May 2020 Babies

[MarshmallowsOnToast]

Still waiting for my little man to arrive but starting a thread ready. Can't wait to catch up with all the other May 20 mums.

Huge congratulations to those who have already met their little ones. It's been quite a scary time to face giving birth recently and you've all done amazingly.

@goosious- yes it must be hard with no help to pass them to for a break. Dh luckily was able to take 5 weeks off, and now is working but at home so can give me a breather now and then still during the day, and is around evenings and night. Hopefully you get some time to relax later on when partner is back.

@MrsWhy congratulations on your gorgeous little one ❤️ how are you feeling after being so over due? Look at then little toes 😍

@goosious it bet you it's the 3 week growth spurt! We went though the same so please be assured it will get better :) I would just let them feed/sleep on demand. They have no sense of time right now and you could risk him getting over tired which would make it so much worse!

Hope everyone is well today ❤️ I went out for a walk with my sister and her little ones. My toddler had a huge tantrum and my baby had a massive feed, screamed the whole way and then had an absolute MASSIVE spit up! Literally the whole feed..... Absolute disaster 😂🤦🏼‍♀️

Does anyone have any experience with Infacol?

@november90 shame about the walk! But I'm sure the fresh air and social interaction did you good!

I don't have any experience with Infacol, though I did read that it wasn't any better than a placebo (for the parents ) and it might be more effective to try a probiotic if you're worried about colic?

@AlmostAlwyn thank you! I think I've only just cooled down from the walk this morning 😂
Is anyone else's baby in a bit of a nap routine? Mine missed his big morning nap this morning due to disaster walk and has struggled all day long!
My hv recommended Infacol because he gets a lot of trapped wind but said there's no science behind it so 🤷🏼‍♀️

@november90 - I had a similar walk experience last week. I thought ah he is not settling at home, dh was trying to work, I will take him for a walk.
For some reason I then took the sling out of the pram basket deciding it wasn't needed. 5 mins into walk he started screaming, and I spent the rest of the walk with him happily in arm asleep and pushing the pram one handed back up hill home.

What kind of weight gain is good in the first two weeks? Our baby was born 3.76kg and today was 3.84kg at 12 days. The midwife was pretty useless overall so I didn't get a feeling from her whether that's a hood weight gain or not.

@woollycat- we were told they should ideally be back to birth weight at least by 2 weeks. So as long as she's at least 3.76kg by 14 days shes gaining as she should.

@Caspianberg thanks for the reassurance! Just ordered baby weighing scales from Amazon so we can weigh her weekly - due to Covid all health visitor appointments are via video so next opportunity to weigh her would be at her 6-8 week GP appointment and I need to know she is gaining weight until then.

@woollycat What scales did you get as I am looking at the chicco ones.

Are there definitely no HV clinics going on as I’ve been able to go and get Noah weighed twice with the HV wearing full ppe. Just had to book an appointment as they are not doing the drop in sessions at the moment. Might be worth checking.

I’m looking forward to when Noah gets into a bit more of a pattern with feeding etc. Every day is different, yesterday he would feed and then sleep but today he’s been attached to me all day so far. Breastfeeding is definitely something you have to really persevere with, I could have quit a few times but I’m determined to stick with it.

@Emmacb82 it does get easier! At about 6 weeks you'll probably start to see a pattern forming! Your milk matures at that point and baby is growing and may have longer/better feeds to tie him over.
Marley is doing well with his feeds but his cluster feeds are in the morning so it's a bit hard to get things done!
I haven't been able to get him weighed. I tried to weigh him on my bathroom scales and they said about 13 pounds which I simply do not believe (but at the same time I wouldn't be surprised, he's a right chunk 🙈)

@november90 he’s almost 7 weeks 🙈 I do keep telling myself that I’m a day closer to it getting easier though 🤞🏻

Oh bless you, sorry! 🙈 is Noah your first? @Emmacb82
I had a right nightmare with my first but I remember it getting easier at around 6 weeks! My midwife told me to preserve to 6 weeks so maybe I just had that goal in my head and after that I let it get easier....
what do you find hard? The cluster feeding? The length of the feeds? The fact it's always in demand 😩.... or all of the above 🤦🏼‍♀️ I think the on demand bothers me. Sometimes it's hard to know whether they're full and just grouchy or hungry and grouchy and I worry about over feeding 🙈

@Raindancer411 yep, I have ordered the chicco scales. It's a known brand and had loads of good reviews on Amazon, so hoping it's a good one.

@Emmacb82 yeah my health visitor said no clinics. To be honest if baby is doing well I prefer not going to a clinic anyway - it's hard having a timed appointment with the little one as she might be sleeping or feeding when we have to leave, etc. There is also the covid worry still. So I am quite happy to weigh her myself and stick with video appointments.

@november90 no he’s my second, I have a 4 year old too. The cluster feeding is hard and in the day he literally wants to be stuck with me either feeding or cuddling which on the one hand is lovely, but it makes it difficult to spend time with my other boy. Noah can get quite frustrated with feeding sometimes too, pulling away and re-attaching roughly. I never got this far with my first though so it’s all a learning curve!

@Raindancer411 I don’t blame you for staying safe indoors. The only reason I ended up going to a clinic was because Noah was still very jaundice for weeks and he was poorly when born so I wanted people to see him properly not over a phone!

Sorry wrong tag 🙈 I meant @woollycat

@Emmacb82 yeah exactly, I'd only want to go in person if I was worried about something and wanted someone to physically examine her.

Yes I looked at the reviews and it's put as number 1 for a few suggestions on scales.

The constant feeding is wearing! He is sleeping fairly good overnight to be fair now, but he has a habit of needing to be fed about 4 times at once with a small break, instead of just a decent feed.

Does anyone elses baby do that? for example I started feeding him at 9pm last night in bed, he fed 5 mins, then clamped mouth shut and looked sleepy, then wide awake after a few mins and starts screaming. Feeds 5 mins on other side. Repeat again. lay on bed happy but wont feed (or sleep), repeat again. Then at 9.40pm decides he is starving and feeds a long 20 ish minutes and finally sleeps and slept well until 2am. Why wont he just feed 15+ mins on each side at 9pm without the giant faff in between?

Fyi luggage scales work well to weigh them if you have any. Our midwife just tied baby into giant muslin and hung that off scales. Then weighs muslin after to see how heavy that was and you deduct from total.

We had our first paediatrician appointment yesterday. Hes now 11.4lb/ 5.2kg. They didn't do vaccinations yet, they are booked for next month.

He does seem to have a tight muscle in neck though, he tends to look and sleep facing one way unless we force wedge him to face the other, and was born with his arm holding ear so I think he must have been as a squashed angle in womb. Have Osteopath booked to see if they can loosen it up a bit for him. Anyone else have similar?

Mine faffs with his feeding like that at most feeds but definitely more in the evenings/last feed before bed. It is really annoying and can last for ages. We generally get a better gap at the first part of the night but then the rest of the night is pretty rubbish! And then pretty much constant feeding throughout the day. It’s really hard work x

@Caspianberg our baby prefers to turn her head right. She almost never sleeps head turned left. We asked the midwife about it but she wasn't worried and just recommended doing tummy time to strengthen her neck. How did you go about getting an osteopath appointment? Did GP refer you or you just decided for yourself?

@woollycat - I booked a local lady who does osteo and physio on recommendation of midwife and paediatrician (basically gp in uk) .
I guess she can say more whether he just needs to do certain things at home, or if she does a few sessions with him to loosen neck up etc.
She is private, charges €40 for the 30 min session. Hopefully well worth a few sessions if his neck is causing him any pain.

@Caspianberg I used a cranial osteopath for my 2nd child. She had a snuffly nose and was spluttering her milk out because she couldn't breathe.
I took her to the cranial osteopath who touched her head and told me she had a blockage in her left cranium, showed me some vibration techniques. Charged me £30.I wasn't sure if I had just been conned but it worked like a miracle and she could breathe easy after that one session. I'd recommend it to anyone. I've heard people say all new born babies should see a cranial osteopath because they have been so tightly swaddled in the womb they are bound to be a bit out of sinc somewhere. I have thought about taking my number 3 baby but that lady moved away and with covid I haven't really given it much thought because number 3 doesn't have an obvious problem like number 2 did.

@Caspianberg maybe the tight muscle in neck is causing feeding discomfort hence the short on and off feeds.

@Delbelleber - thats really reassuring. It may be is causing him discomfort in feeding as you say. I figured its worth a try as no harm. I'm sure he will like the massage regardless