you poor thing! I need to remind myself about basic first aid, DD is a bit prone to vomiting in her sleep so I will get the manual out from my work course. I am so glad Lola is ok.

I am getting no sleep - DD feeds constantly then falls asleep on me but wails if I move her to her Moses basket and starts rooting for more feed. If I pick her up, feeding calms her and the cycle starts again; if I try to soothe her in the basket she gets in a rage and takes ages to calm down, and is too enraged to feed. So I have sat up in bed feeding and letting her sleep on me and tried to nap in the daytime but cannot keep it up much longer! dH is desperate to help but she is just dying to feed all the time, though she has slept on him a couple of times for a few minutes. Is this normal for days 2-3 and does anyone have any ideas??

I think that's sounds ok. Pretty much same as me. I'm only a few days ahead. We're 6 days old today. Maybe check your latch, it could be that she's not getting enough and that's why it's so constant. My lo is the same re the crib, he instantly wakes up when I put him in there. My DP is feeling the same too. Think he had my baby blues (I've felt fine) he had a right sad down day. I've reassured him its ok and he's doing amazing, but he's finding it disheartening that he can't do more and take the pressure off me.
Last night I had the longest block of sleep since he was born, 4 hours!! Was amazing. My milk is in now, so think that's makin a difference.

rachel just seen your post, that must be really frustrating. Is she the type who is just being well meaning but over enthusiastic or do you think it's more deliberate? What does your DP say, can he help you out maybe by saying "actually mummy usually does that" or something when she goes to take him or give him back to DP instead of you and maybe she'll get the hint?

rachel that situation sounds tough. I agree that getting your fella to talk to them would be ideal. He needs to be clear that he is on your side and your child's if it comes to any conflict!

We had our first proper outing today with all of us, a friend invited us to their 70th party just down the road so we thought we'd give it a go. Took a fair while to get both DCs ready but we did eventually get there & they were both fantastically behaved so we had a lovely time :)

DD2 scared me a bit this afternoon though, I'd just finished feeding her and she was a bit unsettled so I sat her up to wind her and she was so sick it was like a whole days worth of milk, it just kept coming I was scared she'd inhale it or something. Had to strip and bath her then get her wrapped up in clean clothes really quickly as the bathroom was quite cold, she then seemed really sleepy so we took her temp which was fine but it took me a little while to wake her and get her to have a small feed just so she's got something in her belly again. She's ok now after a short nap, exploding nappy and a proper feed but it just took us a bit by surprise. DD1 was very sicky but it was always more straight down & straight up reflux. I thought I'd be more laid back this time round but it seems I'm still a great big worry-wart!

How has everyone's day been?

Had a lovely Sunday afternoon with Charlie She has had her first trip in the barge boat today and got some lovely photo's of her sitting on daddy's lap whilst he rowed us up the creek in the sunshine

I've had a better day today. Took DDs1&2 to panto rehearsal, then took all 4 DDs to my parents, 5 miles away for lunch. DH was supposed to have been coming, but I left him festering at home. He'd rolled in just after 3am. I've had words with him about being more considerate and not leaving me to do everything. I'm starting to feel a bit low, and am worried about developing PND. Thankfully lola seems fine, I Didn't really sleep as was watching her like a hawk!

funchum, lola wouldn't settle in her moses basket for the first few days. MIL suggested putting a thick towel or blanket under the mattress to pad it out, and it worked!