July 2007 - yet starting in June!

[Jamantha]

Well, I can't see a post natal July 2007 thread, so will start this, even though Charlotte, my DD was born 4.5 weeks early in June. I'm sure the other July ladies will be along soon enough.

Have had 2 nights at home now. Yesterday afternoon was fairly distressing as Charlotte wouldn't latch on, and if she did she wouldn't suck. But have got loan of electric pump from hospital, and support from midwives and now managing with comination of breast, expressed and formula milk, sometimes all three in the same feed. Finding it quite emotional, with all the issues associated with feeding one's baby, but trying to stay calm as found out yesterday that getting self into a state doesn't help anyone.

Dh has just gone out to get some things we're still missing, and I'm putting my feet up for a bit. Phil & Ted has just arrived so we might try a stroll down to the ante natal class tonight!

Any how, hope there are lots of lovely birth stories to come from July ladies, and that we can swap advice, give each other moral support etc over the coming weeks and months.

I think the keeping us busy theory is the right one!
Congratulations to all the new babies!!!
Any tips on how to make your baby wake up happy?! She always wakes up angry - and goes to sleep angry sometimes too. I have an angry baby!!!
My friend can leave her baby in the moses basket for about an hour when she is waking up as she just makes little noises; whereas mine screams the house down and I have to race to make a feed up before the whole street wakes up.

Mine wakes up crying most times, normally because of wet nappy and/or hunger. Sometimes get short period of whimpering before full blown crying commences though. But seems reasonable to me, she wakes becasue she's hungry or wet, and either of those are enough to cause upset. I wouldn't lie there quietly happy if I was wearing wet pants for example.

Jamantha - how long at a time does yours sleep for? I suppose you are right, I just want to make sure she isn't unhappy all the time, if that doesn't sound too silly.

Berrysmum - she normally sleeps for around 3 hours, but anything between 2 and 4 hours isn't uncommon, though between 2 and 3 is much more frequent than between 3 and 4 hours at a time.

I am interested to know how other babies fall to sleep. We are trying the baby whisperer routine of eat, activity, sleep.

Sometimes DS falls asleep feeding, so we skip the activity and put him down in his basket. But when he is awake after feeding, we try a wind-down routine when he appears tired, and he has a dummy, but it can take up to an hour for him to fall asleep, and we often have to go in to put his dummy back in. Not sure why it takes so long...Anyone have any advice? or are we expecting too much at 3 weeks old.

Otherwise a trip out in the car or pushchair is good to get him to sleep.

Berrysmum- DS doesn't cry much at all, so we find it hard to know what he wants. But I've read that most under 6 week olds will wake crying so don't worry. Our DD also used to always cry before sleep too.

Hi ladies, just came over here to have a read of how you are all getting on and to remind myself that there is a baby at the end of what I am feeling now!

You all sound like you are doing marvellously, so well done!

Hope to see you over here soon!
Love from a here's hoping Myfairone.
x

Not had much of a chance for activity with LO as she's normally either asleep by end of feed, or agitated by wind, in which case we have to soothe her until the pains have gone and she then falls asleep. That soothing can be anything from 20 mins to over an hour. Sometimes have a problem that if she's fallen asleep on me (either straight after feeding or after soothing), she wakes after being put down - not at the actual time, but maybe 5 or 10 mins after - and then won't settle again. In those cases it can take a good while to get her asleep again.

pulapula, Evie sometimes falls asleep really nicely after a feed; but other times she really kicks off (usually tea time onwards) and takes ages to settle. Really angry cries too, like she has wind but there doesn't seem to be any there. Was wondering if it could be the beginning of colic. What kind of activity do you do as part of the baby whisperer routine?

not much activity yet- generally a nappy change or a bit of chatting. The aim is so the baby doesn't need to feed to go to sleep. But its so much easier when he does feed to sleep, and sometimes sleeps 2 hours and needs waking up. We use a dummy instead but that keeps coming out. So i'm tired of going up and down 16 stairs every few minutes, and don't know what is best.

have to say, she was just having a bit of a yell so put her on the playmat to have a kick for half an hour and it seems to have tired her out - she's gone nicely off to sleep now. Not sure how it would work later at night though.....! As a matter of interest, with you saying you have to run up and down stairs a lot, do you put your baby to sleep upstairs at the same time as your other children? I was thinking of doing that as dd1 wants to know why the baby gets to stay up later than she does. I am just worried that a) she will be ok and b) her crying might wake up her sister.

Yes, we're trying to get a routine going, and generally after 6pm, I feed in the bedroom, and put him down in his basket. Sometimes we even get both DD and DS down at 7pm, but then we have to have a quick dinner, as he'll wake for another feed around 8/8.30. He sleeps OK in the evening, with a couple of cluster feeds, but in the day, its a pain, as we put him in his basket upstairs too, but its becoming a chore now, when at first he'd sleep 3* 2 hours in the day.

I'm lucky because my DH is on leave for 6 weeks (although 3 have passed now) so we can manage one child each. Not sure how it will work when I have both...

Have to say have found it much more difficult since DH went back to work last Monday - especially getting DD to pre school in the mornings!
I like the idea of what you are doing I think I may give it a go tomorrow. She does seem to settle better in her basket. At the mo we just put her in her bouncy chair but takes ages for her to settle. She is sitting in it right now - her last feed was at 7 so will be due again at 10ish but starts to nod off and then all of a sudden is wide awake and crying again! At this rate will be lucky to get half an hour's sleep before next feed is due!

Hi ladies, it's great to read about your LOs and routines etc. Eva is pretty good, but the bit that's getting to me is that her nighttime activity seems to be getting longer and longer. Last night it was 2.5 hours from waking til settling and I was knackered! I know I need to get used to this though

Do any of your LOs seem to confort suck? I get the feeling that sometimes her hunger cues aren't always hunger cues (esp after a feed) and that she just wants to snuggle and have something comforting in her mouth. She's not really hurting me when she does this, but I don't think I can hear any swallowing.

Any thoughts/experiences would be very welcome! If she is feeding, albeit more gently I don't want to deny her.

Also - any of you expressing yet? I know it's very early days, but I reeeeally can't wait for my DH to be able to help. Any anxiety I have is, I think, as much linked to the perceived pressure on me to 'deliver'.

Thanks again It's hard work this mothering lark!

I have found lo looks like he wants to feed whenever he is uncomfortable with wind or whatever I just play it by ear and cuddle him for a bit if he settles then hes not hungry. But he defo likes to comfort suck.

hi cyee,

We use a dummy with DS as he likes to suck a lot, and my nipples were getting sore! But i find it hard when feeding to know when he's finished, especially as he falls asleep too.

I've started expressing- my MW suggested starting at 2 weeks would be Ok. I find bottles are so much easier as you know how much milk they are getting. I express twice a day if time and use it for bottles in the evening to 'tank him up' although he still feeds every 3 hours at night, but can sometimes go 4.

Thanks Pulapula and Emmyb - much appreciated. I'll be following you to expressing at 2 weeks I think! It's a pity boobs aren't transparent... and with volume calibrations

Thanks again!

I'm shattered! Charlotte has been unsettled all day, and was overheated and crying pretty non-stop from about mid afternoon til 7.30, and not wanting any food. Ended up seeking advice and taking her to local emergency doctors, who couldn't find anything specifically wrong so came home with instructions to ring them if she gets any worse. She's eaten now (and brought half of back up) and is just about asleep, but I've got a feeling it's going to be a long night.

Jamantha,

Glad to hear (via June PN thread) that Charlotte is doing OK.

I have found that healthcare professionals have been great when babies are involved - we've phoned NHS direct, and been to childrens A&E a few times with our DD over the last 2 years, and every time, they have been very thorough and non-judgemental. It's best to go with your instincts.

A general question for all- do you feed your LOs whenever they wake at night, or do you sometimes settle them back without a feed?. The reason I ask is that DS sometimes goes 4-5 hours without feeding but othertimes I feed him every 2 hours. Generally because its the quickest way to get him back to sleep! He still takes the milk, so must be a bit hungry, but I don't want to encourage night-time feeding, and from reading the June thread, there are some babies who only need one night feed.

thanks pulapula. I feed C when she wakes - unless it's shortly after a feed and she's wokem with wind or just not wanting to sett;e etc. I think at this age (almost 5 weeks) if they're hungry they should get food, bit early to do without night feeds IMO

Was actually very glad to feed her in wee hours this morning. With her reduced feeding yesterday pm my norks were swollen and sore. Left side particularly was getting lumpy around nipple. So I massaged the area and milk just poured everywhere, shooting across room to hit the wall! Oh to have had a sterile bottle to hand When she woke a few mins later and had a good long feed, it was SUCH a relief

Jamantha, I'm really glad to hear Charlotte had a good feed and that your milk production devices are feeling relieved Yesterday must have been really tough.

Pulapula - I do feed when Eva wakes up during the night, but mainly because she only wakes up when she's hungry, or at least seems to wake up with her mouth wide open. My DH has nearly lost his nose on a couple of occasions when a kiss was misinterpreted as incoming food!

I agree they still need night feeds, and I always feed him if he wakes. It's just that sometimes i'm not sure he's waking with hunger. For example, he fed at 11, 1 and 3 last night, but then not til 8am. The 11pm feed was a bottle (dreamfeed) where he didn't wake. 1am he was crying and wide awake, so fed him. 3am was due to me waking with him on me as i'd fallen asleep after feeding, and he woke when i tried to move him, so thought i might as well feed as might get him through til morning! just wondered if i should have made the effor to settle him...he also sleeps much better in the bed with me!

jamantha- i can empathise with the full boobs thing, but don't think i've ever had milk hit the wall with such force. poor you.

Hello all, been a busy week so only finally getting back on for what seems like ages!
Pulapula- I think it sounds like you are doing everything right, oh the joys of demand-led baby feeding! Mairi is also all over the place with feeds at night, some nights she seems to feed on & off for a couple of hours and then finally conks out for 4 hours (yey!) whereas other nights is feeding every 2-3hrs. At this stage I wouldn't try to settle her without offering to feed her, unless it is straight after a feed and could be wind-related wakening.

Jamantha, glad C is ok, and hope your boobs are too! I developed mastitis yesterday...still sore today but feeling a bit better so hopefully avoiding antibiotics... I got it a few times with DS and really hoped to avoid it this time, but it seems almost as if once you've had it once you are more susceptible... It is really sore though Slept quite a bit this morning though as Mairi settled well & DS was at nursery so feeling more human again...

Does anyone elses little ones suffer quite badly with passing no. 2s? Mairi really struggles with this bless her, so I have her in a sling quite a bit walking about as it seems to help.

Weigh-in day tomorrow... bit nervous as she still hadn't regained her birth weight last week, but she's 3 weeks old today and feeding well so fingers crossed. She went down to 5lb 1oz and seemed so tiny but I feel she has begun to fill out a little now.

Hugs to you all xxxxx

MMN, hope weigh in is OK. My lo took 3 weeks to regain birth weight too. Am sure that if you feel she's growing then she will be.