February 2019 babies - thread 1

[Celebelly]

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

@lulabelle1 and @yakadee SW is quite simple to get your head around as there are lots of foods that are unrestricted and encouraged. Main principle is aiming for 1/3 of your plate to be fruit or veg. Then the rest of your plate ideally needs to be low fat food. All of the following can be eaten without needing to measure - lean meat (so no sausages or burgers sadly), most fish, eggs, dried pasta, potatoes, rice, noodles. Plus a ton of other stuff I’m probably forgetting.

Things to avoid are the obvious cakes and chocolate - anything high fat. Bread is limited so if you can survive without I’d recommend trying. Milk and cheese are portion controlled but you get a daily allowance.

Naughty stuff is then restricted but not banned, depending on your snack of choice will depend on how much you can have. Generally you get approx 200 calories to play with but everything that isn’t unrestricted has a ‘syn’ value and you get 10-15 (sometimes more if you have more to lose).

Pinch of nom is a very good site for recipe ideas and gives the syn value so you can gauge how ‘bad’ it is, but most are really low syn.

SW have also partnered up with Iceland and have a range of ready meals if you’re not so confident on cooking from scratch, but long term it’s good to try and cook fresh (ideally in batches that you can freeze and reheat after a bad night!)

Feel free to pm me with a typical days meals and I can tell you what can be adapted for SW easily.

@1stTimeTina why not just spend the day with you mum and your little one? I have an older DS and for past few years have spent the day with both my mum and mum in law. they have both come to ours in the morning and then we've all gone out for Sunday lunch together. This year I have booked for us all (me, DH, both DS's, my mum, dad and mother in law) to go to for afternoon tea. DH will generally get up with the kids and make me breakfast in bed and then we have a lovely family day together.

Thanks @maxiflump1 I think that sounds like a plan x

@Fredthespider - that's really helpful, thank you! I have done weight watchers several times and could totally get that so I'm sure I will this too. I still might have to weigh out my pasta / potatoes etc as portion control is not exact my thing! (Hence overweight!). I'll defo check out that website x

Tonight I have had the most unbroken / amazing sleep in what feels like forever! Emma went around 10:30-4:10! Amazing! My son hasn't woken me up either 🎉

Hey pumping mums: has anyone else tried the naturebond breast pump? It collects milk during feeding using a suction grip. No moving parts. I just got about 80 mls from one side.

deliberatelyginger my Naturebond pump arrived yesterday! It's great I love it. DH gives DS2 a bottle of formula for his night feed then I feed him next time (5:50am this morning! Often around 5-5:30am though) and my boobs are full to bursting/leaking by this point so I feed DS2 on one side while collecting loads of let down on the other. Annoyingly this morning I squeezed the pump too hard/too low when taking it off without realising how full it was so spilt a fair bit. Gutted. Still great though, I'll use it at home whenever I feed in the day, as the goal is to have a decent 3+ Oz bottle of EBM to give DS2 alongside a breast feed for his early morning feed, as he's harder to settle at this point.

@Lookingforadvice123 yep I spilled a lot too cos I didn't realise how full it was. Guess it takes some getting used to. I'm also trying to get a decent bottle for the morning so DH can take DS whilst I sleep a bit more. He was up with her til 1:30 last night though so I'm not expecting him soon. x

deliberatelyginger I've got the Haakaa (on sale for cheaper than the nature bond when I bought it. I've managed 40ml at a time but am still playing about with timings and things because I feed from both times each session and don't want to make ds have to work harder than he has to for milk because we're still on top ups. Have you found that the naturebond makes you feel bruised during/after using it? I didn't notice the first few times but definitely do now.

lanalawr it stings me a bit. Not loads and not all the time.

I find the Hakaa a bit painful. Although sometimes if I readjust position it's less so.

Ladies who are breast feeding do any of you have issues with milk squirting everywhere?! I’m still having to wear breast pads at 9 weeks post partum and have to sit with a muslin cloth close by for when my son pulls his head out the way just as the milk starts flowing when I’m feeding him. Will this ever stop happening or am I just going to have to get used to leaky boobs and potentially spraying the person next to me in the face 😂🤦🏼‍♀️. I had two lots of antibiotics over about 6 weeks and my milk dried up each time so I don’t know if this is why it’s taking longer to calm down a bit as it came back in full force a few days after I finished each course (thank God!). Any tips to avoid the embarrassment of over shoulder milk sprays would be greatly appreciated please! 🤷🏼‍♀️

@Wames90 not quite but I have a lot of leaks from the non-feeding side so often end up soaking wet. I'm using shells to catch that but somehow still end up with soggy patches where the shells have missed the let down or it's leaked out. I'm also still dripping all over myself/ds if boobs are full and he is faffing about instead of latching. Not full on water pistol squirts usually though. I'm also wondering if/when it'll stop though. We're almost 6 weeks.

@lanalawr no bruised feeling but if I squeeze the bottle too tight my nipples get quite sore.

Struggling today. Find it so hard to know what to do re: feeding. She’s 6w+4d now and FF but is so hungry. Done 3 bottles since 8.30am plus every 3 hours over night which seems too much. She also makes so much noise and flails around so much after feeding, especially at night. She seems to eat way more than it says to feed them. She also vomits a lot so don’t know if that’s what makes her hungrier or if we’re overfeeding her. The GP has referred her to the paediatrician but that’s in mid June :(
She also has flaky dry skin all over her forehead and drool rash and sore looking eyes and I feel like a shit mum because I have no idea what I’m doing and she looks so rubbish and seems so unhappy and unsettled :(
She’s not doing the things she’s meant to like smiling either, I don’t know if that’s because she was 37+6 when she was born but she was basically full term so don’t know if she’s ‘behind’ but at the same time she’s on the big side (65th percentile ish) so not like she was a small baby.
Have days where I feel I’m doing ok but then today I feel like a total failure.

@powkin - you can't blame yourself for any of this, you're not at all shit! Babies are hard, and it doesn't help that you can't get in until June.

Are you able to get any time for you? You might feel a bit better if you could get someone to watch baby and do something for you. I hope you're OK xx

@powkin

My baby is settled and mostly happy... and still looks like shit 🤷🏻‍♀️

His forehead has slight cradle cap, his baby acne is in his face, neck and a bit on his back, and he has sticky crusty eyes. All pretty normal though.. I just clean him up, and hopefully he’ll get prettier soon 😂

With the feeding, I’m guessing you’re using the correct flow teat and winding well? My other half gets more sick from our baby as he doesn’t hind him upright enough following a feed (he won’t listen).

Also, have you tried the tiger in a tree hold? I’d never heard of it before (this is my third baby) but it works well on my boy to get him settled.

We’re all winging it.. don’t forget that.

With the drool rash, you can get a specific cream that acts as a barrier, or you can use most nipple balms, they do the same and usually work out cheaper.

powkin you're not shit at all. No one knows what they're doing, even on subsequent babies! My little boy's nappy keeps leaking wee and I remember the exact same thing with DS1. Never happens when DH does his nappy so clearly I just can't change nappies properly! And he's still on my boobs all day long if we're in the house. AND he's so flaky and dry, I fed him in just his nappy earlier because he'd had a poo explosion and he left flaky skin all over my nursing top, gross!

Coconut oil is amazing for dry skin, cradle cap, pretty much anything. Would definitely recommend it.

Feeding wise could it be reflux? Sounds like it might be? The GP can see you for that and prescribe ranitidine or gaviscon, so you shouldn't have to wait more than a couple of weeks for an appt surely?

DS2 is already smiling and has been since before 3 weeks but DS1 was definitely 6 weeks when he first smiled. And we had to work hard for them at that stage, whereas DS2 just hands them out. Babies are SO different.

Coconut oil or sweet almond oil... I’ve used both and prefer the almond.

@fredthespider thanks im gluten free so im limited to most things anyway but im going to sign up!

@wames90 @lanalawr babyDe is 13weeks old and iv only just stopped leaking and feeling that really saw pain when they are full...i think as the get bigger and feed more it goes! You still feel the hardness when they full but i dont need pads anymore

Thanks @Lulabell1 it's good to know the leaking should calm down. I don't mind the hardness - could be a bit strange but I actually like feeling full (I haven't had pain with it though).

@powkin I'd echo the others. We're all winging it. Ds isn't as much of a happy baby as dd was and it's hard. Much harder than a happy baby. A friend had a really unhappy baby but it was like a switch flipped at some point and she's now a lovely happy toddler. Ds has also got flaky skin on his head and ears. He leaves lovely flakes on my black cardi when he feeds. He's also got a mixture of baby acne and milk spots on his face. The dryness and spots do usually clear up but 2.5yo dd has still got a bit of cradle cap. If your little one is maintaining weight and roughly following the same growth line then I wouldn't worry about the feeding. Dd was ff and fed on demand. She followed roughly the same line on the chart (alternated between 50 and 75 but usually somewhere in between). She was pretty good at spitting the bottle out when she'd had enough. Ds seems less good at that and he's having two huge (seriously massive) top ups.

Has anyone else got an itchy scalp? I don't remember this last time but I can't stop scratching (pretty sure I don't have nits!).

@lanalawr - not itchy but I have a bit of dandruff - I've never ever had if before and haven't changed shampoo etc so not sure if it's just a coincidence? X

Emma's skin is horrendous! Baby acne, random dry patches and flakes. I'm just keeping her clean and moisturised and hoping for the best!

I take my boy into the garden to brush his hair/scalp... no way I’m having that blizzard in my house! 😂

I then massage almond oil in once we’re back inside.