sept 2014: babies are here (or coming soon!)

[allisgood1]

Even though dc3 is end of August, thought I'd start a sept thread :-)

How are you all doing?

dS1 is 9 dats old. Feeding well and surely sleeping well but it's hard to know as I keep falling asleep at night feeding him!

I'd be up for a weight loss thread too! I was thinking about exactly this earlier today. Apparently breastfeeding takes about 500 calories per day, so I guess that just needs to be taken into account for anyone trying to diet whilst breastfeeding?

Think I'm in for a night of cluster feeding

Katharine I have a sleeping bag just haven't tried it - worth a go?

Hi all. Haven't had much time to post on here since my baby boy was born 2 weeks ago. All is going well though. Week 1 was tough as got mastitis and only about 2 hours sleep a night and no daytime naps. Second week much better and getting 4-7 hours sleep in 24. Managing to breast feed, though am not finding it easy but will continue to try. Feel like all I do is feed him, he often struggles to latch (I think boobs often too full for latch), and nipples feel a bit tender. Last weigh in (day 10) he was 80g under birth weight.

Katherine I have read up a lot on breastfeeding and have spoken to various advisors about some of your questions. In the first 2 weeks, it is recommended you try to feed baby at least every 2 hours in day, and 4 hours at night. This may mean waking them. Apparently they don't always know to eat this young. Formula fed babies can go longer than breastfed babies.
Once baby two weeks old, gaining weight well and very satisfied with feeds, you can let baby tell you when they want feeding and let them sleep longer.
Crying is a late sign they are hungry, so ideally don't wait until they cry. Signs like mouth opening and hands to mouth as indication baby might be hungry and may come before crying - although I appreciate often it is straight to crying! Most of the time I can tell my baby is hungry before he cries.
I wouldn't worry too much about the suck/swallow ratio. I can't always tell when my baby is swallowing but I can tell when he is full and he has drunk enough from my breast as it feels less full.
Regarding topping up - I have been advised that there is no set amount - it's a case of feeding until baby is satisfied. I wanted to express so that baby could have occasional bottle and asked how much I should give him - as I have no idea how much he gets on the breast. It was suggested I use formula quantities as a guideline - i.e. 90mls at his age, but that baby may want more than this and to feed until he stops - in the same way we breastfeed until baby comes off and stops.

Kellymom is an awesome website:
kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing/

Re saggy bellies - I've been told by physio the best exercise to firm up belly is pelvic floors combined with tensing abdo muscles to about 30% so can still breathe - a bit like pilates. Do this regularly. We are not really supposed to do any exercise other than gentle (like walking/swimming) until 6 week check - partly as hormones mean ligaments etc still loose and high risk of injury with doing certain exercise.

Having a nightmare night. Baby just won't settle Really doesn't help that DH is back to work tomorrow too. He's ended up sleeping on the couch because baby just won't stop whining. I feel guilty for that. I'm so tired and we are both going to miss him tomorrow.

teameponine Sorry to hear about your rough night . I had one like that second day after labour. Midwife suggested it can be from my milk as that was the day my milk came down and baby had first feed of it. He wasnt used to it so it caused him belly pain. Maybe your milk changed and your little one reacts to the change? Did he look like he was in pain or something? Hope you're okay and get a calm night tonight

Checking in again. Can't believe my baby is now 11 days old - slow down time!! He feels like he's grown so much already (not suprising the amount he's been feeding!)

Sorry for those struggling with bf, I can relate as had a lot of problems with it with my first ds. Luckily this time it's going really well for me, but blimey does my boy like his milk!!

How much sleep is everyone getting? I'm struggling to get him down at night. He only seems happy to sleep on me / next to me which I know is really frowned upon for obvious reasons. Each time I put him in his (bloomin' expensive) co-sleeper crib, he wakes and cries. xx

I'm not getting much sleep at all. I can put baby down, we have the bed nest, but he wakes every two hours for a feed. Last night I was so exhausted I think I fed him and put him back while asleep because I remember waking and being confused how he got back into the crib?! I think I'm getting about 4-5 hours a night in about 1.5 hour stints. Ish. But it's all becoming a blur because I'm so tired. Also trying to avoid clock watching so I don't stress myself out. Will be interesting to see what others are getting. A few friends of mine with newborns are getting significantly more sleep but they are ff and I'm bf. Not sure if that's linked?

Eponine it must have been the night for it last night. Jessica was bloody awful last night. She went from 8pm-5am crying and being unsettled, with only a brief half hour nap (on DH - woke up as soon as we put her down). I feel awful writing it but I could really feel her starting to fray my last nerve by the early hours as I was just exhausted and fed up, and really couldn't work out what was wrong. I fed her god knows how many times, gave her nappy changes, tried giving her infacol in case she had trapped wind, gave cuddles, etc. She's not great at night at the best of times but last night she was just particularly bad. The only thing I did different that I can think of is I had a take-away curry for dinner in the evening (only mild though), and wondering if it made my milk take funny to her / gave her a tummy upset as she seemed genuinely distressed by something (normally when she's awake at night it just because she wants food, but that didn't appear to be the issue last night)?

Last night excluded, I reckon when DH is at work (when he's not I get him to give Jessica a bottle or two of expressed milk so I can catch up on sleep a bit) I get about 4-5 hours at night but again it's all in short stints as she's waking to be fed about every couple of hours. I usually try and get an hours nap in the day if I can as well. A couple of people I know from my NCT antenatal classes who are formula feeding also seem to be doing much better on sleep, as they are only needing to feed they reckon every 3-4 hours (and obviously with formula it's a bit easier to get partners to take turns with them for night feeds as well). It's probably the thing that most tempts me most days to crack open a tub of formula, although now Jessica is two and a half weeks old I must admit that bf is nowhere near as painful as it was a couple of weeks ago, so in that sense it is getting a bit easier.

On the nights when she doesn't get fussy, I recon we are doing really well and getting 6-7 hours:

Sleeps at 12ish to 4, feeds, then till sleeps till 8.

Other nights she's woken nearly every hour and we've been lucky to get 3, but I recon she's settling into a routine now. I also think she reacts badly when I eat dairy.

kitkat - I have heard some people say that spices upset their breastfed baby, maybe keep an eye on it?

Anyone else's baby got dry & peely skin? MW said use olive oil, which made it worse. HV said get baby oilatum, but just went to pharmacy and the lady there said anything was fine, despite the package saying don't use whilst breastfeeding, so came away with nothing :(

Yes we have dry peely skin here. Also advised to use olive oil but by the time I went to do it it had cleared on his hands and feet. It's appeared on his tummy now but I've decided to leave it. It's not bothering him so until it does I'm still avoiding products. He's three weeks now and we are still sticking to water only.

Peeling here too, getting slightly better now at 3 weeks old. Also recommended olive oil but keep forgetting to buy it.

As for sleeping, I go to bed with baby about 8 or 9pm and he wakes every 2 hours minimum and it takes an hour to feed, change and keep him upright for a bit. He's wide awake by 7am. So lots of time spent in bed but not much of it asleep! He's really noisy when he sleeps, think its maybe silent reflux, so can't get much sleep even when he does.

My midwife told me sunflower oil is better than olive oil - can't remember why though! My baby had very peel skin end of first week and start of second week. He is now 17 days and peel skin has resolved. I did use sunflower oil on him.

Week one I got approx 2 hours sleep each 24 hour period.
Week two, I've had anything from 4-7 hours a night. On a good night he might sleep for 3-4 hours between feeds. On a bad night, his feeds are long (like an hour) and every 2 hours. He also fed for about 4 hours almost non stop around day 10. Exhausted me!

I'm trying to feed him lots in the day which seems to help him go longer at night.

kitkat My baby cried for about 48 hours around day 4 and looked to be in pain. To this day, I don't know if it was my milk changing, something I ate, or wind. To be honest, I don't think we were winding him enough after feeds, so I suspect the wind might have built up.

Kit kat, it must be a Jessica thing as my Jessica had a night like you describe the other night. I really felt down and exhausted for the whole of the next day. I haven't tried giving her a bottle of EBM yet. Thinking about it though. Someone I know said she had to cut out her drinking milk as it gave her baby bad wind, something to monitor anyway.

Jessica is getting into a routine ish. She's just gone to sleep now. But she is feeding/clingy from about 6 or 7pm until now. She usually wakes to be fed around 1, then 4, then it's morning and she becomes a bit fussy/wide awake so messes about while feeding a bit. So the morning feed feels like 3 or 4 feeds to me lol. Pretty much 3 hourly feeding except the amazing 4 hours she did once during the night. Hope she repeats this soon!

Anyone using a dummy? I don't want to use one to get her to sleep at night but I'm thinking one might be handy during the day if she's crying and I can't feed her straight away e.g we're in the car.

I can't believe she is 2 months old on Sunday! ! ?? Time is whizzing by.

I dropped off the threads last week. DS born on Saturday and Im trying to find my feet. Feeling very low as Im posting now and trying to catch up here has left me feeling very inadequate. Has anyone else here got a new newborn that can tell me Im not alone. DH is asleep upstairs as we are tag teaming at the moment and Im feeling hopeless and alone.

Polka didn't want to read and run. You have got the baby blues which usually hits around day 3. It's a normal thing that happens to most people so try not to feel you are inadequate or alone because this feeling will pass. I had times when I could not stop crying. It was quite alarming but it passed. Take one day at a time and vent on here as much as you like xx

Polka, I agree with Top about the baby blues. I spent a good few hours crying when Aidan was about 4 days old. Felt useless, especially when I couldnt stop him crying and my DM took him off me and rocked him to sleep in what felt like 30 secs! It will pass, but like Top said, take it one day at a time.
A is pretty good at sleeping through the day, but tends to have a few hours between about 7 and 10 where he is so unsettled. This was fine, but DH is back at work now, getting in at 7, so we are having to eat at different times so one of us is available to sooth him, hope this stops soon!

Oh, and congrats on you little boy Polka

My earlier post mentioned that Jessica was asleep. Well she woke up just after that and I haven't been able to get her back to sleep since. In desperation I tried the dummy out which calmed her down. Now she is on left boob. Fingers crossed she'll go to sleep after this!

My nips are soooore! Feels like P hasn't stopped feeding for 24 hrs! She's also suffering from wind, and I'm trying to work out if it's something I've eaten that's caused it. Though I only seem to be eating toasties at the mo...
I'm getting between 3 and 5 hours sleep per night. P goes down from about midnight to 1:30, then will feed/be awake for an hour at least. One night it was nearly 5am before she settled, then up again at 7ish. It's horrendous but I'm hoping she'll develop a better routine soon. She just wants to sleep in my arms all night. Anyway, best get my head down while she's quiet.
Polka, hope you feel better - we're all hormonal sleep-deprived messes here so can support you when you feel down

Polka your post sounds so familiar. We to did the tag teaming nights to begin with and I cried alone downstairs while DH slept. It will pass, it's the blues. Mumsnet is a great source of support. It takes time but you'll get there.

Polka you are doing a great job; don't despair... Once you get to rest a bit there will be a big difference x Congrats by the way x

I had my 6th week checkup at week 7; what is the gp supposed to do? Mine just asked if everything OK and checked things I was unsure of- no routine, no feeling tummy, nothing much really... Is this it?

Sorry posted too soon
For Bf mums : you may already know this, but Here it goes anyhow - people say drink plenty if you are bfeeding; I experienced it, the amount of drinks I have has a big direct relation with my milk supply- if I am busy during the day and forget to drink (I am rubbish at drinking) then my milk supply goes down immediately ; I have decided to keep track of how much I drink and top it up or LO will go hungry! Sleeping also has a direct correlation!

Is red around? Red how are you doing with supply? I have started expressing in between feeds little by little and in a couple of days I get Round 60-70 ml more than what LO needs per day, so can start storing now; Just wanted to share with you: if you are still worried about supply , adding one expressing sessions will do wonders... I know it is difficult to fit in, I am struggling but I try to somehow fit it in...
I freeze 60-70 ml portions so when I go back to work in a couple of months each two portions become one full feed of 130-140 ml assuming a 3 month old baby will have that in a feed
(I am going half days for 3 months so he only misses one feed per day)

Top, glad you are here - thought ds is oldest here @ 7 weeks :)
Yes, I have started using dummy a couple of weeks ago- ds has reflux and colicky screaming every evening and frankly although I hated the idea of using dummy to begin with, I got so desperate I would do anything to comfort him - also interesting that the dr in hospital told me if I have thought about dummies ; "because your baby very much likes sucking and is comforted by it but mum needs her sleep!!! "
To be honest Although I offered dummy out of desperation I am so happy I did-it is such a life saver and from what I read if only used occasionally there will be no negative impact...

Too many and too long posts - sorry about it
I think you can say I am not getting much sleep from times; ds wants to be fed every 2-3 hours ;

This is funny stolensleep.com/2014/09/27/how-to-get-your-baby-to-sleep-through-the-night-in-just-two-years/

Thank you for your support. I am so glad I posted. We too have a dummy as the midwived agreed he is a sucky baby. Am struggling with breast feeding at the miment but am going to ask midwife to revisit later.

polkadot, I was in tears 1st few days, but things much better now by day 8. b/f support tesm better than midwife for b/f help - midwife should be able to give u their contact details