March 2013: Smiles, sleep & excellent feeding.....the thread of wishful thinking!

[SoYo]

Well we may as well start the thread on a positive note before the grumbling about the little darlings begins!!!

And YY to the lazy latch pud. Except DD seemed to be feeding fine with it, even when she only appears to have her mouth at the nipple end only. It doesn't hurt - is that still the best indicator?

Oh g*d teething????? Please tell me you ladies are joking. Mini-worse had been doing the whole dribbly hand chewing cranky routine for a few days, and being a total rooky I just put it down to her being, well dribbling and hand chewy really. That'll teach me for getting all complacent and settled into having a good night's sleep all the time. Not for much longer by the sound of it....

Oh Eig , poor mini-eig, that's just so unfair for her. I hope you get your trip to the coast and the fresh air and change of scene does her some good.

Ah yes Emerald, the case of the house key and the ever present neighbour. Moral of that story... if one acts like a mug, one will be taken for one... however the karmic implications of of doing someone a favour may be worth it in the long run... so what the h*ll really. Or so I tell myself . For those of you without a scooby what I'm on about, (everyone then), a new neighbour, who I hardly know, decided in her wisdom to rip her entire house apart and practically rebuild it, without making any contingency plan for how she would cope with day to day living. So, she kind of hung about outside mine, collared me for a good old moan about it and dropped so many hints I found myself offering her the use of my kitchen. I had kind of meant occasionally, but she assumed I meant all the time, and trotted of happily with my house key. It's like a 1970's sitcom here. No sooner do I get my boobs out for the baby, then..., 'Ccccooooeeeeee'. The Larks ...

Screaming when changing clothes? Please, noone tell DD, she hasn't thought of that one yet. I suspect she might find it funny and worth a try. After all, peeing on the changing mat is hilarious. Especially if you do it twice... and take out two sets of clothes. Joking aside I wonder why they've started that? Maybe just a case of sensory overload after a long day.

Thanks for the nice comments btw. Not so sure about inspiring but I am a survivor, and it helps to be a bit of an idiot have a sense of humour about things.

Oops it was Wing, not Emerald, who spotted my house key story. I blame the baby brain. I used to have a proper fully functioning grown up brain once upon a time. It seems like so long ago now...

worse you have to set boundaries!!
Does she still need to use it? Tell her only for an hour at dinner time as she should be able to cope at breakfast and lunch times!

Don't worry Wing, it's not forever, and I don't really mind. It never hurts to have some favour credits in the bank, as put it this way next time I need a someone to mind the dogs for a day she can't really say no

So mini eig not better but not worse. Do we risk the 2 hour drive to the coast? Being further from a&e is a worry but the nearest one is still only 20 mins from the hotel and of course we shouldn't need it. Technically last night should have been the worst night but don't know that dd has read the textbook! What would you do? We have a family suite booked so there is a seperate room for ds. Hubbies thinks we should risk it, a change of scene will help us all and some sea air for dd?

I'd say risk it, Eig, but double check the route to the nearest hospital just in case. So long as you're keeping a close eye in case she takes a turn for the worse, should be okay. And as your man says, a change of scene and some sea air will do you all good.

Screaming when changing clothes is pretty common for us, after the bath at least. I think this is mainly because by then she's tired and grumpy and hungry, and also suffering the horrible indignity of being removed from the bath. She has recently discovered a way of prolonging the bath - peeing on the changing mat when she's getting dressed afterwards results in a quick redunking. However, she's yet to twig that this doubles the amount of horrendous getting dressed.

Will have a good look at DD's gums later, just in case. We also have a lot of fussing and shouting and pushing the bottle out. Issue at the moment is once that bottle's come out of her mouth there's just no getting it back in there, no matter how little she's had. Roll on weaning!

Eig I meant to ask (with no judgey pants, obviously) what Evil Gina's all about. What's her basic idea? And does she have any tips for babies that are rubbish at naps?

Hey stormy the basics of Gina is regular feed and nap times throughout the day and repeatition. There is all a big slant on sleeping through the night from 2 weeks plus but I ignore that. Her view is that regularly spaced feeds and naps in the same place help a baby. For a baby our age her routine is up at 7am, eat and play til 8.30 9 ish, sleep til 10. Wash and dress at 10, feed at 10.30, down for sleep at 11.30/12 til 2pm. Feed st 2 pm play, short 45 min nap at 4pm ish then feed at 5/5.30, bath til 6.15, final feed til 6.45 and bed by 7. The lunchtime nap is the hardest bit, she recommends going in and trying to resettle if they stir but not feeding til 2 if you can manage it. On the days when dd did sleep for 2 hours at lunch things went so much better in the afternoon and evening... My DS loved the routine , dd isn't there yet and of course when they are ill there is no routine at all just offering food and cuddles...

My posts keep being eaten

Ok so on our way. In true dd style we leave home, 20 mins later I say I smell poo. Dh says no it's the birthday cake. We stop at services and poo everywhere on dd! She has been home for 5 days and waits til we leave the house to do first poo in 5 days! So outfit in bin and new outfit on. On the plus side poo was normal yellow ...

leni oh no! Do keep trying as keen to know how you are getting on and wondering what wingd deleted!

Oh I just got a bit annoyed about leni's OH...

It's our 6th wedding anniversary today and we've had another lovely day in the sun. We both forgot to get cards or little gifts for each other which is v unusual for us but our minds have been elsewhere! I'm now into DD's evening meltdown with DH who's taken DS to church and there's nothing on the TV or recorded that I want to watch while I sit here having my nipples chewed :(

I keep meaning to ask the other BFers amongst you a few silly questions eg how often you do have to change your boob pads and do you find that often one side is more soaked than the other? I use the laninsoh ones (bought on eBay) and put in a pair in the morning and then before bed.

I change mine after every breastfeed but that's because I want to keep the thrush at bay!

Eig - I bet you any money she did that on purpose. I'm telling you, they know

Was a lovely day here today, and I am feeling on top of all smugness, having.... da da dahhhhh..... bf in public!!!!! Yay, go me . It was fine actually, nice even, and aside from one rather awkward teenage boy studiously examining his feet as he walked past, no one cared. I made it easy on myself though - secluded corner table on the outside patio of a naice cafe in the grounds of some historic gardens. All very quinoa and lentil weaving then. I suspect I would have attracted much more interest had I whipped out a bottle of formula.

Tomorrow we are going shopping, for a travel cot. It doesn't get more exciting than that really. Hope the rest of you have something more interesting lined up to talk about!

Forgot to add I change breast pads morning and randomly as required, so a couple of times a day. Left boob is slightly mad and unpredictable, so things can get a bit messy on that side. Right one is much more civilised and requires fewer changes. All that becomes irrelevant if the tiddler cries, in which case it's all hands to the pump as milk bar overflows. Biology can be a right pain in the butt at times.

Wahey worse! I was thinking about you and leni earlier as today I have bfed in church, bfed sitting on my front lawn in front of the neighbours and bfed in my drivers seat in the village car park. Yesterday I bfed sitting on a chair by the village fair main arena and then also sitting on the grass right by the barrier while the main half hour vintage tractor parade drove by less than 3 feet away from me and whilst surrounded by tens of other spectators standing/sitting directly all around me.

I obviously have no shame now! If you had asked me 9 weeks ago there is no way I'd have imagined doing it so much if at all!

Way to go Worse! Also can you give me a summary of your travel cot findings tomorrow? I'm still holding out hope that DDs passport will turn up and I can book a v last minute holiday for DHs week off in a week or so!

Madam hasn't done a poo for 6 days. I'm hoping she's saving it up for the MIL on Tuesday....fingers crossed there's a poonami the second she snatches her out of my arms!

I was at a wedding yesterday & DD decided she was hungry just as the bride was about to enter so I also indulges in some church BFing and then multiple times at the wedding reception (where the only person who batted an eyelid was an old lady who wondered if I'd rather do it in the toilet than at the dinner table.....I had a scarf over and everything, not my usual whack a boob out job).

As for breast pads I have an unopened box at home. I've never had a drop of leakage. The cynic in me wonders if I need to produce more then she might sleep better, the optimist thinks we're just maximally efficient & I'm producing the perfect amount for her to have mega feeds every 2hrs & even take a bit extra to chuck up over me!

soyo I think if you are feeding that regularly then your optimist is right! I am feeding dd every two hours as the doctor suggested so no leakage at all for 2 days (apart from a little bit on the side she isn't feeding when I have my let down. Hubbie now a huge convert to boding. "It's so easy when you are away", umm easy for you! I have been producing milk every two hours so am knackered. Total respect for those who do this exclusively for 6 months! Mini eig does look better tonight and just fed well with no post feed chuck up so fingers crossed on the up. I told myself I'd go away if someone on here agreed a good idea so THANK YOU stormy. We are at this fab hotel in Dorset run by luxury family hotels. Most rooms have a seperate baby room or cot area, loads of space, they will put a nanny bin, cot and steriliser and baby bath plus change mat in the room and bed guard for ds. You get 2 hours of free crèche time for any child over 8 weeks per day in there fully equipped ofstead crèche and there is a baby menu ( for weaning) and a kids high tea, a movie screening for tots with childcare while adults have dinner. Certain weekends they have a "grandparents come free" offer and they get there own room and breekie fir nothing. Just mentioning as we struggled for ages to find places to go for a little getaway with baby ..... Hope you are all having good nights. Bless dh he is holding dd upright asleep for 30 mins post feed to make sure no early chuck up ...

Love my typos , so boding is the new bf ing and a nanny bin is in fact a nappy bin!

Eig I'm so sorry - I meant to say go for the night away but kept forgetting. I'm very glad you went!

SoYo - yes fingers crossed for a MIL poonami! well, not a poonami by the MIL of course. That would be vile

And I'm still waiting for someone to give me the 'feed in the toilet' comment so I can say the following (learnt from MN):
'Would you want to eat your breakfast/lunch/tea in the toilet? No? Then neither does my DD'

And emeraldgirl1 - I've been following your thread in AIBU and you're getting such brilliant support over there! I struggled massively with DS1 who is now 4 before giving up trying to mixed feed at about 6 weeks. I mean, I say mixed feed but in reality he'd be on both sides for 40mins each and then is top up with a full ff feed and my milk never came in etc etc.

He is extremely bright and is also the least sick child I know so I really don't regret stopping trying to bfed now but at the time it was horrible and gave me a massive sense of mummy guilt.

In fact I still can't believe these are the same boobs that DD latched onto so easily with no pain etc these past 8 weeks. I think it's mostly down to the baby in my case.

Are you likely to see the smug bitch other woman again?

I second wing d. I had the same issue with my ds whereas dd seemed determined to boob feed. Dh very healthy and bright 3 year old and dd had same illness at 11 weeks that she has now and she was exclusively breastfeed ( only because she wouldn't take the bloody bottle) for 6 weeks.

I got made to feel both times like it was my fault but don't let other people make you feel bad. If we lived somewhere without a clean water supply then I totally understand it but otherwise you need to feed your baby and if bf ing doesn't work you must give them a bottle. It broke my heart to see two of my friends from NCT struggle with jaundice babies because they wouldn't give the child some bloody formula! Sorry rant over. Haven't read your thread but some of these breast is always best people make me mad. 99.99% of mothers want what is best for there child and shouldn't have all this guilt on top of other things.

I should finally add that the reason that I post about where I'm bfing is not bragging or trying to make anyone feel The Guilt but because I am constantly amazed and when and where I'm doing it. As I said on the previous thread, I am a complete ff supporter and am almost militant if I have to defend a woman's right to choose how to feed her DC.

I guess I'm posting on here not only to give and take support to/from you lovely ladies but also as a sort of diary IYKWIM?

Right a new day is dawning and I just try to get back to sleep. I can hear DD's tummy gurgling as I've just put her back down

Now trying to work out how to find other threads! But will feel like I am cheating on you lot!! I do guilt so well ....

Emerald, just read Aibu... What a cow. And those who've been on this thread for a while know I understand what you went through. The whole pump 8-10 x a day when you are feeding for an hour, every 3 hours thing... Is virtually impossible in my mind. A good day enabled me to pump 4 times, and nearly killed me. In our case, sorting DS tongue tie really helped, though I still have supply issues (and am allergic to Domperidone) though seem to respond to fenugreek thankfully. However, if rectifying the tongue tie hadn't helped, we'd have stopped. Despite all this I still sometimes want to give myself a hard time, and its bloody stupid! We don't live in a third world country where ff means giving your child contaminated water and even if we did, ff is better than starving! It's not very long ago that ff was seen as the better option, as fashions change. And I do believe that the current campaign to promote bf, while designed from a good place, is very damaging as it doesn't deal with problems and how very common they are and therefore makes those of us for who it doesn't come easily feel terrible as it is. She's a rude baggage whose opinions don't deserve house room! You are clearly a caring and devoted mum, who could ask for more?