May 2017 #16 Sleep deprivation, mumnesia and first smiles

[crazyzooo]

New thread to celebrate the small things (like first smiles and eating steak with one hand), commiserate over the less fabulous stuff (poonamies, vomit eruptions and wind spring to mind) and someone to talk to at 4am

Both my babies will/would only take milk at body temperature, they react like it's poison if it's slightly cooler!!

Thanks folks. savage I'm not using my electric pump at the mo, I just pop the naturebond on the other boob while he's feeding. First thing in the morning I can get 4oz but any other time of the day is normally 2-3 oz. I'm back to work in September unfortunately :(
I'm hoping if I start using the electric pump I'll get a little more each time now, it was a measly 1oz when I first tried

Paige it'll be much better, baby's older now for a start and you'll be making more milk :)

If you know you need to pump a lot, look into a milking bra for hands free pumping and a double pump probably

@1004Rise great minds 
Have a feel of a bag of freshly expressed milk- basically body warm is the ideal. But mine will take it at room temperature because he's a greedy little chap.

@savagehk I might try that in the mornings. I've had 3oz from one side a handful of times when doing as you describe, but usually mini mighty will feed from one, dupe me into thinking he's full so I pump the other, then he wakes up ten minutes after I finish pumping, stuffing his fists in his mouth!! He then drinks it as a top up 

I feel like I often have milk left to pump after the 3-4am feed but I'm so desperate for sleep I can't bring myself to stay awake yet to do it, as he always wakes up again around 6am.

@Paige84 your supply sounds great!
Whilst already doing some work from home I will be having to go back to one client two days a week in September, so like you am hoping to get some kind of freezer stash. I feel it may take me a bit longer than you though!
Although I know this is a contentious subject with many different perspectives, My gp said rather encouraging that given i am already mixed feeding, that provided I can stick to approx 70/30 ratio of breastmilk to formula he will gain the benefits of the bf and by 6 months he will physiologically have got all he can from it so continuing can be about other factors (bonding, etc), but I shouldn't beat myself up if I can't go beyond that (my days out may increase after November depending on finances). We're currently about 80 to 90 percent breastfeeding over an average week as some days he has no formula, although he's such a hungry baby I'm not convinced I can keep up with him

Where do you find the time in the morning savage? It's all go from the moment I open my eyes here with trying to shower and get dressed and get the toddler fed and dressed. There is no chance of me expressing in the morning. My only opportunity is the two minutes a week when the baby is awake but happy and sometimes I choose to eat or go to the toilet instead

So after my super successful day yesterday being able to dry my hair, today I'm only just dressed 😖 We're going for a walk in the pram as she may sleep for more than 10 minutes 😣

That's exactly what it's like here fox. I can't see how to fit a pumping session in at all. I did have 30 mins where they were both asleep yesterday, but the baby was in the sling so.not an option.

Rise baby Bees has been awake most of the day too. It's too hot for me to wear her in the sling today as normal.

Not having a great day. Everyone still full of cold and feel like I could do with a clone to give both children the attention they need (and maybe have a bit of a rest myself). Am considering getting DH to give a bottle overnight to buy me some sleep, but feel guilty about that too. House looks like a launderette and to top it off, I left the two year old unattended for literally 2 minutes earlier and she managed to find a biro and draw on my bathroom wall. Keep reminding myself that this won't be forever...

So remaining on the subject of pumping, I'm about to attempt my maiden pump at weekend with a tommee tippee closer to nature. After you sterilise it all, what do you keep the pump in until you're ready to use it?

Hi all been really busy will catch up soon but just saying to @dreamofhungarianlanterns I keep the pump parts in a Tupperware box after drying it up. You can actually wrap it in a clean muslin as well.

Question unsurprisingly sleep related at this time of night, been looking at Ewan.... how does he work? Does he make a difference?

Ewan is essentially a white noise machine, also does a lullaby and a heartbeat sound. Does baby rise like white noise? We have a Ewan and also a whisbear, that one is just while noise but with a cry sensor so it start up if the baby stirs in the night. Ewan was a gift and is used downstairs to try and drown out the toddler !

Baby W seems to like Ewan. She falls asleep to him at night and we are trying for naps too. I think she will even settle if she wakes up at night and he's on. Hard to test how much of an impact it actually has, but we think it works!

I almost bought a ewan but got myHunny instead. More expensive but you can set it goes for an hour rather than 20 mins or it'll go all night. It slowly gets quieter until the hour is up but it comes back on if baby cries. And you can adjust the volume.

Has anyone applied for a passport for their baby? Was it easy and how do you get the picture?! I'm hoping to go on holiday in September but just realised that neither kid have a passport so it might be too late to get them in time

@Acorncat I sent application off last week and got text this morning to say it's on its way! You can apply online but need to print off for countersigniture and post back.
I think they quoted 3 week timeline online.

We tried in vain to take his pic at home but couldn't keep his hands down, so got his pic done in a shop- they had a white bean bag to lie baby on and me and DH held his arms down whilst they took the pic!

@Acorncat we paid for a one week service but you should be fine for September. We did the picture ourselves using the passpic website. They are slightly more relaxed about baby photos.

@Acorncat we have got a passport in a week after sending an application. We took a pic ourselves on a white sheet, photoshopped it. Local photo shop adjusted it a bit and printed off (3 GBP for 8 photos).

That's great, thanks for the info. I'll attempt the pictures myself first then. My 2yo loves photo booths so maybe I can do his there, don't think he'll sit still though!

Hmmm think I'll leave Ewan for now, we seem to be doing well with the sound sleeper app... it's just difficult to have an iPad or iPhone in her cot because then how do I read MN 🤔😁

Delightfully (tmi) my period is back 😤 I only just stopped bleeding, thought I might have at least had a month off 😒

I had no idea what a Ewan was until I ordered one on amazon prime today 😂

@1004rise I've got all the signs mine is on my way... have had pmt and cramps for a few days now. The joys!

@1004Rise I had really bad cramping and bleeding for a week now, assuming it's my period - although pp bleeding did not stop. Either way it sucks! Plenty of painkillers and hot water bottle it's been that bad

cox what was the reason for surgery restitch ? I was told it's rare to go back into surgery unless sex is painful?

So baby adventure suffers terribly with trapped wind. We have been on infacol for weeks now but might try gripe water. He's such a happy calm good baby in between these bouts of pain it's so hard to watch !

Any thoughts ?

Adventure take it you've tried cycling legs?

savage enough to cycle to France and back !

@adventure GP suggested colief. We tried it but tbh it was a total faff because you have to mix it with milk which meant expressing. I've said this a few times on here but laying on left with knees up to belly helps. Something to do with the way the large intestine is situated. Also, we've found that LO gets a lot of wind out when laying on front for tummy time. The pressure / wriggling does it I think...