The March-ers 2019 - Baby Talk #2

[Angelmiracle]

Thread 2 for all our newborns ❤🤗👣

@ballanj don't really have any advice except my first period which I got 6.5wks after birth was exactly like that. I'm due my second one yesterday, not started yet so don't know what this one will be like. Hoping it's not the same

How do you politely decline a wedding invitation because your EBF? It's a work colleagues wedding and I think she'll be miffed but I don't want to leave DD a whole day and have to pump and dump milk. I don't know if I'd be allowed to bring her but as reception is in a marquee at a stately home it's not like we'll have our own room. As it's not a family wedding I wouldn't be comfortable whipping out the boob frequently with strangers around.

@Angelmiracle I would just say exactly that - I'm breastfeeding and it will be too complicated. I did take DS to a wedding when I was breastfeeding him - he was about 11 months at the time so it wasn't too bad but I stupidly made the assumption that I would be able to find a little room somewhere to feed him privately... so I wore an ordinary dress. There was no little room. I ended up sitting round the bend of the staircase with my dress half off! Glam. And yes guests did walk past me!

Thanks for the comments on my leggings everyone! I have got a bit overexcited and ordered some more pretty fabric...

Will catch up more later. Finding life with two very hectic! Xx

I see people on here have their periods etc . My LO is nearly 10 weeks old and I haven't had mine . I had c-section and bled for 5.5weeks after. But nothing since then . I'm BF not sure if that makes a difference and I'm definatley not complaining haha . Also I think my LO is teething . She also looks like she's getting a tooth I can see white on her lower gum like two for/ lines . That i haven't seen before but I feel this is really early. I could have completely wrong

She has her injections tomorrow too . I totally have so much fear I feel so so upset about it because I can't bare anything to hurt her . Like I literally feel like not showing up . And I know it's stupid but I can't bare the thought of her being upset ..I cry every time l think about it . Anyone else like this ? X

@Jenlou1992 I haven’t had a period yet and I am ebf. Last time they didn’t return until my dd1 dropped the night feeds consistently at 8 1/2 months old.

@BadBadBeans life with 2 is definitely hectic here as well on one hand the days are long and on the other there are not enough hours in the day.

@Angelmiracle I would just decline the invitation and if the colleague says why just explain about the breastfeeding. I am presuming they don’t have children? But I am sure when/if if they do they will realise what a pain going to some places are no matter how a baby is fed.

@ballanj that doesn’t sound pleasant at all a trip to the GP for some advice sounds like a plan. My 1st few periods after dd1 were odd either barely there or Niagra falls but only for the normal length of time. Hope it settles soon.

Ha ha @cardboard33 you sound like me I have so many WhatsApp/Facebook messenger groups from random people I have met at different groups plus dd1’s birth group that there is always someone to talk about the lack of sleep or poo in the long nights

We are on holiday in a caravan in Scarborough dd2 has been waking a bit more often not sure if it’s that we are coming up to 4 months old or it’s so hot in the caravan a caravan night and she needs to feed more.
She loved the beach and proper giggled when we dipped her toes on the sea.
Its certainly not a relaxing holiday but dd1 is having a great time.

@squirtlesmumagain I hope you are ok I think of you often x

@Jenlou1992 yes breastfeeding normally delays the return of your period. With DS1 I didn't get my period back till 10 months. It was brilliant! Although I had the world's worst PMS just before it came back and couldn't understand why I felt so dreadful... then Aunt Flo arrived and the penny dropped! Regarding the jabs, honestly they are fine. Baby J cried but only for a few seconds; I think he was more indignant than anything! And thanks for the reminder... I need to book his second lot!

@Wineandchoccy haha exactly. I keep getting to the end of the day and thinking bollocks... still not posted that present/ washed that load of pooped on clothing/ cleaned out the fridge. I have a to do list on my phone that I add to while I'm breastfeeding and then fail to take away from during the day 😂 I stayed up till 10pm last night just because I had a load of financial admin to do that kept escaping me. It always amazes me though how much I can cram into 45 mins of free time when I have a baby. It's like the burning urge to get things done while I have a chance gives me superpowers! It's just that I need way more of those 45 minutes than I'm getting...

@cardboard33 I'm not as good as you at organising social stuff but I do try... I set up a WhatsApp group for local mums but it's not used very often. However then someone else added me into a larger Facebook messenger chat which includes loads of local mums, and since last summee we have gone out for dinner about once every 3 months with as many of us as we can coordinate - usually about 10. I know what you mean about needing to get out. I thought with 2 I would want to stay in more, but it is so much nicer for everyone to get out of the house. On Wednesday this week I'm crashing a friend's playgroup that's a 25 min drive away just because I can't face the thought of being in all day!

How's sleep going for everyone? I feel pretty happy with my situation. Baby J goes down aroubd 8.30pm and then tends to sleep till about 4am. Up for a feed, then back down till about 6. Last night I tried dream feeding him at 10pm to see if he would sleep longer but he woke up at 3.30am so I guess not! My husband is still in the spare room - currently being invaded most nights by DS1 who wakes up convinced that frogs / foxes / bears are coming into his room and therefore he must go and sleep in Daddy's bed...

@Jenlou1992 my little one had her jabs a couple of weeks ago. I was like you, really worried and upset about them hurting her.
She did scream for about 2 mins, think it must have been the shock. She was totally fine afterwards. I must admit I cried before they even put the needle in!
@BadBadBeans Mines been sleeping through since 7 weeks. She has her last feed about 10 and doesn't wake till I wake her around 7-8am. I'd like her to go to sleep a little earlier but she won't settle downstairs only in her cot and I don't want to put her upstairs on her own just yet so she goes up when I go

@BadBadBeans mine is 13 weeks tomorrow and wakes up once or twice for a feed - I'm lucky in that he eats and go straight back to sleep so he's only awake for half an hour at most.

However - I've seen loads of threads around Mumsnet about "noisy babies" and I never got it. Oh my god I do now. At night he may only wake up for an hour tops but he sounds like he's awake for most of the night between midnight and 7am. Just general grunting and writhing - plus no matter how many times I put him at the bottom of the Snuzpod 1 he's scrunched up in the top corner without minutes!

*within minutes

@kee80 wow what a sleeper? Are you breast or bottle feeding if you don't mind my asking? I've heard that bottle fed babies often sleep better. I've got to start phasing out breastfeeding at some point in preparation for my op so I'm hoping that sleep will be a benefit of that.

@Whatalearningcurve oh goodness, the Grunting Baby Routine. DS1 used to do it in the early hours of the morning and it drove me crackers! Baby J has only done it for an extended period once thus far. You have my sympathy!

Dd2 had been sleeping through most nights until the last week not sure if it’s because we are on holiday or she is 15 weeks today so about to hit the 4 month regression. She is breastfed.

DS2 had 2 nights where he slept from 10-4:30 and I was just starting to feel amazing only for him to have reverted last night to 10-2 and then again about 2:30-6:30. Even though it was only one wake up during the night, I seem to do much better with one long block of sleep and then an extra couple of hours than two 4 hour stints. Need to keep reminding myself that a few weeks ago, waking just once in the night would've made me cheer.

What's everyone doing about bedtime at the moment? Baby falls asleep on me at about 8pm recently and we've been holding him to make sure he stays asleep then putting him in his moses basket at about 9:30 where he inevitably wakes up within minutes. Then we take him upstairs and get ready for bed, feed him and put him in the crib and we go to bed at the same time.

How do we go about moving this to an earlier time? I'm not sure about putting him upstairs and us being downstairs for the first couple of hours and he wakes up immediately if we put him in his moses basket downstairs.

@Jenfur I'd like to get mine to bed a little earlier but like you I don't feel comfortable putting her upstairs without us just yet. Also she won't settle in Moses basket for longer than about 30 mins.
We take her up about 10, give her a feed then put her down and she goes straight to sleep in her cot.
@BadBadBeans she's now bottle fed. She does feed every 2 hours during the day, anything from 2-4oz each feed. HV said this could be the reason why she's started sleeping through due to her filling herself up throughout the day

@Jenlou1992 hope the jabs go okay today! My little one screamed in anger more than anything and I did shed a tear but these babies do bounce back from them remarkably quickly. We had an unsettled night but then he was absolutely fine the next day. He regressed a bit on his sleep a couple of days after for a couple of nights, as in waking up more than his once a night for a ghost shift and I didn't link it to the jabs but I reckon that's what it was.

For feeding, I tried a dreamsleep between 10 and 11 last night. Usually we do a last feed around 6:3/7 then in bed by 8, with a 3:3/4am wake up. With the dreamfeed around 10:30/11 this pushed his wake up time back to 5:45. Going to keep doing them so long as they seem to work! Actually was a very quick and easy feed and he stayed asleep the whole time.

I've increased Charlie's feed to 7 ounces now as he's been draining the 6 during the day. Think he's having a growth spurt. Worried it's too much but he's happy and sleeping well. I'm having him weighed tomorrow so we shall see!

For those who don't want to leave baby upstairs just yet, we purchased a baby monitor and it's given us our evenings back a little. It's very reassuring seeing him on the screen and is a very good clear picture. We purchased the BT video monitor 6000 and can highly recommend for anyone who hasn't made that purchase yet

@ballanj we were talking last night about getting a monitor. Will look into that one thanks. Also how often is your little one feeding during the day? I would really like mine to go longer than every 2hrs! I have tried upping her bottles but she will still only take between 2-4oz then same again 2hrs later. She's now 11wks and thought she would start to go a little longer between feeds but nope!

😭 and on the other side of the table there's me. Our attempts of getting him to sleep in his next2me again have failed spectacularly, so he still sleeps on me. He goes to bed around 8pm, which means I have no choice and I go to bed around 8pm, too. He doesn't sleep during the day, so he's super cranky by then already. Wakes up anywhere between 3-6 times, sometimes more, honestly everything is a fog by now and I don't even know how many times I just stick the nipple in his mouth.
Both of us wake up equally cranky, sometimes less, sometimes more.
I just want this hell to end and I just feel like I'm the only one here with a child that doesn't sleep like he should. We haven't had more than 3 hours asleep yet.
I wish we could do evening formula feed to see if it helps, but he still refuses the bottle.

@Sheeni you poor thing, sounds awful. What bottles are you trying? I started off breast feeding then combi then all formula. I use the mam bottles and teats and she had no problem at all switching between both

@Sheeni, that's very tough. So I remember correctly that your lo has reflux? If so, that's why he's constantly waking looking for a drink - its to wash down the acidy milk coming up his neck. My first two dd's did this and I nearly cracked up. Have you already been to a pediatrician? If not, I suggest you do asap. I got mine to nap during the day on the buggy - the base was tilted so it helped keep the contents of their tummy down and the motion and street noises distracted them from their discomfort. It means you don't get a physical rest but if he gets one and you get some peace it may be worth a try?

@Sheeni you poor thing that sounds awful for LO and for you too. My LO has been bottle fed since birth so I can't comment that the MAM bottles are a good switch between nipple and teat but I do rate the bottles themselves, we haven't had any issues and they are meant to be anti colic.

@kee80 at the moment I'm doing 5 feeds within a 24 hour period. We usually do around 4 hours between each feed, sometimes 3 to 3 and a half hours. So sometimes it's 6 within 24hrs depending on routine changes and how hungry he may be feeling. I've just upped him to 7 ounces as he was draining the 6 ounce a lot.

In the last couple of days I've introduced a 'dream feed' as I was giving his last bottle around 6pm which meant him waking up around 3:30/4am. After doing a dream feed around 10:45 last night he went through until 5:45 this morning. I'm hoping for similar tonight.

Have you changed the teats to the next size up on your MAM bottles? We are using no.2 now and noticed he took feeds better the minute he hit the 2 month mark when we switched to the faster flowing teat.

We've only just found the sleep starting to get longer really the last couple of weeks. He's a bit of a serial napper too which I think encourages sleep. We've got a bedtime routine established for him now which I think helps aswell. Does your little one nap well?

@sheeni Your baby has far worse reflux than mine (we aren't on meds) but if we get 3 hours out of him then that's good going. It's normally around 2.5 hours which was fine when "nightime" was 11-7 but now we are putting him to bed earlier (8ish) it's getting a bit much. He really struggled with the next to me initially and even now it's rare for him to do the full night in it - we've got a very upright bouncing chair which he loves and we started using to solve the issue of him only sleeping upright on us, can you explore this too?

I'd def persevere with bottles - we've got mam and Tommee Tippee. He interchanges between both of them, my breast and formula happily but we've been using bottles since week 1/2. Can you try a dummy to see if he takes that initially and then move into tests? Or also my friend had luck using nipple shields to get her baby used to the texture.

How did others know their baby was ready for the next size teat? Mine is nearly 14 weeks and we are still using size 1. He has 5oz of formula at night and husband is reluctant to go higher as that's the amount it says for his weight on the packet but that's also for 8-12 weeks, but I wonder if as his brain is more developed then he might need his "age range" even though he's not that heavy? He's 7th percentile.

We've got the BT 400 monitor. It's just audio, no bells and whistles. The BT ones are the ones that are most often the which best buy. Motorola do very poorly by which standards. In the last 2-3 weeks we've started using that for an hour or so at night but it's quite hit and miss as sometimes he will drop to sleep immediately and then other times I'll be up here for ages, but he does tend to settle himself which is good, it just takes him ages sometimes.

@jenlou1992 I assume you'll have had Rose's jabs now but maybe try to approach it with the view that it's much much better that she cries in pain (for literally seconds) now than gets meningitis or something else that you're vaccinating her against as then she will certainly cry more and have lots more needles stuck in her. It's short term pain for long term gain in my view and she will thank you for it, even if she "hates" you right now. We found that he was off for 2-3 days following the first jabs but he was more ok following the second jabs, which is to be expected.

@shiny888 how are you all doing? Thinking of you.

@ballanj I was thinking about changing the teat size bit the milk she's on is prescribed and quite thin. I was worried incase that she may end up bringing it back up or cause her to have reflux. Think I may just give it a try see how she goes.

Regarding naps, she does have a few throughout the day. Probably about 30 mins each time unless she's laid on me then she will go longer. These past few days she had napped longer in her chair or basket but not till about 5pm

DD gets on well with Mam too they are a lovely teat and so handy to microwave sterilize. In saying that I must give her expressed milk in bottle more often to keep her used to it because they can take a notion of refusing the bottle if not given regularly.

She prefers mam dummies also but only takes a while in the mornings before awakening or briefly at night she prefers to go over without it.

Shes been later at going over at night perhaps due to jabs last Thursday?! Hopefully settles. Although shes taking more milk and is having reflux due to this. She brings it up and gulps back down. She doesn't cry or scream doing it but it prevents her having any daytime sleeps unless being held and adds to the delay in getting over at night after 1am. However still doing 10-12hours when she gets over with moses basket well tilted.

@cardboard33 we changed the test when it seemed like Emerson was struggling to get anything out of the bottle. Now he's on a faster test he can finish one in 15 mins or so. It took a couple of tries for him to get used to the speed but he definitely prefers the faster flow