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!

Pundat, I did the same thing, got two ounces then dropped the damn bottle! Very very frustrating!

I might just go for formula then in that one bottle and then swap it for breast milk when the pump comes. I just wanted DD to have to get used to just the bottle as opposed to the bottle plus formula at the same time.

I have no idea - I've got nicely used to just whipping myself out

so I've become worried that minipud is developing a preference for turning his head left over right. google tells me this is common since the back to sleep campaign to prevent sids was introduced, and more tummy time is the answer - how much are you doing and how are you doing it? I have ordered a playmat but won't get it til next week. I have been doing some in his big cot, with a rolled up blanket under his chest, but think I should ditch the blanket and do more.

also, what do you do to 'play" with your LO at this stage?

Whoops, totally forgot about tummy time! Although I suppose we have it anyway - if I'm burping on the sofa I tend to end up lying down so she's effectively having tummy time on me. Seems to quite enjoy the opportunity to kick, move her head, and try a spot of mountaineering.

As for playing, I am eagerly awaiting everyone's responses, because I'm worried mine's getting bored!

I haven't forgotten about it but he doesn't yet like being put on the play mat on his tummy it just makes him cry. We do same as stormy and have him lie on us. As for playing, he just ignores anything I do in favour of staring at other things or kicking about. He's not even interested in toys yet so I just end up sat watching him entertain himself. He's actually doing it now instead of being asleep.

I don't remember worrying about playing as such but I did go to baby bounce & rhyme type activities with DS.

You've reminded me that I have an old copy of the baby whisperer so I digit out, turned to the EASY page and realised that I think as DD is feeding on demand (ie all the bloody time it seems like) I don't know how I'd do it. I'll wait a few days before I read the book again as I'm worrying about it already.

Didn't get started with a bottle today. I was leaving it to DH to suggest when he wanted to do it but he didn't mention it. To be honest, he's got a cold obviously man flu grr and he's not the most patient of people so it would probably be pretty fraught if he tried today. I may wait until the pump comes now and then even try introducing it myself.

Yeah, I really can't see how on-demand feeding works with EASY. But on-demand is pretty much the opposite of set routine, so I guess there's no way of combining them. That said, there's some handy information in there even if you don't go for the three hour routine. Example: if baby's been awake two hours and is being a grumpy little sod but had food an hour ago, it's probably tiredness rather than hunger making her cry.

Not the best evening here - she was a grumpy baby at my dad's, and cried pretty much constantly when she got home. Shut up briefly in the bath though, she likes it in there! Got her dressed and upstairs while she cried, tried to feed her, she was doing her usual fussing right from the start but drank three and a half ounces. Got a couple of good burps out. She was still on my shoulder and I was just thinking about swaddling her when I noticed she was swallowing a lot. Kind of like you do when you're about to be sick and your saliva production suddenly goes into overdrive. On the plus side, none of that three and a half ounces ended up on the carpet - I caught most of it with my cleavage and the rest with my jeans...

I tried a bit of tummy time but used my c shaped pillow to give her a bit of support , she wasn't keen. For awake time we pull funny faces at her that she tries to copy, do a bit of baby massage, and let her kick about under the baby gym! Take her on little walks around the garden and my three year old tried to read her a story. Highlight of my day was dd did the most enormous projectile poo on the changing mat some of which hit the curtains about 1.5 meters away! For those of you on the anti natal thread it reminded me of poo armegeden!

Good to know I'm not the only person getting covered in yuck, eig!

The man's home, I'm off duty, I've got a glass of wine - I could get used to this mothering lark. Just have to wait for my brother's tumble dryer to finish drying my jeans and then I'm off to bed. Hope everyone has a good (and yuck-free) night.

Oh no to projectile vomiting and poomageddon!

DD does not want to go down tonight. I've done my 'last feed' to get her off to sleep (yes, not ideal) three times now and this is after the usual marathon cluster feed which ends up with me dreading the next one due to the sensitivity of my nipples (although it's always fine after the first 20 seconds).

DH looked so rough earlier that I want going to give him DD to burp but changed my mind as I was handing her over. He didn't take it too well but I'm trying to minimise the chance of her getting a cold at 3 weeks old. As I said to him, I'd be the one getting up with her and trying to feed her with a blocked nose etc. Grr. He's now snoring next to me in bed. Grr.

Right, she's slipped off so I'm going to leave it a few minutes before I try to put her down again. Come on swaddling, don't fail me now!

Hello all. I've finally caught up with all you news and wisdom. You guys are hardcore on the mummy skills front. Can't recall who it was that had a night nanny who suggested alternative winding methods but since reading one of my biggest pleasures with dd has been watching her in the middle of the night with her milk drunk face doing the hula. Hilarious. To me. Try it!

Play wise we're making it up but we sing a lot, making up silly lyrics to tunes we know. We blow raspberries. We cycle arms and legs. We shake and look at lamaze toys. We tickle and do things like this little piggy. We talk gibberish. All this and she stares blankly back at us in that three weeks old way :-)

Our evening today was supposed to look like this:
Meet daddy in town to register birth
Have celebratory tea and cake prior to daddy returning to do important bit of work over evening
Dd and I return home for early evening walk, dinner at sociable time and calm bedtime routine.

Our evening actually looked like this:
Meet daddy in town and register birth.
Pop to boots because need canestan.
Pharmacist won't sell to me as had surgical procedure recently and tells me to go to walk in centre.
Begrudgingly go to walk in centre which is hell on earth imho.
Wait. A lot.
Get told my case is a bit too niche for normal person so have to wait for shift change to see 'lady problem' specialist.
dh has to return to work so leaves us in hotter than sun waiting room with baby that needs feeding and is hitting fractious o'clock.
Wait more. Strip tiny baby to keep cool and sing 20 green bottles to entertain.
Get seen. Get prescription.
Dd kicks off.
Go back to pharmacist. Glare. Collect prescription.
Realise long gone dh has my car keys.
Panic.
Problem solve and feel proud as have solved problem even with screaming tiny baby and thrush and sore third degree carnage. My solution is to get bus home.
Realise don't have house keys.
Call dh who can't escape important work thing. Realise phone has less than 5% power.
Baby screaming for food. Make to go to coffee shop to hang out whilst we panic. Everywhere except pubs closed.
Decide to walk with pram to soothe baby. Which doesn't work.
Call friend who lives in city. No answer.
Red battery light flashing menacingly on phone.
Text random lady met at nct to ask if I can go to her house as it walking distance. She's out but her dh is in.
Set off there.
Realise I'm frozen as have no coat.
Go into primark to buy jumper. Dd objects to this ordeal and ramps up crying.
Customers usefully tell me she needs feeding.
Buy jumper. Without trying on.
Jumpers too small as I forgot I now have boobs.
Walk towards random near strangers house.
Realise I'm starving. Try nipping into coop to buy banana. Dd hates that idea.
Press on with walk. Dd continues to scream
Squeeze one last text out of phone to dh telling him to collect me from random address when he can
Arrive to house to be greeted by slightly bemused husband of nice nct lady with screaming baby and aura of a mad woman.
Realise dh can't just pick me up as travel seat in my car on other side of city.

FFS!! What an evening. Feel I subjected my precious dd to horrible stresses. Ate dinner whilst staring at wall at 10pm. She's currently sleeping in my arms tho so she must have forgiven me.

Tomorrow is another day!

Hoping you all tucked up asleep next to babies who want to sleep for 5 plus hours. X

eco what an exciting evening! Don't worry, she'll have forgotten all about it already. It sounds like it was no fun to experience, but a good saga to read - I needed a giggle to help me cope with the fact it's six in the morning.

Wing feed to sleep at bedtime's probably fine, really. It'll keep baby asleep for longer, hopefully. Our three hour routine generally involves food first, then playing, then sleep, but it swaps around for the last cycle - 4pm feed, 5.15 catnap, 6pm up again for bath and bed routine, and then the 7pm feed is right before she gets wrapped up and into bed. It seems to work: she might not be going straight to sleep, but she's staying asleep through the dream feed at 10-11ish and not waking until the 2am feed.

Turned out alright here last night. She finally gave up the occasional whimpers an hour after going to bed, so obviously taking a while to get to sleep. I woke up to her crying at 2.15, no sign of the man, so I put a bottle together, then heard him on the baby monitor - he was already in there and she'd obviously woken thanks to him (might've needed a nappy change, I don't know, he's asleep so can't ask). 6am I heard her crying so got up. Sleepy crying though, so I nipped out for a cig and it's all quiet now. Planning to go get her at the next cry for breakfast.

Plan: get baby up, feed change play, baby has nap. Get baby up, feed change play, go to doctor's for six week check. Come home, hand over to the man. He's on duty all afternoon and evening. (I get to be in duty all afternoon and evening tomorrow, joy.)

I wish there was a way to tell if she's quiet up there because she's asleep, or because she's wide awake and calmly looking around. Because if she's awake I'd rather get her up now but if she's dozing I don't want to disturb her. And the door handle squeaks. Hmm.

God eco that day pretty much had everything I'm afraid of happening when I go out with child. What a nightmare but kudos for your problem solving. I would have had a melt down back at the having no car keys point.

Poomaggedon and puke. Ew. I can relate to the covered in puke. My perfume these days is sour milk. I have the opposite poo problem as he's constipated again. I gave him a trial back on one sachet of gaviscon and now he can't poo again. No more gaviscon EVER. Consequently had a screaming miserable farty baby all night.

Had a trial at putting him upstairs on his own at his bed time. Not the easiest as psychically knew despite being asleep when we went out the room and began crying. Took 2 hrs but we got him to sleep in there for an hour before he woke up wanting a feed. Hopefully he'll start to get used to it in time.

Stick with it, zig, he'll get the hang of it in time. What did you do when he woke up as you were leaving?

He would cry just as we got downstairs so we left him to cry for a few minutes then went and replaced dummy and blanket at which point he promptly fell asleep so we left the room again. Then rinse and repeated til he was properly asleep. It's so hard not being able to see if he's ok though. I'm glad now I got one of those monitors with the movement sensor, not because I think he's going to stop breathing or something but because I would be in there to check on him every 5 min like a neurotic mum. Being downstairs without his usual sleepy moans and groans was weird. I have a new love of peace and quiet.

Yes the last time I had the angel monitor with the sensor but the handset broke. This time I got the Motorola monitor with the video screen, was on offer at boots ex display 79 pounds. It is great as you can see if they have escaped swaddle are yawning or screaming. It has some night light thing so it's pitch black n there but I can still see her picture. I have to say I love it only issue is as ex display have to wedge the charger in! Stormy we seem to be on the sae sort of routine and working well.

Stormy the advice I got about babies waking up at even the smallest of noises is to make sure that while they sleep you do not try keep noise levels down. From birth during the day we make sure dd is exposed to lots of normal everyday noices while she sleeps. We never talk in hushed voices or turn down the music or anything. This means that she now does not wake up at the any noise - in the mornings she even sleeps through hammer drilling by our next door renovations on a shared wall!

Aye, Rainbow, my sister said the same (and her two will sleep through a dozen drunk people in the next room now). But I found myself creeping around when she was falling asleep anyway, just because I wanted the peace and quiet rather than her drifting off then startling awake. We're still making noise while she's napping, and it's not exactly soundproof up there, she's just not right next to sources of noise. So I'm hopeful she won't end up a stupidly light sleeper.

DD was crying a bit during naptime earlier, so the man stuck his head round the door. She was fast asleep! Just having a shout in her sleep, it seems.

zig I'm in two minds about dummy replacement. She makes the same noise when she wants her dummy back as she does when she's rooting for milk, and we can hear it through the monitor. I'm always inclined to go and give her it back, but if I don't, she pretty soon just goes to sleep anyway. So it's obviously not essential for sleep in our case.

eig that monitor sounds excellent!

I'm so impressed by all of your routines! We're a completely routine free zone here, I just keep her with me all the time when DH is out & she feeds when she fancies, snoozes very rarely during the day for longer than 15mins (unless we're out in fresh air), wakes up anytime I even think about putting her in Moses/cot/appropriate sleeping place etc.. She comes to bed with us at this time. I did try at 6weeks putting her to bed upstairs at 7ish but this is prime cluster feed time & at the moment it's easier to keep her downstairs attached to my boob while I watch TV etc! Think I'll consider trying again about 12 weeks.

Having a big stress tonight. Dd wouldn't take the top up bottle I had been giving her a 7. Instead she wanted more boob and I have less milk at that time of day so had been expressing earlier when I have more but she flat out rejected. This worried me as I had hoped to combo feed now. I am finding the breast feeding exhausting and it's making me grouchy and i've lost so much weight. I was feeling read to tail it off a bit but hoping to still do some for a while. Seems like dd might not play ball with that idea. worrying. I know the bf purests would say I should stick at it and screw my own health etc so more guilt. I tailed off last time at 8 weeks and DS started to get eczema, now I keep reeling myself that could have happened anyway but i still have guilt and this time it would be worse as she is latching on and growing well etc... Trying to tell myself not to worry and like any things this will sort itself out...

hey eig enough with the guilt already! you have done brilliantly so far and got your LO off to a cracking start.

yes, 'breast is best' BUT there are plenty of us here who are clear formula is not the work of the devil ( ) as we haven't had a choice about using it (some of our breasts ain't best at the task in hand!) and we still have happy healthy babies. far more important is a healthy happy mum. if you want to stick with the bf then kellymom is a mine of info to help you, but if you feel the time has come to ease up then do what's right for you and your family - no judgement from me. anything they get from you is hugely beneficial, and she'll still be getting loads. re bottle rejection, has she been taking it ok so far? worth trying to warm it more/less? if its a new thing (apologies if I should know this, brain in 3am mode) then best to try when they're relaxed and not over hungry - could you try starting her on the breast and then trying bottle part way through?

Oh eig I don't know what to say except it's just one evening, try again tomorrow and the day after with the one bottle and just keep going if you do went to. Re: your DS's eczema, do you actually know it's linked to you stopping bfing/was she allergic to the formula or have you just made the connection in your mind? You know that every child is different and your DD might not (probably will not?) get eczema this time.

I'm not at all a bfing purist but from your post it sounds like you do want to continue for now so perhaps give it a few more nights of trying with the bottle - there could be many reasons why she didn't want it tonight or, conversely why she really wanted you/your boob/your milk.

+-post with pud! Morning pud!!

I should say in addition to my post that you'll get no judgy pants from me either :)

I forgot to ask - can someone please explain the hula burping method to me? Exactly how do you do it as DD has been sick a few times and I'm sure it's to do with trapped wind. DS was never a sicky baby and i think he always burped easily selective memory! so not sure what to do! Thanks.

Eco what a horrible day! Well done though, I'd have been defeated even without a newborn in tow.

SoYo I think routine must be so hard with a bf baby. It's easier to get a ff baby sorted because you know exactly how much they've had so you can anticipate mealtimes.

Eig please don't feel guilty! Babies can be stubborn little buggers and you're doing a brilliant job. Ultimately though you must do whatever preserves your sanity and your health. That is the best thing for your baby!

Hula burping works about 50% of the time for us. Sit baby on knee, hold steady under armpits (we have an obstinate one who hasnt let us support his head since he figured out how to do it!) and slowly move him in a small circle from the waist so his lower body is still.

We've had a very interesting few days. DS is never still when awake, making way more gurgling sounds, awake pretty much all afternoon/early evening, and getting better everyday at communicating with us. He now won't take a dummy at bedtime so we save it for after bottles when he's drained 180ml and asking for more. The beauty of this is not having to replace the bastard thing every 10 minutes in the night, but he's harder to settle for daytime naps. It's a shame his dads missed this week, not least because the goalposts have moved yet again! We're easing back into a routine and he's getting used to five bottles a day. Oh and is it just me or are supermarket clothes way smaller than clothes shop clothes? DS is 6 weeks and wearing 3-6 months from asda!!