February 2007 Post Natal Club

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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!!!

Suis/Peachy - well done for keeping going with the feeding, the tough times will be past soon. suis, 3.5 hours feeding at night it quite normal I'm afraid... it's the baby getting your boobs geared up for the next day! It'll also really help improve your supply. DD is feeding until about 4am, DS did it too but after a few weeks started doing it all evening instead of all night which was more socialble. DD is a lazy latcher and it's taking me ages to get her to make a big mouth! Never had that problem with DS.

Mw came to see me today and she's helped me with the latching on as we were having a few problems too, so now my sore bleeding nips are starting to recover

She's going about 4 hours between most feeds now day and night which is nice as I've had 6 hours sleep the last 2 nights

Well done suis and peachy for persevering, I'm very impressed!

MW been here today also - thomas is now a healthy 8lb 11oz - put 3oz on over his birth weight - which is great! he is a hungry fella - would feed every half hour if given the chance - suffering with wind, so off toget some Infacol today to try that! He is very altert now - staring intently at your face, and falls asleep in your arms - been on the afternoon school run with DH - he is back to work next week for 2 weeks, so my mum will be ferrying us around - need to get his feeding sorted for the afternoon so I can get to school for 3.15 - so feed him at 2pm!!

Nights (and days) are all a blur - he feeds 3 hourly at night - but one is only 30ml - so hopefully that will be the one to drop when he gets bigger!

Suis, really glad DH is being supportive and well done for persevering with the BF. Mine is being great too. I've been struggling a bit with BF for the last couple of days and now have a really sore blister on a nipple (ow!) I think he's now latching on properly - well I'm shoving his head at my boob and holding it there and not letting him do it himself or he just takes the nipple - so I'm hoping that it will soon heal. I've been having a go at expressing some milk so I could not feed from the sore side. I'm hoping that we won't have to give him it for a few more weeks but depends on how quickly I heal.
Suzi2 how do you make DD make a big mouth? I tend to have to wait until DS screams and then shove him on [guilty emoticon at being a cruel mum!]
Moosma good news that you've got the latching better. I'm going to a BF support thing today so hoping that someone can help me. I would have had faith in my MW but been signed over to HV and not so sure about her.
Andyrobo glad Thomas is putting on weight well. Good luck with getting the timing of feeds right to do afternoon school run. I've found whenever I try to feed for a certain time, so that we're ready to go out, that's when DS sleeps for ages during the day. How do they know?

Really struggling with the bfing today, left nip is constantly sore and I can't get her to latch on properly on that side. My lovely mw is hoping to visit this afternoon so hopefully she will able to help. I've spent the whole day in tears today, I don't feel like I'm coping at all although my mum has been here looking after DD1 for me. I have a big cloud hanging over me that just won't shift and really feel like I need a break! I don't remember it being this hard last time round...

To get a big wide mouth... I make sure she's totally awake and interesred, then I hold her so her head is in my cleavage - a long way back from where you'd think - and my nipple is about level with her eyebrows! It seems the further away my nipple is, the wider she opens in an attempt to reach it.

Make sure you're not holding the back of his head, just supporting the neck, to ensure he has movement to fling his head back and get his mouth wide. With DS, I was guilty of bringing boob to baby but he was easy to latch. This time to get a good latch I have to ensure I bring DD onto the boob. She is still a wee monkey and it often takes AGES to get her to latch well - 10 mins+ which is frustrating!

Just had her weighed, she's 2+2 today and is 9.5 oz over her birthweight! I suppose that means I can stop the paranoid stressing that she's not getting anything! And I may also not feed her quite so much on demand and do some delay tactics as she is very demanding

MoosMa - if the mw isn't much help ( many aren't very experienced or knowledgable) try calling one of the bf support lines (nct, lll, abm, bfn). I;ve had great help and advice in the past. Have you tried a different hold? I find doing a rugby ball hold easier on my left side and a cross cradle on the right.

My emotions are up and down too... just trying to remember that the first month or two don't last forever. Though not looking forward to DH going back to work and having DS to deal with too!

Thanks Suzi2, mw was actually brilliant, if only they were all that good. DD latched on well and I fed her painlessly at last! Am feeling much better now (until the next moodswing hits!)

Well done Moosma. I'm hoping that my health visitor might help me tomorrow because I walked a mile and a half to a breast feeding support group at my local children's centre today only to find that it has been moved to a Tuesday. They only sent me the info last week!!! I think the latching on is better though so I'm not too peed off. If it had been yesterday that I'd gone, I think I'd have just cried!
Thanks for the tips re big wide mouth Suzi2 and sounds good re weight gain. I do hold the back of his head so that I can push him onto my boob when his mouth is big. I'll have another look at what I'm doing and check I'm not stopping him putting his head back. I found if I wasn't holding his head, he would relatch himself just taking the nipple. I might also try rugby style so that he pulls on a different part of the nip. He's gone between 2.5 and 3 hours between feeds today so I'm feeling better. We've actually had a really nice day but I have resorted to giving him a dummy if he's just comfort sucking [I know lots of people say that's a bad thing because it can interfere with supply but for my sanity it was necessary] Hoping for a nice easy night and sending sleepy vibes to all your LO.

Hi all
Thanks for the words of support I'm so pleased (not in a horid way) to see everyone else is having the same problems as us re feeding .
It can take us ages to get a good latch and I have tried different positions but they feel quite uncomfy to me and am guilty of a mix of bringing baby to boob and boob to baby.
I know exactly how frustrating it can be moosma and I've had a few tears too, this morning I know Maya should have been starving but she didn't latch on for at least 30 mins. Often she will stay on for about 6/7 minutes then come off and then take another 10 mins to go back on.
I keep thinking of the good things, weight gain, dirty/ wet nappies, so far, no sore nips, just a bit dry and this heartens me. On friday we are going to the BF clinic at the hospital. My Dh has been really good too
Suzi2 thanks for the advice about the big wide mouth I will try for that later. I saw a health visitor yesterday who seemed really nice, she is from the area we are due to move too... yes we still haven't got a date yet and our buyer has delayed things further with his mortgage offer running out (grrrr)
Lots of positive feeding thoughts to your all

Hope everyone had a bearable night. We managed a few 3 hours between feeds until early morning and then it was 4.30, 6, 8.30, 10. We then went out to the baby clinic (he's put on a whole pound but that is in 13 days!) and he slept on the way there. Set off back at about 11.15 and he's been asleep ever since. Should I wake him up to feed him as it's been 3.5 hours and I read somewhere that you shouldn't let them go more than 3 hours between feeds in the day? I was kind of making the most of it and enjoying giving my nips longer to recover. I've been feeding rugby ball style through the night and this morning but still not sure he's getting enough boob in his mouth. I can get a lovely wide mouth but he's so desperate to feed that he's already sucking before I can get him to latch on so his mouth goes small again. Then prising him off hurts even more! Got a blister (well sort of white line where he nips) on each nip so really hoping that it improves.
Got a mountain of ironing to do and should really take advantage of fact that DS is still asleep but nicer to sit at the computer and catch up with you all. Lovely picture of Alexander Suis. Did you manage to find out how to do photos Katpoo and Peachygirl?

I'd leave it 4ish hours smudgemum. I probably wouldn't leave DD much over 4 hours during the day at the moment,(chance would be a fine thing!) but now and then it isn't really going to harm.

It's REALLy hard to get enough boob in their mouth while they are so little in my experience. All i can suggest is that you see a bf counsellor (call one of the support lines, they're very helpful even with 'small' things) or pop onto the feeding forum for some tips. The white line/ridge sounds like it's caused by friction which would suggest that the attachment isn't as good as it could be. A BF counsellor would be the best person to help you out with that. You might find that things get easier for a big mouthful as baby gets older, mouth gets bigger and they get stronger.

DD had her hearing check today and passed with flying colours. I also opened her bank accounts and got my huggies freebie bag (cr*p freebies compared to when we had DS!) and emmas diary pack. Feeling VERY organised lol. I hadher in the ring sling the whole time and although she looked really scrunched up, she slept the whole time so must have been happy enough. The sling seemed to attract a lot of attention... mind you, not many people around here use them.

I'm really enjoying my coorie sling suzi2.I haven''t looked inot the photos again ..I will get on to it.

My lovely Matilda Helen is a week old today, and seems to be an 'easy baby' so far...don't know if that will last.

We've been co-sleeping since the first night, it just seems so much more natural and logical, and makes feeding easier.

She's so cute in her little white sleepsuit, just have to go and have another peek...

My little man is so noisy when he sleeps - he is on his bouncy chair (as the moases basket was still upstairs and I had been up and down a few times already!). He grizzles a bit and then purrs like a cat - I keep thinking he is waking up - last fed at 7am and we usually have another one now!

Actually up washed and dressed by 8.15am today - DH goes back to work on Monday so my mum is on school run - I can manage some afternoons by getting the local bus up there - 10 mins trip, but need to check the timetables for the timings!

Hopefully getting the afternoon routine sorted now - I feed him no later than 2pm and no earlier than 1pm so he will not need feeding again until 4pm - I used to say that I would never wake a sleeping baby, but needs must! Don't need to sort out the morning routine for another 3-4 weeks, so hopefully he will be a bit more established in a regular feeding pattern by then - I can almost guess when he needs his next feed by the amount he has taken at each feed - but I still feel like I am constantly washing, sterilising and making up bottles! I admire all you breastfeeding - none of this to do, but it was not for me. We have given him a dummy to suck on as well as he gets really narky and demands more milk, but there must be a limit to how much milk his tum will hold - it is the last resort though, and he seems to take it probably twice in the day. DD had one but we struggled to get her to lose it when she was a toddler - so this one will be removed no later than 12 months old! (she says!!)

Hope everyone else is getting onwell - it is hard to find the 5 mins to catch up on the news and post - should get better as they get bigger!

I ended up waking DS after 4 hours. He had a monster feed (owww but getting better since I've been doing rugby style) and then stayed awake until 6.15! He happily lay on a blanket and stared at things and played with some hanging teddies. Saying all that, we paid for it last night. He screamed and fed alternately from about 8 til 12.30. DH took him downstairs at 11.15 after I'd done a big feed and said that he couldn't possibly want any more because his tummy isn't that big and I was going to sleep He didn't have another feed but apparantly just kept falling asleep and then waking up. When DH eventually got him in his moses basket asleep at 12.45 he slept til 4.45 so that bit was ok. I have no idea what the problem was because he was tired, just wouldn't stay asleep. We even gave him a bottle of expressed milk (I know you're not meant to until 6 weeks but my boobs were so sore). He took about 3.5 oz and then puked most of it back up. I don't know if it was because he drank it too quickly or because he was full really and so didn't have room.
Suzi2 I did ring NCT helpline and was told someone would get back to me but not heard anything yet. Also tried to go to a BF support group but they had changed the day so I missed it. I'm very impressed with your organisedness (don't think that's a word really!). What bank account have you gone for? At the moment we're keeping DS money safely in our bank account!!! Do you think we should pay him interest when we eventually open his own
12yeargap I know what you mean about being cute in their sleep suits. DS has grown out of a few now which makes me a bit
Andyrobo we've got a noisy one too. He does a really cute noise which is a bit like a cough but sounds like a baby machine gun. it's usually when he's trying not to choke (would waste milk) so he just carries on through. I should be glad really though because he's only been sick about 4 times in nearly 4 weeks. It sounds like you are doing well with sorting out feeding etc. We took DH to work this morning at 8.15. I was saying how impressed I was that we had left the house but then realised that I hadn't had a shower and DS was still in his pyjamas!!
How's the feeding going Moosma? Have you managed to recreate the pain free feeding?
Sorry for the long post, I'm waiting for someone from letting agent to come and inspect the house. I didn't expect DS to sleep this long so have already done the tidying up etc

I have a miracle baby - she's slept through the night for the last 2 nights, I've had to wake her up in the mornings! Last night she went from 7.30pm to 4.30am, night before she did 7.30 to 6.30. I do worry that if she's sleeping that much then she isn't having enough feeds in the day, so hopefully the mw will weigh her today and tell me she's growing.

The only other problem we're having is that her tummy is all covered in a red rash, it doesn't seem to bother her and she doesn't seem ill, but it's got worse overnight and now her front is all red like sunburn. I wondered if it's to do with heat, she has to have the room really warm for her to settle at night so maybe she's sweating? I'm trying to wean her slowly in to having the room cooler as I know you're not supposed to have it too warm or she'll cook. Again I guess I'll see what the mw says...

Bfing is going much better now too, one side is still sore and takes 10+ minutes to get a good latch and in those 10 minutes of bad latching she opens up the cracks which are healing and we're back to square 1, but it is getting easier and now I only dread the pain of every other feed!

Hope everyone else is well and we should be getting some new members soon, CB hasn't been seen on the other side for a while...

Smudgemum, try the BFN or ABM helplines, they have always been easier to get hold of for me.

Sounds like your little man was overstimulated last night. We have that pretty much every night due to DS screaming around the house and overstimulating DD. We had it with DS all the time and it was only once he was a bit older that we realised what it was. It seems that just being awake for 20 mins in a room with the TV on is stimulation enough for DD!

Last night, DD was a dream. I refused to give in to the feed/sore tummy/overstimulated/ can't get to sleep cycle. I fed her and then just held her close and did a big 'shhhhhhh' sound in her ear until she relaxed. Did this every time she woke, only feeding her every hour if she was still demanding it. AND... she slept 10:30 - 12:00, 12:30 - 5:00 and then 5:30 - 7:30! My boobs woke me at 3:30 am screaming though lol. Long may it continue, though I suspect it's a one off as today we expect once of her 'every few days' poos - she seems to sleep well before them!

Hi, well after a day of hardly eating anything and me getting really upset about 6:00. Maya fed really well during the night. I actually expressed about 20mls of milk about 8:00pm and after this she latched on like a dream and fed really well. In the night I really stuggled to get her to sleep in the moses basket and we spent from 1:30-3:30 wide awake and feeding too.
Therefore I am not at the BF clinic due to being exhausted!! Dh gave her the 25 mls this morning and I topped her up and she is snoozing away now so we shall see what the day brings.
I can always ring the helpines or a local NCT counsellor and there are clinics most days where I live, my local one being on tuesday so I could go in then.

Could it be that by emptying my boobs a bit I have enabled her to feed more easily? I did read something about this on kellymom but don't want to read too much into it as I am well aware it could have been one of these lucky nights.

Hello!
Can I join you? I'm new to mumsnet and have a gorgeous baby daughter, born on 1st Feb. She is, mostly, a little star, but we're facing similar feeding/sleeping challenges to everyone else and would be great to share experiences.
crying started, must go...
jass x

Hello Jass, welcome along...

Mw has been and LO has put on 3 of the 5 ounces that she lost

I was bfing when she arrived and she took one look at my left nip and said "Oh my god, how are you feeding on that, you must be so sore! Stop using that side for at least a day and let it heal." So I have to feed entirely off one side while expressing to empty my left side. I'm getting a bit nervous now though as the 2 week growth spurt is due in about 4 days and I don't want to be struggling with supply then. I've lost a bit of weight since the birth too and am down to 7 stone 12 which is a bit thin so I'm eating like a horse trying to get some calories.

2 week growth spurt ? Tell me more about this ? Would it explain why 2 week and 2 day old boy fed on and off for about 5 hours last night, and then for another 4.5 hours this morning ?

I am now feeling distinctly drained. To make matters worse my damned section wound seems to be infected again. HV saw it today but we've agreed to having the doc over on Monday as I am not keen to have yet another course of antibiotics. A HV friend of mine thinks the antibis may be what is stopping LO latching on without the nipple shield, so I want to avoid them if I can, but it means I have to wait over the weekend now to see if the wound gets worse.

Hello chaps. Can't believe it has taken me 22 and a half weeks to get my arse into gear and post on here - I barely have a moment in the day to check emails, so mumsnet has kind of taken a back seat.

Aimie is now 17 days old. She was 7 lb 12oz, went down to 7 lb 9 and a half oz and as of Wednesday is up to 8 lb 5 and a half oz! She's a little porker! Getting an attractive double chin and some of her scrawny loose skin is filling out too. She is beautiful - looking very much like dd1 when she was newborn.

We've had problems with colic in the evenings but infacol is easing that.
I saw the HV on Wednesday and she told me that the whiteness on Aimie's tongue is thrush!!! I've never come across it before - it could have been what has been making her grumpy after a feed instead of wind - I have some gel to put on her tongue 4 times a day and on my nipples too but I have no idea if it is having an affect - seeing as how I didn't know what symptoms she had in the first place.

I'm trying to get into some kind of routine now that dh is back at work and back into the coming home late and working from home in the evenings too - I am feeling a bit like a single mum of three all of a sudden. My mum and dad have helped out with the afternoon school run but, as much as I need the rest, the kids need me to be there for that to regain some kind of normality. I am quite impressed with myself for getting myself and 3 kids out of the house and to their relevant schools on time every morning this week.

I am feeling pretty exhausted but I guess that is par for the course at this stage - she is actually sleeping prtty well at night - she went from 9.30pmish until 3.40 this morning before wanting a feed and that isn't unusual for her. I expect her to suddenly change and be needing hourly feeds before long - I don't tend to get compliant children!

I'm not sure if it's the exhaustion or dh working so hard and with lots of pressures over the future of his job and organisation hanging over us, but I'm feeling pretty low too.I had PND with both of the others and am very worried that I am heading the same way again. I'm aware that my midwives, the HV and my family and friends are watching me like a hawk to see if there are signs.

Oh dear, madame is waking up - and I should have been using this time to do the days washing up - newver mind - I did manage the ironing earlier and I am meant to be pacing myslef.

I promise I will now try and read through everyone elses posts and find out how you are all doing. Sorry for the long post and the self absorbtion - not many other adults to talk to here!
Love to all
Cadbury

Hi everyone! Hope its ok if I finally join you??
Things with Millie are going great she's just a real night owl... sleeps from about 3 hours between 11pm til 2am (sometimes! lol) then doesent really settle again just dozes til about 7 - 8 am (sometimes later!) Is this normal? ok? how long should she be feeding for at a time now?
My mum keeps going on about me giving her formula as a 'top up' but I really don't want too!
she's 16 days old now and was born 5llb 12oz and went down too 5llb 9oz and yesterday she weighed 6llb 6oz so I must be getting something right yeah?
She is having infacol at the moment too as she seemed to be getting a bit of belly ache and the MW suggested it, shes been taking it for 2 days so its just getting in her system now I think.
Very loved up with my little girl she has lots of hair and everyones in love with her!
We registered her today so she's a proper little person as DH put it! lol He went alone I needed sleep as she was up all night even for her last night lol
Sorry for the long post! sorry it took a while for me too post!
Glad everyones getting on ok, I still can't believe i'm a Mummy to a beautiful, perfect little girl!

Suis at about 2 weeks and 6 weeks they have a growth spurt, it's when lots of people give up bfing because it can be a bit of a strain on the supply, but I think as long as you keep feeding lots then you should make more to keep up. I'm on the verge of giving up bfing at the moment, really struggling with soreness but trying my best to carry on...