October 2017: Babies are here!

[Nessalina]

There's been a flurry of new arrivals on the October thread, so here's somewhere for us to share the excitement and terror of our newborns!!

@pingusmistress we're getting DD a stupid cute Christmas dress up outfit. She doesn't care that its Christmas so no point wrapping it up. I know family will get her stuff but a Christmas present from us is something for her to wear on the day. We're struggling to pick between the penguin and the Christmas pudding! I said get both as she'll probably sick up on one anyway!

Hello, I've just caught up with all the posts. This baby has reflux like his older brother, so had been quite uncomfortable for a while and needed holding upright all the time so I hadn't had much time to read through. He seems to be ok now after getting some medicine at his six to eight week cheek and taking it for a week now.

We had eight week vaccinations today which went really well although he kept telling to spit out the rotavirus one and the Calpol after! It was like he was thinking "This isn't right; my usual medicine tastes of peppermint! At least he didn't throw it up, though; I kept him upright in the sling for an hour and a half afterwards to avoid that. I had DS1 with me too and he was good, sitting in his pushchair and watching Postman Pat on his little DVD player. The baby has been very sleepy and a bit squawky since and has done a huge sticky poo but the nurse said it might give him an upset tummy so I was expecting it. I wonder if that's what your one had @wapsmahoney? Is it all better now?

So sorry to hear some of you are having real trials with breastfeeding. My older one was a nightmare, so I really sympathise. In fact I noticed the other day that he still has a dodgy latch with his lips inside even though he feeds more happily now, but Alexander seems to be a complete star by comparison. That's such a relief as I'd been dreading facing problem after problem for months on end again. They have shared a few feeds together and it is really lovely watching them stare into one another's eyes and when the older one put his arm around the baby as they both fed, I honestly don't know if I've ever had such a soppy feeling! I hope things get better for all of you soon.

Hello October 2017 Mums - can I ask if anyone has any “routine” going please? Or is it just me and mine who seem to be all over the place?
Should we be bathing every day by this point? (6.5 weeks)
And should I be expecting baby to know the difference between day and night yet? (Sleeps peacefully in pram whilst on the move, and being held during the day, very restless at night when in Sleepyhead)
Thanks

Our routine is determined by the fact of having a toddler who needs to get outside and run around each morning and to have a nap in the afternoon, plus meals at fairly recognisable times. As long as we can do that, the baby is free to eat, wake and sleep as he pleases. I do like to help them recognise day and night though. My idea of a perfect routine for a 0-3 month old is:

10pm to 8am: have them in soft nightclothes and if they wake up, stick a boob in their mouth and keep them in low light until they go back to sleep (change whenever they poo). Always place back in their bed after a change and feed but if they get upset, they can sleep on ours (this has dropped from almost all the time to about half the time now he is eight weeks old)

8am-10pm have them in good light and respond to any needs they indicate as soon as they occur. Entertain whenever awake and not asking for anything else.

We do baths two or three times a week. I'd like to do more as he loves it and it helps his digestion, I think, but his skin is a bit dry.

Based on my past experience, as soon as you think you have a routine, baby will decide to change it! DS does seem to have worked out day and night though; again we have a toddler so there is a marked difference in terms of noise and activity in the house.

Currently bathing him twice a week, or if he makes a proper mess of himself.

Thank you! That is reassuring as it’s not a million miles from where we are, I just hoped I was’t trailing behind in the routine part making a mess of this parenting lark.
Baths aren’t required very frequently here because baby NEVER poos. We’ve reached 7 days with no poo this week ☹️, even then it only came with the help of a suppositary. Health Visitor says speak to GP, GP says speak to health visitor - as has been the case for weeks, how are FTM’s supposed to know what to do when no one will help / advise what’s ok and what’s not!
Luckily, Google/Mumsnet tells me not to worry too much about it. She is breastfed (one FF a day) so apparently this is quite normal?!

Gosh I wish our DS would take a little more after yours! I had read that the number of dirty nappies might decrease with breastfed babies, and although DS now doesn't really poo at night he'll give us a good 5-7 poops during the day 🙈

I'm like you, DS is 6 weeks today and we don't really have a routine at all, I'm just led by when he sleeps and eats and plan my day around that. The only thing I would echo is what a pp has said about differentiating night and day for them. When DS wakes in the night I keep light to an absolute minimum and whilst I comfort him by holding him I don't talk to him (keeps stimulation down), so everything is quiet and (ahem) calm. During the day I encourage him to engage with things and respond much more overtly to him- he's going through the second developmental leap now as he was so overdue that he's at that stage already and he's definitely engaging with the world more which is lovely, but tiring!! 😂

Dd is still pooping about 10+ times around the clock! Often projectile... but she's about 50:50 ff and bf and also on antibiotics which might be upsetting her stomach. kent is your dd still having lots of wet nappies and gaining weight well? I'm sure hv will have checked all that but when dd was really tiny (10 days) she stopped pooing when she wasn't getting enough milk (I had low supply and didn't realise) but there were other obvious signs like constant feeding and her weight loss. I've heard the same though that bf babies can poo less because all the bm gets digested.

We don't have a routine really, even with a toddler. He does normally wake dd up at about 6.30 when he gets up, then everything else is on demand (aka random) through the day. I think we started a bedtime routine with daily bath at the same time each night for ds when he was about 4 months old. Might aim for the same again, but like ds she'll still be sleeping downstairs with us until we go to bed ourselves until 6 months.

Our normal daily routine with ds has completely disappeared as I'm still too sore after the c section to push the double buggy or use the sling so I can't get out to groups or park. Feeling a bit miserable about it. I'll be 6 weeks tomorrow so officially should be well on the mend!

Sorry to hear you're still there so uncomfortable, Tippety. It must be really tricky not being able to get out and about, especially with a toddler. That really saves my sanity sometimes when the house looks like it's been thoroughly burgled, courtesy of DS1 searching for a specific book by upending every toy and book container he can find while I'm feeding DS2.

My first was a ten poos a day type too. This one only does two to three, so at first I really wasn't sure how often to change him without a poo alarm going off every couple of hours!

Another ten+ poos a day baby here! But older DD was the opposite, she would often go a week without one, and then it would arrive in spectacular style. Around day five I would start dressing her in old clothes and be nervous about leaving the house in case she exploded in public I think both extremes are pretty normal.

Good to hear everyones poo routines!
Lots of wet nappies, very good weight gain since the beginning and continuing and relatively good feeding habits, although not as great as they could be. Her feeding improved slightly at 5 weeks when we found out she was tongue tied and had it cut, but still not perfect (but as this is my first I have no idea what’s normal and not). She is breastfed except one feed a day which is formula, she only takes 2oz, I’d hoped she’d take more by now.
I’m hoping we don’t reach 7 days no poop again this week as we will probably resort to the suppositary again and that feels so wrong to be artificially inducing it.
A ‘witching hour’ has appeared this week, in the evening. Inconsolable screaming. As heartbreaking as it is I probably need to accept it as normal and make sure she is fed, changed and burped and ride it out!
Thanks for all your stories re routines - very reassuring

Ladies I need some advice please. DSIL had a miscarriage last week. As far as i know she is physically ok but she's only sent DH a text to tell him so I don't know how she's doing emotionally. I want to text her but no idea what to say.

@Bobbiepin sorry to hear about your SIL. It is a tricky situation and it is lovely that you are being so sensitive about her feelings. Maybe just keep it fairly short, and then let her take the lead about when she is ready to be around/ talk about babies again?

@123456kent we have a witching evening, rather than an hour! On the bright side, the more worked up he is, the better he sleeps afterwards...

I'm finding it so hard with my 7 wk old at the moment. We are cosleeping as she will no longer settle in her sleepyhead. That's not too bad but daytimes are really difficult because she resists sleeping unless in sling and my back can't cope carrying her for long periods. She gets so overtired and screams at the top of her lungs which just makes me cry 😭
I was walking her in her pram with her screaming earlier with tears rolling down my face hoping no one I knew would see me. She stopped eventually she fell asleep but only for a short time. Any time I stopped she would wake. Just feel so drained and anxious all the time.
I recognise her tired cues and she almost fell asleep in her swing but just fights against it to stay awake. Don't know if anyone has any tips? She always used to fall asleep on the boob but it's not working so much anymore.

Bobbie like pingu said all I can think is to keep it short and simple. It's a tough one as it's almost a taboo sort of grief. All my miscarriages were so early that only dh knew and it was hard not being able to have any sympathy from anyone else though I did eventually tell a couple of friends and that helped. Sorry for your sil.

Bless you Sophie. . Sounds like my ds used to be! Might a dummy help? Ds wouldn't take one normally but on the rare occasion he did it worked well. He used to fight sleep with everything he had. I think it was just his personality as I'm not doing anything differently with dd and she is so much easier (so far). So for starters don't blame yourself! People with babies that sleep well just got lucky, it's got nothing to do with parenting. That said, a few ideas:
-making sure she's not overtired, though you seem to already be doing this. Dd currently has no real 'awake' time. She wakes up, feeds, gets changed, then I start getting her to sleep again.

• if she's much better being upright in sling could she possibly have reflux? Maybe see if she has any other symptoms.
• if she likes the closeness of the sling she might like being swaddled? Though both my ds and dd don't!
• white noise? Can play on your phone from YouTube. Didn't do much for ds but when dd gets a bit tired and grouchy I keep shushing as I walk around with her, patting her bum/back gently (supposedly this mimics the heartbeat they would be used to hearing when inside).
• if it's started recently it might be due to a developmental leap as they seem to get more aware around this age and do new things e.g. Smiling. In which case it might naturally get better!
• try feeding and feeding again just in case she's hungry. Dd will get full, refuse milk, start falling asleep then suddenly decide she is hungry and starts whinging for more!

Good luck x

Sorry to see our thread has gone quiet. I hope you are all well and enjoying the babies' first Christmas and New Year. Wishing you all a great 2018!

Happy new year to you too @Cineraria!
How are you getting along with your LO?
DS is 11 weeks now and doing really well. Generally sleep for about 6/7 hours then has a feed and back to sleep for another 3ish so that works for me! He's just starting giggling which melts my heart (even my DP said 'it makes you want to cry doesn't it?!' Which is really unlike him!) and is really engaged with everything around him. He's still soooooo congested (anyone else have this?!) and quite sicky and now his awareness is better he can find big social occasions quite over stimulating. However he rarely cries which is great (especially in a flat with lots of neighbours!) and smiles all the time, especially at his daddy which is gorgeous.
I can't wait to see him grow and learn as this year goes on.

Happy new year to you all too!
Lovely to hear how you are getting on gimble, the sleeping and giggling and minimal crying are all really good! My DS is ten weeks now but no giggling yet, so I'm looking forward to that starting. He isn't a sicky baby at all but has more problems at his other end with lots of trapped wind that upsets him. It's like a foghorn when he lets loose! He's pretty chilled out and easy otherwise!
We are all a bit poorly with nasty colds at the moment though, he just wants to sleep on me, so I'm letting him while DH plays games with DD. Luckily we didn't have any big plans over new year so we can all slob out and eat Christmas leftovers and chocs for a couple of days

So nice to hear from you, Gimble and Pingu and to hear how your babies are doing. Giggles are great, Gimble! We only get those if we tickle his "giggle spot" under his chin on his right hand side! He smiles a lot and also does very cute little serious frowns when he is trying to make sense of something new he is experiencing. This week he has really discovered his hands and started to make more controlled and exploratory movements with them which is exciting.

He unfortunately has a dodgy digestive system like his brother and had been prescribed Ranitidine, which seems to have reduced the vomiting, pain, wind and nappy rash caused by his excess acid to a manageable level. I'm also dairy free in case that is part of the cause. By coincidence, his older brother has just come off his reflux medication after two years and seems to be doing ok. Fingers crossed it won't be as long for this one.

Sorry to hear about the colds Pingu. Hope you are all better soon.

We are off to the cinema tomorrow to take DS1 to see Despicable Me 3 at the Kids Club session, so I am wondering what Alexander will make of it. I took the older one to a parent and baby screening when he was small and he slept through it but I think this will be much noisier!