December 2007 - Santa's come early for some of us...

[Housemum]

Thought I'd start off the new thread as I've never started one before - congratulations to those of you who are on here now - hope I'll be joing you in the not-too-distant future!

Lizzer glad to hear scan went as well as could be expected but sorry to hear it was so obvious that his kidney is blocked. From what I understand they are unlikely to want to operate yet, but rather wait to see whether it improves and also until he is a bit older and bigger. Fingers crossed for the appointment - he sounds like a little trooper BTW.

Loucee I try not to let DD2 go back to sleep after a feed during the day as she always wakes up screaming for a feed straightway and that would often mean only 2 hours between feeds. I look for ANY sign she is tired when she's been awake more than about 1 hour (yawn is classic) and put her straight down - yes with dummy if she's still got her eyes wide open. She gets over-tired VERY easily and is then very hard to get down, but on the flip side is quite easy to go down when I get it right which is great. Bit of a pain when in the car or buggy as she wakes up almost immediately when the movement stops which can lead to her getting over-tired if it means she cat-naps during the day rather than having a proper sleep. I read somewhere that they need to have at least 45 mins asleep to go through a fully refreshing sleep cycle.

Hi all!

Buzzy that is impressive, well done! I am struggling with the expressing - just got less than 2oz after 20mins, but then I am feeding her too I suppose. We've to keep topping her up, but I had no EBM stored and am chasing my tail trying to express after every feed, not getting much out!

loucee not sure re sling meet, but i think so, depends on DH as I am too scared to drive to Glasgow on my own with dd (just passed test 2 months before she was born!). He would rather die than come into it though, but I'm sure he'd be happy pottering around the shops. Are you?!

re the sucking/dummy/settling thing - I am SO confused re this - I had mentioned in a previous post that we thought we knew how to settle her - swaddled, sucking on a finger, as per that Social Baby book.

BFC said there should be NO sucking as that is a sign of hunger, ie pick her up and feed her again!!! But I'm sure there must be a difference between sucking as a sign of hunger and comfort sucking? BFC made me feel like we were putting DD to bed starving all the time, and to be fair after we started topping her up she has never needed to suck finger to go to sleep, or in fact has hardly ever needed swaddled either. Hmmmm

caz10 - the only way i got snywhere with rxprressing was to buy a super duper expensive electric milking machine, express 1st thing in the morning whilst feeding a baby.

macdoodle - did it get any better?

Caz10, I'm no expert but I'd say if she was a bit fractious AND sucking on my finger then she's definitely hungry but if she shows no other signs of being hungry but sucks on finger then its probably just for comfort. My DD will suck on a dummy straight after a full 5oz feed - she's definitely not hungry and it does help settle her sometimes. I try to use judiciously though as if I use it when she's not ready to go down generally what happens is she sucks for a couple of minutes, then gets annoyed and starts crying which means the dummy drops out which makes her even more upset - which is not exactly productive!! Sometimes can be hard to tell at 3am tho...

Oh and Caz10, have you tried expressing when you haven't BF for a few hours? Maybe try one night at 9pm-ish then give formula at 10pm feed (since I think you're using some formula anyway?) and see how you go? Not surprised you get less when you've BF, impressed you get 2oz! Like Cazzy says I always get most at first feed of the day too (up to 10oz). Speaking of which, off to do some expressing now

cazl0 my bfc said that if the sucking was shallow that it was for comfort and give a dummy. very easy to see when on the breast- the big gulps are when they are hungry- after getting let down of course

Wow greedy baby just weighed from 8lb12 at birth was 9lb2 2 weeks ago - is now a wopping 10lb15 thats 29oz's in 2 weeks
She does feed well and a lot but now am worried am overfeeding her and missing comfort/sleep cues as hunger...oh dear we are never happy are we...
Oh and thanks she did eventually settle and woke only twice in night for feeding and

Not good day, on verge of tears because ds won't stop screaming fopr food and and has been feding constantly. I'm trying to ignore his screams right now whilst warming up a bottle of EBM. He hasn't slept since this morning so he must be knackered but he won;t bloody go to sleep!!!!!

Been off for a couple of days - had bad mastitis (again) but this time with a raging fever and was bed bound for a couple of days. Fever gone down now, but boobs still feel like they are on fire - now on my second course of antibiotics . As a result lost 1/2 stone, which normally I would be pleased about, but feel so weak

Somehow, I can't help but think BF is not for me....

Hugs to everyone else who is not well/having a hard time, sorry I haven't had time to catch up with the other postings.

God poor you Amani, you've done so well to keep going until now-I'd have given up long ago.

Loucee/Insy my ds does the same while feeding and NEVER settles by himself. After a feed we have to wind him really carefully for ages (not too vigourously or he pukes the whole lot up again)then put him in the sling to get him to sleep.

Thought the wind problem was improving but the last two days he has been really sick after feeds and screamed as if in pain. I think it's where we had 4 days or so of constant feeding and milk supply has now caught up so he is taking more at a time and being sick through greed but who knows. He is so bloody miserable anyway I wouldn't be able to tell if he was ill!

We did get two 4 hour stretches of sleep last night though

Caz not sure whether to go or not, I'm 40 mins away too.

bouncing hope your LO settles soon , how about a quick walk in the pram?

Bouncing - Sorry to hear you are having a bad day. Hopefully he will go off to sleep once he's had this feed to let you have some rest.

Amani - You've done so well to keep going for as long as you have, i couldnt do it.

Could anyone give me advice on something?
Ethan is doing really well with his feeds etc, he has 5oz of milk every 4 hours or so, but during the past couple of days he's wanting it every 3 hours, but then he's being sick which i think is because he's having too much too soon.
Ive tried giving him less but he cries for more.

So i bought some hungry baby milk which can be used from birth, do you think if i alternate him between this and the normal milk it might help him go longer, coz he would stay full for a bit longer or would this upset his tummy?

clairybee - is it your calin blue that does the trick? if so, what position do you put ds in?

loucee - will let you know nearer time! going to call the no and ask a bit about it too

clairey, excellent on the sleep!

DS was just weighed and is now 10lbs 7oz, thats 11oz gain last wk which is good, as he had been throwing up a lot after some feeds. I think they will all grow at their own pace - DD usually gained 4oz a week.

Caz - I thought the sling meet was tomorrow? 24th Jan? Is it 24th Feb I've prob got months mixed up!

Fifi - no experience of the hungry formula I'm afraid but your logic sounds good to me. Isn't there a 6wk growth spurt perhaps your little one is going through?

macdoodle - mine has been a porker too. Was 8lb14 at birth - 9lb15 at 2 weeks and 11lb at 3 weeks. Got clinic tomorrow so will see if he has slowed a little.

Have uploaded more pics.

loucee - ds was rejecting the dummy but now he's in the sling and sucking away, its just constant confusion - anyone have a baby that they can put down and it settles themself? I love the sling but am starting to feel constantly pregnant! especially when chasing a toddler

bouncing - hope day has got better x

we're at the 6 wk growth spurt, feeding constantly on both sides and I feel like I have no milk at all and am starting to get very sore too

amani - big hugs for you and well done for bfeeding for so long x

Hi! Just quickly to say loucee I am sooooo thick - had lost all count of the days and dates - called to check sling meet was still on and she was like yes, I'll see you tomorrow...I thought 24th Jan was next week....d'oh. We won't make it have to go to a BF thing and at the moment with all our various disasters going on that has to take precedence. Will keep an eye out for the next one though!

Thanks ladies. I've started expressing (although I am lucky if I get more than an ounce out ) and also mixed feeding which is a huge relief for me now, at least Aliya is still getting some benefits.

Gosh, it's hard having a toddler and a newborn. While feeding DD2, DD1 decided it would be great fun to scribble her crayons all over our lovely wooden doors.

bad day today- wind has been back with a vengeance for the last 3 days. difficult to get millie to eat today. It is so up and down, isn't it? Have upped my water intake again and been trying to change my diet. horrible to see the wee mite scream- i have let her have her dummy all day, which i dont normally like doing.

awen - my god he is sooo cute. I love the naked in blanket one and the one with his brother - soooo proud!

Suey yes it's a real roller coaster isn't it? Just when you think you've got something sussed or at least got your finger on the button then it all goes to pot.

DS hasn't wanted to leave the boob all afternoon, only walking back from friend's house got him a nap. Just now he's feeding then dozing, as soon as I go to put him down he's wide awake and then cries. I thought it might be wind so have been winding but nothing. If it carries on in 20 mins I'll try a nice warm bath (DD in there at the moment)

Suey, have you read further up about people trying actimal to help colic symptoms? Hopefully their wee systems will get bigger and more able soon and we will all be more settled.

Insy yes the sling can make you feel pregnant! I haven't been using the slings as much as I thought yet but I think that's because I'm still quite tender from cs (only on one side but is my favoured side for where DS's bum would go).

Caz - I've now arranged to meet my mum friends tomorrow locally for coffee, the idea of getting up and out to a meet for certain times was too much! Much to DH disappointment though, he had hoped I would pick up his latest toy for him!

I've phoned the LLL helpline number twice now and noone has returned my call (called them a week apart). I would really like someone to watch DS feed and tell me if everything is ok.

Awen, what a cutey your DS is and doesn't he look just like his big brother!

thanks loucee i read that- my DH and I tried actimel just to be healthy a while back- sadly it gave us both diarrhoea! But I have started eating live yoghurt again which i hadn't had for several days- maybe that was it. we'll see...

Awen your dss are soo cute!!!

Been a bad day all round compound by achy norks, really painful at times, normally after a feed. Mentioned it to the HV yesterday and she didn't seem to think it was a big deal as I feel ok in myself.
Hope tomorrow is better...