December 2013 - sleepless nights & lots of cooing

[Stom91]

Our very first Thread :)

So are you feeding him more than 3-4 hours during the day frouby? I guess I don't have a choice as have to look after the other two so don't feed as frequently. He's definitely going through a growth spurt which I find challenging in the evenings. DH is giving him a bottle but it's turned into 2-3 bottles between 8 and 10! I know I should bf to incr my milk supply but I need my sleep! And I do express before going to bed so hoping that's enough.

Sooo jealous of all your sleepers! Ds is 5 weeks and v colicky in the evenings, then won't sleep anywhere but on us! He goes down ok ish in the day but at night he won't and it takes so long to settle him I often don't even try and just let him sleep on my chest. I guess I should be trying a lot harder to get him used to it rather than taking the lazy option? This morning I am trying to get him to sleep in cocoonababy by putting him back in it after every cry rather than giving up and cuddling on sofa. And I thought bottle fed babies were meant to sleep better!

Mum I am trying to put him in sunlight but there's not much about at the moment! We were readmitted to hospital shortly after he was born as he was bright yellow and had lost a fair bit of weight but his blood tests came back below the treatment level. He is much less yellow now but health visitor has said that by 4 weeks they would have expected it to go completely by now. he seems alert and is feeding well so i'm not overly concerned but it makes me sad that he is going to look yellow and slightly ill in all his new born photos

Mum for the last few days I have fed on and off from 7am until 11am. Maybe 20 mins out of every 60. Then he goes down for a couple of hours. Then a good feed for 30 mins before school run. He then stays awake on and off until about 8pm when I have a bath, he getsin with me then its bedtime for both of us.

It works for us as we go to bed early. I find morning most challenging as he gets a bit velcro from about 8ish and I like to get ready and tidy the house and stuff.

And I still haven't got out of the door yet today lol.

For those who asked about stitches - I'm not going to look at mine until just before 6 week GP appointment. I managed to majorly freak myself out last time, but time does amazing things and everything sorts itself out in the end. First two weeks I was really sore this time round but now at 3 weeks I feel ok. I wouldn't look too early though, that would be my advice...

And do your pelvic floor exercises, and avoid heavy lifting!

Oh dear god yes must do more pelvic floor exercises, the cats made me laugh today and there was unmistakable leakage !
Genevieve had a proper go at throwing up over everything today, me, her, the floor, play may, toys. I'm going to need a bigger washing machine.

I always forget about the pelvic floor mogz I should really do them after 3 kids or ill be wearing nappies when I'm 40

Lleyton is being norty tonight, he will not sleep anywhere but my bed, he seems to sense when dp's on night shift and always acts up
I was gonna do my Zumba disc on the wii tonight too, finally got it down from the loft and hooked up all ready too
Hope everyone else is getting some sleep.

Has anyone already started going to or when are you thinking about going to mum & baby groups? I need to start having a look but feel really nervous about going, I haven't got any friends with babies do need to get myself out there and meet people.

MrsS I wanted to get out to be today but haven't even managed to get out of my PJs just one of those days. Will try again next week.
Why're you nervous?

Aw my babies first day at school went great bless him..... So cute in his uniform

mrs I've met up with my NCT group and went for lunch with a friend of friend that lives near me and has an 8 week old, then she invited me to baby cinema with her friends. Going to look at activities at 6 weeks I think. I would really recommend getting out there, everyone is super friendly and you automatically have a lot in common so never any awkward silences. From what I've seen you just need to meet a few people and they'll invite you to more stuff so just need to get over the first hurdle

mogz I guess it's feeling like the new person on the block -although I know this probably won't be the case- and a bit apprehensive in case things are a bit cliquey

MrsShrubs, don't worry I feel the same. I'm not very good in social situations with people I don't know so am apprehensive too but told myself before baby was born that I'd need to overcome this. I'm not from the area I live and don't work here so never quite managed to make new friends here after we moved 7 yrs ago. I reckon I will probably go mental if I don't get out and see real people!

Once I can drive I'm hoping to get to some of the children's centres. In the mean time I'm meeting up with a new friend who has a 4 month old so hopefully she can give me some baby tips. Plus I try to phone my friend who has a little one so she can tell me what I'm feeling is normal.

On a separate note can I just tell you, I ordered myself one of those 'I'm not a paper cup' thermal mugs with the lid and it's been a godsend for keeping my tea warm when Charlie needs attention. It was only £6.99 on eBay and I'm so chuffed with it.

I'm sure someone mentioned their tea always going cold.....

Hi all been abit awol.
Hope everyone is well.
Haven't caught up as so Much as happened ! Lol

Keep being all emotional but I guess that's normal I'll be fine one moment then the next I'll be crying. It's not all the time just get the odd days.
Think I've hurt my shoulder in labour too do say I was twisting and turning all over the place and it feel like I've trapped a nerve or muscle. Omg it's so painful think I'd rather be in labour again lol

snoz I'm in exactly the same situation - I don't live where I grew up and I commute to London for work so I need to get out there and meet new people in similar sitiation. It wasn't me who said about the tea but that's happened to me twice today so I may have to go invest!!!

snoz my tea is always getting cold! Great idea, I may look into getting one!

Well Hannah has ditched her "chilled out baby" persona in favour of unsettled, unhappy baby, poor thing.

She's been horribly unhappy all day which seems to have been a result of constipation. My mum's friend suggested a warm bath so we did that and DH rubbed her tummy clockwise - the poo started coming almost immediately and just didn't stop!

We thought that had solved things as she was so much more chilled out immediately afterwards and settled in her carry cot and slept for almost an hour, but has woken again just as unhappy as before.

I'm not sure if this means there's more poo to come, or if it's hunger from a growth spurt (she's 4wks and 1 day).

Does anyone have any tips on how to relieve constipation in a formula fed baby?!

lis I think that if the constipation continues to be a problem you can see the GP about getting formula for sensitive tummies that should relieve it. Not sure what to do in the mean time though, just lots of cuddles and gentle patting of the bottom to help her push the right muscles. Hope she cheers up soon.
Genevieve had another puke volcano today, poor lass I've no idea what causes it as she is then perfect for the rest of the day. I am shattered though as she still wants to feed every 2 hours during the day and at night I am on hyper alert for any noise she makes so I'm not sleeping. Think I might need to hand her over to DH on Saturday and get some mega nap time in.

lisb James went 4days without going, the HV suggested a small amount of cooled boiled water which can help push things along. Not really sure how much qualifies as small but you could give your HV a call in the morning and see how much they recommend.

lis we've has the same with Amelia. Small amounts of cool boiled wAter. Only 5ml at a time midwife said. Rubbing belly clockwise and moving their legs like a bicycle.
Also if that doesn't help try changing the formula.
As soon we changed Amelia onto a different formula she started having normal poos again.

Thanks for all the tips! Will start offering some water I think and will call the HV if it happens again.

Stom (and anyone else doing formula) which brand are you using? We're using Aptamil, which we did with DD, although back then we were mix feeding, so maybe my breast milk was acting as a laxative?

Incredibly after such an unsettled day, Hannah went from 8.30 until 1.10 between feeds!! I guess she was knackered from all the writhing around and also probably wanted to give her belly a break... Means I had a decent stretch of sleep from 9.45 until 1.00. Fingers crossed she keeps this pattern up!

We were using aptamil but that made her really constipated. So we changed to sma and within a day or so her poos where back to normal x

We're mix feeding with SMA and so far the only poo problem we've had is a bit of diarrhea when I had too much fruit juice and she reacted to the sugars.