February '15 babies - appearing thick and fast!

[GeekyHybrid]

Our first thread on the 'other side'. And may all our soon to be mummies join us in this adventure through the early days of parenthood as we continue to share exciting times.

grinning & popsicle - we tried to give LO a bottle of formula last night to see if it let us have a longer spell of sleep. Another epic fail. He would not take the bottle and just cried. Ended up bf'ing from 11-12. Then 2.30-3.30. And 5.30. And 7.30, he's on his 2nd round now though I have managed to have my breakfast. For us this was a good night. OH was thinking we should try a small bottle of expressed 1st just so the bottle whilst strange at least tastes like my milk. However, it's rather hard to express when LO is feeding so regularly. There's not exactly time for engorgement here Which does mean that I think I've go off lightly leakage wise compared to some of you guys.
Big Q: When is it supposed to settle down?! I'm half expecting loads of flippant replies about 18 years etc!!

Snap geeky - when to try and express if baby is constantly on? I feel fuller this morning after the respite last night. I may try some expressing after her feed this morning. Like you I never really suffer from leakage issues.

We are going through nappies and wipes at a rate of knots. Any opinions on whether Tesco nappies are any good? We've never really had any issues with pampers but they are more expensive.

honey we got on OK with tesco nappies - we did 4 different brands in the 1st week because of all the gifts from people. We're on pampers at the mo cos there was a good deal on. I believe boots are currently doing 3 for 2 on pampers so if you get the bigger packs it works out at 10p per nappy. I've heard good things about Aldi nappies at 7p per nappy but it's literally 30 miles in all directions to our nearest Aldi but I will be road testing them next week when up north as there is one near my mom's. Bin day here so just checked and LO is on nappy number 6 since about 11 last night That's a lot of crap!!

ps - check out bumdeal.com

Well we tried combining formula and breast last night and thankfully DS will take a bottle so DH was able to do his first feed. I also tried expressing with a manual pump. I have found that it is the right boob that I have serious issues with so that is the one I am expressing send I am breast feeding from the left. I don't know why he can latch on better with the left but it was the same from the first. The bf consultant in hospital said that sometimes they just prefer one side to the other.bhas anyone else found this? I only managed to express an oz the first time and 0.5 oz the second. Please tell me this amount improves as that seems a really stupidly small amount from a boob that is leaking constantly.

We formula fed at 9pm, then breast at around 1am , then he lasted until 5.30 am when we gave formula again and he is still asleep although starting to stir at 9.30. I have managed a fabulous 5 hours sleep.

We are a.so going through nappys at a rate of knots. We were given some pampers and they have worked out fine. At the moment we are road testing morrisons own brand and they seem okay. DH hasn't complained to me anyway and he is doing most of the nappies. We have aldi's and Sainsbury's in stick so we will eventually use them too.

Geeky re getting them to take a bottle - DP to give it with you not right next to LO. Try other bottles too. - DS never managed with tommee tippee but was fine with what is now advent classic.

popsicle bottle making wise - safest method is making fresh with water above 70°C but is totally impractical, next safest method is premaking with water over 70°C and cooling as fast as possible, then storing at back of fridge.

Other options are the premade cartons/bottles, that just need tipping into a sterilised bottle, or a tommee tippee perfect prep. The perfect prep works by using a "hot shot" (couple of oz of water over 70°C) to mix the formula into then adds cold filtered water (filter in it does same job as boiling water and cooling it would) to produce a feed at the correct temperature, in a couple of mins.

I've just discovered tescos nappies - so much cheaper than pampers and they don't have that weird chemical smell either. We've always used pampers for toddler; just never occured to me to try another brand!

Does anyone have recommendations for wipes? I don't like the tescos newborn ones as they are really wet, and the simple ones cost a bomb...

I think baby is going to be just like his big brother - hardly sleeping at all in the daytime, meaning I don't get much of a break. Obviously this is preferable to being awake at night, but he's constantly fidgety and not content to be in the moses basket, playmat, bouncy chair...sigh.

We love the boots nappies although they're slightly smaller than pampers so be warned. There's a 3/2 offer on them too at the moment.

Just having a read while feeding & letting DD watch Mr tumble- a special treat as she loves it but does my head in!
Never ever had leaky boobs last time so only getting to grips with this for first time now. Have found being organised & having muslin to catch it is the only thing I can do, just not doing very well at being that organised!
Anyone any thoughts on best breast pads? I find they are getting all crumpled upon my bra.
Grinning- you may well have been told this already but if you are feeding in cross cradle hold on the good side can you try lo in rugby hold the other side as it is a more similar position & they might be fooled into thinking it's the side they like. If that makes sense?
I can't even be arsed to try expressing at the mo as never managed more than 1oz with DD & it never seemed worth the faff. Apparently some people just can't get much out with expressing.

why we did get him to take bottle back around day 4/5 when I was having major nipple pain and a mild breakdown - well it felt like it at the time. It's now day 26 (where's February gone?!) and I think he's forgotten how with the bottle. I did get OH to do it and left the room, for a relaxing bath, except for the baby wailing soundtrack We'll try again, so jealous of people who get to sleep for > 2 hour at a time, but glad for you too.

Yes we've tried the rugby ball hold a couple times but to no avail. Once even with a bf consultant present.

We're on the first tescos nappy, after the pampers debacle! Ive tried asda which were good, but im sure they were smaller than the asda ones. Ive heard good things about aldi too, so will def give them a go next time im in there.

Wipes-wise, im currently on huggies, which seem to be fine- we have quite a selection 'in stock' so will get to try a few different brands!

addicted im sure that mr tumble is a wrong 'un- if he shows up in 20 years time on the 2035 equivilent of operation yewtree, i will not be surprised

Bangles I agree about Mr Tumble! He is banned from my tv. We use Aldi, Tesco and Asda nappies, i hate the smell of the pampers ones and also think they are shit, they leak in his chair, carseat, on his back in his crib. Don't understand how they are so popular when so many own brands get better reviews and are cheaper.

Wipes I like huggies pure, pampers sensitive and Aldi sensitive

Thanks for reassuring words Emmie and Honey. I'm sure I had this problem with dd1 but at this point first time around I think I was still having severe nipple pains so leaky boobs was the least of my problems!

Re breast pads the lansinoh ones are the best by a long shot. They do get crumpled but they're the only ones that actually absorb a decent amount of milk (apparently same stuff they use in pampers nappies!) - I prob use 2 pairs a day, but worth it not to have wet patches on my boobs!

Totally agree re Mr tumble and yewtree!

Breast pads - lansinoh or Johnson's. I tried cheaper ones last time but they always scrunched, rubbed or moved, so stuck with lansinoh and Johnson's.

Another that agrees about Mr Tumble! In fact, when my mum, who works at a high security prison with sex offenders, saw the programme, she said that he looks like he should be one of the inmates!

I'll try the huggies wipes then. I thought they were being discontinued for some reason?

Geeky, your night sounded much like mine. DS breastfed all night. I find it hard to bring his wind up so he was hugely unsettled last night. Each time we put him into the moses basket, he'd scream. Gave up at 7 this morning and he fell asleep in our bed between us..which is not ideal.
DS started this new thing last night that he was knawing my nipples with his gums which caused me to cry with the pain. Ive done 11 days exclusive BFing so would love to continue with it. He's currently asleep attached to my nipple. If i take him off,he'll wake. All i want is to go for a shower. I didnt have one yday for same reason. Please advise me what to do. Really struggling..

Littlemiss try infacol first thats an orange flavoured liquid that you give before feeds, if that is no good from a month try gripe sater, zi gave it by syringe.

Purple huggies nappies were discontinued in the uk a few years ago but they continue to sell the wipes and pull ups, the thing I like about Huggies wipes is they are quite thick and not very wet. Normally on offer so a pound or cheaper per pack, I got a multi pack on baby events in Sainsburys and Asda so were even cheaper.

Ds slepts same as usual in night 1.30 and 4.30 wake ups and has not wanted to be put down so far today, I need to crack on in house and have just put him in bouncer asleep and am so tired I need a nana nap

Blank - silly question but have you tried a dummy so that your nipple doesn't have to be one??

blank mine would sleep on the boob given half a chance. For the sake of having intact nipples (and sanity) I just had to get hard hearted and remove him once I suspected he'd finished feeding, if he hasn't partially let go himself then it's the old little finger hooked into the corner of the mouth to get him to release. It took him a few days but now he pretty much always just carries on sleeping. It may be worth trying a dummy if they're comfort suckling in their sleep - I've tried once or twice but he won't take it so far. I'm intending to try again, to see if he'll settle quicker after night feeds, fingers crossed etc.

MIA a bit at the moment, very demanding baby! He wakes for a feed at around 2.30am and 4.30am.. The first feed is really easy and he dozes off quickly. The second however... The average time taken to settle is 5-6 hours. O_o

Loops and Geeky, was hoping not to go down route of using a dummy. Will use as last resort I suppose. He spit a few times this morning, never has before now. Could I be over feeding him?

My LO is feeding Sooooo much at the moment. I feel like a cow! Saying that just had a go at expressing milk with my hand pump. Gave it a half arsed go an managed to express about 40-50 mls. Hopefully she will manage the bottles later on. I can't have another night like last night or a day like today where I have fed in 2-3 blocks.