February 2007 Post Natal Club

[Plumpbump]

Hello

I know it's not even February yet, but here is the new thread. Even though Jacob was born in January, I feel he is an honorary Febster!!!

Looking forward to more new bubs coming this way!!!

Alocin Dept of Health website says it's ok pre vaccination and the info I had with DD and DS2 from aquababies said it was ok also, DS2 starts his leesons when he is 10 weeks old, am taking DD back to hers tomorrow (had a six week break since DS2 was born, just trying to express some milk but getting bugger all off, so now stressing slightly which isn't helping things )
Sallyn the website is \linl{http://www.snugglebumnappies.co.uk\here} am just waiting for some more Nature babies wipes and Ellas House wipes to arrive, should be in stock by the end of the week

OOpps! or even here!

Evening - DS has been cranky all afternoon - even Grandma couldnt settle him and then he was sick over grandad twice!!! Oh dear! He is now sleeping - not quite peacefully and I am going to wake hom at 10pm to give him a feed - to see how long he will go in the night! I reckon I will be up again at 4am to feed him - would prefer if it was 6am as I can then manage to stay up, but at least 4am would be better than a feed at 1am and then 5am!

Snugglebumnappies - just placed a mini order with you for some of those fab wipes are recommended by Sallyn. Cant wait to get them as he is being sick after most feeds and see them as being good for that as well as other things!

Got a busy weekend planned - DD is back dancing and then friend visiting with her two boys (7 and 5 - hope the sun shines so I can chuck them all in the garden!) and then DD is going to a pool party - first one ever and she cant swim!!! I am not going in the water as I have to mind DS (good excuse!) - just seen piccies of a kiddies easter party and I look huge!! Good job the weight is slowly coming off!

Mine have been used for most of the reasons already listed, and also as an emergency ear-protector in the cold Scottish wind (see my pictures) which made DD1 look so incredibly cute that I want her to wear one every day

Sorry, completely wrong thread

Had to go look at your pics to find out what you were on about... muslins I take it, very very cute pic, and great use of a square !

Hi everyone,
Haven't been on for a while as I haven't been feeling very well. My arthritis has flared up and I have had to stop BF so I can go back on my medication. DH has also had to take some time off work to look after both of us which has then made me feel even more unhappy and inadequate.
On the plus side after a horrendous Easter weekend DD seems to be really thriving and is much more content although we still have some bad moments where she will scream for hours.
I'm afraid I have to gloat though as DD has been sleeping from 22:00 through to around 7am since going into her cot in her own room last weekend but last night surpassed this by going to bed awake at 20:50, settling herself and sleeping through until 7am
I now need to desperately sort out a sling that I can wear whilst sitting in my wheelchair and that will preferably last a while as the conventional ones seem to only go up to around 12kg, does anyone have any helpful suggestions?

Fantastic baby vests/tops age 3-6 months and 6-12 months available here...

marmitemad - sorry to hear about your arthritis. I guess a little depends on your general mobility, but I would recommend something like a ring sling or a stretchy wrap that you can pop baby in and out of easily. Ring slings come in many shapes an forms but I prefer a lightly padded or unpadded one. I have an Ella Roo. I don't have a stretchy wrap but I believe that Mobys and Kari Mes are very popular choices.

Marmitemad - sorry to hear about your arthritis. Can't help with slings,DH uses the Baby Bjorn but I'm not sure how well it would work with a wheelchair. Any chance you could try some out?

HairyCP - sorry to hear about the chickenpox, is Ben feeling very scratchy?

Vaccinations - I think they are important. Yes, it's not nice to see them having the jab but if you ever meet someone who contracted polio you would not think twice about vaccinating. I did delay the MMR jab with DS by a couple of months but ultimately felt that the risks were far outweighed by the benefits. DS suffered also from ear infections a lot, so I am pleased that the new jabs give protection against some ear infections as well. I know colic is bad but a baby with ear infections screams even louder (possibly because they tend to be older...) I know the jabs are a personal choice but many diseases are making a comeback because the level of vaccination is decreasing.

I have succumbed to some bottlefeeding, well near enough. I am back at college on Wednesdays and have been c*p at expressing, so have bought some ready made formula, so that DD can have mid morning and mid afternoon feeds from a bottle. DP will bring her in at lunchtime, so I still get to feed her during the day and won't feel too uncomfortable.

I would have liked to exclusively breastfeed for much longer, but there is no point in me getting all worked up over this.

Are any of you going to mother and baby groups? I tried the local surestart breastfeeding group once but then missed about 4 weeks due to appointments/holidays. Might try again next week.

Have a good weekend!!

Marmite poor you at leat you LO sems to be helping you out with their sleeping pattern
I would get in touch with Kirsty from Front Back and Sides I have bought several slings from her and she uses them on her children, one of whom is 3, so I am sure they would last you, custom made also, so you can get exactlly what you want, that's why I find them so addictive

Bethany is still really bad with her sickness and crying. The paedatric doctor said it sounds like reflux and has prescribed ranitidine and domperidone which haven't worked so far, does anyone know how long they take to work, shes been on it for 4 days now. Finding it really hard as all she does is cry, its really distressing as we cant help her, even cuddles and rocking her dont work, cant believe shes 12weeks old and shes still as bad. She sleeps well at night but i'm sure thats because she's exhausted from crying all day. I dont know what i'm going to do if the medicine doesn't work as the doctor's not concerned about her being distressed just that shes gaining weight, which she is and we've tried everything. I feel her babyhood passing by in a daze! sorry abouth the rant, had a really bad day with her. hope everyone else is o.k. x

Titchy I know exactly what you mean, the drs were just the same when DD1 was like that. It's all very well for them to say it doesn't matter that she cries all day but it's not them who have to watch

I seem to remember ranitidine taking about a week to make a real difference. Also don't forget to adjust the dosage as she grows. Are you using Gaviscon too, and are you bf or bottle feeding?

Are you keeping her upright as much as you can? I had the cot propped up at the head end and kept her in the bouncy chair for up to an hour after each feed. Also the baby bjorn was good as it keeps her the right way up - it's just anything to stop gravity making it worse. I really hope things improve soon, I know it's miserable having a crying-in-pain baby. Sorry for all the questions and the long post, I just want to help you!

Thank you moosma, glad someone understands! yes she still has gavisgon and i am bottle feeding her, she hates her bouncy chair but i hold her upright , yet she still screams and i swaddle her which does help. We've tried cranial osteopath which doesn't seem to of helped much. I will try propping her matress up again. thanks

titchy DS was much the same. It's so hard watching them go through that amount of discomfort. I used to have (well meaning) relatives visit and insist we went to A&E (which we didn't!) as they were sure there had to be something wrong. All I can say is at about 3 onths there was some improvement. 4-5 months was hellish for some reason. And one day at just before 5 months he woke and was a different baby. The osteopath had done a lot of work on his tummy so maybe it was that. Who knows.

Does she settle at all in the pram or car? We found that was the only place DS was calmer or would nap. Have you tried using a sling? DS never took to it but I know many babies that ave found relief from being carried upright.

Also, if she is tired etc all the time try and make her life as boring as possible without the TV/music on an lights low so as not to tire or overstimulate her.

Oh, last thought is to try white noise. We have bought a slumberbear plus for DD this time around and the wee box that has womb sounds and white noise has been a godsend in soothing her when she's been colicky in the evening.

Sorry, meant to also say that it's hard to believe but things will get better and easier. Don't worry about not enjoying the baby stuff... the toddler stuff is the bit to look forward to!

Well I woke DS at 10pm yesterday and he managed a couple of ounzes and was sick again - seems to be a recurring theme on this thread! He then woke again at 3am and wouldnt settle so I fed him, and he slept until 7am - so I only had to get up once in the night, which was a bonus! After being really settled on Thursday, he was a crank Friday and Saturday - today I did not seem to have the patience to cope and ended up shouting at him to shut up . I was ready to cry but couldnt as had to get ready to go out (DD goes dancing) and then a friend was coming round, and then we had a party to go to. He must have worn himself out crying - I put the hoover on to clean the lounge floor and he shut up and then slept through dancing (went for a walk in the pram). He has cried off and on all day, but we are back using the Infacol. He has been sick loads as well - sometimes it is pure milk, and other times it is more liquid with curdled milk in, and other times it is more thick gloopy stuff - I was thinking of taking him to the docs as he gets really upset to see if he can suggest anything. He can be sick straight after a feed or two hours later, there is no pattern to it - is this similar to the other vomiting babies who are on medication? He is 9 weeks old.

DD is sick without any pattern. DS was the same. I think it's just a baby thing to be honest. With DD I probably have to change her clothes once a day and a bib a few times. With DS we were covered in puke for months lol. But once he was sitting himself he almost instantly stopped doing it.

hairycaterpiller, how are you getting on with chickenpox? I'm now dreading LO getting it as DS1 has it at the moment (really whingy today as his spots hurt rather than itch) but we're meant to be going away with my mum in May but she has leukaemia so can't be anywhere near cpox. The doc assured me that DS2 couldn't get it but now I'm worried that he will. Guess we'll just have to wait 20 days and see...

sorry andyrobo, can offer only sympathies as neither of my two have been particularly sicky babes.

marmitemad, there's a site called the babywearer.com which has masses of info about slings and might be of use. I think it has a section where you can get in touch with other sling wearers to try out a style before you buy it. We have a Wilkinet which I really like but I notice that DS's feet get a bit squished in my lap when I sit down now so guess that wouldn't be ideal for you.

On crying/settling front, I found a handy book in the secondhand shop called "the no-cry sleep solution" which I've been dipping into as DS2 was quite unsettled at 6-8 weeks. Seems to be getting mostly over it now tho' of course tonight he spent an hour settling for his sleep.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend all!

Sorry to bang on about it, but 'liquid with curdled milk in' more than an hour or so after a feed is one of the more common symptoms of reflux...

Bethany can be sick 2 hours after a feed and it is a large amount, sometimes spraying up the side of her moses basket,she constantly has a bib on and i have to always change her sheets, its the crying that really gets to me, she seems so upset and uncomfortable all the time, yet on the rare occasion she smiles, she looks0 beautiful and it lights up her whole face. Its so distressing seeing her in pain and not being able to do anything about it. And people do make you feel bad (my mil!) like i'm not doing enough to get it sorted out, yet i dont know what else i can do.

Apart from the medicines and the upright things I don't know that there's anything else you can do apart from wait. I remember people asking me if DD1 was smiling yet and me asking them what she had to smile about, she was so miserable all the time. It does get better though and one day you'll realise she seems happier all of a sudden.

Weaning makes a huge diffenece (you're nearly half to that one!) and so does sitting up (a Bumbo can be used from about 3 months I think) so it's not that long really before things should start to improve. It seems sad wishing her baby time away, but as suzi2 said, the toddler bit's much better!

Ooh I just had a thought, if you can put her on her tummy a few times a day (prob best before feeds!) it will help to strengthen her neck/shoulders which might her sit up a little sooner?

titchy - I agree with keeping her upright as much as possible. DS slept in a hammock which we could raise the head on a bit to help. Though I'm not sure how much it helped as I remember changing the sheets a lot on it from hi being sick. Bouncy chairs are good. Some lie flat (babies r us do one) but it's not totally flat so we found DS was more comfortable in that for naps. Also, much as it's not a good thing in general, a car seat can give them a good angle. A friend on mines baby had such bad reflux that the paediatrician recommended he stayed in the car seat for sleeps. I don't think it's ideal and there are issues with spinal development, flat heads and poor oxygen supply... but if it gives her a bit of a break then I would think a couple of hours would be fine.

Titchy - My friend had foam wedges cut for her wee one with reflux to use in her cot and pram so he was always more upright.

Andyrobo - sounds like you've got similar problems to titchy...if it persists maybe it's worth a visit to HV or Doc? Dont feel too bad about telling your lo to "shut up" I did the same with my DS1 who cried ALL the time and rarely slept...you're exhausted and hormones will be raging bad combo!

Stick in there andy and titchy, really hoping things improve soon for you both.

Chickenpox is a NIGHTMARE
Myth one Bfing means he wont catch it from big brother...WRONG!
Myth two BFing willl make it milder...WRONG! Poor Ben he is covered and is really uncomfortable he even has spots on his eyelids and in his mouth and lips making it sore to feed. He's too itchy or sore so doesnt like cuddles much. He cant sleep due to discomfort.
WHAT MORE IS THERE IN LIFE WHEN YOU ARE 10 WEEKS OLD!!!
Sorry bit of a rant have had v little sleep last 2 nights.