October 2014 // thread 5 // baby's first Christmas

[JeannePoole]

Welcome back!

(Dear greetings cards manufacturers: 'Baby's First Christmas' does NOT necessarily have to include Baby being liberally sprinkled with glitter from your shoddily-made merchandise.

Except that, as I'm rapidly discovering, it does.

Feeling fed up today. Any time off where DH has baby betty, I just catch up on sleep. Or feed myself. I MISS SITTING DOWN AND READING A BLOODY BOOK!

We still haven't got any sort of routine but I feel I ought to try and start. Maybe in the new year when DH is back at work and I can attempt to get ds1 in bed and ds2 as well... At the moment I'm still enjoying having Ned downstairs with us in the eve...

Noticed tiny amount of blood in Neds poo today , but seen mucus the last few days so I'm defo going back to dairy free. Only been having a bit for a week or so so hoping it leaves my body quickly... I don't mind though really as I feel I know what to replace. It's only a decent coffee shop latte I miss, otherwise I can cope! Now should I ho to the doctors about it or just mange by myself? I think I'll do what yellow and excited are going to do and do another trial at 6 months when he's bigger and in beginning to introduce real food...

DD has been in big cot from birth with her sleeping bag. But then she was/is massive.

Sazzle - I read an article suggesting small amounts of blood in poo could be down to a slow down of milk flow (rather than dairy intolerance). It is suggested that it can be solved by doing things to increase milk supply and flow.

I've got an over-possetting child today. Small piles at every turn- constant smell of sick/off mlk under my nose, urgh.

I feel your pain Goats.

I had a projectile vomiting 5 year old yesterday. Today he is refusing to eat and I am struggling to get him to drink either. He's thrown up every mouthful of water I've got him to sip today. I know it's not baby related, but really worrying me. Don't know at what point I need to phone 111 for dehydration.

Really hope baby doesn't catch this sickness bug.

Sazzle given there was blood when on dairy, no blood when you eliminated dairy and blood again when you've reintroduced it - a paediatrician would count that as evidence of CMPI. It could be a supply issue but I can't see how cutting dairy would improve supply so that the blood disappeared during the period you eliminated dairy. If your LO isn't in pain, and you want to be sure its CMPI and not a supply issue - keep on dairy and try to boost your supply using oats, turmeric, fenugreek, domperidone. If there are already other CMPI symptoms ie eczema, wheezing, reflux then combined with the bloody stool and positive elimination test then I'd say its CMPI and trying to up your supply won't do anything to help. I don't get why there's such a concern about undersupply though - our bodies can feed twins and most nursing mums in the UK aren't malnourished?

bodies can feed twins

I know or have known lots of sets of twins and their Mums, including three HCP with twins. I'd guess at around 15-20 Mums of twins. The minority went straight to formula and most started breastfeeding. But without exception I do not know one mother of twins who was exclusively breastfeeding at 6 months.

I wasn't going to post this because I do not intend to take away from your point - that women in the UK need to get better messages that they can breastfeed easily. Absolutely agree. Just your point of twins doesn't ring true in my experience.

fate I don't know if this helps but I had a horrific d and v bug when I was pregnant I couldn't keep water down and they suggested putting a glass of water in the freezer for half an hour and taking sips every five minutes apparently the body is more likely to tolerate ice cold water. It worked for me they also suggested ice pops I know it's probably not something you will have in your freezer in December though!

Fate thanks, I actually thought I had oversupply at the beginning not an under supply due to N drowning and choking in my milk and a painful let down. I spent two weeks tackling it. My baby is huge! No problem with supply here!

I also have a good friend that had twins and bf both exclusively until they were just over one! I've no idea how she managed, such a trouper. The boy wouldn't take a bottle and the girl was dairy intolerant so she had little choice! Granted she's my only example though!

Yellow thanks again, always appreciate your help even though I bet you feel like you're repeating yourself! I eat quite a lot of those the foods anyway, and he shows other symptoms. Wheezing, dry rashy forehead and chocking after feeding when lying down... I'm pretty sure all this improved during my 8 weeks off dairy.

I could buy icepops tomorrow. Anything is worth a try. He looks so poorly, bless him. If I can't get him drinking tomorrow then I'd going to end up in A&E.

Ahhhh Fate my opinion is probably skewed because my mum EBF me and my twin sister for a year. I don't know twins - other than being one!

Ohhh, you're a twin? That's cool. Are you identical?

... I've just realised that's probably the most annoying question a twin gets asked. Sorry

My mum ebf my brother and sister (twins) and had oversupply to the point her let down was so fast she felt like she was drowning my poor brother hehe.

Fate yes we're identical. The most annoying twin questions are "do you feel each other's pain?" (no but I know when she's in trouble / upset from afar) and "do you ever deliberately try to confuse people" (no when no one can tell you apart anyway there's no fun in pranks!) and no we've never swapped boyfriends!

Sooooo... early bed tinge experiment. Admittedly we have a sample size of one, but she went to sleep like a dream at 7.45 after bath, story, feed. We sneaked next door- first time in our own in eleven weeks Hurrah. Unfortunately she's woken crying every fifteen minutes or so since, but gone back to sleep quite quickly after a cuddle and a feed. Not like her to cry on waking- dp thinks it's because we're not in the room. Anyway, in staying in with her now and we'll finish our game of Rivals of Catan tomorrow. The rest of the night might be awful, but so far this feels like a draw, with the early bed time creating much less fussiness.

(both my parents are twins. I was so relieved at my first scan that I did a little dance).

tatty r wakes still after I've put him down at 7 almost like clockwork after 45 mins. Tonight it was after 20 another feed and a cuddle for a bit did the trick. I'm hoping that if I keep persevering he will get there in the end. First night in the big cot for us tonight fingers crossed it might make a bit of a difference :)

Yeah, I think perseverance feels to me like the key. I'm not sure I wholly buy the "she knows we're not in the room" theory but if it is that then getting her used to it gradually seems to be the way to go. And the earlier bed time has made it the easiest evening we've had in a while, despite the wake ups (also we've had some high quality naps today).

If people are trying the big cot does that mean you will be sleeping in a different room to the baby?

We had a week of him sleeping really well in big cot in his own room but then he got a horrible cough and i was too worried so weve crammed it into our room now :s

Big cot (minus one side) is butted up to my side of the bed in our bedroom.

DH wants to put E into her own room but I dont. She's not keeping us awake, is happy in her crib and is easier for me to get to to feed/ check. We're going to try putting her to bed before us this week.
I'm interested to hear what you lot are doing and what works.

I'm interested too, I'll be a week or so behind so will be reading your experiences in preparation.

I always said that I'd carry her and co sleep for 3 months then reevaluate. I know now that carrying is fine but co sleeping isn't a long term option... so, must bite the bullet. I actually really like it, but I think it's beginning to effect our relationship. I miss him!

We'll move Lil into the big cot in our room at five months (DS has happily vacated it for a big boy bed last week - I didn't want to evict him when she needed it IYSWIM in case he felt like second fiddle) and then into a room with her brother at 6 months. She falls asleep on us after her 8/9pm feed, has another feed when we go to bed, then sleeps through til 7 half the time, other nights has a quick feed at 4 and sleeps til we wake her. So she's ready for a bedtime I guess. I think I'm going to use the 4 month sleep regression (if it arrives) to instigate a bedtime and the move to a sleeping bag.