December 2012: 8 hour sleeps and chubby chops all round

[WillYouDoTheBunnyHop]

New thread for us ladies

Looks like we are coming out the back end of sleep regression, started at 15wks and 18wks tomorrow. He slept 7.45-4.45, but wouldn't go back to sleep (normal for him). I have picked up DHs cold so it's snuffling and coughing ahoy in the house!

The problem with ebf for 6months is it a very new thing in the history of humans. Previously weening happened a lot earlier, mums lived with lots of other women for support with looking after other children/ house hold, and before that there were wet nurses. It's a massive expectation to put on women these days and no where near the support needed. Although I should feel proud for what I did, sought support when I was struggling and F was visibly happier on ff, I still feel huge amounts of guilt for not continuing longer.

Wet nurses were only used by royals and then the most middle class people though (so wouldn't have been me ). It was once formula was introduced breastfeeding was deemed common and only for people who couldn't afford formula. Since then there's been a switch. I agree though that people don't have the family support they used to. Also some people have to go back to work so soon in America, for example, they have virtually non existent maternity leave and low bf numbers whereas in Sweden they have high paid ML and bf numbers.

When I first came out of hospital with ds I couldn't even get my latch checked by the area specialist because I'd been discharged over 10 days ago, but we didn't even get out until he was two weeks old!

I think that even doing it for a few weeks is a great thing though eggs everyday counts. I actually think ds would probably be less grumpy on formula too he's such a grouch all the time!

I don't think I would still be bf if I had encountered problems like tt though so I definitely take my hat off to those of you that are

8-2:20, 3-4:50 + 5:30-7:30. I was greeted by a smily little face peeping over the top of the crib :o

Michelle, ask yourself: is my baby loved and cared for? Gaining weight and learning new skills? Secure that i love him/her?

The answer is yes. Therefore you are a good mum.

Definitely no bad mums around here. only bad babies who wake up 5 times

I think I'm at the start of the regression/growth spurt - she's 18 weeks today (16 by EDD). Last night was the worst yet. She's also refusing the bottle, which is extra stress.

WWYD? She's started to wake up around 9.30pm for a feed but won't take bottle. I have tickets to see Book of Mormon this Saturday and a friend is babysitting. In the olden days I would have been able to feed C and put her to bed, and if she needed a feed before I got home she's take a bottle. Now she may well wake twice in the evening and is unlikely to take the bottle. Should I cancel my plans? The theatre is a 15 min cab from home.

Are you sure it's not just you she won't take a bottle from? It might be different if you're not there

seconds I could have written your post with dd1. Who knew bfing could be so hard? Dd1 was on formula by 3 months after not gaining weight despite all my best efforts - it took me ages to get over my 'failure'. I asked for so much help with bfing her but it was all crap. Dd2 fed easily and I was amazed at the difference. Dd3 was tricky to get started - had a tt but luckily was picked up and snipped quite early (convinced dd1 had an undiagnosed one), but we got better at it.

We're now in full on sleep regression! Argh! Pretty much all night in my bed latched on. Need to learn to co-sleep again if this is how its going to be. mama sadly I'd stay home - it's so stressful to get the call when someone else has tried and failed to settle lo and they're hysterical when you get home. :-(

it might be what spotty says - just 4 days ago g wouldn't entertain a bottle at bed but after 2 nights of refluxy stuff at bedtime when we resorted to bottle of ebm with gavisgon ( which he'd only accept from me) he actually took 30 ml in a bottle from dh before feeding with me last night. a lot can change quickly so persevere and maybe try dp doing it? we've decided to keep this up at bedtime. also a hungry baby will feed from a bottle if they used to.

honestly, the tt stuff if probably more than half the reason women struggle and would save the nhs tonnes of money. though of course formula would go down. as everyone went to bottles and formula in the 80s it stopped being such an issue so there isn't the general knowledge. plus they tend to investigate if there's nipple pain but sometimes that's not the case.

seymore it's just drops in the mouth but a bit of a fiddle so you could put on a spoon before feeds. I'm going to do it religiously first feed and see how things go over next 2 weeks. I think wind was a bit less last night but I was also massaging at every feed to get as much out as possible!!

I would go out in the evening if dp was here but I don't think I would leave ds with a friend yet as I can't guarantee he will stay asleep or settle for someone else. I really think it should be me going to bil's gf's birthday in a couple of weeks not dp

I should mention I've never given her a bottle. It's always been my husband.

I'm fucking pissed off now. This is an evening we booked 6 months ago, and of course everything has to go tits up a week before to ruin it.

Sorry all. I'm exhausted, my recently excellent napper now is refusing and I don't have any inclination or energy to play with her. And I still need to fucking express so we can keep trying the useless bottle (great fun when I'm already doing 4-5 extra feeds a day, and we end up pouring it down the sink).

Mama yesterday ds wouldn't nap and it put me in such a bad mood. He was obviously tired but wasn't having any of it today was different though.

If you're still happy to leave her and your friend is happy to then do it. This stage won't last forever honestly.

Mamapo have you tried anything like using a faster flow teat on the bottle. It could just be that she isn't getting enough milk for the effort if it's the slower ones on there.

Could you try giving her less milk in each bottle and freezing the rest? Then you aren't wasting as much if she refuses, and can give her more if she starts again.

Every fucking 20-30 minutes last night.

Oh honey. :(

We just changed bottles, which worked briefly. Today's technique will be to try to feed when still asleep. This used to be anytime before 1am; now we need to be ready to go by 9pm, with everything ready, milk warm etc. I think we might have been missing the boat somewhat. Thing is, I don't think she's waking at 9-10 from hunger, but from wind. It pisses her off.

I have been expressing less and less; of course, this will bite me in the bum when she decides to take it ok and I still need to wake up to feed as she's not had enough milk.

Oh dear sorry to hear of all the crappy nights. Here, Z woke up at 3.30 and I ended up taking him into the bed with me for the last part of the night as he wouldn't resettle. Luckily my sister is here visiting so she took him at 8am and has been looking after him downstairs while I get a bit more rest. I'm hoping he waits till I'm properly up before pooing.

mamapo really hope you find a feeding solution. I would have offered to swap your Book of Mormon tickets for ours in a few weeks time but my husband is still in India / Dubai this weekend.

Ds is only happy when he's standing up! I wish we could afford a jumperoo

Ugh IsThat i hope you all survived the night.

Oh Mama I'd be tempted to go, you sound like you really need to get out, if your friend is willing to cope and keep trying the bottle and you'll be home soon after anyway.

I'm dreading the sleep regression, I've been so lucky so far and I really don't want to go back to torturous sleep deprivation. We have been struggling with daytime sleep though, he either has 20 mins or a full 3 hours meaning he misses a feed and is starving all day. Where's the happy medium?

My tongue tie is so bad that I can't get my tongue past my lip at all, I think I may say my L's a but funny too. I've never really noticed it til I had J's snipped but now it hurts when I try to do stuff. I couldn't feed J at all, bottle or breast due to his. But my hospital were great and picked it up quickly, unfortunately due to Xmas it couldn't be snipped for 3 weeks.

WillYou you might be lucky dd never regressed

And he's screamed all morning for no apparent reason. Tried to get appt with gp or nurse this afternoon and check there's nothing major I'm missing but only gp on this afternoon is the shot one who always makes me feel like an imbecile and a crappy person in general.

Teeth Honey? Do you have any teething gel? It's worth a go.

We've got the anbusol liquid but its doing bugger all. Can you use gel as well?

Calpol?

Also sometimes when ds is really grumpy I get him naked and he calms down

Gentle bicycle legs? Not so much to get out a poo but to calm him. One of my husband's relatives in Australia whose baby girl is a few weeks older than Z, the baby was born not breathing and it took 15 minutes to get her going properly, so she's had loads of tests including one with things on her head testing brain signals, and during the test the mum gently bicycled her legs and the doctor said that this showed a real difference in the brain signals - it really calmed her.

Argh he will not sleep! He was almost asleep an hour ago so I thought I'd quickly feed him otherwise he would wake up five minutes later hungry but now he won't sleep!!! He's been awake nearly four frigging hours he's clearly tired.

sorry mama I missed the fact it was a friend baby sitting? I couldn't leave G with anyone other than dh at mo and not even sure how that will go in a few weeks. but maybe discuss it with your friend. you sound like you're having a really tough day. we're just reintroducing bottles and the expressing and then chucking it away is so annoying. the whole bf thing is so tough as they re so dependent on you.

oh no honey teeth? have you started weaning - is it anything linked to that?