JUNE 07...Starting thread!

[nannyjo]

Well i think i was the frist to 'pop' from the due in june thread so i thought it was about time we started the post-natal thread.

DS2 is 2 weeks on monday I had him 4 weeks early due to induction for OC. Everything is going really well and i think things are finally starting to settle down (i hope i haven't just spoken too soon!!)

He is really suffering with colic though and were getting about 4 hours sleep a night on average and with a 2.5 year old there is no chance of catching up in the day, but i shouldn't complain as i'm lucky to have got two wonderful boys. Thats it now NO MORE!!!!!9smile0

I know a few other june mums have had their babies so it would be lovely to hear from you to see how you are all getting on (when you get the chance )

Hi all, I've been absent for a bit now as I've been sore and miserable. FOund out yesterday that the hideous pain I'm experiencing is mastisis - ouch! I've got anti-biotics now but am so fed up. Seriously all Matthew does is feed and cry, he only wants to sleep on me (which means I don't get to sleep). Would quite happily hand him back at this precise moment if that were an option!
Anyone else approaching the end of their tether?
I swear my DD wasn't this demanding!

Grr! He's only bloody crying again now...

Oh redfraggle, I've had a couple of days like this. It must be especially hard for you if you aren't getting any sleep. Are you taking pain killers as well? Hope it all gets better for you soon.

Claire, I can't imagine ever being able to bf discretely! We are still full boob out to feed! Don't know how we'll be able to do it discretely. Also, we are still taking a few goes to latch on and dds arms get in the way so I can't see what I'm doing.Isn't this meant to be the most natural thing in the world? !

Hi girls

Hope you're all well and the little bambinos too!

Red I've been absent for a while for the very same reasons as you- a demanding baby who wont be put down and who is feeding CONSTANTLY- sometimes every 15 minutes, no joke.
I've been on the bf thread every now and again, and had some good advice- maybe your could try there?

x

Does anyone know who DKMAs text buddy is? Daisy? You back from Tesco's yet?

DKMAs official text buddy is Trace2, but she also has my number too. I e-mailed it to her, but I think I'll send her a text as well so she has it in her phone!

pregnancy amnesia has morphed seamlessly into new baby amnesia......just spent loads of money in Tesco and completely forgot to buy crisps, sweets, cakes, biscuits, chocolate or ice-cream......all I have to eat is fruit FFS!!

Will send DH out to the corner shop later for a magnum and some wine gums!

lol bumper - so the same, all the boob out and have to wait for ds to open his mouth really wide - going to have to start practising!

Hi guys

It's so true, that this time when our babies are tiny is so short - when sleep depro hits so hard (and sore nips for those of you crazy bf'ers) it's easy to want the time to pass quickly, but on the PLUS side, try to savour how teeny they are, and the little snuffly noises they make, and how they cling on to you like you're the only thing in the world that matters... so quickly they are going to be big kids who run away from us!!!

Our bedtime routine at the moment is to do a feed around 6 or 6:30, then go into our room which is then darkened, change into PJs, then cuddle and listen to lullaby and maybe finish up an ounce of the last feed, then at 7 into bed with a dummy and more lullaby. I often go in 2 or 3 times to shhh-pat her and put dummy back in, but she drifts off pretty much by 8 each night. I think the key is to just do the same darned thing each night, no matter what. The sheer predictability of it will eventually send your baby into the next 'step' automatically!

DH gives her a dreamfeed at 10/11 then I am on duty till 4am. I feed her in the hall or in bed, usually at 2am or so then again around 5.

Soon we're moving her from her basket in our room to her cot in DS's room - it's all ready to go now - we use it for daytime naps for her already.

I've just given babyboo a dummy....she hasn't spat it out yet

I'm going to try her with some expressed BM tomorrow.

For anyone stll feeding EBM, how much are your LOs taking at a time? or were taking at nearly 4 weeks old?

lilkel, how are you coping with DS as well as DD?....and how is DS reacting to his little sis?

likel - your routine sounds pretty much the same as mine - consistency is definately the key, i swear my ds already knows when its bedtime.

I love this stage , I wish he would stay this small, obviously would be perfect if didn't have the sore boobs and he slept from 7-7

Oh and likel my lo also wakes at 5 , but i've found he's happy dozing with the dummy and I try and put off feeding him til 6am.

Aaargh Pingu!

I totally sympathise. Matthew feeds pretty much constantly. It is impossible to do anything - I feel so sorry for my daughter as she keeps saying "Baby crying" and "feed baby". That is all that I seem to be doing. I'm getting very frustrated and the total lack of sleep is killing me!

I did pop onto the BF board the other day for help as I was in so much pain. Ended up going to see my GP, who was great. She is so practical and reassuring.

I have read (somewhere) that the first 6 weeks of BF are the worst, so I am just over half way there. If it doesn't improve then though I will be switching to formula! Hope your little one gives you a few hours off this evening!

RF- sorry that your having such a hard time, if its any consolation I'm a bf advisor, and i've been suffering from very sore boob and nips so it happens to everyone- even those who know how to get them latched on! Your perserverance will be rewarded and the breakthrough will come very soon and if it doesn't atleast there is an alternative! , if I can help in any way just ask

RF- I feel for you. I've not been doing too badly on the sore nipple front, although she has just recently been latching on weirdly to my left nipple and its starting to hurt a bit.

I'm pretty impressed with those of you who've managed to stsrt implementing s routine already- wow! I didnt even realise it was possible with a newborn!

hi there....my dd has phases of latching fine and then not fine and the nips suffer as a result.

pingu, just read your co-sleeping thread. go for it if it means you'll get a decent sleep. i co-slept a lot with ds when he was small, but it was only us in the bed....not sure about dh being in there too!

i also didn't think a routine was possible at this stage so am just going with the flow but will need to start doing stuff to suit the school runs and dss bedtime next week when dh goes back to work.

the dummy seems to have worked, she's been more settled this evening...so we'll see how that goes. I'm worried it'll interfere with her latch though, so watch this space!!

RF, Pingu...have you tried a sling. I only hear good things about them and LO can feed while yoou are on the go (think that must take a bit of practice )

good night then, fingers crossed for a few hours un-broken sleep!

thanx daisy for your suggestions, will look into the sling idea. Sleep well xx

Hi again. I too feel humbled by those with routine - we still won't have one when pootle is 3 (I know that becaue DS2 won't go to sleep and is currently learning "the craft" from Gary Rhodes...)

I think we will be buying dummies on Monday - I have no guilt or anything about it but hoped we wouldn't have to, but I'm almost certain he's a comfort sucker like DS2. (On the up side he likes to feed watching Top Gear at 2am. I really thought the Clarkson thing would go with the PG ailments...)

Has been a weird week chez ria. My sister is moving to Kuwait and DH has to have an operation almost immediately so he doesn't lose the use of his arm permanently (he will be off work for most of the summer holidays - peak season - too and I couldn't give a flying f* as he is still being pissed about over his PL despite doing what his boss asked and working the busiest days. Twunts. He is really depressed and keeps telling pootle how much he will miss him etc. I have only cried once or twice[hmm[). It all takes some thinking about and added to not getting as much sleep as I would like because I can't get used to being not PG and therefore comfortable enough to sleep I am still staying up as late as I was when PG.

RE the BF, I have a feeling that 6 weeks is some kind of turning point for it too (I only lasted that long with DS1 anyway) and that's the timescale I'm giving myself before I give up this time. I have no guilt about that either, just want to give it a fair chance. I was more confident with DS2 than this time or DS1, managed to feed at my mums tonight too, but don't think the shopping centres are quite ready for me!

The boys are all fab. Bollocks to everyone who says "ohh, you'll have your work cut out with three boys"! I'm sure it will be hard but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Hi foxy, sorry, can't keep up with AN too. Hope you pop soon!

Happy thoughts everyone, pleasant BF wishes. Good nite! Rx

P.S. This is an excellent thread - virtual HV & BF counsellor. What more could we want?

Sorry, long post

Ria....thats a shame about dhs arm, but good that you'll have him around, although i suppose he won't be able to do very much. what's wrong with his arm anyway? i know you've said its been giving him bother over the last few months.

well, babyboo slept for a five hour stretch last night, although the last hour and a half was on my chest. I then managed to feed her without her waking too much and was feeling quite smug, but she had a pooey nappy and woke up when i changed her. then she wanted more and mucked about, and then it took 2 hours to settle her. getting settled after a night feed is a big big issue here!

For those of you wondering about a bedtime routine, This Thread might be useful

Morning all - guess there's no one on here at this hour on a Sunday? Morning Foxy...sorry not had time to keep up properly on AN and PN - hope you're well and that you have your baby soon! Well DD has just slept for 7 hours...2nd night in a row - hurrah! Still feeling rather guilty that she's gone that long without food...but as she spent most of the evening feeding for the last few nights I guess she's not going to starve in a hurry? I'm supposed to be having a lie-in this morning - but I think I've lost the ability to sleep past about 7am...

I'm here BZ.....giving DH a well earned lie-in as he's been looking after me well over the last few weeks and has been up half the night with DD.....I just cant settle her after a feed in the night!

I'm very of your 7 hour stretches....we've had that once, but last night she did do five hours...so we need to work on that a bit. (DS did six hours from two weeks, so this is a real culture shock for me)

Hmm DD1 was the same - but at the cost of feeding for about 4 hours solid before bedtime. Think I'd rather do that than spend half the night awake though. I'd say in answer to the 'routine' enquiry that this is the closest we have to one: M has been feeding every 2 hours at least during the day, until about midnight. At which point I crash from sheer exhaustion. As she's about a foot away from me in the moses basket I don't THINK she's waking and asking for food in the night (I'm not that heavy a sleeper and she has a lusty cry when stirred)