February 2019 babies - thread 1

[Celebelly]

Let's go ladies! Share your tales of cluster feeding, cracked nipples, poo explosions and sleep deprivation!

@HugoBearsMummy - congratulations! She's gorgeous x

She is so lovely 😍

Health visitor has been out and weighed Max today. He's now 13lb 2 oz and has put on over a kilo in the last 2 weeks! He officially off the scale!

He's probably having over 40 oz of milk a day.

Health visitor advises be careful not to overfeed but still feed on demand?? Not sure how that works!!

I'm worried I might be overfeeding (FF) my little girl - she seems to be getting so big. Health visitor is coming on Wednesday and I'm hoping she'll be weighed again then. She was 8lb 7 at birth and over 9lb by day 5.

She's also not done a dirty nappy since 6am yesterday 😕 I'm not sure if I should be worried or not? She seems happy enough and doing plenty of wet nappies.

@maxiflump1 - there was a question mark (not from me!) around my sons feeds when he was small, and whether I should be giving him less milk. Safe to say, I didn't give him any less and his weight steadied and he's perfectly healthy / good weight now. If your baby is hungry, you feed them. I'm sure there'll be nothing to worry about.

My daughter went from 7lb15 to 8lb8 in a weekend! I haven't had her weighed for a week or two now but she's certainly getting bigger and filling her 0-3 month grows x

@detachablehoof - we've gone a time or two like that and she more than makes up with it once she does. If it's not bothering her, just keep an eye and maybe mention to hv if worried x

Place marking as i just posted on old thread, question ladies...we are 9weeks old now and iv been breastfeeding we only just come home from hospital last thursday as babygirl caught meningitis but since coming home iv had 0 sleep so i gave her a formula bottle twice and shes been constipated for 5days do you think it is the formula? If i just carry on breastfeeding will she eventually poo and is there anything i can do to help her

Place marking! DS arrived yesterday at 40+4, straightforward midwifery lead birth but I still pushed for over an hour and ended up with a second degree tear. Still he's here and worth it!

Giving BF a go at least for the first few weeks, if not longer. I feel like he's already feeding better than DS1, who would fall asleep on the boob within 5 minutes every time and lost 12% of his weight on day 3. DS2 fed for a whole hour and a half shortly after birth, then slept pretty well, then fed again for 45 mins about 5 hours later. He had another long (2+ hours across both boobs) feed earlier and another just now. I thought newborns did shorter more regular feeds though? He's had two poos today and a couple of decent wees (one was all over us!) so assuming this is a good sign?

@Lulabell1 so pleased you're home now. I wouldn't have thought that just two bottles of formula would cause constipation. It's normal for poos to become less frequent as they get older though.

@Lookingforadvice123 congratulations! Nappy output sounds good. In terms of feeding I still don't know what's normal. Ds sometimes has long feeds (up to 45 mins/an hour for the first boob) but we're still about 8% under birthweight at two weeks and I feel like I've got no idea what I'm doing.

Place marking

Congratulations Looking!

It's so hard isn't it lanalawr! This boy is certainly full of poo/wee as he did another not long after my post. Very different to DS1 who if I remember was wee'ing fine but after his initial meconium poo he didn't have another until a week old! He had lost over 12% weight though by day 3...

Has anyone managed to get their baby to sleep for any length of time in a cot or Moses basket? DD literally won’t stay asleep for longer than 5 mins unless she’s on DH or me. I really don’t feel comfortable holding her while dozing or bed-sharing (she’s only 4 days old) so I’m literally getting no sleep whatsoever. Haven’t slept at all yet tonight. Any tips, anyone?

@Susannach we started making sure baby does down in the day as a routine. I love cuddling him to sleep but this has made a massive difference. Very hard with visitors but even at families house last night I limited cuddles and said once he is asleep he goes in the buggy or we end up in a pickle at night!

@Susannach should have added we've managed 2-4 hour stretches since day 3. Good luck!!!

@babyp160 Thanks, she’s yet to sleep in the Moses in the day either. She just wakes up immediately as soon as she’s in. I’m really starting to panic about how I’m going to get any sleep at all for the foreseeable future. I just don’t see how when she won’t be put down at all. I’ve resorted to trying to co-sleep tonight, which I really don’t want to do, but we’ve both ended up soaking wet (my milk has just come in) and she hasn’t settled and stirs the moment I try to stop feeding her.

My other two weren’t great either as newborns, of course, but I do remember managing a couple of hour-long stretches of them being in the Moses basket per night. Neither one naps in the day now so I can’t catch up then. I also don’t feel comfortable to “shift sleep” with DH because despite his best intentions he falls asleep really easily and will be sat with her in a chair or in bed fast asleep within 10 mins of handing her over. It’s not safe and I’d never forgive myself if anything happened.

@susanach have you tried warming the noses basjet/crib first? I pop a hot water bottle in whilst I feed DD and then take it out just before I put her in. It seems to do the trick. I've also bought a grobag so that I don't disturb her with blankets.

@LittleDot That is an interesting idea! Will have to try that tonight, thank you. I do have grobsgs from my other two but she’s still a bit little even for the 0-3 ones. I might try swaddling for now, never mastered it before but desperate times!

Am feeling a bit less tired and emotional now the sun’s up, but I know it will hit me like a truck again mid-afternoon! Baby A is lucky she’s such a sweetie

@lulabell1 my HV said that they don’t worry about constipation in breastfed babies until after 10 days of no dirty nappy. I’m sure a couple of bottles of formula wouldn’t change that but maybe speak to your HV if you’re unsure.

I second the hot water bottle. Baby sleeps all night in moses basket (although wakes twice for a bottle) but does go straight down after burping etc. Not sure if we're lucky or not, we did that same with my son and he slept similar x

We’re co-sleeping (despite the next to me and sleepyhead) or she sleeps on me. Otherwise it’s a battle for 3 -4 hours a night. I’m fairly relaxed about it - no other risk factors plus I’m EBF, but it’s not for everyone and she’s a little older - 3 weeks on Thursday.

@Susannach I second the hot water bottle. We also found a swaddle helps keep her settled (we got the swaddleme ones from Mothercare) and also got a white noise machine (ollie the owl). A couple of times I've heard her stirring in the night which has activated the white noise, and she's then settled, so it definitely works!

We don't have a problem putting her down any more, but getting her to sleep is another thing! She seems to like to be awake for 1 hour + after a feed. Is this normal? She's usually happy, just looking around with her big eyes 👀

At 25 days old Margot is finally back at her birth weight after a 13% loss. Dont think I have ever been more relieved about anything ever. We have finally been discharged from mw care.

For those worrying about weight gain etc
Its a labour of love but youll get there too im sure. This was the moment I felt like was going to never happen.

Notquite Yay, great news! Well done you and little Margot.

Thank you everyone for your advice; I am going to try all of your suggestions tonight. Fingers crossed!

So strange how babies are so different so early on. Amazes me.

Ours will sleep anywhere but he kicks off blankets already and has his own ways already 💙

So, baby is having a great sleep, been asleep since 10:15pm. My son on the other hand is coughing his head off!

No rest for the wicked eh!! X