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

Just had a lovely meal out but there was lots of garlic in it - wonder what effect that will have on Ethan, it used to make Tristan really sick.

Ethan went down at 10.00, fingers crossed for a good night.

Thanks for the comments re my busy day but I have to remind you that I also have dh here all the time as we work from home so I can dump Ethan on him sometimes and get on, plus 8 and 6 year olds don't need watching like toddlers do.

I am full of praise for those of you managing at this time with a toddler in tow too. I found that time really hard, mine were 23 months apart. But now they are the best of friends.

Sounds pretty normal to me Sarahpo - I am starting to feel less tired and Ethan is 7 weeks now, it does get better I assure you. At 4 weeks I tried to have an afternoon nap most days and that helped.

fungle re zero milk at bedtime. I'm sure you still have some but your let down/ production is probably slower at that time of night - I suffer from the same thing. I started drinking fennel tea 24 hours ago as it's supposed to boost milk production and S and I have deffo had a better day - I've had more milk all day. She slept for a five hour stretch last night and I've still got plenty of milk now, even after two hours of faffy feeding between 5 and 7 - the tea tastes ok - not too aniseedy, as I can't stand fennel! Wish I'd done it sooner... Sorry your DP is being daft.

re maternity clothes I've lost all my preggy weight and more besides and am pratically wasting away - 35lbs since S was born! Need to eat more as I think it's one reason why my milk needs a boost but never seem to have the time...

allipalli Peter probably needs 5-6oz per feed given his weight so it's not surprising he drank it all. Storm happily drinks 5oz per feed and she's about 13lbs now. Try expressing 15 mins to half an hour before a feed, you might get more.

whinegums it was me with the thrush! So glad I posted the symptoms now. We seem to be getting better, but if they give you daktarin, or something similarly sticky then make sure you wash it off before feeding, or you'll get very sore aerola (sp?) from LO's mouth getting stuck to you and the resulting friction. re frozen EBM my GP said it was fine - the infection lives in you and LO but not directly in the milk.

Urgh, despite baths, massage, big feed, walk, proper amount of naps Storm will just not go to sleep in the evening before 10pm. Grrrrrrrr. Driving me nuts!

DH has been teaching her to say hello this evening! So cute! She was mimicking the sound anyway and is now very good at it - totally adorable.

Ok, gotta try another feed to get her to go down. Arg

Hi all, been a bit quiet here because I was in the throes of a massive row with DH - separate beds and all last night. Thing is, not entirely sure why I was so angry . Tiredness, etc, and stressing about this party probably. (It was mainly about me being bored, unappreciated, and the lack of sex!)

Tonight, though, he's giving DS an expressed bottle so more sleep for me!

V. jealous of the people getting long sleep stretches! Iestyn has managed 4 and 5 hours on a few occasions now, but never when it's desperately needed!! Friday night he went from after 11 to 5am, and again ond Saturday night, but since then it's been every 3 hours. I'm wondering how to get him into some sort of routine, but surely he'll go hungry? If he wakes at 3 I can't really leave him to cry until 4, can I? He's quite small - 8.1 at his last weigh so maybe around the 9 mark by now - so I suppose he can't take as much food as a bigger baby could?

Struggling with the mornings though, because he tends to stir around 6am, and then grunt! Who was it with the bodybuilder noises? We have those too - he doesn't seem upset or distressed, but grunts. A lot!

Expressing - I have a big milk supply, but only manage a decent amount first thing really. I've been doing well on collecting drips though - i.e. when I'm feeding on one breast. I average 20 mls - quite a lot to waste in a breast pad!

I noticed Neenz was missing too. Hope everything is all right. I was thinking of you, Neenz, because Iestyn is in his vibrating chair here in London. I might have a go in it myself . (See above...)

Looking forward to the meet up tomorrow!

X-posted greenfairy, but was reminded of Alipalli's question.
Iestyn gets 100ml in a bottle, which is around 3oz (but he is little). My bf expert told me that they often take more from a bottle because the milk is all mixed up and they don't get the fore/hind milk signals, which tell them when to stop. Also, the first few bottles we gave him, he needed breast too (!) for the comfort.

I'm doing ok on the weight loss too - but I really need to tone up! My tummy is all jelly!

And a happy note to end - tried Iestyn in the bath with me tonight. 2nd attempt - he was screaming before I took him in 2 nights ago and carried on, and also farted a lot (poss. panic!). Tonight, though, he was gurgling and happy, and he stayed in with me for 5 mins or so - he kicked his little legs in such a cute way! I think I got more out of it than he did, tho...

Deb happy anniversary, glad you had a good day and hope you have a good night too.

Have had a good day here, we have one lot of guests in for a week which is lovely, no beds to do tomorrow which is a bonus, went to the jousting again with DD who is a bit fixated at the moment today and going out with friends tomorrow afternoon.

Having abit of a dilemma with her nursery, please bear with me as I think aloud and opinions will be appreciated,

DD has yet again been bitten, 4th time in as many months this time on arm broken skin and bruise.. Now she is happy at this nursery, it has a prescool as well which she can go on to next year, she has been there since her first birthday. However getting very concerned about frequency of biting and the increasing hardness, don't know yet if it is same child, we do drive there, she goes 5 mornings a week, 8 til 1. The army camp next door has a preschool, has space for 26 currently has 6 on role with 3 staff, walking but 9 til 12. Hmm, just thinking aloud but writing it down seems to be a no brainer.

Had a trauma tonight folks! S was doing his usual evening crying routine, decided to try him in sling as it had worked well earlier in day... He was thrashing about while I put him in. I thought he might have caught his mouth on the catch for the head support - had a quick look and he seemed fine... Did up the sling, after about 10 minutes he was no calmer so undid the head support bit - blood all round his mouth and my chest . Got the fright of my life! He's absolutely fine though - he's managed to get a little cut inside his mouth . It wasn't actually bleeding a lot but it looked worse than it was. He was quite unperturbed by it once I'd soothed him, although he was patting his mouth as if to tell me it hurt! He's fine now, but I shed a lot of tears!

Moral of the story... watch out for the bit the head support clicks onto when putting an upset baby in a babybjorn sling!

BDQ - oh poor thing - I bet it looked a lot worse than it was, I trapped Ethan's finger in the car seat buckle

Sophie - I would question why the army nursery only has 6 on role?

I have a funeral to go to today, some of you may remember me mentioning my friend here whose husband had cancer, he died last week and it's his funeral today. She has 6 children.

Thanks for the advice on amounts being expressed and size of bottle feeds. All makes sense. Sounds as though the amount I express is not unusual, but not enough to satisfy Peter.

MIL coming today. She is lovely, but still feel bad that I have not made up bed or done last night's washing up.

BDQ sounds traumatic - but mostly for you.
Deb - hope the funeral goes well

I have heard good things about fennel tea too. Apparently its available in tescos. Hope that it is more effective than RLT was for me!

Very small camp, most children are school age when they come here and there are 5 nurseries in the local area and civilians don't tend to use it. Had a good Ofsted report last October. It is a hassle getting in and out of camp daily but hopefully may be able to chat up the Colonel for a pass.

Deb sor sorry for your friend, hope she gets the supprt that she will need for the next few months, I know she will get it from you.

Deb I do remember you talking about your friend, such a tragedy for her and her children. I hope today goes as well as can be expected.

Quick question re: EBM - have some in the fridge that I'd quite like to use today... Would it be ok in a bottle in one of those insulated bottle carrier things for 2-3 hours?

LOL at body builder noises! we have them too

fivegomad if your DD is happy at her nursery, I would leave her there provided you have been reassured by the nursery that they take appropriate measures re biting child i.e explaining to the child that it is wrong, supervising your child and that child when together and comforting your child. Unfortunately it does happen a lot and toddlers seem to go through a phase of biting but it usually passes.

Josie I was [shocked] that they only diagnosed your retained placenta now, so glad you had your ops (although it was probably a bit traumatic) and are on the mend.

GF and all the other thrush sufferers, I am glad you are all being treated.

Sarapoh I think tiredness is pretty normal in the first four weeks, watch out for anemia though

As for me, I am absolely knackered. I haven't had one weekend rest since SJ was born 8 weeks ago, and this one doesn't look more promising as we have to go back to Bristol to find more properties. It is rather difficult to find something nice-ish to rent, each time I see something that looks nice on the net, by the time we get to Saturday (the only time we can view properties) it is gone!

Also SJ like Storm is fussing in the evening, I hardly ever get him to sleep before 10 or 11pm which is awful. Until know he was falling back asleep after his night feed but last night he was fussing for two hours and using me as a human dummy again so we had to try him with a real dummy again which seemed to work. In terms of long stretches of sleep at nigth we have regressed too. In the past he did manage 5.5 hours and once 7.5 hours, but now we are back on feeding every three hours at night. I just cannot cope with it anymore. Sometimes when I hear him I cannot help but think "oh no not again!".

Definitely need to try a routine but I have so little time to do it at the moment. Will also try the fennel tea just in case. The problem with SJ is sometimes he wants to feed very often but only take a little and probably doesn't feed enough, so 1h and 30 minutes afterwards we can start again!

One question for fellow breastfeeders, how long do you leave them on each breast and do you then unlatch them and put them on the other breast. If I never unlatched SJ, he would be quite happy to stay there forever!

Sorry for long post

Needahand- probably this is a totally different circumstance but when I saw the breast feeding councillor about dd (who had low weight gain) she said you should never unlatch a baby as they will come off when finished. Now, she would only spend a maximium of 10-15 minutes latched on even when fast asleep so it wasn't tricky to follow but a long feeder may not be viable. Also, I never seem to get to offer a second breast. J feeds ultra quickly on 1, and then point blank refuses to go back on it or the other, if I persist then he is often sick so now I don't bother. He has gained over 4 pounds in 8 weeks so he is obviously doing well on this strategy, I think I probably have too much milk for him to need/want both.

I don't think it is just low weight babies who feed very regularly during the night, quite a few of us on here have a 3 hour feed then two hourly with sizable babies. Some babies just want more. I haven't yet managed to work out to stop this (with 3 child) so probably will just need to sit it out... Sorry

Thanks sybil, it is good to know. The problem is I am sure SJ is comfort sucking and not feeding. He is just happy just to hang on to the nipple...for hours. I am all for demand feeding but even I have some limits. It is so different from DD who used to feed for 15 mns and then unlatch! Don't really know what to think, I am sooo confused. I guess I was spoilt with her as she was such a good feeder and she slept through the night (and I mean 8pm to 8am) at 8 weeks!

Also sometimes he unlatch and I think he has finished but he is only taking a break! I think tonight it will be EBM for him and sleep for me as if I don't have a good night sleep I am sure I would be tempted to switch to formula which would be a shame!

With SJ I have to unlatch him to give him the other breast because if I don't he is hungry again after 1h30mns.

really soooo confused.

needahand DD2 was like your baby, she loved to comfort feed and could be at the breast for hours if I let her. I never resolved the problem and she fed like that until I stooed breastfeeding. DS just has the breast to feed and takes his milk very quickley. DO you give your baby a dummy, it may help if he likes the comfort of sucking.

Needahand - Ethan has only just started taking both breasts in the last week or so and he's 7 weeks now, but he doesn't always take both. I leave him sucking for about 10/15 minutes, then if it looks like he's not swallowing much I unlatch him and off the next breast. I used to change his nappy between breasts to give him a break and then he'd be more ready to take the 2nd. In the night he will take both breasts after his long sleep(4 hours or so), then after that he comes into bed and I feed him lying down so he only takes one ata time then and then only goes about 1.5-2 hours but as I'm lying down feeding I don't really mind .

hth

just off to get ready for the funeral, boiling hot day here, I have to go and sprinkle water on the coffin apparently 1st, then parade through the village, men and women segregated - it's very traditional here.

G43 we had tried a dummy a while ago and it worked only once. Yesterday I was soooo fed up after two hours that we tried again and it did sooth SJ, so I think we will try again as he seems to need to suck to send him to sleep in the evening (not during the day weirdly)

Debs thanks for the advice on how long to leave him at the breast before swapping. I wasn't sure whether I should leave him for 30, 20 or 15 minutes on each breast. Will try 15mn. When Ethan feeds at night does he also only take 15 mn to feed? I am just asking because SJ can spend 30 or 40mn on each and it makes the night time feed soooo long. Good luck with the funeral.

Thanks for the advice ladies, much appreciated as I am going slightly bonkers with tiredness/lack of sleep...sometimes it feels like I will just drop out of exhaustion.

Wow haven't been around for couple of days and I've missed loads!

fungle I don't seem to have a big supply any time I express - generally only get 2oz at most in one sitting (both boobs). I guess A is a 'little and often' feeder, so my supply matches that. Not too worried as he's putting on weight, but does mean more frequent expressing to build up any store!

DQ oops re. your sling incident, glad S is ok. They're pretty hardly little things I guess, but you must have got a shock!

I'm so of those of you getting lots of long sleeping stints. For some reason, A has slept no more than 2 hours at a go for the last 2 nights. In fact last night his first sleep was only 1 hour . Maybe he's going through a growth spurt as he's constantly hungry.

Went to a bf group this morning which was helpful and they were really nice. They did sort of politely tell me not to use the dummy or EBM in a bottle though (which I will ignore, I cannot live without the dummy!)

allnew DS is fully bf and uses a dummy and has done for weeks. He feeds really well and is also gaining weight very well, at 11 weeks old he is as big as the girls were at 18 weeks! Do what feel right for you!

Needahand A dummy worked well for us, ds got realy upset as he wanted to suck but didn't want milk so would get frustrated at the breat - I love avent dummies!!!!

Needahand - Ethan probably takes the 1st breast for about 15/20 minutes and the 2nd 10 minutes in the night, but when I feed him in bed I fall asleep feeding so who knows how long he's sucking!!

Funeral was OK but so sad obviously, I couldn't look at my friend or the children or she would have set me off. As we walked through the village ( about 150 people with the band leading), there were tourists taking photographs and chatting as we walked past. I think it's OK to be interested in other traditions but there were not sensitive at all. I'm sure my friend would have been oblivious though thankfully.

allnew ds1 had a dummy and was bfed until 13 months - don't think it caused a problem!!

I will catch up with the thread later but thought I'd just do a quick post to say what a bizarre afternoon I've just had.

Went to our local Farm Park (Farmer Palmers) as we have a season ticket. Anyhow a lady came and sat next to me at the indoor playarea and her little girl came and had a look at Luke thinking it was her baby brother.
Anyway we got chatting and you'll never guess who it was......................

SOPHIE AKA 5gomad!!!!

Talk about a small world.

Anyway, sophie it was great to put a face to the name iykwim.

Would love to meet up with you again. My e-mail is lmcc2007atbtinternetdotcom obviously replacting the at and the dot.

Right now off the bath the little darlings and prepare something for tea. Will look in again later.

YOu beat me to it, my email is sophweld1 at aol dot com, will email you later and will organise jousting. Edie in bed having had a totaol melt down.