October 2014 // thread 6 // baby's new year resolution is to sleep more?!

[sazzlehopes]

Tatty has anyone else tried giving the bottle other than DH? My sisters first wouldn't take a bottle andy cousin tried and she took it from her.

We have the same problem though but haven't tried my own advice yet. Bottle isn't urgent yet but I do feel a bit trapped

bump same here - I went out twice in dec for drinks and he took a bottle and now he's having none of it

Tatty have you tried a cup? It's trickier but baby might take it a bit better than a bottle.
Happy birthday Moose hope you have a lovely day.
2 wake ups last night but she's quite chipper this morning so can't complain.

splendide - It shouldn't be a fluke. The more milk he has, the better he will sleep because he's not hungry.

sazzlehopes Are you anywhere near the 12 week growth spurt? Give it a few days, a week most, and hopefully things will improve on their own.

Bump If baby is gagging and being sick on the teat, sounds like the flow might be too high? Breastfed babies tend to stop on the level 1 teat size with slower flow. Also makes baby suck harder from the bottle teat, like a breast.

Tatty/Fed/Bump- I assume you've tried altering temperature? Some babies like it room temp, others hot, others cold. My DD likes hers hotter than expected (40 to 50 secs in microwave for 6oz of cold milk - I know The Rules say you shouldn't microwave milk, I'm a rebel)

Also doing it when baby is half asleep and not hungry at first

Something else I found that worked to get baby used to the bottle was breastfeeding first, then positioning bottle while still breast feeding and whip nipple out of mouth and slip the bottle teat in really quickly. I kept baby with the breast and at any upset swapped back to breast and back to bottle again. This isn't a plan for the long term, but helpful to first get baby used to the bottle.

Tatty could you try dipping the teat in some expressed breast milk to see if the smell might entice her? This might sound odd but what about detaching the teat of the bottle and putting it over your nipple and try to get her to latch on to it - not that she'll get any milk that way but she might get used to the shape and feel of it, then put it back on the bottle while still warm and covered In her saliva... Or she might suss you straightaway and think I am having none of this!

I managed to get her to take it twice by slipping it past my nipple but she's wise to it now. We've tried different temperatures, different positions, doing it when she's hungry/not hungry sleepy/not sleepy. The two times I conned her with my nipple are the only times she's actually drunk from it. The others have all been on a scale running from gumming it to wailing. I've tried a cup but it just ended up with all of us needing a bath. Now we're just at trying daily and hoping. Today, by holding her upright with her back to my tummy and offering her a bottle at room temperature we have succeeded in not actually making her cry. It feels like this is eating up all of our time. Really a bit at the end of my tether.

fatpony I'll try that. The thing is because of the couple of times she's taken it from behind my nipple we know that she can drink from it. At the moment I'm hoping that if she spends enough time gumming on it without crying, she'll eventually drunk from it.

Also we have a medium flow teat so maybe it's too fast? I'll see if I can get a slower one.

I think you are suppose to start breastfed babies on the slowest teat no matter what their age, so worth a try.

Honestly Tatty, if it's that much hassle I wouldn't bother. Assuming you are happy to continue breastfeeding of course? How long until you go back to work? Once baby is 6m+ you can work on a sippy cup instead.

In terms of being tied to baby, feeds will spread out in time anyway. As long as you have a patient babysitter who's happy to baby jiggle, distract and entertain, you should be able to get 3 or 4 hours away from baby. So a shopping trip or hair dresses could be done.

If it's a proper night out, then maybe either decide these can wait until baby is 6 months (which is quite reasonable, I reckon), take baby with you (can be done) or just hope that in desperation baby would take a bottle when starving.

We use slowest teat, sitting upright and room temp. Gave it a bit cooler once as it hadn't been out the fridge long and he reacted like DH was trying to poison him.

Fate he'll be 15 weeks this Saturday. But he was a week overdue. When I looked at the wonder weeks book it seems like the supposed development leap of 19weeks can start as early as 15? Which feels odd as I'm sure we've just come out of the 12 week one. Anyway yes hoping it doesn't last much longer than a week more. He's been sleeping badly the last 2 weeks now and last night really took the piss. I need to learn to nap in the day with him to catch up! going to bed early tonight I think!

Well, I'm almost at the not bothering stage. I've got a meeting a week on Thursday which will involve being gone for 6 hours. Worst case scenario is take her with me, but it's something I really need to be attending to with my full brain (it's any marketing for something I've written, so be paying attention is the whole point). I don't mind not going on nights out or shopping or that sort of thing, but unfortunately this I don't have much choice about, and there will be more stuff over the next three months. I think we're going to keep trying till next Thursday and then resign ourselves.

If you were to leave LO at home, who would be babysitting?

Instead of babysitting, could that person come with you? They could go shopping in the nearest town centre with baby, or similar? You could then arrange to meet at a set time to feed.

Sounds like more hassle than it actually is.

A colleague of mine when I was teaching used to have her childminder bring her baby son into school at 12.30pm and 3.30pm every day to be breastfed. CM would then take baby away until Mum got home at about 6pm ish.

Sazzle - same age as my DD. 15 weeks is a bit off for a wonder week. I often think it is very easy to just say "growth spurt" without actually considering other ideas, so you are right to think about other things like hunger.

Afternoon naps with baby are great. Definitely take advantage of being 'allowed' to sleep in the daytime while you have a baby.

Thanks fate I can grab a nap today as ds1 is at nursery until 5...
He is growing so well, in fact he's big I think for his age. He's in all ds1 3-6 stuff just about and sleep suits 6-9 month stuff as he's outgrown the 3-6... So can he really just be hungry? He's ebf - but sometimes I feel he is too quick to feed and perhaps doesn't get enough. That's why I'm tempted to crack open the formula for an evening feed perhaps to help me out. I could express but it's such a chore when he's attached to my boob all the time!

fate that's our other option. Dp will be looking after her, so we can all go and he can call me when she needs feeding. It's incentral London so he can drink overpriced coffee for four hours. Then he can call me when he needs me. I think we'll decide next week what seems easiest. We're going to do a sort of dry run on Sunday- I'm going to the pub round the corner with a friend and he's going to see what happens when I'm not there long enough for her to be actually hungry- that way I can be home in five minutes if it's a disaster.

The other side of all this is that dp really wants to be able to take care of her on his own. It's rotten for him with me and my titsalways playing gooseberry. anyway. I'm going to go and get a different bottle with a slower teat and see if that has any effect.

Can I ask does anyone give goat milk formula? Benefits verses normal cow milk formula?

My gamble didn't pay off. Decided to try painting radiator whilst baby napped. Of course the screaming started after the first brush stroke.

God bump you must be so frustrated, fingers crossed for the new kind tonight ?

I had to abort my shopping trip, first day i have took the kids to the shops since last week as it wasn't blowing a gale, baba was screaming blue murder every time the pram stopped moving, then she was the same in the car, dd1 was bugging me about a getting a toy even though her room looks more stocked than hamley's at christmas never got half of what i needed

Went to the doctors aswell to get my blood checked as i feel so drained even getting a not bad sleep? I could honestly sleep for a week the now & it still wouldn't be enough & baby has eczema on the sides of her face

So I saw a Mum I know with her new baby today. Born at the weekend, just less than 7lb.

Tiny!

It's amazing how quickly they change at this age. Just 3 and a bit months ago and my DD was a tiny newborn like that (well, a lot bit bigger birth weight, but still a tiny newborn)

bump any joy? We tried our fourth different type of bottle tonight but no joy. She spends all her time trying to drink her bathwater and stick dp 's thumb in her mouth, and she'll chew on a teat if there's no milk in it so why oh why oh. Feeling demoralised.

Thanks for the birthday wishes :) we went to the trafford centre for baby cinema (taken 3) then nandos for lunch as its one of the few cmpi friendly places. Got a few funny looks for bf and eating a chicken burger at the same time but nevermind!
Am absolutely shattered now tho, bloody lack of sleep! And nibbler wont release my nipple at all so far tonight! Have tried a few times but nooo.
I wish dh wanted to look after babymoose more tatty , boobs are his solution to all crying! I really think he wouldnt be able to cope on his own unless going for a drive/walk lol
Altho dh did get me a lush bath bomb and a promise of time to have a bath as a present so maybe hes getting braver :)

Aww bump & tatty you both must have magic nippels or something ??

Glad you had a nice day moose enjoy your soak !!

I put baba in the big bath tonight, it was hilarious she was kicking & splashing like there was no tomorrow, not giving a hoot about it going in her eyes, totally loved it but fell asleep Half way through her feed, wee soul had knakered herself out. Cant wait to take her on holiday now