December 2013 - sleepless nights & lots of cooing

[Stom91]

Our very first Thread :)

It's not your fault at all, bf babies get horrid reflux as well as ff babies. The good thing is she's not lost weight and there are some things you can try. Plus they do grow out of it.

Thanks mogz, your rite actually bf babies still can have reflux. Just reading about anti reflux milk and the prep for it seems to contraindicate the nhs guidelines plus it takes 50 mins to make up a bottle then!

Hotmad my DD has awful silent reflux and colic and is breast fed. Gaviscon didn't work. She is now on ranitidine and domperidone and we have a paediatrician app on tues so don't blame yourself. I'm seriously considering changing to ff. I'm just finding bf so hard and restrictive and I'm sick of sore massive full dripping boobs and super sensitive tender nipples despite using nipple shields. Anyone else find the same?

blondie what are the symptoms of silent reflux? My ds def has colic- he has that crying time in the evenings but the last few days he's been a nightmare to settle at nap time too.

I don't have the dripping boobs but I do have the sore nips and wondering if they'll ever stop hurting. How old is your dd now? I'm finding bf tricky in that it takes so long and I haven't really bf in public yet. Even today when mums boyfriend was here I couldn't face doing it so went upstairs in my own home! The day before braved it in front of my bro and him but got so hot and flustered trying to latch him discreetly and ended up putting up with a less than perfect latch which meant my boob hurt the rest of the day!

Ok the last few nights J is feeding eArlier and earlier- used to be around 3am now I managed to stretch it to 1.30 but means he'll want another feed before morning. Used to manage 3 then 7am. No fair. Wonder if it's a growth spurt but thought it was at 3 weeks. Anyone know when the next one is??

Hotmad my DD is 7 weeks old today. There is a whole list of symptoms- you should google it as DD had nearly everyone! Hiccups, farts a lot, explosive poo, hard to wind , can't put down flat, strong head hold , irritability- off the top of my head. Try to google it !
Your not alone - I've not BF in public yet as just been too nervous but it's beginning to stop me doing things because of it. I've just bought a nursing cover for when I'm out which was only delivered today so hoping that will help my confidence. A friend recommended it and it looks a great idea- basically like an apron that covers baby and boobs do dignity is not lost!
I'm just fed up of sore nips and leaky boobs. No one ever said motherhood was glamorous !!

Thanks for info, I hope she grows out of it sooner rather than later, don't want her to lose weight or anything so we will persist with little and often feeds

Sitting here with my baby girl asleep on me (again, lol) thinking how she is like a completely different baby in the last week! Even the last few days! She can't take a feed without screaming, she is only taking little bits here and there so we feeding a lot which means more washing up and sterilising. She vomits some or lots at the majority of feeds now and also sleeps more, we spend a day now trying to feed or sleeping, no time for play and washing is hard as she cries through it so I go as quick as I can. I can see that perhaps the reflux has gotten worse over weeks gradually if that is possible as she has always hiccuped a lot, made weird noises Laying down, but she always had a good feed, it's midday and all she had had is 30 mins breast at half 7 and 4 oz at 10 which she prob spat out 2 oz. but she hasn't lost weight so that's good but it's really testing now with the feeding as she screams louder now and it breaks my heart as I feel useless. Motherhood has changed me so much in just 2 months and my baby has changed and continues to change. I know reflux is common and not serious but it's hard going on both of us, I don't know what I do, HV seems useless to me, every query I've had they seem dismissive. Drs just say nothing you can do except positioning and eat little and often which we do.
Sorry for rant !!! Feel useless again!! Good to get off my chest, feel like I'm never Gonna be able to go out if the days go like this....

Isn't it horrible Hotmad? It's so heartbreaking to be powerless to stop their crying and discomfort. Do keep reminding yourself that it's not your fault and that you are not useless though, that is very important. There isn't much you can do but you are doing everything you can and it will pass, just like all the other tough bits we've all been through they seem endless a the time but they do end and you'll feel better and more confident when you get there.
I believe you can request a different health visitor if there is one available, like with an nhs service, you don't need to give reason you can just ring up and ask to be assigned a new person. Maybe that would help?

Dd is having 5oz every 2 and a half - 3 hours!!
She was doing 4oz every 4hrs.
Sometimes she will have 6 & then an hr later want more.
Do you think it's worth trying her on hungry baby milk? She just never seems statisfied

Ahh its awful mogz I'm a 30 year old woman but I feel so naive now as when I was pregnant I had in my mind how having a baby would be, and in my mind we played and sang and laughed and slept in a cot at structured times. What the effing planet was I on??? Lol.
I've seen 3 diff health visitors, not because I Asked but as they always have a different one at clinic so far. One of them said to me once, she's alive isn't she?? How condescending is that? Basically she's alive so stop worrying!
The other 2 might aswell got the text book out and read it in front of me. I'm not against health visitors as I worked with them in past for my job and some have been excellent I thought.

Hot mad I found our HV less than useless! Gp we first saw was also useless so we just kept going back and finally got somewhere ! Got first specialist on Tuesday so will see how we get on- things have def improved so hang in there!

hotmad keep pushing the dr for for mess or a referral, I'm sure there are plenty of things you can try. I mentioned to my dr that ds is colicky and he said see how it goes and come back if it gets worse and we can try gaviscon, seemed like they would be happy to prescribe if I wanted it

So ds has got into the habit of wanting to sleep 5-7 and then won't go down after bath. Last night I went for a nap and dh let him sleep so then after bath he was waking every 20mins all evening and didn't settle until midnight. Trying to keep him awake tonight but he's so fast asleep you can barely wake him, why does he never sleep this soundly at night! Any tips on keeping babies awake? Not the normal problem we have.

Have started reading save our sleep, seems a bit more practical that baby whisperer so prefer it, but not sure about leaving them to cry to learn to self settle. mum did your ds learn to self settle by himself or did you have to do some level of leaving them to cry?

Stom how long has she been wanting that much? She might be having a hungry few days but if it lasts a week it might be worth looking into the hungry baby milk. Genevieve is feeding every 2 hours during the day but when we tried giving her more to get her to go longer in between it made her vomiting so much worse, so I think we're stuck for now.

I'm really sorry to hear that some of you are suffering as are your babies with reflux! I was so worried about my DS suffering as acid reflux/indigestion runs really strongly through my family but luckily we've had no signs of it. hotmad definitely sounds like you should try and see other HVs. What are their qualifications anyway? I keep meaning to research this as one of the women I've seen was a bit useless as well. Shame as it is such a good idea - but I guess in practice it just isn't as good as it sounds.

My DS hates having a bath so we do feel like we have to rush through it! Any tips on how to get him to enjoy it more? I was wondering if maybe I should try getting in the bath with him - if the skin to skin would help him relax but I worry he is a bit too small for me to get in the bath with him. Any tips!

mogz about a weeks. Last 2 days she's been wanting 6oz then the odd 1 or 2oz then 6 again.
She got a cold and someone told me that they can want more when they're ill and then I read that 5/6 is a lot for a 4 week old & they shouldn't have that much but if she's cryin then she's obvs hungry.
I also read that she may not be able to have the hungry baby milk as she's too young?

Do you think I should give the HV a call?

Evening everyone and sorry to hear of reflux and issues.

Stom hungry baby milk isn't recommend for young babies. Give your hv a call if she is still hungry. I bf so not up to date on ff but I know it wasn't advised for dd 9 years ago as she was toi young.

I have a bath every night with seb and he loves it and it calms him down ready for bed beautifully. I get jn and do whatever I need to do. Then I cool it down to baby temp and dp passes him to me. I lay him on my tummy for a few minutes then lift him onto his back and support his head with one hand and he sort of floats around. When he has had a wash I pass him to dp so I can get out.

It's a lovely way to wind down and finish off the day.

crispy we've had much happier baths since we upped the temp significantly, not really hot of course but warm instead of body temp. Also a flannel over tummy and pour water over flannel repeatedly to keep it warm. Ds likes baths now and will even have water poured over his head but sticks out his tongue and tries to drink the water which can't be good

stom I wouldn't worry about overfeeding if they are not being sick a lot, hv said to me last week just give as much as they want as ds had gone up from 7 to 8 feeds. It was a growth spurt I think as dropped back to 7 soon after. Reading save my sleep and it says that often unsettled babies are just a bit hungry esp if bottle fed and should always have a bit of milk left in bottle so they decide they are full. I think I should increase ds feeds maybe esp at night when he goes longer stretches thinking maybe he doesn't settle after bc he's still a bit hungry

Thanks all.
Just 6 oz every 3 or 4 hrs seems a lot for a 4 week old!!

I'm having a nightmare. J has been unsettled every night but tonight seems particularly bad. He's been crying on and off since 7 and the last 10 mins his screaming has sent me into floods of tears. DH has him in a sling and has been calming him down. I just don't know what to do. DH has been agitated too getting angry and it's worse when I can see he's struggling with it too. I don't know if it's worth taking him to the docs but they'll probably just say oh yes lots of babies are unsettled in the evenings...

Well we have just come home sfter 24 hours in the baby hospital. L has broncolitis, he was boiling hot and screaming in pain and there was nothing we could give him.
They were gonna put him in a anti biotic drip but his temp has gone down and now he's sleeping non stop as he's been awake for 24 hours bless him.

His cough is heart wrenching and so upsetting to see him in pain when he's coughing

Oh alyssa I hope the lil one Gets better soon. It's so heart wrenching to see them so poorly x

Sorry to hear he's ill alyssa. My ds1 had that when he was about 10 months old but it must be even worse as yours is so much younger hope he's better soon.

Sending your little one lots of get well vibes Alyssa
And sorry your little one is being cranky mum I hope he settles soon and you and your DH get some rest.
Crispy go ahead and get in the bath, it's lovely, might take a few tries if he hasn't been liking it so far but he'll soon learn that it's a nicer experience with you. Plus johnsons bath stuff bubbles up nicely so you get a nice pampered 10 mins before baby gets in

Wish all our poorly little ones better!