June 08 babies - I know there's a few of us about!

[isaidno]

Thought I'd start a thread inbetween breastfeeding, laundry and bossing DH about tyo do stuff!

Let's make a list of members!

ISAIDNO - baby girl; Poppy Elizabeth; born 18 / 6/ 08; 6lb 4oz

sponge I don't understand your HV - it makes me . Storm has been putting on about 1lb a week BF and I've been repeatedly told 'she's doing really well' by my HV. Don't see what the difference is?! And can't see why you should deny a baby food AT ALL. The other day I went to Ikea for two hours (wooo!) and DH had to give Storm ALL the EBM in the fridge (7oz) (in two goes). And she still cried for more and needed another 3oz of formula - and she would have been about 10lb7oz at the time. So just ignore the silly moo and trust yourself.

breastpads I keep forgetting to wear any. They bug me anyway!

rolf loving your grooming tips

allnew re your probs feeding - how is your milk supply? If you have a lot A may be latching on and getting properly sprayed down the throat and getting upset by it. This happened with Storm. If so, lean back when you feed, and also try to express off the first half oz or so. Storm also struggles to latch when she has a dirty nappy - I think she gets distracted by it. Wind could also make A try to latch but not feed. Have you ruled all these out? Or it could be thrush?

It does also seem to be a way for baby to get nipple erect.

sybil storm has now picked up jamie's habit of sleeping through the heat. slightly worrying, but so much easier than feeding her for five hours! currently zonked on the sofa - just hope we don't pay for it tonight...

josey i bet olivia was just hot - try not to worry - it was horrible last night. And good you got another cry. Go olivia!

dq re tummy time, might be worth waiting til he's got more neck strength? S didn't like it until she could hold her head up a bit. You can always give him tummy time lying on you too. Re stimulation, I sing a lot to S and show her things (flowers, books, toys), but at almost 8 weeks she's mostly interested in lights and windows, and, faces, and that's about it. Don't worry too much - it's so early. I'd be more concerned about over stimulation.

essie the one size washables are big, but they don't mind them, even if it looks a bit nuts! You may need to go up a clothing size to fit stuff over them. S is already in 3 to 6 months for some clothes, even without reusables.

Ok, need to stop posting and write in S's baby book before I forget everything! Ttfn!

Elodie also does that shakey head thing. It cracks me up (but then, she doesn't do it for long). She usually drinks too fast or too much, chokes a little, breathes really heavily for a while, then attacks the nipple and does shakey-head thing until she has latched on. I'm like "calm down baby, its not going anywhere".
We've taken to doing impressions of this . . .

But when she bobs on and off constantly - that is frustrating. I think it may be wind, so I usually just put her on a pillow on her stomach, head turned to side with dummy in and pat her back (the Clare Byam-wotsit trick again)

alipali Peter, meet your lifelong favourite toy

If anyone is thinking of activities they'd like to do, may I recommend www.waterbabies.co.uk? I did it with DD1 and we both loved it. It may not suit my timetable this time .

Hedgehog poor you, phone nhs 24 hopefully they will help, or if you have a breastfeeding dropin even better!

Essie, you didn't upset me at all - thank you for your post. It really does help to get all this advice from you guys.

PP, you are sooo right about the conflicting advice. After fretting and crying for 24 hrs (me not Alex ), I phoned the HV and her colleague phoned back and gave me completely different advice. She said I should demand feed, there's nothing to worry about, he's going through a growth spurt and is doing really well and I should just carry on with what I'm doing now. All that worry for nothing.

So thank you all again - reading your responses has made me feel so much better about everything.

BDQ, I don't think 3 wk old babies can get bored tbh, but I'm no expert. I've been told that all they need is you/dh for stimulation right now and time out when they just lie on a mat and kick about for a while.

Thank you all again, from a much happier and more relaxed sponge.

(P.S. Alex is smiling alot now, which is so cute!)

rolf & hedgehog not sure if NCT has any groups in my area, but that's a good idea, I'll look it up! Never heard of a bf cafe, but I'll have a look

HH sorry to hear about the thrush, hope you get it sorted soon

DQ I also go through the feeling guilty thing when A is awake. Thing is though he isn't at all interested in his toys yet, so I think I'm playing with them for my benefit rather than his! He seems to like looking at our faces/walls/ceilings for now. essie you're probably right!

allipalli lol re. Peter's new friend!

greenfairy thanks for your post. I think it's probably wind, and A is quite colicky. He really hates being winded (although I do keep trying) and seems to see it as a complete waste of time. He's amazingly strong when he's fighting it! I'm with you on the breastpads, I've stopped bothering now. My boobs only seem to leak at night anyway, and I find this easier than constantly stuffing pads down my bra. I was finding discarded bpads all over the house which wasn't great when visitors called!

allnew, try contacting your local council too - they will be able to provide you with a list of activities in the area and tell you if there are any children's centres nearby that you can go to

allnew - my hv told me about bf cafe, otherwise i wouldn't have known. but there was info in the stuff i was given when i was discharged from hospital about them but i didn't give birth in my pct if that makes sense

Thanks sponge, will do

Have to go to get DH from the station in a sec, but just a quick worried post. Iestyn has slept loads today, most of the day in fact. (He feeds regularly though.)
I'm just worried because when I was feeding him at lunchtime I dropped a catalogue on his head. . It was La Redoute, and it landed just by his ear. He didn't budge from the breast, but I'm worried I've caused him damage and that's why he's sleeping.

Anybody? I know I'm totally paranoid, I just need a virtual slap.

I need to add that I didn't deliberately drop a catalogue on his head. It sounded a bit dodgy there.

Virtual slap for Essie

Thanks all for the reassurance that I dont need to be worrying about stimulating S. Right now, I'd just be really grateful if he slept for a bit. His colic seems to be worse, and he's been crying on and off for most of the day. Apart from an hour or so when we went in car/for a walk he's not settled for more than about 15 minutes at a time. Really hoping the infacol works...

Another question - this time to anyone using formula. We've switched from the ready made cartons to the powdered stuff, but as S's feedings are still quite erratic its impossible to time and prepare feeds according to current guidelines and have them ready when he needs it. So when he wakes for a feed (assuming he's actually had some sleep ) he ends up in a right state by the time a bottle arrives which is bad for his colic and makes it harder for him to settle again. Already save some time by getting water to right temperature and keeping it in a flask until he's ready for a feed but it takes forever to get the made up bottle cool enough to give him. Anyone got any tips?

Essie I doubt you will have done damage...how did he react? he is probably just having a growing day, babies do this from time to time.

DQ with DS and DD1 the guildlines were different and we used to pre prepare feeds put them to the back of the fridge and not use them past 24hours, so it was just the warming.

This time as I obviously I dont needs to use teats, I have bought the little powder pots. you fill bottles with the water, then you put the scoops in the pots which then sit safe in the bottle. As water doesnt off I havent put them in the fridge so the water stays at room temp...so you can have a James Bond feed Shaken not Stirred

Anyway I had a lovely day today, I received a visit from Aberdeenhiker and a very cute Fraser...unfortunately AH's DS1 was tormented and picked on by my hiddious DD1!!

AH as my battery was flat would you mind mailing me the pic's?

evening all
On laptop in bed waiting for missus to stir for her 10/11pm feed. DP normally does it but he has gone out for a drink with mates tonight (uhh OHHH)!!!

Feeling quite smug i might be winning the slummy mummy award!!! at least im doing something right!!!

Essie dont worry bout head im sure he is fine, im finding it hard not to bonk FLeur on head with my plaster cast at mo!!! Feeding is not funny!!! nor changing nappies!! luckily DP around to help otherwise dont no what i would have done.

BDQ re formula i read that you can make up bottles in advance and put in back of fridge for no longer than 24 hours, also we have a cheap boots bottle warmer and you can put bottle in hour or so before on really low and it keeps it warm which according to my MW is fine as long as its not in there all day!!!

Really jealous of those of you meeting up or going to mum and baby groups there is nothing like that round here. If any of you fancy popping over to GC for a cuppa you are more than welcome hehe!!!

Thanks Josey and paro. Josey - I thought that the formula had to get mixed with the water at 70C then needs to be cooled to room temp? Do you mix them together at room temp? I have those little tommee tippee pots that sit in their bottles, but figured I can only mix water and powder at 70C which still leaves problem of how to get feed cooled quick enough for S?

Paro - current guidelines here are not to store in fridge anymore. Although, given that it seemed to work for everyone for a long time I wonder if it really is a problem to do it that way...

Surely it cant be that hard for Dept of Health and formula manufacturers to come up with something safe that doesn't involve babies having to wait for ages for bottles to cool!!!

Essie - sorry, should have said I'm sure no damage has been done. My mum hit my sister with a frozen chicken on the head (accidentally obviously) and she turned out fine. She's always been a bit wary of the freezer cabinet in the supermarket though..

essie have to lol at type of catalogue, I am sure he is fine. I use the end of Isaacs pushchair to keep my bottle of drink in and several times I have tipped the pushchair to go up a kerb and he has been attacked by it - It is only 500ml and never full so not too worried about him yet.

I am really trying to think of a slummy mummy moment for you and think i have got one.

When Isaac was having an unsettled night I bought him into bed with us. He was sick on the bed sheet, my boobs were leaking all over the place (must be the way I sleep) and I just used a muslin to put over it which obviously moved as we were sleeping and I ended up sleeping in it.

I had my longest day out with isaac yesterday, we got the bus upto my work, where he proceeded to fart on everyone who cuddled him - that definitely comes from the other side of the family - we then met up with some friends in town and spent almost 6 hours out.

and today I am a yummy mummy as I bought a new pair of jeans in a size smaller than my pre preg size, tried them on in pre preg size and they were too big - Guess BF and pushing the pushchair everywhere is working for me

at jeans hedgehop. I had to buy some in the size up from pre-pg size the other day. I was sooooo sick of maternity jeans/trousers though I didn't care. Clearly I need to get out walking more!

Re: feeding and cooling down bottles... Have read on another thread on the subject of making up formula this idea... If doing e.g. a 4oz feed - mix the formula powder for a 4oz feed with half the boiled water needed then use cooled boiled water (stored in the fridge) to top the water up to the right amount. Formula gets mixed at the current recommended temperature, and the use of cooled boiled water cools it enough to drink so baby doesn't scream for ages waiting for feed. Any thoughts? Might try it later.

BDQ, re:ff, I fell about laughing when the MW said that the feed had to be prepared when LO wanted it - the idea of making a demand fed baby wait for potentially 30 - 40 mins for his feed in the middle of the night is absolutely crazy!

We have ignored current guidelines and continue to make it up 12 hrs in advance. We cool the water to 70 degrees, make up the feed and then store it in the fridge until needed. We use the ready made stuff when we're out and about. Apparently the current guidelines are based on a study of 50,000 babies which found a handful of salmonella cases - and how could they know those cases weren't down to poor hygiene on the part of the parents?

Essie, as others have said, I'm sure your little man is fine. Alex goes through days when he sleeps loads (yesterday) and others where he's wide awake (today!).

HH am very jealous re. your jeans! I'm 2 sizes up from pre-pregnancy still, so I must get out walking more

essie I'm sure lo is ok. When I was 6 and my sister was a baby, I was playing humpty dumpty with her on my knee. Unfortunately at the 'had a great fall' bit of the rhyme, instead of pretending to drop her, I actually did drop her, head first onto the floor

Last night's sleep was ok-ish, and A is relatively settled today except he hasn't slept for more than an hour at a time. We tried Gaviscon yesterday for his reflux so maybe that helped.

Thanks for that spongbrain that's v interesting - I think I'll need to give all this ff some thought. Am planning to stick to the ready made stuff while out and about, but agree that making baby wait for food is madness. Even by having water at 70C in flask, by the time feed is made up and cooled down, S is screaming - too upset to settle, and the crying can surely only make his colic worse?

The good news is that today he has been much calmer, but on the flip side, he has napped constantly since waking this morning and had less than half of his normal feed at lunchtime. Have just prepared another one just in case he wakes up screaming sometime soon!

Back breifly, am keeping an eye on you when I get a chance.

FF - the water needs to be hot to sterilise the powder, so luke warm doesn't do it, we make up a load and then bung in fridge.

Essie, I'm sure he is fine, I walked into a bollard with the pram the other day and was worried I had given Jamie brain damage as he screamed for most of that day but he seems fine. What a stupid place to put a concrete bollard though in the middle of a narrow path at a height below the average pram - i didn't even see it!

I think all our babies are sleeping lots becuase of the heat. Jamie has barely been awake these past few days. He does wake up more in the evenings when it is cooler but is still in bed for 11.00. I am worried he is not feeding well as h e seems to only wake up for a drink, but as someone elses hv pointed out that is also really common in hot weather. He is quite chunky so I don't think a thin few days are going to do him damage except perhaps on the percentiles - and I am convinced they are a load of bollox designed to give new mums even more stress anyway.

essie I was showing Storm the 'baby in the mirror' on Wednesday and she lunged for herself (haha) before I could catch her and smacked her forehead on the frame. Yikes. She cried for about a second and then forgot all about it. Panic not. Of course, I was panicking at the time!

Storm also sleeping loads today. Going to wake her for a feed as she's now gone six hours with only really one feed and I fear is only asleep because it's hot. Wish me luck...

When oh when will I stop sweating? Am soooooo sick of it. It's been eight weeks now and no end in sight!

Following Fleurs pediatrician we prepare the bottles like so: We get 120ml of still mineral water as cant drink tap, we dont boil it we were but she said no need, we mix powder up, give it a shake and put in fridge for later or if its for right now we put directly in bottle warmer for 2 mins and done and ready baby doesnt have to wait at all!!

Using Nestle Nidina formula dont know what it is in england