May 2008 - we just couldn't wait!

[thefortbuilder]

for everyone who's popped already and congratulations to us all!

Podglet - hope everything has gone well at hospital.

What is tiger's milk? I am very interested! I am trying to express some days so I can get an hour or two to myself every now and then but am finding that it takes ages for me to get enough in a bottle as dd feeds so reguarly and I don't seem to fill up again quick enough. Having said that I had yet anoyher leaky boob incident at the weekend. Soaked through a pad and drenched my t-shirt. Not such a yummy mummy.

DD has decided to give up on sleeping at night - or at least between her 230 and 530 feeds (230-830 last night . I am rereading GF and the BW to see what to do about getting a bit of routine at least at night. She just doesn't settle herself at all which is the hardest thing. I feed her at night making sure she isn't stimulated (no eye contact etc) and try and put her down but then she whimpers, then screams and is fully awake again. Tried holding her until she has burped a few times (she is v windy) and is asleep but she invariably wakes up as soon as I put her down and screams etc. I have elft her to cry for 2-3 minutes but it gets louder and sounds almost painful and by that point she's wide awake and we're back to square one.

Grateful for winding advice.

I feel tired today and it is slowly starting to dawn on me that there is no let up from this for quite a while yet.

magicfairy I am so sorry to hear that you are still struggling (sore) with BF. You poor love. I had a bad week a couple of weeks ago and was considering giving up. I really didn't want to, as I fed DD1 for 5 months and wanted to do at least 4 months with DD2. It's so hard when you are getting so sore, are you using vaseline/Lansinoh? Have you tried nipple shields? Maybe they are so sore and not getting chance to heal as you are having to still feed, in which case nipple shields may help?? The only advice I would give about giving up BF is just to consider that if you do, you can't go back, IYSWIM. I'm not suggesting you shouldn't give up, you need to do what's right for you and your baby and don't let anyone make you feel guilty etc etc. I know they say 'breast is best' but if you took 100 adults would you ever be able to tell who was BF and who was FF???? No? exactly!! If going to formula means you'll be less stressed then it might be worth it, but just make sure you are 100% when you make your decision as you'll feel worse if you give up then regret it. Hope that helps.
My DD2 isn't great at bringing her wind up either. I try kind of stretching her up by holding her under her armpits and lifting her while she is sitting on my lap. Good tip about tight nappies whoever said that!

podglet lots of luck for your DDs appt tomorrow.

YCBS My DD2 (now almost 7 weeks old) feeds every 4 hours or so, sometimes a bit more, sometimes a but less, and she can feed for anything from 5 mins on one side only, then she seems to have had enough, to 45 mins of both sides. I would say it's roughly 10-15 mins on each boob.

DH is on nights tonight and tomorrow . I was super organised tonight and we all had dinner together at 5pm (me, DH and DD1) then I whizzed around the house tidying up and loading the dishwasher etc and even managed a quick shower, got DD1 in her PJ's before DH left for work. Then all I had to do was do her milk/story/teeth and put her to bed. Unfortunately DD2 decided to be crying again downstairs while I did this . She then wouldn't stop crying so I gave in and fed her earlier than she was due (by 1.5 hrs!) thinking she would then drift off into the land of nod....but no, wide eyed and wanting attention. I have just put her down and after 20 mins crying (but not screaming at least!) she is now asleep.....ah! peace!!

Bye for now, must go and make some phonecalls.

LM xxx

YCBS that's 45 mins of both boobs, not 45 mins on each one.....LOL!!

thanks to all for the winding advice, great tip about the nappy aswell duchess thanks, he is still in size 1 as we were bought a load as a pressy, but he really should be in size 2, maybe i'll see if i can swap them.

Thanks aswell for the sore nipp sympathy, still debating what to do, am reluctant to try a bottle at the mo, as i think he will prefer it as feeding is such a battle and in my heart of hearts i would be devastated to give up, BUT if this soreness continues i dont think i can cope with it!

Tiger milk is 2 pints of full fat milk, 3 bananas, 3 brewers yeast tablets crushed. You can add some mango or drinking choc to taste if you like. Stick it all in a blender and keep in the fridge and drink it over 24 hours. It goes a yucky colour after a while but its still ok for 24 hrs. It is full of potassium and b vits plus extra fluid and calories (not so great for losing baby weight but great for boosting milk supply!).

I am dead jealous of those of you that have a routine or even a regulary feeding baby. DS2 seems to have no routine other than feed, feed, feed, with a little bit of sleep in between. In fact the nights are better than the day, but thats only because we co-sleep and he goes on the boob and we both go straight back to sleep, but he does wake me up every 2 hours. In the day he will feed for about 20 mins - over an hour then sleep for 30mins - 1hr (longer if in sling or car), then wake up and want another feed. Hard work with DS1 running around! I did plan to start establishing a bedtime routine tonight but ended up spending 30 mins in a garge waiting for petrol, then tea was late, bath was late, DS1 late going to bed and DS2 got bad wind again! Oh well try again tomorrow!

Morning, well we all survived yesterday on our own, DS1 was no too naughty. But it's nice to have him at nursery today, especially when he wanted to do painting at breakfast.

I have buckets of sympathy for you Magicfairy with you feeding and routine. Don't think I ever managed a feeding routine with DS1 until he was on solids at about 5-6months. I also had the do I give up or not dilemma. I had a cracked nipple which I had to hand express from for 4-5wks, wouldn't been able to do it without my Mum around to help with the sterilising. I would feed him one side, then express the other while my Mum gave him the expressed from earlier. You could see the look in her eyes saying why don't you put him on a bottle. He was gaining so much weight so fast (he went from the 50th centile to the 98th in 10 weeks) I thought they would tell me I was over feeding him. Anyway I managed it until I was put on antidepressants at nearly 6 months. Not really PND, more PWD (prework depression!). The GP was a dismissive when I asked if I could feed on them, I think I could've done, but in the end the decision was taken away from me.

I know if the same had happened thins time I wouldn't have been able to continue. I never found it comfortable and it's not really now, I think it's due to my huge boobs (36H, but probably should be 34I). I did ask about shields and I did use them last time, but was advised they can rub more and are really for people with inverted or small nipples. I must say last time they got to the point where they rubbed even more. Anyway nuff rambling, off to breast feeding support group today still think I could be more comfortable.

I hope everyone has a good day today, we have sort of sunshine which always makes things seem better.

Morning - DD2 has been screaming her head off for the last hour now....I'm sure she's just tired as she keeps drifting off then waking uo again screaming. She's fed and clean nappy and winded..... Poor DH upstairs trying to sleep as he's on nights.

Such a magical time......

I also survived yesterday on my own just about! morning was fine but in the afternoon dd became nightmare toddler having tantrums etc. More of the same today including her pulling a handful of my hair out while i was feeding him so think the jealousy is kicking in! Ds has also been sick on pretty much anything & everything near him this morning so spent my whole time cleaning up after him.

hello just to saay my baby was due 29 May but came 11 june - will be back here to read advice from those ahead of me##

walkingwomb and baiyu I'm in edinburgh - southside if you want to share info/meet...

lol ycbs - i remember getting SO p'd off at all the grannies who would stop me in the supermarket with ds1 and say 'enjoy them while they're little, it doesn't last you know'... i know they meant well, and who doesn't go a bit mushy over a newborn, but really...

congrats gingerwench - blue or pink one?

magicfairy - was thinking about you last night as i was trying to get ds2 to burp at 3am. agree with walking up and down stairs - here are some others that sometimes work for us:

• get dc as high up on shoulder as poss, so your shoulder is against their tummy, and rub
• sit dc facing you on your knee with your hands under armpits as if about to lift dc up. 'wriggle' dc quickly and very gently by pushing hands alternately back and forth so torso twists slightly. very hard to explain sorry! dp did this one on ds2 last night and the belch nearly blew us off the sofa this one has the added benefit of looking very comical
• same starting position as for 'wriggle' but lift dc up into air and bring down onto lap with very slight 'bump'
• same starting position again and 'drum' fingers of both hands on dc's back

alternate all of these for half an hour until massive belch appears, by which time dc is hungry again... good luck!

mumofk hooray to jas falling asleep in her chair!!

monkeysmama really sympathise re. dc being awake at night. it's so hard. i don't have any great solutions of course but ime it is really hard to get babies to settle themselves - iirc gf doesn't actually tell you how to do this, just implies that it will have dire consequences if your baby doesn't do it - not very helpful imho. we have always used the 'don't put them in the cot until they are completely floppy and snoring like troopers' method and of course even this fails roughly 50% of the time, but ds1 seems fine now at 3yrs - it really doesn't have to mean you will be rocking them to sleep until they are 14

a friend whose baby did self-settle had a nightlight that projected moving pictures onto the ceiling - she swore by it - something to try?

walkingwomb so sorry about the bf problems continuing.

well i decided to take ds2 out in the sling for a 'proper' walk yest afternoon - we were yomping around for about an hour and a half up hill and down dale - lovely, except when i got home about 5.30 he was so deeply asleep that i couldn't wake him. he slept for the rest of the evening despite me trying to feed, change him etc, so of course we had a terrible night... maybe i should take him out at 9pm instead!

just a quick q - what is everyone dressing their babies in to sleep at night? i can't find any meaningful advice on the web other than 'don't let them overheat'. atm ds2 wears a nappy and sleep suit then has a thin fleecy blanket over his lower half. our bedroom is about 19 degrees, gets a bit colder in the v early morning. i thought he might be waking up so frequently because he gets cold so added a vest but am now paranoid about overheating him...

thanks asicsgirl for the winding tips, they sound quite amusing will try them out later.

thanks mumofk for that article, made sense, have been super consious of letting him feed till he's had enough since reading that but this morning he went for an hour and half, and then i took him off as it had gotten painful again, then he fell asleep for an hour and woke up starving!
Also thanks for your lovely comments about me making a decision, there is so much conflict in my head that coments like that really help me!

Thanks niknak, i also think its due to huge boobs and ds2 has only an ickle mouth, i know they say that shpuldnt make a difference but i truly think it does. I had the same probs with ds1, but they didnt last as long then it became easy and comfy, but he was a lot bigger and my boobs wernt as huge! hope you can get comfier.

I have actually sterlised a bottle and am going to try formula tonight before bed, so we will see how that goes.

quick q - how do you switch from breast to bottle without getting engourged/blocked/mastitis? am thinking i will mix feed from now on, so planning on just dropping a couple of breastfeeds, maybe bedtime and the after lunch one?

Magicfairy,

I have another one. Bouncing Emily up and down on the knee helps with winding. She loves it!

NS XXX

Good luck with bedtime magicfairy! Hope you feel easier about having made the decision. I'm not sure about how to avoid sore boobs, but maybe the cabbage leaves and expressing a bit if its too uncomfy? When I got engorged I found the easiest way to deal with it was jump in the shower and hand express- no mess, no watching a quantity of milk going away, and I love showers.Actually baths are my favorite but there's a risk of hearing crying child so showers are superior at the mo! Hopefully hand expressing would avoid some of the pain, but equally pumping might be ok.As you're not stopping breastfeeding completely, expressing a bit won't do any harm i think!

LOL at burping techniques! I keep forgetting to wind Jas, but she is a lot happier if I do. I have a dilemma at night though- we can both be sooo sleepy at night feeds that sitting up properly to burp just seems such hard work, but half the time she ends up insisting- loudly. Otherwise nights can be very quiet. She latched on without me properly waking after 1 am feed, so didn't notice anything until it was 6 am and DD1 shouting 'is it morning yet?!'.
RIght, must go before I mention slings again....oops!

Gingerwench: Congratulations on the arrival of your baby boy. (See birth announcements)

YCBS I PMSL at your DH, (incidentally, bogging off to Russia for the week ) telling you to enjoy this special time! When I was pg with DD1 I had a close friend pg at the same time, and we often moaned at all our pgy symptoms and always joked at the end of the conversation..."such a magical time!!" So it's become a bit of a catchphrase around here!!

asicsgirl love the winding tips, do they work for adults too?? (not that I need any help...anyone else really windy since giving birth?? I keep telling DH it's cos I'm BFing, even though there is no physiological reason why, but my word, it's awful at the mo!!) PMSL at your lo's burp nearly blowing you off the sofa!!!
I put DD in a nappy and a sleepsuit. If it's been a hotter day, just a short sleeved vest. She sleeps in a 1.0 tog sleeping bag (which I swear by, BTW).

magicfairy
Any 'weaning' off the breast I would do slowly, i.e. one feed at a time. When I stopped BF DD1 I simply dropped one feed per week, so 4 to 3, then 3 to 2, then 2 to 1. I never had any probs with mastitis or engorgement.
With regards your comment re your lo feeding for 1.5 hrs then waking up an hour later starving, I don't wanna sound patronising but are you sure it's hunger? He shouldn't be hungry after 1.5 hrs feed? I really really don't wanna sound patronising, but I know with DD2 I initially used to feed her whenever she cried, but then I realised, it might not be hunger. It can be confusing because she used to be butting her head on my chest and showing signs of hunger, but when I fed her again she wasn't interested.
It's just a thought, that maybe he likes sucking, and he's not actually feeding, and when he wakes up, he just wants to suck again? Also, if he feeds too regularly, he will only be 'snacking' and I also found from experience that if I could tolerate the crying and let her go longer between feeds, she then fed much better, had more milk and waa therefore satisfied for longer. I am not a BF expert but what do you think? Also, if he is just sucking on your nipples, it would explain why they are so sore, as if your latch is OK, then you shouldn't be getting sore. I know it's hard, but maybe try and resist feeding him when you think he's hungry, and even if you can make him go another half hour, it might just give him time to settle himself asleep again or whatever. You certainly sound as if you need a break from feeding him as often as you are. I mean all this in the nicest possible way, really, I am only trying to help your situation as I feel for you (I know how shitty I felt when BF was not going well). Hope you don't mind my suggestions.

mumofk LOL! I too find it such an effort to have to get up and wind DD2 after feeding her lying on my side!!!

great nursing bras tip I have just bought a Freya nursing bra on ebay, BNWT, and it was £16 incl P&P, normally £26, and it is amazing. Let me know if you want me to post the link to the seller. I am def gonna buy another one. Really pretty and doesn't even look like a nursing bra, but really supportive and gives a really good shape too.....brill!!

Had a hard day on my own with the girls. DD2 cried nearly all day long. DH took pity on me when he woke up and mangaged to get DD2 to sleep before he went off to work again, he put her on the beanbag asleep where she stayed until literally five mins after he left for work.....it's as if she knew. Little monkey .

Went to see a friend today who is 9 days overdue....and I still couldn't keep up with her walking even though she had my DD1 and her DD in a double buggy and I only had DD2 in sling . She is superfit though.

Well, I'd better go and attend to my little darling...........such a magical time!!

LM xxx

Hi all.

Hurrah - DD has "beautifully clear" corneas She will be checked every 4 months until she is 2 (just like DS) but the consultant was very happy with her today. She was a really good girl and didn't cry once, not even when they put the nasty drops in. Mummy cried though

Good luck tonight MF - let us know how you get on.

Congrats Gingerwench, off to read your birth story...

Have promised DP the laptop tonight so best dask...

Ooops. by the way, it's podglet - I've namechanged!

hello everyone - just to say my baby was due may 28th and was finally born june 12. can't wait to scroll through this thread to see what i'm in for!

pina erm, since you wrote that last post, all our May babies are now off at school . Good grief woman that was a long one, even by my standards!!!
(oh, and I never get sick of anyone asking me about ebay!)

Well, hope not to make you all but tonight I am going to see 'Sex and the city' at the flix with a friend!!! Yay for expressing!! So excited!

Just got a text from a friend (the one I went to the park with yesterday who was 9 days overdue). She had her bubba this morning, 5 mins after getting to hospital. Her DH and MW were NOT around, she was on the loo, had two pushes and out he came, she had to catch him from falling down the toilet !!!!

Right, better go and feed DD2 who is back in my good books after sleeping 10pm-4am and now only just stirring since that last feed at 4am. At least she is consistently good at night, even if she can be a little monkey in the day.

Have a good day

HELLO!!!

Really quick post to say im still hear Freya is 2 weeks old today and doing really well!

DD1 is having a bit of a problem adapting to the new baba and alto she loves her sister she had become a very "difficult" child with us !!!!!!!!! so its been really hard to find the time to come on a say hello.

However there is some good news. Im feeling so much better since the birth and my depression has disappeared (touch wood) i am also lighter now than when i conceived! so just need to so some serious toning now. I i have also managed to have sex hurray and to my relief i can confirm that there are no wizards sleeves in my house !!!!!!!!!

sorry if TMI but start as you mean to go on i always say im sure i will be sharing alto more with you all in the months to come !!

Its so nice to be back and i will catch up properly soon

lots of love to everyone xxxxxx