The March-ers 2019 - Baby Talk #1

[Angelmiracle]

Congratulations to all the mamas with their new babies 🌸

Now the fun really starts 😄

@toastfiend - baby boy - 28/01/2019
@TheWanderlust - Baby girl - Althea - 7lb6oz - 16/02/2019
@PurpleFlower1983 - Baby girl - Matilda - 17/02/2019
@Wineandchoccy - Baby girl - Lois - 6lb12oz - 19/02/2019
@Harley8888 - Baby boy- Logan - 7lb4oz - 01/03/2019

@shiny888 not overreacting- I would probably have sobbed!

@cardboard33 yes she sleeps better with white noise too! Such a great invention and a life saver!!

@BadBadBeans took my another2 hours to settle her but got there in the end. Iv band him from taking a phone call in the same room as her from now on 😂

Well think I spoke to soon on the sleep front. Wish I never woke her now as she's been awake ever since . Should of got the sleep whilst I could . She gets weighed on Monday so will speak to midwife and see if she's happy for me to go longer between feeds at night time

Where are you all getting your white noise from? Has anyone tried Ewan or Ollie? Or the Hummy thing? I'm using the sleep sounds on Hesdspsce right now but it needs restarting every hour & runs down my phone battery...

@badbadbeans thanks! She’s just fed on that boob so think i’m just not used to all these sensations as it wasn’t really working last week!

@jenlou1992 we’re allowed to do a 2am and a 6am as long as we get the 2am in and she’s sleeping and not looking for food. The rest of the time they’re keen for more frequent feeds.

I'm a terrible parent but let her sleep at night, actually to be fair we just get led by her anyway. She will do 4-5 hour stints overnight a lot of the time which is fine by me and she is growing even if the scales don't always agree.
Ultimately I am a much better, safer, kinder parent if I have slept so for the good of my children, and the fact she will let me, I am better letting her sleep.

@KarBB DD doesn't need it but we needed white noise with DS and just used an app, which worked fine.

@KarBB we've got an Ollie. My friends bought it as a present and I didn't think much of it because tried a white noise app and he hated it. However Ollie really works! Definitely helps him self settle which is amazing. It also kicks back in when he starts crying which is great

Guys I'm having a melt down here . The sleep deprivation is really getting to me . I'm doing so much by myself as my partner didn't take any time of work due to being self employed . Feel like giving up breast feeding so I can just give him baby for a day and I can rest then I feel awful for feeling like that but it's so hard . I feel so stressed and upset . I can't run of no sleep any longer it's killing me off

@KarBB I have a myhummy teddy but I use the app instead this is the app o use and it had different noises!
Sound Sleeper: White Noise by Michael Feigenson itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sound-sleeper-white-noise/id507967709?mt=8

@Jenlou1992 I feel for you I really do! FTM so I don't really have any advice and I'm struggling with the no sleep thing aswell. I'm sure you are doing an amazing job for your baby and you can do it. Just know things will get easier (that's what I keep telling myself anyway) and if you want to switch to bottle do it. Do what's best for you because if you're happy baby will be happy! Just know you aren't alone!

@jenlou1992 please give yourself a break. I totally understand wanting to exclusively breast feed but could you try some combo feeding? It’s important to look after yourself as well! Formula is perfectly fine and many of us were raised on it! You’re doing the best for your baby but also for your whole family. I felt guilty for a while having to give Adela formula but looking back it was absolutely the best decision. And now we’re on our journey to getting back to SOME breast feeding. X

@jenlou1992 of course if you want to carry on with breastfeeding you should! I just wanted to say that formula is also fine. Please get some support maybe a breastfeeding group or something like that? X

@Jenlou1992 I don’t wake dd I am led by her as to when she needs feeding. I think as long as baby is back up to birth weight you would be ok to do the same.
You have to do what’s best for you whether that be express some milk or formula for a break. The haaka/naturebond is great if you want to express easily. It does get easier I promise x

@jenlou1992 I feed baby breast and formula. She does look for both, but usually after a bottle will sleep between 3-5 hours. I couldn’t cope doing it all alone. You need to look after yourself too. Have you tried pumping if you’re not keen on formula? I’m going to try this, although have struggled to get anything when I have done it..

I was thinking about buying a white noise toy too. Mainly because I think they are quite cute. Was looking at the myhummy, but the Ollie owls looks really good and a lot cheaper! Xx

She's 10 days old tomorrow and has the midwife coming to check her weight so I will see how she's getting on . She still hasn't been sleep from 2.40 . She wants to but is kind of fighting it. Think they have w growth spurt at this age . I have tried to express but I don't get much either and it just stresses me more .

@BeHereNowx32 when you do both how often to you BF and how many times do you give a bottle ? I wouldn't mind trying that. And maybe just giving a bottle on bed time feed but I'm scared of it messing with my milk supply ?

@Jenlou1992 we have her bottle with the midwife’s advice as she has lost too much weight. I was finding food breastfeeding so difficult I was happy to give her the bottle. I do worry that she will stop breastfeeding with starting bottle so early. Have been trying bottles that are meant to help natural sucking, and she’s does still seem to be latching but ok (3.5 weeks old now).

I always try the breast first (a couple of nights DH has just given her a bottle to let me sleep, which really helps if you need it. But I do end up quite swollen and leaking!).

The advice given to me was.. give breast for 30 mins then top up with a bottle. I give her the breast advice long as I can handle it, the. Offer a bottle of she doesn’t settle. (At night she always needs bottles! I feed her for over an hour or 2).

I would speak to your midwife first. Then see how you and baby get on. You’ll be able to judge it by them and how you’re feeling xx

I’m so sorry for the typos! Baby was crying as I typed lol

@Jenlou1992 we also gave her a dummy 🙊🙊 because she was wanting to latch on me so often, and I struggled. But she seems to refuse the dummy most of the time now. And I’m more comfortable with her using me as comfort. Probably because I can use the bottle for a break too xx

@jenlou1992 as I said above to gronk, I distinctly recall our baby having a ridiculously awful few days at 10/11 days and like you I was like I honestly can't do this baby thing any more (and this was with my husband still at work) but the midwife said they have a massive growth spurt at this exact time which makes them feed etc loads. We were up to about 7 hours of breast time and the rest of the time he just wouldn't sleep and was screaming for lots of it. We've been doing one formula feed a day from around 3 weeks plus a bottle of expressed milk. I found it really really hard using the electric pump as I got about 10ml and couldn't work out how people manage to have freezer loads of the stuff... The break through for me was the Hakka (I posted a link to a fake one a few pages ago) which I started using around week 3 as you literally just suction that onto your other breast whilst feeding and it collects the drips and I normally now end up with around 20-30ml per feed which equates to around 2 bottles worth if I do it every time I feed so we use half for a feed and then freeze the rest - I've now got 10 bags of milk in my freezer and am becoming that person who a few weeks ago I had no chance of becoming. If you do one feed of formula a day then it shouldn't mess your milk supply too much (just talking from my experience) but you could use that time to express when you get the hang of it... I now wait until my breasts feel really heavy and start leaking then I pop the pump on one side, with the Hakka on the other, and get around 80-100ml. You'll find it gets easier as time goes on and as you've got a very clingy baby like me you'll likely find your milk supply increases with the expectation of it constantly being on your breast.

We've just downloaded white noise apps onto our phones. I've got a really rubbish phone and it doesn't drain the battery too much (I have it on overnight without it being on charge) I'll let you know which one I have, although I literally just entered "white noise" into the Android store and downloaded the first or second one. Husband has a different one. We saw those toy things that do it in JL but decided we would just do it for free on our phones.

We also gave a dummy at 4 weeks. That's also been a game changer as most of the time he doesn't want food per se, he just wants to suck. Have you tried using a clean little finger in her mouth and seeing if they settles her to give your breasts a break?

We gave a dummy in the first week out of desperation. Hopefully it hasn’t had too much of an effect. I’m totally on board with thinking this is a day 10/11 growth spurt as Cardboard says. Could you express @jenlou1992? We were supposed to be going top up feeds but I find she will latch on when she’s not super hungry and stressed if we try and do it before bottle she loses her shit.

I did try express but struggled. I will take the advice on board now and see what I can express ..I have electric pump and haakaa so going to use both and see what happens . She is just so clingy. Hoping it is the growth spurt . She won't sleep . She hasn't even had a full hour since 2.40. She must be exhausted . Its like she's fighting it

Babies are clingy - it is normal. Is your partner home?
If so, just give him the baby and go for a sleep. He will just have to cope... There are lots of things he can do to settle her. Feed her then leave them to it for a bit.

I am currently sitting watching Paw Patrol with DS and a sleeping DD on me. She has been struggling with sleeping today, so she just needed to be held. DH is having to cook dinner and unpack the supermarket shop on his own, but he understands why!

@shiny888 Thanks for the app suggestion. Am downloading it now!

@Jenlou1992 Hope you're feeling a bit better & got some rest today. Does your DP have time to help you with other things? I do the whole night shift alone as we are BF but DH does all the cooking, washing up & grocery shopping, helps with laundry & takes the baby for a few hours as soon as we've eaten in the evening so that I can sleep. He also works full time mon-fri. There's no way I'd cope with the nights w/o his support.
I'm thinking about expressing to get a longer evening sleep but I actually think the bottles & stuff could be more hassle than just doing the feeds!

Unfortunately he's not as helpful. Think I'm just fed up guys . I feel like giving up but only because I think it will be easier on me and I'll get more sleep but then I feel guilty for being selfish . My hormones are still all over the show . I try expressing and it just won't work . I get 10mls of haakaa. Nothing of electric breast pump but I can hand express and my milk comes out but I find it to tiring to do. Rose is only 10 days old tomorrow I'm not persevering enough . Just didn't think it would be this difficult. It's the sleep .