March 2013- here we go....

[Oodsigma]

Welcome old & new to the other side!

I'll start with a stats list!

Ood -ds 7/3/13, dc4! Elcs

If anyone wants to add any more details feel free!

Oh my word Leni, mine would earn a slap if he carried on like that! You must have the patience of a saint to deal with that in the midst of the newborn haze.

Stormy sorry to report it's business as usual here. 5oz bottles every four hours, we're just an hour behind schedule. I can't quite believe how hungry my baby is! I'm fully expecting deprecating looks from the health visitor in two weeks time.

Oh and white noise + dummy is a godsend for difficult bedtimes. There's loads of videos on YouTube that are just white noise for ten hours straight, I've been finding them on my phone and tucking it under the sheet in the Moses basket.

Tried the hula burping technique earlier, and it produced a burp so strong that George was coughing and spluttering afterwards! I think he may have hurt his throat getting that out. Not a nice thought, but it's definitely another trick up my sleeve, thanks Eig.
Bedtime here now, praying tonight is better than last night!

Haha we do the hula burping as well, I like your name for it. I've got another similar one I got out a supernanny book. Sit baby up facing you on your knee supporting him under the arms and gently twist his upper body to the right and left. I've found it often works and prevents as much spewage.

Thank god my DH is generally managing better than that leni - think I'd have gone spare without his support. He has done the night shifts for the last 2 nights (as I did them all from when he went back to work) so I have had the best sleep I've had in 3 weeks. Feel rather better for it too!

Prob best go, as need to rescue him and plug LO onto breakfast boob...

Btw, anyone else using MAM bottles? I can't seem to stop them leaking!

It says don't put them in boiling water but then to sterilise boil for 5 mins? In what then?

I feel I'm on a conveyor belt of bottles and feeds - LO wants another feed straight after the 100ml, is he not going to explode?!

We use mam bottles Leni. Are you using the ones that have to be assembled and unscrew at the bottom? Microwave is the answer. Put the teat and closure bit on the bottom, screw the body on, put 20mls of water in then cap on and zap for 3 mins. 4 mins for two bottles, 5 for 3 etc. Hth!

Once they've started leaking are they broken? Microwave blew up - that's what I was doing before. Ordered a new one but it's taking forever to arrive, hence Milton in the mean time. I've boiled all of them as per the instructions and now every single one leaks

Oh and yes the screw on bottom ones

Are they leaving through the screw on bit or the holes? If its the holes I'd try leaving the rubber bit in when you sterilise it so it expands/contracts in the heat with the plastic and keeps the seal. I had the same problem when I was taking it all apart and microwaving in the dome steriliser.

The bottles sometimes leak through the screw bits (great fun at 4am!) but I put that down to me not putting the bottle together tightly enough.

Through the screw bit but they're on so tight i find them hard to undo

Hmm maybe faulty then? Out of ideas!

Have had a realisation re: naps. They work much better if they start as soon as baby's tired! I slept in until lunchtime today (cos it's my lie in day ) and have done two feed/nappy/nap cycles since. With both, she started yawning about 45 minutes after waking up. Got her swaddled, down in the basket with dummy, read Wobble Bear and left her to it. Had to shush a couple of times from the other side of the room but both times she was fast asleep fifteen minutes later. Result!

This means we are definitely getting the You time recommended by the baby whisperer book. Unfortunately this baby-free time is going to end up with us having two under one if I don't sort some contraception asap...

We've also tried hula burping. Excellent bit of advice, that!

leni if I were there I'd give your OH a ding round the earhole for you. He might think he works hard and he may very well be right, but he seems to be forgetting that you do too!

blimey stormy, while I'm no longer actually taking painkillers, the stitches still pull occasionally just sitting down so haven't felt up to further activity . am v impressed!

No stitches here, which helps!

In less good news, I suspect the infacol the health visitor recommended may be making the reflux worse. We're having some very frustrating feeds - okay at first then crying and rejecting the bottle, but still hungry and obviously in pain. So going to skip the infacol for a couple of days and see if that helps. And if it doesn't it'll be time to talk to the doctor about medications that may help, cos I'm still fretting about her not getting enough to eat.

Yes I tried I infacol with first child ad it didn't do anything. He just got better really over time but it's frustrating! Very impressed you re even thinking about doing anything! What with pain from the c section scar, and boobs that leak if you even sneeze near them I can't imagine it!! Dh tried to hug me earlier and got two wet patches on his shirt! Fingers crossed we all have good nights.

The leaking bottles thing must be my fault for boiling them - tested them all and only one is unscathed... Not even sure what the screw on bottoms are for! Dispatched a friend to buy steriliser and boots own bottles which fit the Mam teats so back on track now. Had another go on the boob earlier, same story of staying on for ages but still being ravenous after

OH made some revelations today about why he's been so off, totally not what I expected but I was glad to finally know there's something behind his crap behaviour. He's getting help, so I'm going to have to deal with that even though it won't be easy when I really need him to look after me and LO at the moment. Time to call on my superhuman reserves of strength methinks.

I've done a bit of hula today! First time worked a treat but not so successful the next couple of times - he always turns his head to one side so it's hard to get enough support round his chin. Have started using bibs to avoid endless washing of my clothes when I get milk dribbled down my belly rolls!

In theory it's time for first morning nap. In reality baby and cat are having a staring contest. Think I will delay the first cigarette until one's asleep and the other's wandered off. Don't quite trust the furry one not to freak out the milky one!

leni I'm glad there's a reason for OH being a bit rubbish. It'd be a bit of a bugger (to put it mildly) if it were going to be a permanent thing. If you want to talk to us about what's up with him, feel free. (Yes, I'm a nosey sod!)

eig no breastfeeding here, so no danger of milk disasters either!

Night went alright here. In bed by 8pm and settled fine. Fed in her sleep 11-11.30. Woke up at 2.40 for a feed with a very soggy nappy, and joined the wide-awake club, unfortunately. But she was fairly chilled out just lying in her basket looking around until she finally fell asleep around 4am. So she might not have had vast and lengthy amounts of sleep, but she's getting the idea that upstairs + dark = sleeping time, or at least not screaming time. And she decided 6.40am was breakfast time and I've no idea how long she'd been awake and lying there making damp bubbling noises, hence going for a nap at half past seven in the morning. All peaceful so far, and she seems to be settling okay with no dummy. Might sneak out for that fag now, then have a nap too.

Random question: how long does your baby stay awake for, generally?

leni we also use boots bottles with mam teats. It's the year that's important, right?

Stormy I'm amazed you've felt up to doing the nasty! Well done. I still feel like a mess downstairs, my hips still buggered, I have no libido whatsoever and generally feel like a chubby housekeeper. Plus our relationship has become somewhat strained lately, we had another snot faced crying argument yesterday, partly caused by him asking when we could have sex again [hmmm].

His wakeful periods depend on how much he's slept and the time of day. The longest is two hours, typically 8am til 10 then 5-7 each evening. We've shifted him on to five daily feeds now that he's demanding such enormous bottles. We tried small top ups but they just seem to make him angry.

Not seen SoYo for awhile, wonder how she's getting on?

plonko if it were nasty I wouldn't be up for doing it! My libido went awol during the third trimester and came back with a vengeance as soon as I quit the boob juice, so I suspect it's all hormonal.

Did he actually say "So when can we have sex?" Because that'd probably put me off too. Not exactly romantic, is it?

SoYo was on the antenatal thread yesterday so I'm guessing she's still around and okay.

Hi all! Where does everyone put their little ones down for day time naps? So far we have been putting her in the same place as for the night in the bedside cot unless we are out and about in which case she sleeps soundly in her sling. This has been working fine until last few days when its been getting increasingly difficult to settle her for day time naps even when she is clearly tired unless she is in the sling. She still sleeps great at night in the bedside cot and is not too hard to settle in the evenings. I was wondering whether it might be better to have a different place for sleeping during the day to help her start to recognise difference between night and day and perhaps help her settle better for naps - so far we have been working on the basis that it is better to have her sleeping in the same place each time so that she associates that place for sleep rather than swapping for the day - just wondering what others were doing about this?

Hi Plonko

Rainbow we have two moses baskets, one upstairs and one in the living room. Daytime naps are downstairs, then after her tea and bath it's bed upstairs, and we join her up there a few hours later. We were keeping her downstairs all evening as per the advice to never put them in a separate room, but we need a bit of adult time, plus she's got a habit of smelling food and waking up when we're trying to cook the evening meal, so it's less stressful all round if she's out the way. I'm hoping she'll make associations between being swaddled etc and sleep. Also thinking it'll help her distinguish between night and day - if she's upstairs, it's night-time! So far so good, she sleeps pretty well upstairs or down.

SoYo I don't know how you cope with those feeding times! That's definitely a bonus with bottles - she's hungry, she has a bottle, twenty minutes later she's done, and she's good for the next 3 hours or so.

We did shifts for a while, and it is awesome for making sure everyone gets at least a bit of sleep. Didn't want it to be a long-term habit though. These days I find not having to be on duty is enough of a rest, even if we're all in the same room.

No smiles here yet, but it can't be long, surely? What's the usual sort of age for smiling?

We're having a bit of a wonky day today. First three feeds went well - a full three ounces each time. Fourth feed I thought I'd give her four and see how she goes. Two ounces down and the silent reflux was obviously giving her grief. And she's not been napping for as long as usual, is coughing quite a lot and a bit snotty, so we suspect a cold. Really hope it clears up soon, she's waking herself up coughing after forty minutes or so and really struggling to get back to sleep. Doesn't help that I'm having trouble with the swaddling - she's forever getting her hands right up under her chin and then freaking herself out. Just done it now, in fact. Bugger!

SoYo my little one is getting increasingly efficient at breastfeeding - we are now down to 20-30 minute feeds from quite long ones previously. Tbh I miss the long sessions in the day a bit as I found it was such a wonderful bonding time and now its all a bit more efficient - although I certainly don't miss them in night which is why we started giving an expressed feed for the 2-3am session early on. This is now a dream feed so that we get almost 6-7 hours sleep each night with just a ten minute interruption.

I think not having stitches must be the key to feeling up to bedtime antics - I felt pretty myself again down below after 2-3 weeks and for me breastfeeding certainly does not seem to be a barrier to my libido!

Hi soyo! Gosh that is a lot of feeding. But glad you are still here.

I am feeling rather happy as dd had 4 week weigh in and has gone from 50 per centime to 75 percentile and is now 4.5 kg. I don't thnk the health visitor believed me hen I said she was totally breastfed and got ths whole lecture on not eating too many sweets even if I am tiny. Could she not just have said well done and let us go! Who cares how I am feeding her anyway as long as she is gaining weight and happy!

I have had dd in her room in the cot for sleeps since day 3. ( as you can probably tell i am no earth mother!) I sleep in with her on the sofa bed if she seems unsettled a night but otherwise she is right next door. with a 3 year old and his friends over its too tempting for them to poke at her in the Moses basket, she is safer upstairs! I thnk smiling is any time from 4 weeks but normally 6 to 8 weeks. Some joy to look forward too.

SoYo I should clarify thats 20-30 minutes from each side! I too got to the place previously where I thought my nipples would fall off because she was initially feeding so long but it did seem to get better and better over a couple of weeks and midwife said that babies just need time to learn to nurse and become naturally more efficient as time goes on. Also my little one no longer likes to comfort nurse when there is milk coming out so that may have helped shorten the feeds - in fact she gets really annoyed at my breasts sometimes when all she wants to suckle but milk keeps coming! We have sometime have very angry screaming at and into the breasts!

Rainbow, I am super jealous of your sleep! We are aiming for wha you av but not there yet!