September 2014 Babies leave the newborn stage behind. Thread 2

[SeptemberBabies]

New thread because our initial thread is about to max out.

For babies born around September 2014 - or just before for early arrivals and just after for late arrivals.

Team, have you tried white noise when LO is fussy? It is just magical...

Has anybody elsess baby turned grizzly and miserable at 8 weeks ( a few days post jabs).

Baby had his jabs on Wednesday and pretty much slept all of Wednesday and Thursday. Over the weekend he has been so grumpy and crying /tensing his body for hours at a time. He is usually inconsolable - although a bath will calm him down (but he will scream again when he gets out).

He doesn't have a temperature or a cold and bowel movements are fine.

Is this normal ?

Nazly I've read online that you can hold the bag under warm water and defrost that way. It doesn't have that on every website, some say to put in the fridge but like you've said, babies do not provide 24 hours notice!

I would think if you thaw it slowly under warm running water then that will be fine. That's what I've done anyway. It warms the milk slightly as well which is good for us because DS won't take it cold, and only at room temp at a push.

We had this to jaykay although I don't think it was linked to jabs. I think it was a coincidence that DS suddenly started fighting naps because the world was too interesting. Unfortunately it's an ongoing battle here as I'm finding it hard to settle him during the day. Is your little one getting enough sleep during the day?

8 weeks was a huge growth spurt for us. Also around one of their wonder weeks I believe.

I defrost ebm in a cup of boiling water, in the same way I would warm a bottle (if that makes sense).

Dare I say it but DS has been v sleepy the past few days. Yesterday we went out to starbucks and he slept in the car, then when we got there was due a feed but fell asleep on boob for nearly 2 hours. Then when we got home went right back to boob (5pm) and slept until I put him down at 9. Didn't wake until 4 . I'm sure I'll have payback though when his sleepiness is replaced with hunger as this seems to be his pattern when he's having a growth spurt.

DD just won't be put down at all recently. She is really fighting falling asleep too, which is a new thing. So I now spend all my time either feeding her (every 2 hrs), getting her to sleep or with her asleep on me. It's just impossible to do anything else, and it is really starting to get to me. I seriously struggle to squeeze in sorting her meds, expressing 50 ml a day, sterilising, eating and weeing (in that order of priority!). I need to be out of the house in an hour and don't know how I will manage it. She's 9 weeks now. When does this start to get easier?

Jaykay yes since jabs last Tuesday my smiley little boy has turned into a bit of a restless grizzle bucket. His movements can be v jerky, he doesn't settle as well for sleep at night and possibly sleeps more during the day. No fever, just not quite himself.

Advice please. I can generally get him back in his crib after 11pm and 3am feeds. However, the 5am feed - no way and he usually ends up falling asleep on me which is great for him but a tad uncomfy for me! any ideas as to how I can encourage him to go back into crib?

Jaykay - Jessica was exactly the same. Uncertain if it was due to jabs as HV said about 2 months was peak age for colic too. Infacol before every feed helped us.

Hols - I have the same issue. After 5am very difficult to get her in Moses basket, and often she will only sleep on me but I lie on the sofa with her and sleep at the same time, so it's not too bad!

I'm also struggling with naps during the day, he rarely feeds to sleep anymore and is just far too interested in everything else until he gets grumpy. I've resorted to just taking him out in the sling which is great exercise but would rather be watching tv and he falls straight asleep.

I often give up after the 5am wake up and let him sleep on me, he used to spend the whole night there so I can cope with a couple of hours! I'll try him in his basket, but he usually wakes within 10 minutes.

Have bought b a bouncy chair which he loves. Trying him in it in conservatory by the door so he can see out. Seems more interested in fists and looking at my wrapped Xmas pressies. Still seems more interesting than sitting room :-) anyone else got good ideas as to things I can do to entertain? He has a playmat which he goes on, but less interested since chair came. Has lots of jangly toys but currently more interested in a cuddly monkey :-). I just so sometimes feel he must be dead bored.

Holls I bought a bubble tube because I was worried about boredom. Like this one. DS loves it. He is also starting to just be entertained by watching me get on around the house from his bouncy chair. Assuming he's not too tired or hungry that is. Which is a fine line!

I have just got him down for a nap in his cot for the first time ever. It took me about an hour and a half but finally he's snoozing! I used a swaddle which I haven't done since he was tiny but he kept waving his arms and waking himself so I tried it and he laid there a bit and babbled to himself and then dropped off. I bet it's a fluke. I am not that lucky lol.

I'm hoping I can crack these naps soon, it'll make for a happier baby and a happier mummy. No doubt once I crack it he'll throw another new problem my way though. Isn't motherhood great?!

Holls, you know you are the most interesting thing he has. DS is generally uninterested in toys the tv on the other hand... He just likes watching people. He loves me putting the washing on the dryer as the clothes flap about and he loves me loading the dishwasher because of the clanging noises. I just talk to him or sing to him really. I sometimes will play with him and his oball, but beyond that he's not really able to do a lot else yet anyway so I don't worry about it. He's pretty good at amusing himself flapping his arms and legs about anyway.

oh good I talk to him and we dance to the radio and watch the west wing together :-)

naps. I hadn't even thought about naps. should I be trying to get naps into day rather than him sleeping when he fancies it? was planning on puttung him into cot during day a few times to prepare him for when he moves into it. how do I even go about naps? times of day? as I type he is asleep on me for his second sleep of the day! xx

honeybear To be honest he doesn't sleep in the day anymore unless he's in the pram or car - and even then, he doesn't spend whole journeys asleep. Then in the evenings he seems to battle tiredness. The upside is that during the night he doesn't stay awake for long periods - just feeds and sleeps again.

holls I just managed to figure out that DS wasn't sleeping very long during the day (unless on my chest!) and that the less sleep he was having in the day the more grumpy he was becoming. Which is why I'm trying to implement nap time now. It's not at set times of the day, just when he starts to yawn I take him to his room, close the blind, rock him gently and then put him in his cot with his dummy. It's trial and error though, sometimes it works and sometimes not. Ideally I'd like him to have naps in his room because he will be too big for his carrycot soon and also I personally think it's a good routine to be in. Also hoping it will ease the transition when he has to go in his own room at night aswell! I didn't realise I'd have to intervene with naps, it just sort of happened by me realising he was tired and not sleeping enough.

Maybe you have the same problem jaykay? DS still sleeps at night with the naps during the day. He's just generally more settled when he's awake now. I think it was around 8 weeks I first had the problem (we're at 11 now).

Frozen Milk
I warm defrosted breastmilk in the microwave and defrost either in bowl of boiled water (if I'm in a rush) or just on the kitchen worktop above the tumble drier if less rushed. But then I'm quite slap-dash chilled about it all.

Dummy
We had a break though last week, just as DD got to 8 weeks. Finally perseverance got her to have a dummy and it is as if the whole world has changed. She is delightful, sleeps most of the time, happy, giggly and smiley when awake, can put her down in cot/moses basket awake when she's ready for a nap and she'll totally self-settle. Breastfeeding better- bigger feeds, better spaced apart, and more routined. Everything is great right now.

She's the only one of my children who's not immediately taken to the dummy. I though she wasn't going to have it, been refusing it from birth. Soooooo glad she will now. Makes a huge difference in her temperament.

Breast Shells
Have any of our breastfeeders/expressers tried these? I've never come across them before and a friend of mine recommended them when I was complaining about soaking through breastpads. They are hard plastic things that you put on the other boob, in your bra, while feeding or expressing. It is a vessel to catch drips and sprays from your nipple.

They can be sterilised and so used to collect milk for storage. I have found that I drip about 4oz ( 120ml ish) per day. That gives me enough milk for a dream-feed at 11pm that DH does - so that I get more sleep. This is all without any hassle or effort in expressing.

At about £10 to buy, breast shells are my genius product of the year.

honeybear b is having much shorter naps. I agree with you about transition to cot so think may try it.

I use breast shells but I don't keep the milk as I figure it'll be foremilk and I already have issues with an imbalance I think. Plus I can't be bothered to sterilise them and I rarely express anyway. I just use them to stop the ridiculous soaking that was happening at every feed and for that they work well. I've only forgotten I have one on a few times and poured it everywhere!

I used breast shells but I don't think they were worth the money-
I got them to let my breast(nipples) breath as they were painful in the beginning; I used them for 2-3 weeks and then my milk supply settled; no big leak any more; with regards to collecting the milk it wasn't for me, I didn't have time or energy to collect and pour little bits of milks together; while being careful the collected milk will not pour out of the shell all of the sudden

I know some people like them, and for me when I was sick of damp breast pad it worked, but I used them for very short time

oh good lord. health visitor came out today cos I was having a wobble and she reckons B has had a week long reaction to the jabs. she then said he might have a worse reaction to the next lot so I am now dreading them they are on 16th so god I hope he is sorted by xmas. panicing already.

Ella, DS did exactly that. At 4.30am. For three nights. Then he's gone back to sleeping through. Touchwood.

He woke up starving hungry, so I've made sure he is up at 7.30am for his first feed of the day as he can get another feed in before bedtime now as I suspect that might be the issue. I've no idea if this has been the solution or not, but if it means no night feeds, I'm willing to get up early!

Ohhhhh you lucky mums ; stop talking about sleeping through I am very jealous...
Was taking to my friend who lives down under and has a beautiful 1.5yrs baby girl- the longest stretch of sleep she has is 4 hours!!! I guess I should be happy with 5-6 hrs at 3months !!!

Anybody wants fisher price rainforest jumperoo they are on sale on amazon...

Nazly, I have so much respect for everyone who hasn't got a sleeper. I don't think I could cope. I'm sure we'll get 'payback' with something else in the future though!