It's April 2013, the time is now & HERE ARE OUR BABIES!

[toobreathless]

Our first post natal thread!

Cooking & Cleaning can wait till tomorrow
for children grow up we've learnt to our sorrow
So wipe away cobwebs and dust go to sleep
I'm cuddling my baby cause babies don't keep!

A thread to celebrate the highs of life with a gorgeous newborn and the lows of sleepless nights, stitches, feeding traumas & Baby blues.

[toobreathless]

Having a lovely cuddle here with DD2 snuggled up on my chest. We are doing really well. Deliberately no routine, I just follow her lead, saying that she does have to fit in around DD1 so we do have quite a structured day but DD2 eats and sleeps as she pleases & goes in the sling if she is unsettled or I am racing around with DD1.

We are doing well on the sleep front although I don't mind how often I'm up as long as I get a few hours together at some point! I have always been a night owl. At the moment we are feeding 11pm or midnight ish & she goes till about 7am. Very civilised, but it may well all change tomorrow!

I have promoted C today into 0-3 month babygrows at 6 weeks as although only 8 lb she is too long for newborn. I also put my maternity jeans away knowing that I will either wear them pregnant with a DC3 or not at all. It's nice to know it's not only me who gets a tiny pang as they grow out of something. They grow so fast!

bird I'm not convinced its helpful to think of a BF baby as should be having so many feeds a day. You are far better to feed on demand & you sound like you're doing really well. The number of feeds will go up temporarily as they hit growth spurts but also if they are unwell, unsettled, upset. BF is about connecting with you as well as nutrition.

faith so glad you fixed the pump!!

dysgu lovely to hear Evan is doing so well :)

[Emmie10]

My wee one was a little monkey from Friday- Monday with what you are describing user, thrashing at breast, no daytime naps and being generally fussy. I am chalking it up to the 6 week growth spurt happening a bit early as she has settled back down again (touch wood- have probably jinxed it now!)

[BonaDea]

Username - good luck. I find ds's no sleeping days lead to the toughest nights. He went through a little phase of it at about 5 / 6 weeks and I resorted to pounding the pavements for hours just so he'd grab a couple of hours! Glad she had dropped off in her chair for you!

Ds had his 8 weeks check and immunisations today. He's in fine fettle (and was ridiculously well behaved / smiley / flirty with young female GP!). He had a good squawk when the nurse jabbed him but soon calmed down. This afternoon he's fed a lot and has made some pathetic mewling sounds so I think he's feeling a bit sorry for himself. I've just cuddled him loads. Currently attempting an early bedtime as he looks shattered, but not convinced he'll want to be left to sleep! We'll see...

[usernamegoeshere]

Am super tired, baby username has taken against naps! Not really settled since about 9.30am, though did go from 11.30-6am last night (woke briefly but was rocked back to sleep) she is currently in bouncer in kitchen with me with eyes like saucers.

The routeins are really interesting, we don't have one really, we do try to make night similar each day, by bath between 9 and 10 then feed then OH settles her, but she often stays up for hours with him.

Last few feeds haven't really left her content either, she is being a bit sicky and tending to thrash around going on and off boob every 5 seconds till I decide enough and distract her.

Oooh she has dozed off now though, yey! I wasn't looking forward to the overtired tantrums later!

[Dysgu]

It is really interesting reading about everyone's routines. We don't really have a routine for Evan although I guess he has sorted his own routine generally to fit in with everyone else in the family! He generally feeds every three hours as he still often struggles to take 120ml at a time as it tires him out. The challenge comes when he wants to be fed and I need to do the school run - each day is a bit different depending on how long he sleeps at night which depends on how much milk he takes each time.

He is 10 weeks old today but really like a 4 week old so we just follow his lead within the confines of fitting in with everyone else!

[HadALittleFaithBaby]

Well after a dunking stupid Faith! my electric breast pump appears to be working :) and it's sooo much better. I like the pump (I bought the Phillips Avent) and its so nice to be able to pump without it killing my hand! I think its going to make it much easier to get enough milk for the bottle and also for future opportunities to go out!

Tea it much depend on the bottle choice. We introduced Faithlet to the tommy tipper closer to nature bottles easily however they started blocking at the teat, cue a very frustrated baby! Now I've got the avent pump she's taking avent bottle ok.

I'm not sure about routine but then Faithlet is still quite little (only 5 weeks) and finding her feet her feeding. I reckon she's hit 7lb now but of course that means she's still smaller than most babies when they're born! What we do the same most days: feed then chill between 7 and 8. I shower between 8 and 8.30 (otherwise I struggle to fit it in!). Days vary but DH baths her about 7 and she has a bottle. I feed her til she settles (usually between 9 and 9.30). I am hoping with a bit of structure she'll develop her own routine.

Has anyone watched Pitch Perfect? I'm enjoying chilling out feeding Faithlet and drinking tea and watching it, it's flipping hilarious! If you're looking for a light hearted film to watch I highly reccomend it. Rebel Wilson steals the show!

[enjay0811]

Hi all, been without my phone and internet for over a week and there are so many threads to catch up on! Marking my place and will come back when I've caught up! hope everyone is well and babes are behaving xx

[Trishstar]

Bird a 5 week old should bf 7-9x per day according to a quick google from a few parenting sites xx

[birdbrain17]

Just found the funniest thread in classics whilst feeding and had to share for those of you who need a laugh it's quite long so might take a few feeds to read through but worth it!

[birdbrain17]

those of you who are using feeding routines (I'm trying but keep on messing up ) how many times in 24 hours should a breast fed baby be feeding (dd is now 5 weeks). Is 6 times a day enough? She normally feeds for about 20 mins each feed and is putting weight on well, just doesn't seem like a lot of feeds compared to first few weeks of constant feeding....

I agree that routines are good though. Even when we don't stick to it properly means I can try plan my day to get things done between feed and make arrangements with friends etc, dd has also started sleeping better in the evenings now we have been doing the same things every day at roughly the same time

[Trishstar]

I would count activity as

Tummy time
Time on a playmat
When we talk and sing and use his toys like puppets and wrist and foot rattles etc

[LikeCandy]

Thanks bona, tattooedapril & trish
I've heard of EASY, it seems to make a lot of sense.
Stupid question: what counts as an activity?!

[tattooedapril87]

i second that trish if they were hungry id feed them before 4hrs and i change the timings to suit what happens in the day eg M had hosp app yesterday at 2.50 for physio on his feet and his feed time is normally roughly 3 so i fest him at 2 to relax him for appointment etc.

i just find cause i follow E.A.S.Y method too 9times out of 10 i can figure out why they are crying as i am used to their flows and rhythms. also helps with knowing when they are crying from tiredness.
tbh i follow routine as without it i wouldst know of i was coming or going, esp with 2!!!

[Trishstar]

Also I think cos we had such a routine for H in scbu we continued it at home and he's always been quite contented x

Obviously if he's hungrier a bit earlier i don't deny him but generally that's when I put him on the boob (his 5 structured feeds are bottle and he's mix fed)

Xx

[Trishstar]

Candy

Here's some info I thought made sense for me:

Establishing a routine for your baby's life has benefits for both you and her. A routine isn't exactly the same as a schedule; babies are too unpredictable and constantly changing to establish a rigid schedule and expect it to last. A routine gives your baby a sense of structure and allows you to plan your days as well -- always realizing that circumstances can and do change over time, requiring a routine revision as your baby grows.

PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS
Most people and babies are people like knowing what's going to happen next. Small children especially like the security of knowing what comes next, which is why they enjoy watching the same movies and reading the same books over and over. Knowing what comes next helps a baby stay calm, even when he can't articulate his feelings. Babies who know what to expect out of life have less stress. So do their parents. If every day is a roller coaster with no one controlling the train, everyone on it feels stress and wonders whether all their needs will be met that day.

BENEFITS FOR PARENTS
You can establish a structure for your baby. Tracy Hogg, author of "The Baby Whisperer" book series, calls it E.A.S.Y, which stands for eat, activity, sleep and you. This allows you to plan to fit in your daily needs as well as those of your baby. While the number of times your baby naps, eats and plays and the length of each activity will change as he gets older, the basic order of eating, activity, sleeping and taking time for yourself remains in place. You can plan on running errands during his activity time and know that you will finally get time to shower during his sleep time.

SLEEP BENEFITS
Establishing a routine helps to avoid one of the major issues of infancy: the baby who won't sleep. When you develop a sleep routine, you can create a relaxed atmosphere that incorporates quality time with your baby. It can include giving him a massage or bath, reading to him, rocking or singing and a final relaxed feeding before sleep. While bedtime won't be the same exact time every night, your baby will begin to associate sleep with the enjoyable routine that precedes it. An effective sleep routine benefits parents as well as babies, since you will all get the sleep you need.

FUTURE BENEFITS
Children who live with families that have established routines develop a sense of competence and self-reliance, as well as the security of belonging to a group, Janette Benson, professor of psychology at the University of Denver, explains in "Social and Emotional Development in Infancy and Early Childhood." Children who live with routines also do better in school and experience fewer behavior problems. Living with routines might also help your infant adapt more easily to the structure of school and the ability to follow directions in the future.


From the live strong website

[BonaDea]

Teapig. You could probably try a bottle when lo is 5 weeks. I have the medela calma bottles and DS took it no problem the first time we tried. He didn't take a lot at first but we're increasing that.

Candy- I'm basically also feeding on demand. I think the key advantage to instigating a routine for feeds is to get more sleep at night. Just about making sure lo gets enough during the day to try and manipulate it so they sleep longer at night. We are moving slowly to more of a routine but i will always feed DS is he is hungry iykwim

[LikeCandy]

Is everyone moving towards feeding routines then? What is the benefit to this? (Can you tell I didn't read any baby books?!)
We're still demand EBF at nearly 9w and I didn't have any plans to change.

[Teapig]

Really interesting to read everyone's feeding routines. I need to try introducing more of a routine, I'm feeding on demand still Teapiglet is 4 weeks.

I had a terrible night last night not caused by Teapiglet but by what I think is mastitis

Yesterday I expressed to try Teapiglet on a bottle but she refused to take it and had the breast instead. She fed for a very short time in the evening and stupidly I didn't express so I think I messed with my supply and by 2am I woke up with a painful rock hard boob and a really bad fever. I'm feeding through it and feel a little less feverish now but could really do without it. I've learnt my lesson now.

Does anyone have any advice on how to introduce a bottle? If I could just get DD to take one expressed bottle feed from DH a day I think it would really help.

[HadALittleFaithBaby]

We're still pretty much feeding on demand. I definitely think the bottle makes a difference - she'll go from bottle/finishing on boob at 9.30/10ish. If she's had a large bottle (say 5oz) she'll sleep til 3. Last night she had less because she had some earlier in the day. She only slept til 1 and basically woke every 2 hours after that.

Man I love my sling! She was fussing but I popped her in the sling and put some washing on and she's gone to sleep! :)

[Trishstar]

Lol Nic' we implemented it yesterday and so far so good, we've done it as

Midnight, 5am, 10am, 3pm, 8pm. So they are all 5 hourly apart from 8pm til midnight.

He slept from midnight til 5, fed and went back off at 5.40am ish and is now still asleep x

Didn't really have chance to put Ewan the sheep into action yet as H has gone to sleep straight away!!! Xx

[tattooedapril87]

bird it depends on what is your 'bedtime' feed i guess...

i feed 7,11,3,7 which is my bedtime feed that i work up to with a bath ect and settle them in cots after. i wake them for all their feeds during the day. after 7pm i wait for them to wake me, apart from their dreamfeed.
hope that makes sense?

trish was thinking about what you asked earlier about increasing to five hrs... i can see why as you are always waking him but 5hrs doesn't divide into 24hrs so you wouldn't really have a routine as such as your times would role on all the time a be different everyday.
what a wierd thing to think about in bed eh?

[BonaDea]

Actually bird, bunny girl has a good point on timing. Wonder if you might have a longer gap between going down and giving the dream feed when LO is a bit more ready for food / hungrier?

Ours was successful last night in that DS took it without waking and settle but he didn't sleep any longer. However we had messed with his sleep quite a lot during the day trying to establish more of a routine so think he was just a bit messed up last night. Will keep trying!!

[bunnygirl80]

birdbrain I managed a successful dream feed last night for the first time with dd. I waited till she was nearing the end of a sleep cycle and was stirring slightly in a light phase of sleep, then just rubbed her mouth against my nipple till she opened and latched on. Took her a while to suck effectively enough to get the milk to let down, but once it was flowing she had a big feed. In the past she's been more deeply asleep and she hasn't even latched on

[BonaDea]

Birdbrain - I'm on my third night of dream feeds tonight. Not sure my advice is worth having but...

DS seems to be doing it ok. Last night he clamped his mouth shut when I put him to the breast so I turned the lights up and blew on his face to rouse him, got him on then turned everything back down low so as not to wake him fully. I think it is quite common to have the dilemma of whether to risk waking them completely then having to re-settle vs them not taking the feed as they are asleep - think it is just trial and error!

My dilemma is also whether or not to burp him. If I don't, I risk him waking uncomfortable or because he has vommed. If I do, I risk waking him. I did tonight and he has just started chuntering. I hope to god he stays asleep; I'm shattered and he has his immunisations tomorrow so think we all need to rest.

Good luck for tonight everyone!

[num3onway]

Dd could not keep any orthodontic dummies we tried in but does much better with cherry teats so we are sticking to these for now! With regards to sterilising I do it at least once in 24 hours more if dropped etc. We have 3 on the go. One with her, one in the bag and one in sterilizer.