October 2014 // thread 2 // keeping each other company through the night feeds!

[sazzlehopes]

Hi all, welcome to thread 2!

Well we've had one of those nights where bubba would only take 40mls vs 80mls FF every couple hours. Both of us are exhausted now!
Luckily the monster just had a good feed

Husband snored through it all of course ;0)

Rudy - I know our moms don't think about what they're saying sometimes or can struggle to support us like we need them too BUT having a baby is hard going on so many levels - no wonder you're tearful. Have you thought about chatting with your HV or GP and getting some additional support?

My post wasn't trying to upset anyone BF BTW, just trying to show the other side of it so hope I wasn't too full on. I just know how hard making the decision can be to stop BF so was trying to be supportive!

The downsides we found of ff, just to balance my opinion are expense and smelly burps!

I didn't mean to upset anyone but just feel if you hate it that much it seems daft doing it. If you want to carry on, then carry on. I have nothing against ff, I just think you need to make a decision and stick to it.

rudy that's sounds normal - who wouldn't cry from lack of sleep and relentless crying - I sure do!

There is this bizarre question at the 8 week check - "if your baby easy to look after?" Wtf? I don't know I've never had one before! Apparently it's getting at PND but what a daft question as I don't think anyone would say their baby is easy, particularly their first!!

So R slept better in his bed now I've made the bed nest more cosy. I rolled up some cellular blankets to make it a bit like the sleepyhead. Decided to save myself the £100!

There was somethjng in the news about paying people to breastfeed! (Like the current approach to paying obese people to lose weight) I'm not sure that's the answer - it's the right support for those that WANT to do it

Rudy I struggled horribly with loneliness first time round. Weirdly, this time I have no desire to see most visitors and am finding the days pass much faster - probably because I just go back to bed and conk out next to ds once he's fed to sleep. It helps that I seem to be able to co-sleep better than last time too. For me it was the sleep deprivation more than anything which made me an emotional wreck and constantly tearful - don't underestimate how tired you can be even without really feeling tired. Sorry that your mum is being unhelpful - can she take the baby out for a walk and let you get a nap in?

yellow and fedup I successfully provoked a cluster-feed yesterday evening and was rewarded by a three hour stretch of sleep. Yay (and no signs yet of developing pneumonia!) fingers crossed for the same tonight!

goats i think you have done fab with regards to bf. You can honestly say you gave it your best shot if you decide to start to ff. i gave up for a lot of the reasons you have mentioned, i wasnt enjoying it and didnt want to remember my girls "babyhood" as a miserable or unhappy time. When i made the descion i felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and could relax and enjoy it without putting any pressure on myself. I recommend the tommee tippee perfect prep machine, which saves the bother of cooling down bottles, gives you a perfect temp bottle in 3 minutes, best gift i have received in a long time !

Hurrah frau!
R fed from 5 to 9 and the slept til 2! DH tried to wake him for feed around 11 but could only get one Oz in him ( little bit upset it's wasted 3 Oz of my precious expressed BM!)

So the worst night yet? Just screamed or fed wouldn't go down at all not even on us in bed. Am I right in thinking can't be reflux though as he is fine all day and sleeping 3-4 hrs between feeds. He did throw up a feed last night but I think the pain was wind.

Dont worry goats. As long as your bab gets fed who cares!! I hate the way your guilted through bf. We are giving dd one bottle of formula a day, bf the rest of the time, and I constantly have to justify myself. We did it with ds who was discharged from 5 weeks on special care breast and bottle fed so I feel confident about doing that again. To be honest if you've done the first few weeks then you've given your baby a great start anyway.

rudy i think when people have not lived with a baby 24/7 for a long time they tend to forget how hard work it is trying to function on literally no sleep, give baby to your mum for a night and i bet it jogs her memory of hard it is sometimes, only she wont be recovering from birth recently or fluctuating hormones! And she has done it before so she has that added bonus aswell, when your a first time mum every day is a learning day, im still learning with my first dd who is four and i know the learning will go on for a lifetime, i have learned so much from her and im finding it much easier second time because i have previous experience, but first time around it was the most challenging/rewarding/stressful/ joyful time ! .., in the words of cheryl cole "an emotional rollercoaster" sometimes you enjoy the ride and sometimes you dont. You are doing a great job! Big hugs to you

stigz I was looking at the Bottle prep machine. It had mixed reviews online so I wasn't sure if it was going to be worth it but I'm guessing by your post it is?

I have to admit, we make the 2am feed up before bed and put it in the fridge. NHS site says a made up bottle can be refridgerated for 24 hours and as my mum says, they used to make 6 bottles at a time and we all survived!

binky its honestly fab! Im paranoid to pre make & store but i know it would probably do no harm really, im just overly anxious about the "what if's" i think you could probably get some money back on ebay when your finished with it?

The WHO says you can make up bottles 24 hours ahead

Baby didn't sleep for more than 2 hours at a time last night and takes that long to get her back to sleep after a feed.
She cluster feeds all day but it doesn't result in a good stretch of sleep for us. If it did it wouldn't feel so bad.
OH has AL today so going to go out for some fresh air today.

God Me that sounds so hard, I hope she settles into a more manageable pattern soon, you must be shattered. Glad your OH is off work to let you share the load a bit xx

It is possible to make perfect temp formula, still following all the safety guidelines, without the prep machine; if you keep 5oz bottles of boiled water in the fridge (placed in sterilised bottles while still >70°) then make your larger bottle of formula up, when needed, with 3oz of >70° water (so the powder is still heat treated, as recommended) to 8 scoops of powder, then add the cold boiled water = 8 oz of body temperature formula ready to use.
It's pretty much how the perfect prep machine works, just done manually.

We have the tommee tippee machine its brilliant. Quick and very easy to use.

Me I hope you get some sleep soon. Violet is a lovely name, we considered it ourselves but E just didn't look like a violet.

Thanks for the encouraging words, feeling good today after decent sleep and relatively little crying from LO. X

I burst out laughing last night and hurt my c/sec wound now its really tender today when its been fine. Getting paranoid i have burst the stitches inside? Think i might get phone consultation with the doctor ?

LOVE my perfect prep machine! We got it for about £65-£70 I think from Mothercare because they pricematched toys r us. Especially handy for night time feeds when we're half asleep.

Didn't have the best night ever last night- ended up doing shifts on the sofa again. It's like he doesn't like our bedroom (DH keeps saying that and it's starting to freak me out- I have an overactive imagination and automatically think of paranormal things. I need to get a grip!

STIGZ - how long ago was your section, and did you have dissolvable stitches? Not sure how long it takes before they dissolve.

Anyone any thoughts about the reflex question?

What was the reflex question happy?