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!

That's fab. Thanks! I managed to express 2oz earlier, so that has gone into the freezer. But just now it was less than one oz, so will stick it in the fridge and add to it later. The good news is that I'm already less lumpy and in less pain!

I've done the 'top up a bottle in the fridge throughout the day' thing too. Can't see any reason why it would be a problem. xxx

I think topping up is fine as long as your not adding warm milk to cold, so let the new stuff cool before you add it to the old

DS took an expressed bottle 3 times before deciding that he wouldn't take a bottle at all . There goes my little bit of sleep.

cookie What machine do you have for making bottles?

And question for someone who mentioned making bottles in advance for 24hours, how you do it? I always do it on the go as on the box is written to make fresh from hot water and use within 2 hours.

velvet I have the tommee tipee perfect prep. Its cheapest at John Lewis.

Velvet I used to make all the bottles I needed up using hot water, then quickly chill them using a bowl of cold water (keep changing the water as it heats up pretty quick) then when they are cool enough stick them at the back of the fridge. Then when I need one I get it out and put it in the warmer.

What a couple of days.
B has had 2 days of eating every 2.5 hours then falling asleep, but taking less each feed. Today we have gone to eating every 3-4 hours and taking anything from 100-160ml. He was super awake from 8-11 this morning and has since then been pretty snoozy.

However, last week he put on 9oz in 4 days and 10 days ago was 52.5cm and measured him yesterday and is now 56cm so think it pretty clear that my boy is growing a lot :-).

Gripe water in milk is helping colic, worst bout was 6-6.30 yesterday as opposed to 11.30-2am the night before. Have also gone to dr browns bottles and seem to be helping.

Am currently using ready made formula as am v nervous about making up using powder - would you recommend a machine to do it?if I got tommee tippee one could I make in their bottles and transfer across into dr browns?

What are you nervous of holls? The main thing is making sure the water is hot enough I believe, this kills any bacteria and makes it sterile the same as the premade (just much cheaper!), happy to be corrected if I'm wrong though

I know I am just being pathetic.

I didn't mean that (hope you dont think I did ), it is daunting changing over, I did it quite early on so have been using the powder for a while now. Also DH is a chef so was able to reassure me that I was doing the right things to avoid food poisoning (which is effectively the potential issue with powder) so that made me feel a bit better about it. Once you've done it once or twice you will feel better about it honest

cookielove we have the perfect prep machine too. DH bought it when we found out I wouldn't be able to bf exclusively (even if ds2 didn't have tongue tie) as we have 12 months worth of bottles/top ups to make. holls it is adjustable for any bottle (I use tommee tippee & avent) & makes it at the exact right temp in less than 2 mins (quicker than I could warm a bottle up) - I wasn't convinced to start with but it's been brilliant.

holls I use nuby and dr browns :)

TeamEponine get a wide tooth comb, and aggressively comb your boob towards the nipple. Sounds nuts but it works. It sounds like a blocked duct rather than mastitis from what you've said. I had a really bad one a couple of weeks ago, and it was the only thing that shifted it. I expressed and feed DS off my bad one for hours until I was in tears and was still in pain. It was only when I tried that, it actually solved the problem. I ended up with a massive bruise but it was worth it as I really didn't fancy a trip to the doctors and antibiotics.

Misog, not at all - I think I am being crackers. Think may get the perfect prep and go onto powder :-)

Also quick qu sorry - when your babiea were 4 weeks how often did they eat? We are 3.5-4hours and he is taking between 120-160ml each time.

Team I agree with Red in that it sounds like a blocked duct/blocked ducts. Have you got a small white spot on the end of your nipple at all? I had a blocked duct last week and it caused what felt like a bunch of grapes (!) to form in my boob but removing the white spot with a sterilised needle, applying moist heat to the nipple with a flannel before feeds and expressing as much as possible in a hit bath totally cleared it. Bloody breastfeeding...!

*hot bath even

Em is 3 and a half weeks and she takes between 2 and 5 oz per feed, her night feeds are generally the bigger ones then she goes a bit 'snacky' during the day and takes a couple of oz at a time. Normally about 3.5 hours between feeds at night and 2 hours during the day cause she isn't eating as much. She slept for 5 hours straight last night was the most sleep I've had in one go since she was born!

No white spot, but expressing and feeding until I'm empty with lots of massage and a hot compress has helped loads! Fingers crossed that it doesn't flare up again over night. If it does, I'll be trying the comb trick

bubba, u could also try b/f with u and baby naked for skin to skin contact ( just keep baby's back covered) to try and make the feeds last longer

So it's normal to have different size feeds?hew.

Had our first bit of sick tonight. I cried!

Oh bless you holls, Em was sick everytime I fed her for the first week or so, and I cried a lot about it, but she is still sick at least once a day so we just kind of laugh it off now, the midwife said as long as she isn't distressed not to worry and she isn't bothered by it in the slightest in fact she normally starts asking for food again almost immediately. I think it's just cause she is greedy and guzzles and wind gets trapped underneath it, sometimes we can burp it out and sometimes the milk comes up with it - normally straight down my cleavage or in my face

Sorry it's off topic of feeding but can I ask you all about sizes of nappies/clothes and dc's weight?
Dd is 12lb and so she should be in at least 0-3 clothes and size 3 nappies but they're drowning her! Obv I know they need room to grow in these but they say they'll only fit to 14lb and 2lb growth doesn't seem much esp if that means she should be out of them in 2/3 weeks?!
I've only just swapped her into size2 nappies today but have had to fasten them as tight as possible across her tummy - they are down to her knees length wise! She fits nicely in up to one month clothes but they all say 9/10lb so she shouldntbe in them should she?
Also, her head is 98th centile for size and her 0-6 sleeping bag is still able to slide over her head so I daren't let her wear it at night but it says from 8lb8 and she's way over that!
Sorry, just so confused right now.

I've just ignored all of the weight guidelines on the labels for clothes and gone with what fits. DS has just gone into 0-3 months clothes today, he is 6 weeks old and 11lb. He is quite long though and it was the length I was struggling with. I also put him in size 2 nappies a few days ago, I do need to pull the tabs quite right and it is down by his knees but I just tuck it in and also try and pull it up higher. The size one is just too small. He is in sleeping bags already though, his head would fit through but with his arms in there's no way he could wriggle right down. Maybe try one for size? You might be surprised.

Pull the tabs quote tight