November 2012 - The thread where it all starts to get easier. Pretty please?

[StuntNun]

Previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/postnatal_clubs/1703340-November-2012-Four-months-Oh-no-the-dreaded-sleep-regression

Bloody hell, holy complicated-sentence-construction Batman!

That is to say, my previous sentence, not yours pass! Is P starting to get separation anxiety? R is, and whilst v sweet, it is kind of restrictive

That's a good point cat. I swear it's like she is scared to close her eyes in case I am not there when she wakes up.

Welcome meals
vq at sperm donor
rooty I have had moments of pure hatred due to dhs snoring. Awful sound, awful.
chasing and wellies hope you?re both muddling through ok so far today
Sorry to hear about feeding issues dicks and crap nights everyone else
catbag car sagas suck
contra perhaps try waking her up 15 mins earlier in the morning every day? We did nothing with F though ? she used to cluster feed til 10 and suddenly, at about your dds age, started falling asleep a bit earlier every day, and dropped the cluster feeding. It does mean she?s up for the day earlier too (6.30 today). All daytime naps are on me, I just make sure there?s a good dvd to hand and a bottle of juice.

Not looking forward to christening today, dhs family the roughneck side have all ff from birth and aren?t afraid to loudly voice their poorly formed opinions, and not sure I?m mentally together enough today to explain why I?m bf?ing. Still?! At 4 months!? Nothing wrong with ff, just not for me. Nothing wrong with bf especially for lazy fuckers like me so don?t make me feel bad about it please.

FFS we've been invaded. Two spiders in my shower this morning.

I've been having my share of feeding issues too Dicks and possibly PND to boot. What problems have you been having? There'll be lots of solidarity here for you.

Oh no cat, bloody cars

I'm ok, just don't know what to do for the best. I think I'm in need of the fish to slap some sense into me. I took B to be weighed and to ask advice about the green poo she's been producing all week and found that she hasn't gained much weight and is dropping centiles. Advice was to feed both sides each feed, she only normally feeds from one. Now she's screaming when I try and feed from the left side. She won't stay on either side for more that a few minutes so I can't get her to drain the boob. I feel like I'm in a viscous circle that I can't break.

Is it over-full toomany? Could you express a bit first then try? I bottle feed so anything I say is theoretical.

dicks when F has refused to feed like that, it's been one of 4 reasons -

1. needs a poo
2. tired not hungry and just wants comfort, so cross when she gets milk as well
3. I've eaten something she doesn't approve of
4. overenthusiastic let down

I'm guessing it won't be 1 or 2 for you - so could it be 3 or 4? Is there anything in your diet that's changed in the past week or 2, that could have upset her and made her fussy? If all she is getting is foremilk, that could be causing the green poo (I think - stunt's the expert there) Try unlatching her when you feel your milk letting-down, and catch the milk in a muslin, until it stops flowing spraying across the room then re-attach her.

The hv said that green poo was a sign of not getting any hind milk just foremilk. That explains the poor weight gain. They suggested expressing for 5 min than put O on boob as usual. Than top her up w expressed milk if she is hungry. It worked for us, she improved within a week.

And possibly de-caff for you my lovely.
Not sure who's got the stinking, scaleless, mangy wet fish now, if you still wanted it?!

I don't know. That was the problem before which is why I started feeding from one side only. I think I have a fast letdown, that she gulps, then she can't be bothered to suck when the flow stops.

X-post with lily - great minds eh?

I'll try that next feed. I'm not sure she'd feed after the letdown has gone though, she gets very irate when the letdown doesn't happen quickly and pulls off. I'm worried I'm losing my supply on the left side, I can't get much at all when I pump.

Good luck dicks. I've given up on expressing for now, but when I was, I couldn't ever get anything off the right boob - but no probs for her feeding off of it.

Dicks feeding from both sides each feed will make it worse if it's a problem of too much foremilk. Block feeding would probably help. If you're worried about one boob's supply then express on that side. Even if you aren't getting any milk out the stimulation will increase your supply. I would start a thread in the Breast and Bottlefeeding topic, Tiktok is the MN bfing expert so any advice you get from her is diamond.

Also Dicks breast compressions (Google it) will help keep her on once the flow slows a bit.

bplp My right boob is completely useless when I am expressing too. I can only get any milk off if I am feeding on the other side, and during let down reflex, so I stick a baby on the right and pump the left. Does not matter how full I am the right, nothing comes out with the pumpM

That's what I thought stunt, HV had no advice on green poo, was just concerned about weight, hence telling me to feed both sides. I'll go back to one side per feed. I just don't know how to get her to stay on for longer.

She's also pooing loads, every nappy change is a dirty one. She used to only poo every other day before this problem.

And dicks, I def second what stunt says- if foremilk IS causing the green poo, then switching sides will not help at all. Block feeding (which is what it sounds like you are doing already) would definitely be a better approach. Can see how it would be getting you down

stunt We are here for you, if you need to vent or talk through your feelings a bit

dicks i had exactly this with DT2 (from 1st set of twins). The HV was concerned that she was dropping weight and having lots of green poo (it was every change, like you). In fact she rode pretty roughshod over my instinct on this and had her admitted to hospital for three days). It turned out that she just had a minor tummy upset (which I said) and that she was coming out of the other side of it(which I also said). Stick with the block feeding and try the breast compression too, it might well help.

Thanks everyone, you're all so helpful. It's amazing how emotive feeding is, when you're having problems it's impossible to think straight. The HV also said to wake her to feed, she currently sleeps through from 7pm-6am without a dream feed. I tried it by giving a scream dream feed at 10pm and she was unsettled for the rest of the night. Maybe it is a stomach upset and I've just caused other problems from following her advice.

Just expressed for the first time this year (we ditched top up bottles during peak reflux hell as it was impossible to get him to take one, then I couldn't find the pump after our move) and wahey 6oz in one 10 min session. Spectra 3 you rock!!!!! I'm going to attempt evening runs this week if his sleep settles after being ill.

I'm onto week two of cold / flu and conjunctivitis and the bear is on day 7 - got a docs appointment last Friday and apparently there is a vicious two week cold bug doing the rounds in the bay - I'm wondering if its what your Ma had MM she was poorly for ages wasn't she? As for conjunctivitis apparently the drops shorten its duration by a day (from 4 days to 3) IMHO not worth it given our overuse of antibiotics. He's not bothered by it and cleaning with cooled boiled water has nearly got rid of it by day two. Doc also said the preservatives in the drops sting so might not be worth the hassle!

There are lots of things that could cause green nappies without it being a problem. Do they smell unpleasant, are they slimy, and do they either cause her pain to pass or irritate her skin? It could be lactose overload. The foremilk is thin and digested quickly which dumps a lot of lactose into the digestive system at once, overloading her supply of lactase (the enzyme that breaks down lactose). This leads to undigested lactose in the digestive tract which causes similar symptoms to lactose intolerance, hence the green poos. By block feeding you are increasing the amount of higher fat hindmilk which takes longer to digest, allowing the lactose to be broken down completely. There are other ways to do it, e.g. expressing off the first bit of milk. I even heard of one woman who expressed milk, let it separate then poured off some of the watery bit. These aren't long term solutions though as your baby needs the water in the milk or she will get dehydrated. The other issue is that the gut lining can become damaged so it can take a few days to recover even when the problem has resolved.