Elderberries no 2 - all old and new berry babies welcome!

[HazleNutt]

New thread!

Sorry posted too soon, I have added it to H's last bottle before (figured it was like a cheaper version of hungry baby milk) and not had a problem with it clogging the teat, we use dr brown bottles though and the anti colic bit stops any lumps getting down to the teat.

I use dr brown too when I express.

Am trying to avoid feeding S every time she wakes in the night - so last night she got fed at midnight and then when she woke at 3am, I just cuddled and used a dummy. Then she made it through until 6am so unfortunately that's when we started our day with a feed! Do you think this is a good way to cut down on night wakings? Just thinking if she was really hungry, she'd wake again or not go off back to sleep?

We did that Alex. Worked with varying levels of success but it was always clear when he truly needed a feed, and when he just needed a cuddle to resettle... He happily goes all night with no food now though so I guess they get there in the end?

E still wants one feed at night, although she's been having a couple throughout this cold she's just had, which I don't really mind when she's poorly she fed all bloody night when her first two teeth were coming through. She often wakes more than once but will go back off again by giving the dummy or a cuddle. If we pick her up and she wants boob she will turn her head and suck on your arm to let you know. It's completely normal for babies to still feed at night throughout their first year so I wouldn't worry, but I think it's the right thing to do to see if she'll settle without boob before offering it (and if she will it means DH can do more of the night waking )

I would say Happy Easter but not being religious it seems wrong so..... Happy spring bank holiday where all the good shops are forced to close and families choose to sit in traffic gridlock for hours on end to get to overcrowded tourist attractions and then we all buy funny shaped overpriced chocolate Day

Grumpy, moi?

I'm tired. The family is lovely and low maintenance, but we have been driving here or there every day, then there's shopping and cooking for 4 extra people. Today going to PILs in Strasbourg, and MIL, even though also lovely, is exhausting just by herself, so even more so when I also have to translate between her and my relatives and I can't understand her half the time.

Oh and we need 2 cars to fit everybody in, and none of the guests remembered to bring their driver's license (you don't need to carry them in Estonia any more), so I can't even ask anybody else to drive.

In addition, V decided that as we are sleeping in his room anyway, why the heck should he sleep in his own bed? Woke up and would not settle before I let him sleep with us.

I need a holiday after this holiday. But happy overpriced chocolate day!

Geez it does sound like you need a holiday after the holiday hazel.

Alex thats what I do, it's become obvious when H is waking through hunger and when he just needs settling. He has a favourite comfort toy and if he just needs settling I put my hand on his chest, shhh him, give him his toy which he hugs tightly then usually goes back to sleep. If he's hungry he normally sucks in his whingy sleep while waking up, if I catch it right I can pop the bottle in and dream feed him without him waking. Hes not been taking all his milk during the day so I expect one wake up, which is what I got last night at 3.30.

I've already eaten my body weight in overpriced chocolate.

Oh my god how do your babies sleep in cots?! S has been in her sleepyhead pillow so far which means she can't move around. Just thought I'd try her in her babybay for a nap to see what happened. She has turned 90 degrees, has both legs wedged through the cot bars and is flailing her arms around, annoyed, and trying to roll over, which isn't happening due to the wedged legs?! Epic fail so far.

Seem to remember you having that problem the other day actually mother?

Sleeping bag Alex? Although M still rotates a lot. 90 degrees most nights but 180 last. At least the sleeping bag stops trapped legs though!

Too much chocolate... Feel sick....

Yep sleeping bag alex, plus I now have blankets rolled down each side as he is a menace.

I also had a bag of salt and vinegar crisps with almost a whole Lindt bunny for breakfast and felt slightly sick after.
Happy Easter all!
Can I ask which of you are still bf on demand? How the hell do you stop it? I go back to work in the summer and dh said he believes she needs to be off bf when that happens. Feel very sad about it and don't even know where to start

why would she need to be off? I have been back to work for half a year now, and still BF when I'm around, no problems.

Lol if you are happy to carry on then do it, it's not like it's any hassle to your DH.

I don't really BF on demand any more except at night as we're in a routine where she feeds before her 2 naps, at bedtime and usually once in the night. I hope to reach a point around her first birthday where I am just feeding in the morning and at bedtime and probably still in the sodding night.

Thanks girls. Hazle I know you express at work which I don't intend to do so what do I do to wean her off day feeds?
Cav how do you feed her during the day now? I find I offer it to her rather than her ask when it's been over 4 hours from last feed and she has not eaten much solids. I'm lost! I don't intend to have her off completely - like you say morning and night - but she will have to cope from 8:30-6 with no bf.
What do I do? Have you got any handy links on how to start??
Thanks x

lol I don't express any more, V simply dropped most of his daytime feeds by himself. Might happen to you as well by summer. So V gets solids now, with some milk from the cup, and BF in mornings, evenings and nights. Is she taking formula?

Is that formula/follow on milk from the cup at lunchtime hazle?

What age did you start offering water? My weaning book says younger babies can have water but I've never offered anything except breast milk to S?

MIL's been really lovely with S and I today. I've decided I'm going to be thick skinned with criticism advice and make sure we get along. She did keep on saying what a good girl S is and how brilliant she is - and that's def the way to my heart!

Oh and anyone who hasn't got the jumparoo - it's great! A piece of baby toot it's really worth cluttering the house with.

at the moment he gets EBM, I still have quite a stash in the freezer. But will be formula once that runs out.

We started offering water with solids.

Totally agree with the jumparoo praise, H loves his and its gives me precious hands free time to do non baby related things

alex I have a sippy cup filled with water available when H has solids, he loves it. Think he likes the novelty more than anything but I think trying to drink from the cup has helped his hand eye co-ordination a bit too.

Did anyone else baby takes ages to sit properly, H sags forward over his knees a lot, he seems happy enough like that and is relativly stable but its far from ideal. I try to sit him up a few times throughout the day but he would rather be on his tummy and has mastered an easy way from sat to tummy so its really hard to practice sitting with him. I know its a stupid thing to worry about but it would just be nice for him to sit and play with some toys and he gets frustrated laying down for long.

Hazle L has a bottle of expressed in her evening feed as dh puts her to bed and is fed on demand the rest of the time. I have not pumped in almost a month because of that but I'm not keen on giving her much more formula than that. How do you suggest I decrease daily feeds or is it too early? She will be 9 months next week.
Mother how many weeks is H? L was sitting up unaided at around 23/24 which is why we only started weaning then? I thought he was sitting up already which is why he was already on solids? I'm confused- didn't know you could wean before sitting up?

He's 23 weeks lol, he is fed in his highchair so doesn't need to sit unaided to be fed, he sits really well in his highchair, I often leave him in their and let him play with his toys after eating. He can hold his head easily, takes food to the back of his mouth and swallows it, he can pick up the spoon and actually get the right part in his mouth, same with his sippy cup and he loves his food. The HV at our weaning session never mentioned anything about needing to be able to sit unaided?

I'm not sure mother - I was told by mine sitting unaided was the thing to look out for before weaning so as to decrease risk of choking. Maybe someone clever like cav will enlighten us!?
Having said that I think 23 weeks is fairly early for him to be able to manage sitting up it especially if he is on the chunky side! My friend's lo is 33 and still leans forward sometimes as he is a big lad!

I am doing puree rather than blw if that makes a difference?

Just checked Nhs website and it says 3 signs to look out for before weaning :
1- sitting up and holding head
2- coordinate hand to mouth
3- swallow food

I'm sure if you started 3 weeks ago and he's been fine you have no reason to worry about! Sorry if I'm confusing you x

That's ok lol , I've learnt to just go with my gut now. He can sit and can definitely hold his head he just struggles to sit unaided.

lol I'm no expert, but if you usually offer milk, then feed, maybe reverse the order? Or offer solids instead of one of the feeds?