December 2012 - the Christmas buns are coming out of the oven

[PurplePidjChickIsNotTheMessiah]

New fred...

Hmmm! I know a couple of people have mentioned Ewan the sleep sheep - am thinking of investing - has it helped?

We have a Ewan. Not sure whether it helps Edward sleep but The Mister and I find it highly effective!

DS has only just started sleeping in his cradle at night for the last 4 nights, before that we co-slept every night because it was the only way he'd settle. He was 4 weeks on Monday. We did co-sleep for a few hours last night (after 5am) because he wasn't settling. I found the same thing with my older DCs, they seemed to need the contact at night in the first few weeks (I'm BFing by the way).

pidj good news about DH.

DH left for work 12 hours ago (he's out for dinner and drinks after work ) and DS has slept pretty much all day, allowing me to feed and clothe the older DCs and go to the shops! Such a relief after his really fractious day yesterday.

We're bf-ing. DH is off to work today and starting his paternity leave officially tomorrow we hope! First day home alone- have him fed again, have made and eaten toast, booked registrar appointment and put washing on. May experiment with sling later as well as trying to get into town! Ulp.

wlmum - been starting to have this problem due to wind - he's over 3 was now and always settled well in basket till last few days. hv suggested using a sleeping bag when bf then put him in crib, ( after winding or falling asleep on us etc) then he doesn't notice the diff in cold - only managed once cos I got annoyed with bag while .bf and winding but intend to try again.

Dh back at work today - finally successfully got g in sling in his snow suit as well ad o think the extra padding seems to make it nicer (v unsettled with wind gruntingand straining but seems better in sling) - stuck a boob tube round my tummy and telling myself scar not hurting too much

3wks

Well done everyone coping without dhs! I'm dressed but older 2 aren't but we have been playing mechano while dd3 is sleeping. She settles nicely in her pram by the back door during the day! I already use a sleeping bag to minimise temp difference, but doesn't seem to be working!

Dash just sneezed while feeding and covered my boob in snot. Lovely

I've found the sling soooooo much easier than the buggy in crowded places! I do get a lot of comments though (positive) especially when he's in his reindeer hat (see profile) :o I live in an upstairs flat though and cba to drag the buggy down the stairs all the time, plus would need the sling to be able to get buggy+baby+shopping back up as there's nowhere safe to leave stuff downstairs and the flat is a fair way from the top of the stairs so can't leave baby.

I gave up getting R in his crib at about 2 weeks. I gave up trying to make him sleep on his back at about 4. So I have a co-sleeping front sleeper who regularly sleeps 4 hours straight at night - and I have the wherewithal to cope with the days. Babies don't read books or guidelines, and I have to be both parents right now.

Please can the ffers talk to me about formula? I need dp to feel involved but don't imagine I'll have time to express reliably so will need to mixed feed - he won't be up to a nappy until he regains some more fine motor control on the left and I don't want him woken at night. R is happy with Philips bottles and I have 0+ teats, is there any reason to change those? What formula brands are good? He's a windy baby but not hard to shift it iyswim

Aptamil is supposed to be the closest to breast milk Pidj and the best for wind. It's what I'm giving J and when I was mix feeding he would swap happily between the two no problem. I started on tommee tippee closer to nature as I was trying to breast feed but as R is >6 weeks now I think he should be fine with any teat.

I'm in shock j has just been weighed and has gained 9oz in 5 days! The anti-colic bottles have made such a massive difference to his feeding!

Oh honey how lovely

Well big kids were up and out by 10 with friends and me and Ethan were dressed. We're now cuddled up feeding. I think I have it easier than most with other dcs as mine are both bigger and I'm a negligent hands of mother so they're used to having to sort their own breakfast and get themselves dressed and teeth brushed. I remember not getting everyone dressed until the afternoons some days when ds was born as dd was only 2 then.

I've just realised that we had inadvertently been doing tummy time anyway by laying Ethan on our chest when he's awake. His neck is getting much stronger!

Hi everyone,

I hope you don't mind me joining in! I'm new to mumsnet, been watching this thread for a bit of support in the last few weeks. My LO was born on 13/12/12 and I've been struggling with baby blues/depression since then. Things are starting to look a bit brighter now though as I'm getting more used to the new life with a baby. It still fills me with anxiety every now and then though, especially as I feel like I don't really know what my baby wants yet!

I find night times ok, LO is a pretty good sleeper and doesn't cry much at night. But during the day everything seems chaotic, she may want to feed every hour and still be fussy. My OH wants me to feed her every time she cries even if the last time was just 20 mins ago. I don't really know what else to do either and feel bad if she's crying so I just cave in and offer the breast. I just feel like there should be a bit more structure to her feeding but maybe it's too early? Or am I not confident enough with my baby as I can't find any other way to calm her down? I feel like a failure for getting a bit panicky every time she cries!

I was also wondering what you do in the morning when you wake up? My OH is still at home on paternity leave so we tend to stay in bed until 11am (still in bed now) but I do want to get some kind of routine going when he goes back to work next week. I was thinking about a 7.30-8am wake up call. Do you wake your baby up for a feed first thing in the morning even if they are still asleep? Do you then play with them or get yourself ready? What do you do with the LO if they are fussy and you need to get ready (if you have an appointment, for example)?

Sorry for such a long first post! Hope you all had a happy festive period!

peony Ethan is my third dc, and I'm still not sure what he wants. If he cries I shove a boob in his mouth. If that fails I do nappy, cuddles play etc. If he's still fussy I put him in the sling as that puts him to sleep. As for routines we havnt really had one yet as the big dcs aren't back to school yet. But when they are I will need to wake Ethan at 7 to make sure we're all fed and dressed ready for the school run. If I need to get ready and Ethan is whinging/crying he just has to be left to it. It isn't very often and it's never for very long. But sometimes babies just have to be left while you get other things done.

Oh and welcome to mumsnet and congratulations on your new baby!

I cant believe how different babies can be. Dd1 was formula fed and happily went 4 hours bwtween feeds fron about 2 weeks and was sleeping through 7 till 7 at 6 weeks and during the day would just fall asleep when tired regardless of where she was.

Dd2 was breast fed so i put the differences down to feeding method. She wouldnt be put down wouldnt nap in the day and fed every hour and a half in the day and nearly constantly through the night so we co-slelt she also didnt sleep througb till 2 and a half

I fully expected ds to be like dd2 with me bfing again but he sleeps most of the day in his bouncer is happy to be held or not when awake feeds every 2-3 hours in the day and 3-5 at night and sleeps in his moses basket unless im really tired and feed laying down then we co sleep. I am by no means complaining about this especially while so many of you are strugling with sleepless nights but i still worry that things arent quite right just because of my previous experience (why do mums always find something to worry about)

Welcome and congrats peony like stacey this is also my 3rd dc and i also dont always know what is wrong when he cries and would try same things stacey mentioned

We arent in a routine either as dh still at home till monday. I. Lucky that when he does ho back he doesnt leave for work till 9.20 so can do breakfast for tbe dd's and school run for dd1. Dd2 starts nursery next wed and starts at 9.30 so i will have to be a little more organises drom then and maybe wake ds to fees around 8 id he isnt awake.

Its the evenings im dreading as dh doesnt get in till 8.20 and the ds's go down at 7 so i have tea bath and bed to contend with as well as a newborn howevwr i have to confess that in an effort to be lazy dd1 will be having school dinners the 3 days a week that dd2 is at nursery so i can do a lighter meal in the evening those days.

Gosh i know im pratling on but all that being said with ds1 i nevwr tried to getvus into a routine i let her sleep on a morning and fed when she woke and eventually she kind of set our routine for us she would sleep till 7 have her bottle then go back to sleep till 9 and i would either sleep with her or get myaelf ready and do house work depending what i was doing for the rest of the day

Well done if you managed to read all that :)

Welcome peony!

pidj we are combination feeding and started with SMA but have just switched to aptamil to give it a go and it is a lot better for wind and for minimising spit-up. He sometimes still spits up a fair bit during it immediately after the feed, but we don't have the problem anymore of him spitting up for hours all the way until his next feed, so it seems to be better for him to digest.

willyule well done on the brilliant weight gain! Can I ask what exactly the anti colic bottles have helped with on that front - was he not happy feeding before you switched?

Welcome Peony! I'm a new mum too, baby born on 5.12.12 (so 4 weeks old today) and I have found I can't really go wrong with the default position of 'if you're not sure what baby wants, offer the breast'. It helps me to think of it as not just food, but food, drink, warmth, reassurance, cuddles, pain relief etc. So no matter what's ailing her, she's likely to feel better after some breastfeeding.

My husband is also on paternity leave and we're often in head until midday (like today). I will get up earlier (probably) when he goes back to work next week, but I don't think we need to get too hung up on routines yet.

Welcome Peony sounds like you are doing well :) Personally I don't see a point in a routine until about six weeks. DS will be six weeks on Monday (sob) and dd is starting nursery so I need to ensure we have some idea what's going on! My advice would be to always start and end the day in the same way, whatever happens in between doesn't matter. I will have DS up and feeding by 7:30, then get him dressed, he will probably stay awake until we leave at 8:30 then he will sleep in the car. Then we will do bath, feed and bed in the evening, have yet to decide what time though.

Pidj we used aptimil for dd, it was the one the HV didn't recommend because she's not allowed to

Well we are all up, dressed and fed. Food shopping has been delivered and put away. Second load of washing is on. Downstairs hoovered properly including sofas. Even managed to express 80ml! Still need to make phone calls...

just looked in the mirror, I really don't look healthy, the bags under my eyes are horrendous!

Seconds he would eat a little (1oz) and then refuse any more (think tongue tie also contributed to this). If he ate more he would burp and then once we laid him down the now frothy milk would start coming back up out of his nose and mouth! Cue hysterical screaming from me thinking he was having a fit!

He also wouldn't lie flat after a feed as he was in so much pain and would stay up grunting and making vomiting noises all night. We have also propped up his Moses basket a little On the advice of the hv.

Spotty snap thats been my morning, pretty much word for word only I've mopped not hoovered cos we have laminate. Waiting for j to wake for a feed, why doesn't he last this long at night?

Welcome peony I'm new mummy too...I'm finding breast does solve a lot however I've also introduced a dummy - initially was dead set against it but it makes such a differences especially like you say you've just fed 20 mins before and know they aren't still hungry just looking for comfort.
With regard to routine, we're 4.5 weeks and not really in one. Aurelia seems to be waking about 830 now and staying awake until lunchtime and then sleepy/feeding on and off through the afternoon.

We're topping up once a day with aptimil also A still seems to suffer with bad wind

Good luck to all of you who's Dps have gone back to work!

Ds has been asleep all morning it's really annoying! It's tempting to out him in his bouncer at night as he seems to prefer it

spotty and utopian - at how productive you are! i dozed until 10.30 when my overfull breasts (and the baby grunting) woke me up. Since then I've fed her, spoken to a friend on the phone, had coffee and pain au chocolate in bed (love my husband!) and am now expressing while little C sleeps on the bed beside me. Notice how I haven't even got up yet?? Lazy MaPo.

Hiya all, not sure if anyone remembers me but I was on this thread a few months ago (and an imposter at that as my due date has been moved to today!!)
I suffered a bit of a crisis of faith and decided I was doing completly the wrong thing by becoming a mum and in turn found it really hard to talk to anyone about my pregnancy, so I detached myself from mums net all together!

However, I'm back. I'm excited about becoming a mother (and more excited for labour to start so I can meet my daughter!!)

So, here I am, back in the world of mums net.. Congrats to everyone! Just been looking at some of your photos and you all have beautiful babies!