December 2019 babies

[TTc2019BabyNo1]

Hi All,

Thought I’d just start a December 2019 babies thread for those who have given birth in December and want to catchup/chat/rant/need support etc.

We are 11 days in...!
How is everyone doing?

Perhaps another reason to switch to formula is the amount of time Breast feeding takes. I had a decent a amount of sleep and intended to blitz the house but I have spent most of today just sat with a feeding baby unable to do a thing else

@Comps83, I know what you mean, although on the other hand unless your dh fed her the bottle, you'd still be feeding, plus washing, sterilising etc. I think it's a swings and roundabouts situation!

We tried Joe in his swing chair for the first time today! He seemed happy enough, but was soon making his Hungry Face 😀 I left him with dh for an hour today to get some shopping in and give them some time together, came home to find Joe spark out on dh while 'they' played on PlayStation 😂

How's everyone getting on this weekend? Anyone else having in law issues?!! Xx

Urghh! I've had about an hour sleep in 3 days 😭
My 1 year old is full of a viral infection bless him so the whole "sleep when baby sleeps" thing is out of the question 😂
I'm actually starting to hallucinate now... I keep seeing spiders that aren't actually there and then jumping out of my skin
Coffee you are my friend today!!

How is everyone else today? Hope your all well xx

I’ve had 10 hours
Hooray
Dh and I have started doing shifts
So he stayed up til 4 and I went to bed at 8 and then swapped . Then I got a couple more hours on the sofa
I’m worried I’m staring to get mastitis tho

Are you feeling unwell @Comps83 or is it just at the blockage stage?

I woke up and the right one was rock hard and uncomfortable . I think he’s feeding from that one too much tho as he seems to prefer it . Not convinced the left one hasn’t dried up.

Sounds like it's just engorged, happens a lot at this stage as your supply is regulating. My breasts are like rocks if he decides to go a bit longer than normal between feeds - so uncomfortable! Feeding should clear it but if you do have any lumps afterwards then applying heat before feeding helps, as well as massaging the lumps while you feed. Changing baby's position so their chin is pointing towards the blockage is good too, although not always very practical.

I've been lucky so far (touch wood). With my DD I had a blockage that took two weeks to clear but didn't get infected, and in the first week with this little guy I had a blockage in my right breast and half my breast was red and inflamed and SO sore, but it cleared after a couple of days thankfully.

@Comps83, could you try expressing a little from that boob? One of mine went rock hard about a week in and it made it diff3for Joe to feed. Expressing just eased it off a little and made it easier for him to go on. Glad you got a proper sleep!

@December2019, that sounds brutal! Hope you're OK. Is there any chance you could call in any reinforcements to give you a break? Xx

We're also sleeping in shifts at the moment ;I go to bed about 8.30 until 1.30ish and then we swap over. It works at the moment but I'm wondering if we should be trying to get into a better routine... Might give until he's 6 weeks and then try us all going to bed together and see how we go.

When do you all wash/bath your little ones?

My dd is 4 weeks tomorrow and has had 4 baths in her life. Partly because they don’t need them that much, but mostly.... the day runs out!

She’s either defending or sleeping mostly. And sometimes we aren’t at home at her
“Awake “ times (mid morning)
She’s most,y feeding and sleeping from around midday/1
Come the evening, she’s a fussy baby and will grizzle lots, sonkit agood time to try and dunk her!

@AliceTheCamelHasFiveHumps over the last 4/5 days we've started bathing our LO (4 weeks today) every night before bed. She has a bath, a quick massage with Johnson's sleepy time lotion and pjs then a bottle and a story. She then goes down for about 3 hours so at least me and DP get to go to bed together. She's then a nightmare for the rest of then night but you can't have everything😂

@AliceTheCamelHasFiveHumps I bathe my little one every couple of days or when his hair starts looking greasy lol
On the none bath days I just give him a little wash before bed with the top & tail bowl and put his moisturiser on (we call it his aftershave) lol
I think it's too cold for them this time of year anyway even with the heating on
@Fivebyfive2 luckily my mum & sister live really close and are always available to come and give me a little break and a hot coffee... I'm not ashamed to say I ring them daily for a helping hand lol and my mum does love an excuse to come and cuddle her grandbabies 😂😊
Don't know what I'd do without them if I'm honest I don't think I'd be able to cope... a 1 year old and a 3 week old is hard work to say the least

@December2019 that's great that you have support, it's so important I think. My mum is 'on speed dial' as well 😀 I hope you're feeling better xx

@AliceTheCamelHasFiveHumps, We only bathed Joe once a week at first, we're up to twice a week now, with daily 'top and tailing'. I know what you mean about timing, it's like as soon as he has an 'awake but calm' moment...Bath time, stat!!

Going to a breastfeeding support group tomorrow (today!) wish me luck!

I’m going to a breastfeeding group tomorrow (today!) as well :)

Well, that’s the plan, anyway zzzzzzzz

@AliceTheCamelHasFiveHumps, tell me about it!! I got up at 1.30 for my shift with Joe and since 2am it's been change, feed, wind, repeat! He has gone down for periods in between but only about 1 hour stretches and for most of those he's been wriggling/grunting/farting... His eyes were shut so I think he was sort of asleep, but probably not properly sleeping?! I didn't get any proper sleep either, too noisy and was just waiting for him to go from little noises to crying! I tried the white noise, but wasn't working this time ☹️

Hey all, seems the sleeping is still an issue with most. @Comps83 sorry to hear about your mum, it's an awful time to be dealing with loss.
Well we have given in to co sleeping, she just won't settle in a cot so was feeding most of night for comfort. Put her on the boob in bed & she's out in 10 mins for a good 4 hours, she then wakes for a feed so I feed her lying down in bed & she feeds for about 10 mins & then sleeps again till about 7. Seems to be working for us, and she is loving the bed & being beside us. Doing this for about a week now, and last night we tried the cot again & she went in at 11 and didn't wake till 2.30 and then joined us in bed as I prefer to feed her in the bed lying down as she goes back to sleep much quicker in that position.
DP is back to work next Monday & I'm dreading it, can't imagine how I'm going to get anything done as she hates being put down. Have a boba sling so I'm going to try that this week to see if she will settle in that while I try get some housework done. Will try master breastfeeding in that also, life would be so much easier

My DD has had 1 bath so far in 5 weeks
My middle son was so excited from the moment we told him he was getting another sibling he was adamant he was going to have baths with her (because that’s his favourite way to relax lol). Anyway, it was under 30 seconds of the much anticipated bath that my DD was a little too relaxed and let’s just say the bath water turning to mustard was enough for DS5 to jump out the bath and declare he’s not sharing with her again .

I spent 2 hours last night holding DDs hand while she slept. She sounds snuffly so she’s a bit more fitful in her sleep than usual.

Well done to all the shift sleepers x

@Originalusernameunavailable I'm that tired i read that last bit as
"Well done to all the shit sleepers" 😂 I fit into that category
Mustard bath made me chuckle a bit though lol
My 1 year old seems much perkier today and is full of beans!! Bloody exhausting but at least he's not clung to me like a Kuala lol leaves me more time to cuddle tiny baby
Struggling to get his wind up at the minute though Dentinox is taking the edge off a little... roll on 3 months old when I can use gripe water!
How are you all today??

@December2019 well I think that might be a more accurate interpretation some days!

Today I’m feeling like I’ve got this totally nailed, 2 kids to school in time, lunch out with friend (baby in tow obviously) and house tidy. Can we all please note this because I’m sure it won’t last!

When I was out to lunch this lady came up to me and asked the usual ‘how old is she?’ Generic questions strangers ask when they are by a new baby. Anyway, she then asked if I was breastfeeding and I said no, she got PROPER arsed with me, told me there was no excuse not to breastfeed and she had done it for 7 years with her daughters. Luckily I just let it go over my head but I thought cheeky cow. Didn’t know her at all but she felt she had the right to lecture me. It’s lucky I’m quite a strong person mentally because I can imagine if that had happened when I had my first and I was a bit overwhelmed I would have taken it really badly and the guilt would have been horrendous.

joining in with the non sleeping babies, the past two days baby curious has barely napped at all. He cat naps and wakes up so frequently it’s impossible to get anything done in the day. He’s only been sleeping if held/ in the pram and sometimes the car.

The cuddles are nice but exhausting. Hoping this is a short lived phase as I used to be able to put him down in the day whilst asleep.

Re: bathing, he’s bathed every 2-3 days. He doesn’t really need daily baths at the minute.

Those with Velcro babies - get yourself a baby carrier, it's life changing! My DS will sleep in it for hours and it means I actually have hands free to like eat and stuff.

@Spam88 I have a stretchy wrap but don’t find it very comfortable. Might have to revisit the sling library. I know all about the fourth trimester etc but part of me does wonder if he’s attached to me all day in a sling / wrap etc then will he ever be happy to be put down?

I’m also thinking about introducing a dummy now he’s 6 weeks old (well will be tomorrow!) but I’m worried it could affect BF which is working well for us. We have the 6 week check later this week so I’m planning on asking for advice then.

I never got on with our stretchy wrap, this time round we have a Close Caboo which is very similar except you don't have to tie it yourself and it's easier to adjust once it's on. I don't think you're making a rod for your own back by keeping them close though, they just need the comfort at this age. They grow out of it.

We'll be introducing a dummy, but his latch can still be a bit rubbish sometimes so planning to wait until he's not hurting me any more. Of course it's only anecdotal, but my daughter had a dummy from 2/3 weeks and breastfed until 1.

We have 3 stretchy slings, they're brilliant.
As for being put down... Worry about that later!
Mine sleeps in it really well. And I think it's more important that she sleeps and feels secure than having her cry being put down.

Can we join? 😁 ds 6 week tomorrow, also got older ds who is 4year9month. Some days feel like I'm nailing it, others (like today) feel like I've forgot what to do 🙈 we are bottle feeding as breast feeding didn't work for us 😞 but bubba is happy and healthy and that's what's important. How are all you mummies doing?