November 2012 - In which the babies start to reach their first birthdays

[StuntNun]

Previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/postnatal_clubs/1845860-November-2012-The-first-fearless-steps-and-the-rest-of-us-hoping-our-babies-remain-stationary-for-a-bit-longer

Arseweasel is in my predictive text dictionary. I blame the quiche.

Yeah GT. On the BF 5 minutes at a time is normal just tickle his feet to keep him awake. His tummy is only the size of a cherry tomato so he doesn't need much and they're born with fat reserves to get them through the first few days of learning to feed. You just have to get out of the bottle mentality of giving huge feeds at long time intervals and knowing how much he's had, to feeding little and often and trusting your body. Day three is the day your milk comes in rather than colostrum. This is when loads of Mums panic and give up as the baby starts to fuss at the breast and they assume they are starving and not getting enough milk when actually fussing and constant feeding (think maybe an hour at a time) is how they build your milk supply. It's normal and only lasts a week or so max.

You can't do a 4 hourly feeding cycle when BF at this stage as your milk supply will die - you need to be at least 3 hourly until its established and baby is feeding well. To be honest he will give you cues (rooting at the breast, crying) when hungry so BF tends to be on demand. Good luck! Your body can do this if you stay confident.

Good luck with the bf gt. All sounds normal so far. Expect to feed lots and lots and lots. One thing that surprised me when I had DD1 was how constant it is. It felt like she bearly left my boob for 2 weeks. Sorry, not trying to scare you. Just reassuring you that it is normal.

madame nice to hear from you.

Sophia Happy birthday to your DD1. Hope the school holidays come round quickly for you.

Also because you had an epidural GT your LO may be sleepy for the first couple of days. He has plenty of reserves to get him through so don't worry, just concentrate on getting to know him.

Thanks YW. I'm aiming for 3hourly feeds if he hasn't already woken. I'm going to express in to a 1ml feeding syringe. Mw suggested two full. he did a wee earlier when changing his nappy. That's a good sign right. In terms of milk intake?

I used to think all 2nd time mums asking questions, don't they remember anything. The answer is I don't remember anything!

Yes, plenty of wet nappies is a good sign. Don't worry too much about poo yet, it takes them a while to get used to food going in that way. Both mine needed waking to feed the first 36 hours or so due to all the drugs they picked up. DD1 was worse because I was in epi for 14 hours followed by local for the EMCS. It means you can have a rest too.

Have been working on my PC for the first time in ages. I keep trying to swipe the screen and wondering why capital letters don't work automatically. I have become an iPerson twat

GT plenty of wet nappies and gradual weight gain (BF babies don't tend to be as sturdy as FF babies unless they're comfort feeding) are the signs he's getting enough milk. What I kept in my head was 'if he's constantly at the breast it's not because he's not getting enough milk rather that he's making more milk' being at the breast is how they increase your supply - once its established they only up your supply during growth spurts so don't worry if at first he always seems to be latched on. It won't always be like that. We're down to 4 ten minute feeds a day now - no bottle making or washing up - so whilst BF is harder at the beginning its much less faff later on.

I seem to remember last year where a lot of you had trouble was with the continual weighing the first few weeks and hints from hvs that they weren't getting enough milk. That came up again and again on the freds. It's normal for babies to lose 10% in the first three days but they normally get back to birth weight at about ten days give or take... Problem is medical people like things to fit in with their curves... Curve charts that is, not their hips waist and tits. As that wouldn't make sense would it.

Oh crap. DD1 found the dog's treats. I don't think she ate any but there was definitely one in her mouth. I thought she was past the putting everything in mouth phase..

Ha dd2 lurves dog food, It dont matter where i put the big sack of dog food ( too big for any cupboard) ...She finds them...yuk

They're tested on humans, won't doo too much harm.....

LO's thing at the moment is handing me things, waiting for me to say thank you and then taking them back. It's hilarious. Even after 20 minutes

Spaghetti hoops on toast apparently best tea Eva!

Well done GT, sounds like you did awesome.

I expressed on to a plastic teaspoon for first two days. Found it easier than syringe.

Spag hoops is the best tea EVER but I must have brown sauce, did the egg go down pikz? PR awww at the thankyou game, that seems very grown up of her...bless.

Ooh Oscar loves handing me things too PR Especially socks. Came in particularly useful after lunch today when he was handing me his dropped bits of food from the floor

QQ which safety locks do you use for double cupboard doors? See my fb pic.

Had a brill day, will update later.

GT find your nearest bf cafe/bosom pals/breast friends - usually run by a specialist mw in a children's centre. Go there as soon as you can after you get out. Someone will feed you tea and cake and tell you what a fantastic job you're doing, and give lo and lo#2 a cuddle while you pee in peace. Also, don't forget to eat your extra 500 calories a dsy. Bf makes me ravenous, i was eating 2 breakfasts up until very recently! Have porridge first thing, oats are good for your supply :)

That sounds great sophia :)

Double locks, can't recommend any as my two have worked them all out so far...

Just speeding in before work, but CONGRATU-FREAKING-LATIONS GT

...

R is obsessed with clapping and started clicking his tongue in the bath tonight!

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/

www.laleche.org.uk/

kellymom.com/category/bf/

The first two (sorry, stupid tablet thing doesn't like pasting) links are helplines. Kellymom is bf info, studies etc :)

Congrats Gt such amazing news!! Really happy for you.

So yes. Today. Wonderful. Use and would like to sit down but perfect.

After a quick trip to the tip we went to rythmn and rhyme at a library in a seaside town about 20 mins down the coast. Both boys really enjoyed it and there were lots of ladies there so that was good for me too.

We found a lovely independant deli cafe place with the most amazing array of cake all displayed beautifully and they do evening meals too with vino.

Curried sweet potato soup, deeliiiiciousssss. Anyway, whilst there am old man came up to me and said, " your children are an absolute credit to you" . Me........nearly cried. He made my week.

A quick pit stop at home and down to the beach for some stone throwing and a biscuit.

Now.....a nice bottle of Grenache opened ( my latest preference you can find some good ones about and it is cheaper than Rioja) and a couple of rib eyes, coated in rosemary waiting to go on the griddle.

O on,y slept between activities in car so has been a really full on childcare day but pretty much perfect.

Will catch up with the rest of the thread now..