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!!!

Big hug pud, hope things get better soon.

zig My current favourite is the tiddler's full on excitement when I set her on my bed. She's worked out that means one of two things - either a bath, or a lying down feed and a snuggle. Both rate highly in her book. It's brilliant, we can go from full on screamy baby to happy leg kicky giggly smiley baby in seconds. Being a bad mummy I sometimes set her there when I need a shower, as it gives me a 5 minute window of opportunity to get clean before she realises the sound of running water is not for her. Then she's cross.

B*stard bottle started to leak yesterday, so I tried a tommee tippee one instead. The good news is she drank from it. The bad, the flow rate was just too much and she puked literally the entire feed over the sofa. It was awful, poor little thing and she immediately keeled over and fell asleep. The trauma of it resurrected a new improved wave of The Guilt, so when she woke I stuck her straight on the boob. This is not helped by the fact she has spent the past 48 hours doubled up with colic pains. Not sure if it is a 12 week developmental stage thing, a transition to formula thing, a random baby thing, or a thing to be worried about thing. Any ideas? It kicks in towards the end of her feeds and has her screaming and screaming until I can massage a few farts out.

Dh is at home today after 2 days away, so I am due a well earned rest. Respect to the single mums out there, it's tough on your own.

worsester I read you post with interest as I am wondering the same thing. With little one being I'll I have been ebf for a week. Que recovery yesterday when she was on the boob every two hours and still demanding more. So at 5 pm I tried a bottle ( the mam one leni recommended I think) she took it after a big protest with her eyes shut! All 4 ounces I put in. I realized that over the last week ( perhaps because I'll and eating less or perhaps because of boob juice only) she was much less crampy and farty and poo was better so i am having a new wave of guilt too and wondering if I can do better with the bf fr longer than I planned... as after the formula she was crampy and windy ... Coud just be the way she guzzled it with no break?

minipud still managed his good morning grin which happens as soon as I appear over him grumbling in his cot. that's my daily heart melt, though also a Sucker for his whole body wriggles in response to mummy kisses .

pudnat love the smiles, we get that too... And loving the wonder weeks!

Eig I was expecting it to be an excellent afternoon of happy smiley baby, and then made the mistake of sending her to my dad's without her dummy. Ooops... Cue several hours of screaming and a total refusal to nap. She was that worn out by it by the time she got home, she didn't even have the energy to cry about getting dressed after her bath. Then she drank three ounces, had a big poo, and threw up all over me. Sigh.

KFF DD's twelve weeks, same as yours. You're around the eighth of March, right? I suspect we're on a growth spurt. Fed her at 5.45 this morning and told her to go back to sleep, and she did, until 8.45! And then had five and a half ounces of milk! This is a new record. Definitely growth spurt territory.

worse sounds like trapped wind issues. Burp after every couple of ounces, try a slower flow teat, and investigate different shaped teats. We're finding the classic shape are actually much better than the boob-shaped ones. DD can get a much better seal round them and so she's not dribbling and getting excess air in from the sides of her mouth. And speaking from experience, I would say when baby starts screaming or spluttering or coughing or doing anything at all that isn't drinking, thinking about drinking, or grinning at you instead of drinking, get the bottle away!

Also loving the first thing in the morning grins. Although I do keep having to tell DD "Less grinning, more drinking, please!"

Stormy - the only teat we've had any real success with is Dr Brown's. I am never ever using that rubbish tommee whatsit again. It literally tipped the stuff down her throat. I'm using the medela one that came with the pump as back up until my emergency Boots order of Dr Brown's ones arrives later today. Why is it none of the chemists nearby stock them? Most annoying.

The writhing about starts up about half way through and yes, the bottle is whipped away pdq. I'm not sure why it's happening but I suspect a good poonami might help.

Eig - hard isn't it. I think the switch of food is tough on the tummy, but I'm fairly sure that the speed formula goes in has a lot to answer for. A boob feed here takes an hour, but a bottle about 20 minutes. That's got to be part of the problem surely. The problem is if I wind her too often the bubbles are too small to get up, and she ends up squealing in fury. Too little and she gets colic. Finding the elusive equilibrium point is a skill in itself.

Pud - hope the morning smile means Mr is doing well.

Hi all , not had time to read all the posts , i hope everyone and babies are doing well.
Mini farmer is growing so fast its unbelievable ! Giggling babbling grabbing toys ,watching everything that's going on , ( loves having a bath thank goodness ) drinks approx 1100 mls per 24 hrs i use the tommiee tippee anti colic with thermometer bottles, he's on 2nd size teat med flow . . in the past 13 days he's been sleeping from 9pmish untill 6am ish has a feed and back to sleep till 9.30 am ish this morning it was 7am till 9.15 long may this last !! And that was with 3 naps yesterday one which lasted 2.5 hrs !!!
To the poster re long travel ... i regularly drive from wales to Scotland on my own with mini farmer , fed him before i go he then sleeps most of the journey5 hrs i have the jane lie flat travel transporter / carry cot which has ben a godsend !!
We spend our days pottering about the farms grooming my horses and going to beach and doing the daily shopping ,
I'm loving every second of being mini farmers mummy. wonders why i left it till i was 40 to have our 1st , id love another mini farmer and so would my hubby , best not leave it too long :-) happy happy !

Hey christlass we've missed you, glad all going so well for you! It is amazing how quick they grow!

managing to stay on the treadmill for now. tis knackering though. however, so far so good. some more bloods and urine sample today but not expecting it to show any problems. due to weigh again tomorrow morning and if heading up then get to go home with outpatient appt Monday. fx...

nice to see you Christielass, glad all going so well.

stormy - yes ds was born on 8th march. Growth spurt? i was hoping it was him getting used to sleep for a longer stretch. Last night ds slept from 10.30pm and woke at 4.30am and he drank a whopping (for my ds its whopping) 7ozs! He usually drinks 4ozs. Im quite confused with his feeding at the moment because he didnt then from 4.30am until 9:30am. There has been some occassions when he only feeds 2ozs.

I cant remember who asked but my favourite bit is when ds only wants to be comforted by me only! He knows im his mummy and feels comfortable with me. Im a bit he only giggles for dh and not me though.

Ive come to my dm as we had visitors. Ds has had far too much excitement and now i have a ds who is too hyper to settle.

Evening all - hi Christilass!

My new buggy arrived and I was very excited with my new toy (!) so took him out in it - big success getting down the stairs etc but then the wheel fell off!! Turned out PH hadn't put it on properly, talk about worst nightmare disaster averted anyway. DS was a dream the whole trip, seems to love sitting up more (even though he was asleep).

Hoping for a repeat of last night's sleep but he's been eating all eve and grisling. He's now having boobs followed by an entire 5oz formula almost every feed...

BFers - what's the sudden screaming whilst feeding thing about again?

Anyone know if them staring at one hand and not the other means they'll be that handed? DS only stares at his left fist, never the right.

Stormy I got a huge grin when I read that she took a bigger bottle. That's excellent news! I think three months ish is when their guts really begin to mature, so lets hope things are on the up.

Pud sorry to hear you're still struggling. I think you deserve massive huge mummy points for persevering with bf.

Christi great to hear from you, sounds like your little smashers doing brilliantly!

And re teats...DS rejected three different types before we found the Mam ones. I think they're softer than a lot of others, very bendy...

Had a busy weekend here so far. Braved lunch out and a bit of shopping yesterday with my mum as I had to find a wedding-appropriate outfit for next weekend. This meant my first feed and nappy change using public facilities so I felt very proud of myself! I'm not even bfing but still, it felt incredibly liberating. And I managed to squeeze into a rather fetching dress.

Leni DS also seems to prefer his left hand, but recently has begun to use the right too. I think it's chance rather than any indication of left or right handedness - kind of like he just happens to see the left one first and doesn't quite realise there's one on the other side til he happens to wave it about!

very proud today as mini was reaching and trying to grasp one of the dangly rattly thing on one of his toys. clever thing.

yay stormy baby!

Yay go baby pud!

christi nice to hear you are enjoing lo.

kf that is you me and stormy all with8 march babies! Our little girls were born on international women's day! Your DS will clearly be good with the girls! pundat so glad you are getting home. Fx.

Yes big thank you to whoever suggested the MAM anti colic bottle. Finally got missy to take 4 oz from it both night's pre bath as this is when my milk supply is worst and I am soo tired from the last week of two hourly feeds and doing it all on my own as dh is sick and at our house and I am here with elderly parents who can entertain DS while I look after dd then when ( if) she sleeps I take over with DS so it's been exhausting. I have no idea how single mums do it ....

Single mums are heroes, aren't they Eig? Sounds tough but it'll pass! You will get back to your own house soon, and you can finally maybe have a whole few hours to yourself.

I love Mam bottles for just being able to bung them in the microwave without sterilising it all desperately. Amazing for travelling about. A year ago the only kind of bottle I'd developed any loyalty to tended to have an abc of 14% and came from Tuscany. How things have changed!

Desperately? Separately. I have never desperately sterilised anything.

parenting is taking its toll plonko - not sure it was the ABC of bottles you were keen on either! LOL.

Yay! Glad I actually had a good suggestion - Mam teats all round!

The writhing whilst eating thing is really frustrating. I'm afraid I don't know what causes it but I suspect trapped wind. There's also certainly more wriggling and screaming when awake during the day than sleepy in the night in this house so I also suspect an element of it being just him fussing more than is really necessary. I have no useful advice to stop it completely, I tried everything and nothing helped but the good news is it stops again after a week or two. At least it did here. Maybe it is just a developing digestion thing.

We're using the dr Brown's bottles too and they're pretty good. He used to spill loads with the advent and tt ones we tried first. Not sure if they help the wind as he still farts like a trouper but it can't hurt. I expect it'd be worse without them.

Quiet here tonight .... Hope it is because all the little ones are sleeping. Hope that will be us now cough is going soon ....

Im here! Its 4.30am wake up from ds. This time im armed with a bigger bottle.

Im hoping ds will be very knowledgable on how to communicate effectively with the ladies. Ive started introducing cleaning items to ds so he knows cleaning is very important unlike his df.

We're 4th of March here, so looks like dd has missed out on being an international woman. She has an international family though. The Irish like to emigrate, although I being the most boring only managed to cross one ocean. She'll probably hold that against me when she is old enough to realise all her relatives live in much more exotic countries.

Hi Christi, are you me.... only on a farm??!! Also 40, also my first, also utterly besotted and wanting a second. V jealous of your beach walks. We're not all that far from the coast, but 'not all that far' transmogrifies itself into 'an epic distance' when you have to travel with half a car full of stuff and a very hungry small person in tow.

4am start here today, which is just pants. The tiddler saw fit to kick off all her blankets in the middle of the night hence woke up cold. Once awake she decided to was a bit hungry. Not all that hungry, but hungry enough to announce it loudly to everyone else, aka me. So I had to get up. Once up it seemed logical to stay up as the alarm was set for 5am anyway, and DH's stupid car would wake the dead. It also has to be 'warmed up' for several days a while before leaving or it spontaneously combusts or something. Well, perhaps not quite that, but there is apparently a reason which carries more weight than just blokes like listening to engine noise. Either way, the neighbours must dream of keying the damn thing on car show weekends.

plonko desperately sterilising sounds like something I would do... actually have done. You know when lunch is 'late' i.e. bang on time, but someone has reset their internal body clock and not told you. Can get a little fraught...

eig and pud - sending positive weight gain and happy vibes to your little uns. Hope things continue to improve.

leni and zig - yup, writhing about is a trapped wind thing here too. That said it can also be a milk is too cold thing on a bottle feed. I've only just worked that one out after noting she suddenly got really kicky and difficult after winding (winding is a sloooowwww business)

Another 9-5 sleep here - so why do I feel more tired?! Some serious (and LOUD) crying going on here. Methinks windypops is to blame...

The writhing only happens on the boob not the bottle, which maybe could be to do with wind still but my boob paranoia continues so I think it's my milk . We don't really do 'feeds' here anymore, it's just snacking all day until I give him a bottle. How do I stop this madness??