***************December 2006 ****************

[lucy5]

I can't access the thread with my rubbish Spanish internet connection. Could someone start a new thread and link it on the old one too. Thankyou. Hope alls well!

ah satin, sorry dd unwell...snot is very mean to babies. Hope she gets well soon - my dd is finally on mend, took about four days (and loooong nights!)

aq, true. suppose am remembering dd1 when 3-4 month step up in feeds did signal start of weaning (to formula), but you're quite right - and dd will still bf when sleepy first thing and at night, so its not all me and my medela

speaking of which, scuse 1 handed typing....

oh, and it WAS cold unsettling dd: less snotty, and we got back to 4.5 and 5 hour stretches - just before I started hallucinating from lack of sleep

If only I could get 4-5 hour stretches of sleep! Max last night was 2 1/2 hrs in one go - and I know that some would be jealous of that! He is waking me up between his night feeds needing re-settling - he'll go for another 90 minutes before waking again so I know it's not a feed he needs, just it takes 5-10 mins to settle him and then about another 30 to settle me!!

AQ, what wrap does the manufacturer of the nappy suggest? As I said, the ME wrap doesn't fit snuggly around his legs, but that is the one that is suggested, and as it is a barrier layer I just have to make sure it is being a barrier. The nappy itself fits snuggly round the legs so no leakage. Is it worth trying the nappies with a barrier wrap rather than a wickable wrap? Or both together?
Mind you, I've worked out that financially it seems cheaper to use disposables for night time if you can get away without changing it! Just I somehow think it must be much nicer for him to have fleece on his bum and his bum is always dry in the morning

Elibean, I've been doing 1 formula bottle a day for over a month now and still bf the rest of the time. My LO (12lb 10oz) is growing so fast (mostly in lenght) and needs more than I can give him and the bottle before bed gets us 6-8 hours sleep which is fantastic for 11 weeks.

He slept from 9.30 last night until 7.30 this morning, but that was due to him having NO SLEEP AT ALL yesterday from 8.30am. Let me tell you all, the extra sleep was not worth the grumpy baby I had to try to entertain all day!!! And it was my birthday too.....

AQ fleece wrap works best when loose else it squeezes moisture out of the nappy iyswim. What does he sleep in? I've found that now ds is wetting more gro bags don't work so well with a fleece wrap as all the moisture that wicks out of the nappy through the wrap soaks into the gro bag and can't evaporate off which is of course the idea of fleece. I find that with a nice loose sleep suit and a fleecy sleep bag (or just blankets) he has a nice dry bum. In a gro bag his bum is dry but clothes and gro bag are sodden!

Mummy has the cold too now
Thankfully though ds is getting over it. Had his 8 week check yesterday (he is 9 weeks but who's counting) and they declared that since he didn't have a temp he could still have his jabs. I heartily recommend jabbing ontop of a cold, the paractamol I gave him for the jabs knocked him out! When he woke for his 10pm feed he was screaming so much but given the second dose as soon as it kicked in h went straight back to sleep only waking for a couple of little snacks.

I can see a light at the end of the feeding tunnel now. Typically after adult bedtime we have 3 feeds before 7am when he wakes for the day but now only the middle one is a big feed the others are reaching snack proportions so time to start sending dp in with a dummy!

Ah, Indith, his fleece wrap would have to be quite tight to fit over a fluffle (didn't have a bamboo one handy) I think so that's not going to work. And I love my grobags, don't know if i want to give them as it's so much easier to deal with than sheets and blankets. Could I use a ME wrap instead - is that what you're suggesting Sacha?

Have read your message properly now, Sacha. Hmm, will ask at the nappy stand tomorrow about all of this as I have two types of nappy & several different wraps inc a fleece & a ME airflow.

happy birthday Gloria42

My ds sleeps up to 6 hours max at nights..and during day he will have 20mins naps , and if im lucky up to 45mins max !..but last night he woke up every hour from 3am !...grrr ...im b/f but there have been times when ive been tempted to give him formula b4 he goes to bed ..but im so determined to b/f till 6mths.
Ive just hoovered and ds screamed his head off from his bouncer chair ..i thought hoover was a ' white noise' and babies supposed to find it soothing ?!! am i wrong ?

just to say i have been giving DS2 one bottle per day for a couple of months now and i do think it has impacted on the quantity of breastmilk i have....

jude- how much formula do u give in a bottle ?

Hmmmm, ah well. Know what you mean about gro bags though, I do love them....have been thinking about getting a ME for the night as the tots ones just won't last that long. Toss up between all the bits I have, fleece wraps, fleecy sleeping bags and gro bags! Ah well, depends what he grows out of first really.

There was a real nappy week thing in my local library, made me giggle so much as the nappy advisor had flu so they sent this guy who knows nothing at all about nappis with a few samples. He didn't even know that you use wraps over them to keep everything dry bless him. Not much use for all the people turning up wanting advice though.

Well....she's getting TWO bottles of formula today, but thats because we had to throw out 150mls of breastmilk this afternoon I've been told Fenugreek tablets can increase supply? Though I know expressing/feeding more often would too - just not sure I have the energy to produce more than 1L per day!

Had a horrid scare this pm. dd1 slipped and banged her head on some brick paving at the Wetland Centre, and didn't seem right at all - just kept whimpering with her eyes half closed and asking to go home. I carried her to the car, leaving dh with dd2 and some friends, took her home, and she promptly started nodding off, white faced, on the sofa. I had no idea whether it was from the shock, or something worse - so rang the GPs who said take her to A&E, which I did. In the car, I couldn't rouse her - she was out cold, and I imagined all sorts guess dd2's Xmas shenanigans, along with a friend's recent tragedy (son died) have me all ajitter.

Managed to NOT panic and drive on wrong side of lane past traffic making siren noises out of the window, made it to hospital which turned out not to have A&E just minor injuries, got seen, and - at last - she woke up and seemed a lot better for the kip

Sorry for mega post, just feels good to type it all out - unusual as it may be, that was our first ever trip to A&E (attempted A&E, that is) and it scared me silly for about half an hour.

Could use a mega kip myself now - needless to say dd2 is colicky tonight so, Sacha, I will probably be settling an unsettled baby every two hours and will think of you

Before I forget, a nappy question: I have ME wraps (can't remember which sort, but they are green and white) and the leg elastic seems way too tight for dd's fat little thighs?? And yet they seem fairly huge everywhere else

Wish I'd done reusables with dd1 when I had more time to get head around them!

EB, I have the ME airflow wrap (poppers) which seems huge but is actually loose on the legs! but then I think DS has skinny legs comparatively - he is long but weighs less than average. But I think the wrap is supposed to de fairly baggy - my SIL uses ME onesize and airflow wraps and advised me when I though mine was too big that that is just how they are, with a fitted nappy it is not a problem (daytime I don't have fitted / sized nappies -I use prefolds).
I too have been wondering about formula for the late evening feed to see if he will go further - but I am too lazy as I have none in the house and between myself and dh we have to many food allergies to be able to just easily buy formula. I do think about expressing and adding this to the late evening feed but he empties me at each feed so I never have any spare to pump! Which also means I have to be around for every feed.

Elibean, sounds horrible (your visit to non-a&e), very frightening for you & your dd.

I had to update to a larger ME airflow as too tight round ds's fat little thighs. I've kinda got used to the bagginess of it now, squashes down quite well under clothing tho. I think they advised me on another thread that if a wrap leaves marks, get a bigger one! There's a thread about MEO's under nappies at the moment too if you're interested. I'm going to a real nappy event tomorrow, I just know I'm going to buy something even though I have 18 nappies now & plenty of wraps. It's kinda addictive.

Fraid ds2 in a dispie again tonight, all my nappies drying!

Sacha, everyone else on here advised that mornings by far the best time to express when you've got loads of milk & I've found that to be true. After his marathon feeds early evening (usually 45 mins, break for bath, then another hour) there's no way I could pump anything!
Castles, how's the dizziness? Mine's getting worse again, I can't believe this is just dehydration but then again ds feeds for 3-4 hours a day in all so maybe I just need to drink a few litres more than I do ( and the glass of wine I've just consumed...)

elibean - sounds very frightening.

hopefully dd is coming to the end of her cold but now has a nasty cough. is there anything i can do about the cough? tixylix isnt allowed until they're 1.

btw, i'll be doing a name change soon so expect a 'stranger' on the thread next week.

I used to be able to express 3oz in the morning, now I'm lucky to get 1/2 an oz! My supply pretty much equals his demand - only sometimes at 14.30 does he not take all of both sides, (but generally he does) but then I don't express as I want there to be plenty for him at 5 to fill his tummy up before and then after bath. i too can spend 40 mins feeding pre bath and another 40 after - and night feeds take 1 - 1 1/4 hrs. I reckon on somewhere about 5+ hrs of each day is spent feeding, not including burping.

Lots to catch up on again!
Eli, sounds scary and milkshake your episode too Hope they are ok now xx

We are having a bit of a time of it, I started taking ad's (fluoxetine) and my milk supply started to fade not sure if's its the tablets or a massive growth spurt but ds1 is sooooo agiteted after 2-3mins on the breast. My muliple letdowns have gone and I can't get a lot expressing compared to last week
Have bough some Fenugreek today and will see if they help. Feeding tons too.
Decided to start on fruit/veg purees and guess what?? 2 days of having a few spoonfuls and he is sleeping 6-7hrs Yes I know its not the food and probably would have happened anyway but his reflux seems better too. He doesn't tongue thrust, opens wide and everybi gets eaten, he gets excited everytime the spoon comes near him
I know it's early so no wrist slapping please

Thanks for the ME tips, looks like I'll have to buy some larger ones. What a waste...does anyone with a small baby want some unused wraps and quite possibly nappies? Going to a good home free...

Magnolia, I'm glad your LO is getting better sleep and is happier - stuff the 'rules'. dd1 always had pain after and during feeds (looking back, silent reflux probably) until I started solids at 4.5 months and the change in her was obvious. I'm thinking I'll try dd2 early too - she's 16 weeks, and tracking our food with eager little eyes I'm guessing another 2-4 weeks and I'll try a spoonful of baby rice.

dd1 woke up at 6.30am, bounced around the house, helped her Dad in the garden, and went to a birthday party and bounced on a bouncy castle. She's certainly recovered - I'm lagging behind a little, but getting there

satin, sorry - no idea re cough, though they're allowed medised at 3 months I think? Which might dry up secretions enough to stop a postnasal drip, if thats whats causing the cough? Hope she's better soon...

No wrist slapping here - as mums you weigh up the pros and cons, we're armed with all the info and it's us who know our babies best. Reflux sounds horrid and you're trying to relieve symptoms.

dd1 was 5 months - again it's horses for courses

Kinda depressing sometimes isn't it Sacha (the several hours of feeding I mean). He's on a growth spurt at the moment, so it's feed for an hour, half an hour off, then off we go again. Thank god dp's been around to help out with ds1, and he came home tonight with a beautiful bunch of flowers from my boys. I've decided to wean at 5 months because I don't think the feeding is going to let up until I do, and it's just so hard having a family life & spend any time with ds1 at the moment as I'm always feeding!