September 2014 - Into the new year!

[RedToothBrush]

Shiny New Thread for a Shiny New Year.

Team your DD's overnights sound identical to my DS's! Same timings, same thrashing, same morning poo (tho not every morning). Wonder if thats the classic night of a dairy allergy baby!

That's really interesting Acorn! Are you still EBF? DD is on neocate formula. I'm hoping for some hints and tips to try!

Yeah, still ebf. We were given nutramigen, I belive its cheaper than neocate so you did well to get that prescribed! But DS is having none of it, I feel like I should persevere because it may actually be better for him and it would be handy. Though he won't take a bottle at all which doesn't help.

Acron I am so glad you are on this thread...
Can you introduce anything good you read about weaning reflux babies? I have checked a few sources and all of them seems to contradict each other... I know every baby is different but there is not even agreement on generals, some say baby rice is best to start with some say it has negative impact on reflux, some say oatmeal some say no, and big disagreement on fruits, some say banana is excellent some say it is not

My worry is to try too many things not good for his reflux and making a food aversion in him... I feel this is happening already here

Team sorry I have no advice just that our babies (with reflux, allergy or other digestion issues) may be quite different to other babies, not being able to sleep properly maybe because of various pains, having small feeds numerous times is defo related to that for us (ds feeds every two hours or so but only for a few minutes); also ds also feeds better when half asleep, it may be distraction buy I read in a book reflux symptoms maybe a bit better when they are half asleep...

I've read so much conflicting stuff too, not sure if it's because every baby is different or because people just spout rubbish online! The paediatrician said use baby rice for before 6 months. I was going to try carrot and pear first as they're the only things I've read that have been recommended a few times. I'm waiting for an appointment with a dietician so hoping they'll know what they're talking about! I plan to do a lot more reading over the next week or so to really try and get to the bottom of it.

I have thought about donating. I've gone so far as looking into it before, especially since my neighbour did it.

It looks a complete nightmare to do tbh. It doesn't seem straightforward at all even for someone who isn't a fruit cake.

I find the prospect of the screening process both daunting and anxiety inducing. Its perhaps not something that would bother most people and will probably sound ridiculous to you all. But you have to bare in mind why I had an ELCS in the first place and how I feel about stuff about health stuff. I wrote a long post about the ins and outs of it, but deleted it as it would bore the tits off you all and just sound like I'm making excuses. The short version is pretty much I have panic attacks around HCPs, and its a bloody miracle I managed DS's 2nd set of injections on my own. (But even that involved support from DH after a full scale panic attack on set one of injections)

Practically the freezer issue is also an issue. In order to donate you need to have enough space to store 20-30 bottles (approx. 5 litres worth in a month). We currently have 7-8 litres stored in bags. Even if we binned the whole lot, I'm not sure we could fit the bottles in because they take up more space than bags do.

Yes I'm pathetic. I am working on it and that's why I've been getting extra support with HV too.

Actually maybe not carrot afterall, more acidic than I thought. Yes, definitely a minefield!

Red that's no good; they should make it easier for mums to donate not this complicated... To be honest I wouldn't go through it either and I am easy around medical stuff

Acron carrots were bad for ds... I would be so grateful if you could write me a brief of what dieticians tells you please... It is not only online stuff, I bought 3 books and they are not consistent either.

I feel AWFUL about it Nazly. Its hard to get donors which I fully understand, but I don't think it helps that its not easy to do anyway. I would LOVE to do it. I've just been having a chat with DH about it, and unfortunately due to changes in his job, he doesn't think he can take the time off to support me do it. (Which is what I thought, and why I hadn't broached the subject with him previously).

I'm not having the best day this morning. Someone has rattled me via PM over something I've posted two months ago in the childbirth section because I disagreed with them. They clearly have a few issues, but I didn't expect someone to PM me trying to point score about it. I've blocked and told them not to bother me again, but I'm still rattled. I try and be really honest and balanced about the subject and suggest other approaches POVs too.

Well it finally happened - 8pm to 7am with no feed. I know some of you have this already, first time for DD though, 17 weeks.

After 8pm bedtime last night she woke at 4am and 5am, but reaching across and popping dummy in her mouth settled her both times. We've been working on dropping the 11pm for about a week now, so have had a few nights of going back to doing a night feed. Last night was the first night I didn't need to. Woo Hoo!

Team - DD also feeds 2 to 2 1/2 hourly, but only through the daytime. She has six 6oz bottles between 7am and 8pm. She does usually finish her 6oz bottles aside from a couple a day.

A couple of weeks ago though she was regularly leaving anything between 1 and 3 oz (average having 4oz per feed). It was noticing that she was starting to drink more each feed that got me considering dropping the 11pm feed. I'll see how dropping the night feed affects her first, but I may then up the amount she has per feed to 7oz and dry to space them out so we have just 5 feeds rather than 6.

All of my waffling aside, baby's change over time. Offer more milk that your DD will drink each feed and make sure she has enough each feed. When you notice her having more per feed, then it is either time drop a feed or increase the amount per feed. It'll keep changing though.

I remember thinking that there were loads of hoops to jump through to donate breast milk, so I don't blame you at all for deciding not too. Your expressing still amazes me though!

I will be having to wean DD dairy free, so if anyone has any experience of that I'd be really interested to hear how it went and what foods went well.

I'm at my mum's today and one of my nephew's soppy cups is here. Quite tempted to give it a try and see what DD makes of it. Has anyone moved onto cups yet?

Red - it's awful how aggressive some people can be on here. Yesterday I posted something asking for advice on DDs sleep/poo patterns and got a reply that felt unnecessarily harsh. It has put me off posting on the main boards again. I think I'll just stick to ours.

Thanks fate, that gives me hope that it is possible. I think I need to just try my best to get as much milk in her through the day as possible. Feeding in her sleep does seem to be working well so far.

Oh, and for anyone interested in our early morning pooing antics, this morning it wasn't until 6.15! Woo hoo

Team I also have a grazer! He does get the right amount of milk a day, just in small amounts. I can't over any advice as nothing seems to work to change him...but here are some of the things the HV suggested:

1. Don't feed on demand - have actual mealtimes so hunger can be built up. (This didn't work, I tried for a few days and he still only had a few ounces per feed.)

2. Giving a large feed before bed, and not allowing feeds during night time. (I do try to give him a large feed whilst he does off and after he has fallen asleep but he still wakes a few hours later).

3. Changing the teat size (No difference except the inevitable spluttering when you first go up a size).

So in conclusion, perhaps I should have persevered for longer to see results, but the truth is all the time J is eating and putting on weight, I am happy to let him have a few ounces as he needs it and waking through the night. I think it will change when he goes on solids anyway.

I tend not to panic too much with these things, not like I would have with my eldest - as I have seen how they all get to where they need to be eventually .

Sorry -typos galore on that last post. How do I turn off predictive text on a Samsung galaxy?

jaykay - I have the same phone I had in 1998 . No idea about predictive text on the Galaxy.

With regards to breastmilk, I would guess they have to make very sure about the milk if giving it to poorly newborns in hospital.

Red - Maybe the person on that thread was just having a bad day too? We all have them.

My DD is currently nearly naked on the floor (yet again). I do not believe she has ever had a time when she didn't have sore bits. Just varying degrees of slightly red to very red. Currently quite red, so lots of no nappy time today.

Fate, have you tried Naty nappies? They are not that absorbent and they are quite expensive, but they are very natural. When DD gets sore I use them during the day for a couple of days with lots of sudocream and it clears up. I now do one Naty nappy a day and have had no sore bits since doing that. Might be worth a try?

Fate, the person PMed me TWO MONTHS after we disagreed on a thread to try and prove her point. It wasn't a bad day on a thread. As much as I think there are some bad posters, I still wouldn't expect most to harass you by PM. That's what bothered me so much. And for the most part people on MN are generally more well meaning and helpful than that.

I don't think its a bad thing to make sure of milk to give to newborns, its more that I do think there are ways to make it easier to donate still. There's hoop jumping and there's hoop jumping. It seems its more about their convenience rather than making it as easy as possible for donors which if there is such a demand, really is arse about face.

I've been thinking about it for a while as I feel like I should, but its kind of come to a head today. I've stewed on it most of the day and realised that in itself isn't good. I think that whilst physically yes I might be able to produce enough milk for donate I'm not sure my head is in the right place. I'm already thinking of how much I'd need to pump daily in addition to what DS has. Its been stressful enough up to this point to and I think it would feel like an additional pressure. I might feel a bit differently if I didn't have concerns over DS's weight as it is, if I could donate after 6months when I started weaning or if I was just breastfeeding and didn't have to partly feed DS with the bottle still.

I've had a little more extra this week because he's wanted to breastfeed more which has meant he hasn't used up stocks in the fridge, but there is no guarantee he'll keep doing that, and feeding him expressed milk, because he doesn't want it from the breast can be wasteful. He has good days and bad days with both at the moment. I haven't thrown much away that hasn't been warmed and offered to him until this week really but when I start weaning I think it will become more of an issue.

In other news: Man sighted reading instructions whilst putting together something' Shocker.

Bought a stairgate. DH said "Its broken, Look" before I pointed out the illustration on the back of the box matched what was in his hand. He's crept off quietly with the instructions.

Is it weird to start using dummy now? He will be 24 weeks next week! We have avoided dummy till now (well, I have prob used it less than ten times since birth when he wad being difficult; so he doesn't really know what a dummy is at this point) but today I am tired and having a headache could not cuddle and sooth so offered dummy before nap. Reluctantly.

Can more experienced mums please tell me if you take the dummy when they fall asleep or do you just leave it?

Nazly - when he's in a deep sleep the dummy will fall out of his mouth (because the muscles holding it in his mouth relax), you can move the dummy then. About 10 minutes for my daughter, but this depends on the individual. If he stirs or wakes slightly, you could put it back in and sucking should re-settle him.

Very easy, simple replacement for the breast.

As for age, if he'll accept the dummy then fine. There will come an age when it's just too late. My first born was 20 weeks before we introduced a dummy. I think it is perfectly normal that a first time Mum will prefer not to use a dummy then you realise just how beneficial they are

Red _ Wouldn't worry about donating. As you say, you definitely don't want to add to your worry.

Don't suppose you have a dog? We would give our dog any leftover breastmilk in a bowl. That sounds odd, but it helps the feeling of it going to waste. My dog is a very old lady and I like the idea of intimately supporting her a little with milk containing lots of goodness.

Red, sounds like donating won't work for you, so try not to worry and stress about it. It's really not worth having extra things to stress you out.

Nazly, DD has had a dummy since three weeks. She only really has it to go to sleep and I can tell she is in a deep sleep when it falls out of her mouth! I just leave it in if she is keeping it in.

Aaagh it only helped with the first cycle, the he waked crying for milk ...

Keep trying it Nazly, it is a skill they can learn!

I really wanted to keep DD up until 7.30 tonight, but she is currently asleep on my lap having a bottle. I tried!

We are using a variflow teat for the first time, but it seems to be filling with air bubbles more than normal teats. Is that usual?

Nazly dummy has been saving grace. I am horrid. b wakes up in night. I reattach dummy and he goes back to sleep. don't offer a bottle. mean mummy. it will maybe take a few days to get used to.

red I find from reading other boards that some people can be really horrid on here and sometimes atagonistic for no reason. however this board is ace cos we all seem to want to look after each other.

Not horrid holls, sensible! Seems to be the way to get to a whole nights sleep. Where I bf it is oh so easy to just offer boob. So I'm still feeding every 2-3 hours at night. I try a dummy for all of 2 minutes but I'm too impatient and just want to get back in my bed! I love in hope that one of these nights DS will just sleep through, hahahahahahahahahaaaaa

I walk into his room in a daze. plug in dummy. back to sleep. xxx