November 2014 - newborn thread!

[Greenstone]

Welcome to all the November 2014 babies! Let all the post partum rejoicing and angst begin...

Yeah we aren't giving DD proper baths much either, keen to hear more bedtime routines without baths!

DS is 3 weeks today and has had 2 baths, again because he'd got poo and sick all over him. Night time consists of a feed around 7-8 and then of either DP having him downstairs getting him to sleep and looking after him until he wakes up again whilst I try to get 1-3 hrs of uninterrupted sleep or me taking him upstairs with me and doing the same which we've done since DP has had his cold. My uninterrupted sleep goes down the pan at this point.

I have him overnight and we seem slowly to be moving towards 2-3 hour stretches between feeds although he grizzles a LOT in his sleep. 4am onwards is usually pretty sleep free.

Our evenings sound similar to Toni's, but no real 'routine' as such just yet. I was so keen to get DS1 into a good bedtime routine from about six weeks, and I ended up with months of upset over his crap sleeping- may just be down to his personality (he's quite a livewire!), but I do blame my obsession on trying to get him to 'sleep well' for actually making things worse. I'm trying to be more relaxed about DS2's routines, in the hope that it'll all just naturally fall into place in time. I may change my mind in a few weeks though!

Poor DS1 was having nightmares last night between bedtime and midnight, it was like tag-team crying with the pair of them- as soon as one stopped the other started! Of course, neither of them wanted daddy, so DH was left feeling fairly useless as I ran backwards and forwards between the two bedrooms. Eventually managed to settle them both, but it was bloody exhausting!

We've been bathing DS2 once a week so far, on a Friday morning when DH isn't at work. The rest of the time it's just a quick top and tail with warm water, or baby wipes.

Thisisimposs ds is 4weeks and sounds v much like what we do and how my nights go :)

Phew- got the all clear (kind of) on DD's hearing this morning after she failed the HV's test twice and then failed the next test at our community hospital in her right ear. We went to the audiology dept of a bigger hospital today and they did more in depth tests, outcome is she's got congestion / glue ear in both ears which is causing her to not be able to hear 30db and quieter sounds in her right ear (normal talking is 60db so she's not missing much!). Should resolve by itself and the left ear is fine. So relieved!
(Also the trip to the hospital proved that we can get out of the house by 8am if we put our minds to it!)

Glad to hear (haw haw!) it moggle

After a second terrible night of no sleep after 2.30am, I have to take care of my elderly parents today. DS desperately needs sleep, but in a new house there's too much to look at to sleep! Cue: agonised crying, poor lad.

Have gotten him to sleep on me right now, but if I put him dowm he wakes up immediately so I'm stuck here on the chair! But I have so much to do!

The killer is that I brought my new Mei Tei from the Sling Library with me only to discover DS hates it! Shit!

Good day here. Had PILs round at 11.45 and M was dozing as they got here, woke up and was good for them then fell asleep on MIL who is a bit besotted so that was lovely. I mentioned we intend to move to cloth nappies in the new year, they were marginally horrified then started scouring the house for space for a tumble dryer! Anyone else doing or planning to use cloth?

amy I was... I even have about 15 or so reusables I picked up in sales while pg. I'm now not sure if I'll go full time reusables but hopefully I'll use the ones we've got at least around the house.

Right I was just googling about sleep, and found this on an NHS page: "For the first six months your baby should be in the same room as you when they're asleep, both day and night. "
Seriously?!! Where are they supposed to nap once they grow out of the Moses basket? Or am I supposed to stay in our bedroom whenever they're sleeping!! Please, people with more than one DC, tell me this is one of those rules we all ignore? Where did your older DC nap once they got past 3-4 months, say?

Moggle ds1 only ever slept in baby chair in lounge or pram in hallway for daytime sleep so not an issue.

This ds sleeps in chair or crib n I nap at same time in same room.

Although for ds1 from about 6-8weeks once he was down at 8pm for bed he was left in crib in our room n we had monitor downstairs usually for an hr or so n we lived in a 3 storey house n bedroom was on top floor we did use an apnoea mat though.

Now in a 2storey house n will do the same with this little one after Xmas.

moggle- no idea I am afraid. We have a snuz pod upstairs which he sleeps in at night and then during the day (if he will go down) it is in the carry cot part of the pram on the frame parked in living room. I am not always necessarily in the same room but am on same floor.

I fed him outside. I felt like superwoman! I managed one feed across body without wrecking my nipples. He was very obliging and latched on quickly. I also lost a breast pad in the process but all in all a resounding success. Such a confidence boost x

Congratulations cat!

So relieved cos dd's reflux appears to be on the mend - two nights now without horrible wheezing etc. And we're back to 3-3.5 hour stretches between feeds again, which is also good. DH came home yesterday with a cold and I'm now paranoid he'll give it to her. He's been away for a couple of days and missing us so I feel cruel keeping him away from her but I really don't want to have a 6 week old with a cold...

Oh god - that moment when the doorbell rings and it's the tesco delivery which you have forgotten about and the house is an absolute SHIT PIT after breakfast and 3 year old dervishing through it, baby wailing, gifts half wrapped everywhere and wine bottle gifts making me look like an alco.

Sigh. He was nice and pretended not to notice.

Well done people on the public feeds

I got my first 3.5. Stretch of sleep last night (dd did 4 hours), she's 7 weeks today.

Anyone with older kids struggling with the older ones...Dd1 is being such hard work, whining and tantrumming every 5 mins. She's bored and tired and nearly 3 so urgh it's hard, plus she keeps informing me that she doesn't want me around, only daaaaddy

greenstone - I hear you sister, another one answering the door earlier in pjs to forgotten tesco delivery. Wah! Think we're hitting 5 wk growth spurt territory here. Thank God last day before DH off for 2 weeks.

Hello Ladies

I'm slowly getting my shizzle together so hopefully I'll be a bit more active on here. DS is doing well but suffering with the dreaded reflux. I've bought the anti reflux aptamil but haven't given it to him yet as I need Vari flow teats for my bottles. So far I'm getting by with the regular milk and a pipettes of infacol before feeds. It's helping but he's still very wheezy. Any tips on getting rid?

Unfortunately, my doctor advises that I need to consider giving up breastfeeding next week as I need to go back on my medication for a previous health condition which I was on before getting pregnant and aren't compatible with breast milk. I feel really guilty like I'm being selfish as I could keep going, but the risks are really high for me. I'm going to give him as much EBM as possible until then.

Good news is that he only wakes around twice a night now, normally around 12-1 and 4-5. I can live with that. On a good night he can go up to 6 hours between feeds without being bothered. He's put on well over 2lbs since birth so he isn't suffering at all.

workfree what age is he now?

My 5 week old is annoyingly inconsistent. This week its been: only woke once/ woke every bloody hour/woke every bloody hour/ only woke once.

Actually last night he slept from 11.30 till 4.30. I'm trying to figure out why. Yesterday evening DH fed him about 200ml of EBM as I was shattered and went to bed for the evening. Then he had about two more feeds from me. Could it be that he slept longer simply cos he took in more milk from the bottles???

If thats the case then I'm seriously thinking EBM of an evening is the way forward. Will try it again tonight.

BF is the most exhausting thing I've ever done. Its actually been easy for me & I still find it a bloody pain in the arse. I spend my life with a tit out.

Anna - DS is 5 weeks tomorrow and started sleeping much better once I started giving him bottles. He's currently on 150mls of EBM and that seems to work although sometimes he wants more and other times he leaves approx 30-50mls. I had to start doing that as I was too knackered to breastfeed and worried I'd fall asleep mid feed and slump forward. Plus I had undiagnosed mastitis (which I thought was the onset of flu) plus I'm also suffering from nipple vasospasm and needed a break. I feel like my breasts have been through the wringer!

I've also got him on a very strict nighttime routine which has helped him to sleep longer at nights. Had to so all my friends with babies under a year for their tips.

Speaking of looking a mess, yesterday I opened the door to the Hermes courier at 3pm with dressing gown on and pyjamas on, hair net still in, baby clamped to one hip and sick in my hair. At least he had the decency to look down whilst I signed for my package. Topped by DS embarrassing me yesterday with his windings. I was feeding him whilst on hold to HMRC. Sod's law he lets out a massive burp just as the phone gets picked up. I chose to ignore it rather than try and explain a 5 week old produced that sound lol.

Oh yeah I forgot to add. At least with the bottles I can guarantee how much he's getting. When I express the amount varies so drastically sometimes I'm not sure he's getting enough which probably makes him more ratty. My aunt who was a midwife for 26 years said babies shouldn't overeat as their stomachs can't manage it plus they won't sleep fully if their bellies aren't full.

I know what you mean. Today I was popping out for an hour to do some xmas shopping & expressed for DH to give him. Only got 60ml! I suspect it was cos I was stressed.

So whilst I was out, he gobbled that, then half an hour later DH had to give him emergency formula. He took 90ml! So the older they get the less realistic EBM gets as they just drink too much. My lad must drink a bloody litre every day.

Whats your bedtime routine? It sounds good.

workfree I hear you about baby farts... DD is only 2 weeks old, but the sounds she makes ... Often she would feed, then would stop, hold her breath, go red and then comes the massive shot, most of the times it's her pushing poo out. It's so laud nobody would believe it's the baby not myself.

Talking about sleep routines, not implementing any as yet, but have ordered baby yoga DVD and baby massage book. Both are supposed to have delepmental, health and sleep benefits. Amazon should deliver both tomorrow, so I will start to look into it and try on DD. At some point will add also regular bathing, but at the moment have had only one bath and baby hated it with passion. :( at least she has stopped to scream as bad during the nappy change.

We always have a bottle with us if we go more than walking distance from home as DD has a big voice and she tends to kick off in the most unexpected places and times. Eq, today had to get the bottle out in a cheese shop, the other day it was a bench at the entrance to the shopping mall. Being winter I don't feel like getting tits out in the street, but DD would scream her head off if I would make her wait for feed while looking for place to BF. :( Was a bit worried about nipple confusion introducing bottle so early, but seems that the approx.1 feed a day with bottle hasn't affected the BF.

Top and tail followed by last feed anytime between 6 and 8pm.

Keep the lights very low, we've got a dimmer but if you haven't use a nightlight.

Nappy change before a feed so they aren't disrupted. No wet wipes if you're using them. Nothing will bounce you out of falling asleep like a cold wet wipe

No interaction at all (this one is hard) no talking or eye contact as they think it's a cue to stay up and play. We were very guilty of this one, wanting to play all the time with our shiny new baby in the first few weeks.

Also keep them as warm as possible during a feed. Hat on and blankets. Also massage their feet towards the end of the feed to help them drift off.

Some of it you may already be doing so forgive me for staying the obvious. Not every technique works for everyone. We introduced one a day and he was sleeping longer by the end of the week.

Ladies can I join you please if you don't mind a late joiner? I have been lurking for a while but not said hello.

If you don't mind a new addition, hello .

DD1 was born on 17th Nov, weighing 7lb15. She is coming up for 5 weeks now and we are muddling along together really!

Hi barmy - you were on antenatal board weren't you? How's it going?

I was Amy, fairly early on but I lost track a bit between work etc.

How are you settling in with your new addition?

We are doing ok thanks. Loving being home and enjoying lots of cuddles, trying to learn to cope with the lack of sleep .

Guys, a bit of advice please - DS had a bottle of formula today as I said, but then puked up loads after a while. He's not one to ever get sick, so I guess he just took too much.

I'll be relying on formula on occasion, so how do you balance it so they get enough but don't gobble too much & puke?

I guess just pace the bottle Anna, take breaks between ounces until his tummy adjusts to the difference and it doesn't come straight back up.

I'll have to get working on getting dd to take a bottle, I keep thinking ah it'll be grand because she took one happily at s week old, but things might have changed! I hate expressing. I've loads of milk but can never get that much with a pump compared to with a baby. Anyway will give it a go in the hope that I might get a little break over Christmas. ..