October 2013 Bus Graduates: the one where we're not pregnant anymore

[MrsHoratioNelson]

Check in here. Do we still need the stats?

Oh and dummies, we use mam ones and ds1 still has his at 15 months only at nap time and night. Taking it away from him now would involve lots of crying which I don't want to do so he can have it for a while longer until he's ready to give it up.

Teething is rough, I had forgotten about that. Ds was a dribbler and would get big red cheeks! We had a constant supply of calpol and neurofen at home. Might start stocking up now!!

We're awake again, although never settled properly after bath. She's had two large poos so that's woken her up and she's still fussing. I've swaddled her and feeding and shushing......
Great now I can hear ds waking up better go

Hiya, I posted this in the breast feeding section but wanted to get the October mummy's suggestions too.

My electric tommee tippie pump broke after 3 uses and I am currently pursuing a refund as it was useless any way.

I have now started pondering as to what pump to buy next and whether or not to spend a small fortune on a madela swing due to its popularity or maybe buy just a manual.

I need to pump enough for a 1 month old to go for 3 hours, 3 days a week. With the opportunity to pump more in the event of a night out (in the future)

Any reccomendations. I'm a bit lost.

I.would go for the medela.swing slippy. It sounds likeyou are planning to pump frequently for quite a long time, so you will get your monies worth. They also have some resale value o think.

Def go for the medela slippy.

If you are intending on using it frequently (daily) I'd personally spend a little more and get the double version as it would cut down pumping time by half. I wish is gone for the double now.

Can you borrow/rent one to try first slippy? Maybe ask midwives or hv

Morning ladies,
just checking in, after 3 days of chasing to catch up I finally did it.
Sympathy to all those mid growh spurts weve got all that to look forward to next week.

Aslo thankyou for sharing your toddler troubles glad it not just mine. DS is also 2.10 and has just started with attitude. telling me to go away and stop it constantly. Yesterday I told him to be careful of other people while we were walking in town so he started standing in front of people with his arms stretched blocking their way until they got close then hed move. hes just fully testing the boundries and its exhausting! where has my lovely little boy gone

Thanks, I think I'll get the swing. I would love the double but I think it would be too much to spend it one go. Has anyone got a medela single electric. They're a fair bit cheaper.

I thought about renting but it seemed quite dear for a month rental. May speak to the midwife see if they have any support/freebies for the local community.

I've got the medela harmony manual one and it works well for me, seems to get milk out quickly compared to the one a friend has (avent?), but I am only doing one or two feeds a day now, not pumping at every feed to top up like before, and once Thomas stops waking so much at night I won't need DH to do any feeds at all and it will be for very occasional use. Electric would be good if I were using it more or in the long term.

Ana that sounds a lovely idea with the shawl.

Thomas is old enough for gripe water now - advice needed please! E.g. Do you give it before or after a feed? (Bottle says either), can you mix it in with milk in a bottle or do you have to spoon/syringe, do you use it as well as or instead of infacol and is it something you have to build up at every feed or only use when needed.

Orange - I have just started DS on gripe water and its worked so well! Better than infacol did for us. Im only using gripe water at the moment. I did buy a syringe but no matter how slowly i put it in his mouth he just spat it back out. So now i put it in his bottle and he feeds so much better with much less fussing. The bottle says 5ml but iv just been putting 2ml in in the day and upping it to 5ml on his evening feeds as he is much fussier then. He's been sleeping better as he used to wake in the night with wind. You dont have to build it up, use it when u need it although like i said i've been putting a small amount in each feed. Apparently if they are fussing a lot between feeds you can dip their dummy in it to help relieve wind and/or hiccups but i haven't tried this yet as he only really fusses on feeds.

Thanks Emmo. Ooh that would be amazing if it stops hiccups, he gets them all the time and now gets really frustrated by them, he didn't seem to notice in the first few weeks.

Chickie we have the avent infant orthodontic dummies - are meant to interfere less with bf and be better for teeth formation... So I believe!

Orange at what age can they start having gripe water? DD also gets really frustrated with regular hiccups but is only 3 weeks now so not sure if can give her anything?

Has anybody struggled with pelvic/abdominal pain a few weeks after birth? I woke up with pain in one side of my pelvis this morning, to the point I couldn't move for 15/20 mins. I just got it again whilst feeding DD and am wondering if it could be related - she is feeding much more the past couple of days as has been really fussy. Hadn't had any pain since the birth (other than stitches healing) so bit surprised by this.

One month excited.
I had pelvic girdle pain in pregnancy which went away after birth but have twinges again now walking more, sitting onthe floor, lifting a baby etc, especially in my coccyx also pubic bone and outer thighs. Going to mention at 6 week check and go to chiropractor again.

Are you sitting awkward positions to feed excited? Sounds horrible

Slippy I have the medela swing (electric one) it's good and I use it for about 15 mins on each breast 10 mins sometimes.

I'm on operation get her on a bottle of ebm as of today. That's why I'm currently sat here milking myself.

slippy the Medela swing is currently reduced on Amazon to £86.66 (RRP is £129.99) - link here ... If I am right I think Mothercare do a price match with Amazon too.

A eventually went off to sleep at 2.30 and slept through until 7am. It was nice to get a good 5 hours sleep in one hit! Gave my poor nipples a break too, and gave my boobs a chance to actually make some milk for her too! Although surprisingly I didn't wake up with full feeling boobs, but I am going to put that down to the feed fest yesterday. I'm obviously expecting the same pattern today, but feeling more mentally prepared for it. I read last night that the 6 week spurt is when most bfing Mums give up and switch to formula/top ups, which has made me all the more determined to stick with it!

I've just said that and then looked down to realise that my left boob has leaked through my top... Perhaps they are fuller than I realised!

Lurking but not much time to post. Those wondering about pumps I got an Ameda Lactaline double pump second hand on eBay. Safe to use 2nd hand as they are closed system pumps so the milk can't get in to mechanism. Having used a medela swing single last time this is loads better & faster & much cheaper 2nd hand. New ones are £90 on amazon.

Also co-sleeping covers -I bought king size cellular blanket on eBay-keeps me and baby A warm & I have duvet to about waist height on top.

Another Velcro/reflux baby. Cut out diary yesterday & I think it's already helping.

fed every bloody hour overnight... every bloody hour... struggle to function this morning

slippy I have the single electric medela (the mini pump at 44.99 right?) I love it. I had it with DS1 and it was perfect for me. Very efficient but small and manageable. I had lots of milk so it would take me only 10 min to pump a bottle. I was doing it approx. once every two days, storing milk in the freezer for emergency. So not too often but frequently. I lost it in the last house move but bought exactly the same this time too. I prefer it as it's so small and easy.

I'm going to cut out diary too... not sure what bothers my little man but will try it just in case

emmo so you mix the gripe water with the milk? I might try that as H will take it but sometimes it makes him cough too much and he's sick. do you think it works as well and hasn't put baby off the milk? orange I just use it at night when he is bad. sometimes give it him between feeds if he's got a sore tummy and it calms him down straight away!!

excited I had a really bad trapped nerve / loin pain on one side in the two weeks leading to the labour. it's still here 3 weeks later. And my bruised coccyx is still painful. Midwife told me it can take... wait for this... ONE YEAR for all the pains to disappear. I'm hoping one year is a massive exaggeration! in any case - it takes time

One year?!

Orange I am just starting with gripe water here too after using infacol for the last week or so. Really hoping it works as she is so uncomfortable so much of the time. I think she would settle ok at night but the wind wakes her up again and distresses her. So far just giving it with the spoon it comes with which she seems to take ok.

I know orange... up to one year she said. But I'm hoping this is for extreme situations and it's much less for most women. I'm on week 3 and my loin / trapped nerve pain comes and goes randomly. My coccyx is a bit better but I still have to be very careful how I sit and how I stand up

roofio Yes i just put it in with the water before i add the formula. It does have a pretty distinctive smell but apparently a sweet taste (im a wuss and haven't tasted it!) and H doesn't seem to notice at all. He used to drink really fast and then fuss after each oz but after adding the gripe water he drinks slower and steadier and does big burps (and farts!) afterwards and then settles straight away. Between feeds try it on his dummy (if u are using one!) as i don't think it takes much to settle them.