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

Also Essie have you thought about taking him to an osteopath? Theo has been a different baby since his treatment. He only needed two - in London try the Foundation For Paediatric Osteopathy www.fpo.org.uk/ - the service is free although they do ask for a donation of £30 per session. I think you are in London aren't you?

Hello all - I've decided to stop posting on Antenatal now and stick to this one - hopefully everyone has found it now!

After a nightmare of a day yesterday, Iestyn settled (with his dummy) at around 9.30, slept till his midnight feed, and then (after DH took ages to settle him , sans dummy - I slept through this! ) had 5 hours between feeds. So DH and I and Iestyn had a lie in, and life seems ok again. However, still having dummy angst - or rather confusion. (I'm the one with nipple confusion!!) I've posted a version of this on the breastfeeding board - where I'm happy to be slated as a chav if necessary - but can anyone here help? Particularly anyone who bf and uses a dummy!

My dilemma now is how and when to give him a dummy. My original plan was to give it to him to settle him to sleep at bedtime only - this works, he sleeps, the dummy falls out, he wakes for a feed.
However, he also screams all day, and is basically inconsolable. If I've fed him, changed him, cuddled him, walked him in the pram etc and he's still crying, should I stick the dummy in? Or is this a slippery slope? How will I know when he needs feeding rather than a dummy?

Incidentally - DH (ho ho!) stuck the dummy in now because he couldn't settle Iestyn and needed to get to work...and he's gone to sleep. Iestyn, not DH. Result.

I'm now beginning to wonder why I care so much about the breastfeeding - I've done 4 weeks which is good going. (That's not on the bf board .) I suppose my view is clouded by a painful nipple.

splodge the pictures are gorgeous. They would make any woman broody (they definitely would make me broody and I have a newborn!)

Debs what a busy week ahead of you. You are brave!

Essie I really don't think a dummy is that bad if it helps settle Iestyn. If it helps, I would say do it, you sanity/rest is more important. I reckon you will know he is hungry when the dummy doesn't pacify him? And really it is so much better than sucking their thumbs. I am considering giving one to SJ too as he wants to suck all the time it seems. Last night I must have fallen asleep during the 5.30 am feed, then thought he has been feeding a while. I unlatched him and realised it was 7.00...and he was still chewing my nipple!

Getting slightly concerned about comments re introduction of bottle. I should probably get on with it. How much am I supposed to give a five week old breastfed baby?

Right need to get on with interview preparation tomorrow. Wish me luck. If I get it, it would mean the end of the commute for me and DH and more quality time with DD and SJ

Neenz - you never cease to amaze me, because you've answered my question before I posted! Supermum badge for you, I think!

I think you're right with using it all the time - I'm now wondering how to define 'emergency' anyway. I've come to the decision that a screaming (fed, changed) baby who won't stop crying is an emergency at any time.

My only concern now is that he'll be sucking a dummy when he should be bf. But I suppose he's not so stupid that he can't tell the difference between hunger and satisfaction and sucking!

We've also just come back from the second session with the osteopath. (Only managed by giving him my finger to suck throughout...which kind of settles the matter really - he needs to suck!) It's hard to say whether it's made a difference - but I was warned that 1 session probably wouldn't.

Now, everyone, hands on good luck charms, fingers crossed, on your knees etc etc for tonight - my Selden Soc lecture is tomorrow and I need a good night's sleep... DH is doing the night nannying and has the day off tomorrow. (After all the fuss, his 3-day case was thrown out yesterday - with him winning.)

Essie, a dummy won't pacify your DS if he is hungry - he will still cry so you will know. If in doubt just make sure he feeds at least every three hours during the day. Can't go wrong then. Keep up the good work re BFing. You are doing it because you know it is best for him and you. Well done!

The osteo took two sessions for Theo - first one was mostly assessment. We saw an improvement in his sleep by the next night. Hope it works for you too. What does your DH do?

Good luck Needahand!

And giving your baby a dummy does not make you a chav! It makes you a good mum who is doing the best for her baby IMO

Hi all, a rare moments peace!
It is very reasuring to read that all newborns seem to have the same problems! Wind, sucking nipples till they hurt and screaming the house down! I had my first eve on my own with DP back in London last night. DD1 was a angel, thank god. Isla shouted at me from 5pm until 10pm. Ouch. Nothing would settle her exept sucking on my drained boobs. I gave in at 9.30 and gave her 2oz formula, she eventually nodded off. Dont know if it was the formula or not.
Is this a growth spurt time? Shes 2 weeks tomorrow, or is it the dreaded colic?
Im really aprehensive about this eve now
Neenz, you always sound so together, how do you do it with twins!!
Deb, glad reinforcements are arriving for you to help out.
Any advice re Infacol and Gripe water, do they work?
Right, try fit in a shower before she awakens

I reckon a screaming baby is more chavvy than a dummy - but I'm a convert! fungle - considered a dummy?

Because of my mushed brain I forgot to give my opinion on the sleeping question. I would recommend my baby monitor (again!) for anyone concerned about cot death. Because I agree that having the baby in the same room wouldn't make much difference - because (God forbid this ever happens to anyone I know and touching wood and all that stuff) I'm not convinced I would wake up - unless a baby was making a sound, which they wouldn't if they weren't breathing. (God, struggling with typing that awful thought.)
Anyhow, I don't work for Tommee Tippee or anything (just a fan!), but the baby monitor I have has a breathing sensor, and an alarm which sounds if breathing/movement stops. I have it in the moses basket even though Iestyn is in our room, but I'm not planning on having him in our room for anything near 6 months, frankly. It's quite expensive, but I got mine at half the price on e-bay.

needahand thanks for the bump on the other post. Just had an useful reply - get into a routine. That would sort the feeding/dummy angst!

jamie finally properly asleep for first time since 8.30, so obviously I am rushing online. He was really sick at 8.30 and has only grazed for 2-3 minutes at a time since then, hence the not being able to sleep properly. He has been sick loads the past couple of days and has only been grazing during the day but feeding ok at night. I am wondering if this is a result of the garlic bread I had the past couple of nights...

Anyway, very tired and dh going out drinking tonight so home alone with all three. I may be grey by 9.30! I am not sure what to do about expressing and bottle feeding, 5 weeks tomorrow so need to make up my mind but given bfeeding is proving problematic I am concerned about making things worse. So totally with you on the nipple confusion worries Essie!

its good to know that miss Elodie is normal then! does seem like we are all going through the same issues.
she has been an angel but sometimes gets really cross in the evening and bobs on and off my boob for ages . . .
i need my mum to send me some infacol because they don't have it here in copenhagen.

don't really get the dummy issue - have used them from the get-go but not abused them. she sometimes likes it but doesn't go potty without it. what's chavvy about them?

catatonic with tiredness right now. may grab 10 mins while she's snoozing . . .

Hi all, found 5 mins for an update at last! We registered Barnaby today, so he is officially official.

I'm still having problems with latching him on for b/f, but after having talked to mws and a bf counsellor, it sounds like I have to grin and bear it - until my nips 'toughen up and stretch.' - another thing that no one tells you about in advance! I've resorted to paracetamol and ibuprofen. My evening dose, post feed I hasten to add, is washed down with a small red wine. Least I deserve I reckon!

Yesterday morning was rough, he just wanted to feed all the time, think it was my own fault for buggering up his feeding pattern on Sunday as we went visiting. In future I'm going to let Barnaby set the pace, and hard lines if others have to wait for him.

I tried to avoid the dummy, but the monster screams the place down when he's getting changed - like a few others have mentioned, he doesn't seem to care about being dirty! - and it's been a godsend then. Much better to have a sucky baby than a distressed screaming the place down one. He doesn't seem to be interested in it for most of the rest of the time.

Essie, I got the Tommee Tippee monitor as well, most places sell if for around £90 - £100, but Argos have it for £55. I agree it's fab, if only for peace of mind.

Deb, are you really thinking about moving back to the UK?

And will just add us on to the list:

NEENZTWINS - twins; Theo Isaac 6lb 2oz and Esther Elizabeth 4lb 8oz; born May 6
MAKECAKES - baby girl; Cecily Jean Olivia born 18/05/08 7lbs 1oz
GOINGFOR3 - Baby Boy; Harvey born 20/05/08 9lb 9oz
KATYJO - Baby Girl; Mia born 24/5/08 7lb 11oz
PAROFLEURMAPU - Baby Girl; Fleur born 30/05/08 6lb 7oz
GREENFAIRY - Baby Girl; Storm Josephine Frances, born 01/06/08 6lb 7oz
TJUICE - Baby Girl; Elodie Summer, born 03/06/08 7 lb
JOSEY - Baby Girl; Olivia Margaret born 4/06/08 8lb 15oz
ABERDEENHIKER - Baby Boy; Fraser Neil born 7/06/08 9lbs
LORETTAH - Baby Boy; Harry Joseph born 8/06/08
SYBILVIMES - Baby boy; James Dominic born 11/06/08,8lbs 2oz
SYSTEMSADDICT - baby girl; Caitlin Rose; born 11/06/08; 7 lbs 11 oz
DYLANSMUMPLUSONE - baby girl; Anwyn Crystal Anne born 14/6/08 7lbs 15oz
SPONGEBRAINBIGPANTS - boy, Alexander Peter John; born 15/06/08; 7lbs 3 ozs
ROLF - baby girl; Theodora; born 15/06/08; 8lb 9oz
ESSIE3 - baby boy; Iestyn Seiriol; born 16/06/08 6lb 1oz
DEBINAUSTRIA - baby boy; Ethan; born 17/06/08; 10lb 1oz
ISAIDNO - baby girl; Poppy Elizabeth; born 18 / 6/ 08; 6lb 4oz
JOSIE57 - baby girl; Emma Caitlin born 18/06/08 7lb 3oz
SOPHIEWD - baby boy; Sebastian Wilfrid Joseph; born 19/06/07; 8lb 5.5oz
LIBRALADY - baby boy; Luke Thomas Jacob; born 23/6/08; 6lb 4oz
HEDGEHOG1979 - baby boy; Isaac John; 24/06/08; 8lb
POPPY34- baby girl: Edith, born 26/6/08, 7lb 6oz
JIVEGIRL- baby girl; Charlotte, born 26/6/08, 7lb 14oz
UPSIDEDOWNCAKE - baby girl; Dorothy Wijnanda - 6 lbs 7 oz; 28/07/08
NEEDAHAND - baby boy, SJ, 11/06/08. 8lbs4
KTPIE - baby boy; Jonathan; born 02/07/08; 9lb 2.5oz
ALLNEW - baby boy; Alexander; born 02/07/08; 8lb 9oz
FUNGLE - baby girl Isla Rose born 2/7/08; 7lb 7oz
LAURAT - baby girl; Charlotte Helen; born 06/07/08; 8lb 0oz
HELLBELL- boy; Ned, 9lb 7oz, 07/07/08
WHINEGUMS - boy; Barnaby Henry, 8lb 12oz 07/07/08

Essie I have tried a dummy, sometimes she goes for it, other times she hates it.
Midwife just been to discharge us, she reckons just to spend more time winding. Ive got to say, while she was here winding Isla, she did settle down a lot. Where as I would have prob just popped her on to feed thinking that was the answer, where as it would prob have made it worse.
Shes been asleep for an hour now, wish midwife would come and live here

And I've just added some pics to my profile.

Essie - give him a dummy and stop feeling so guilty about it. With ds1 I didn't buy any dummies when I was pregnant , I hated the sight of toddlers/pre-schoolers walking around with dummies in. I was very anti dummies, until our 1st night home from hospital, within an hour or so we found one that someone had sent us and it was an absolute godsend. I would have loved ds2 to have one as he sounds very similar to Iestyn, and was very windy and unsettled as a tiny baby, I would have paid someone if they could get him to take one but he just wouldn't. So stop beating yourself up about it and give yourself a break.

Whinegums - yes we are thinking of moving back but just had the house valued and we're a bit disappointed, will be getting a 2nd opinion!!

Ethan is calling, he's had an unsettled afternoon - in fact all the time the estate agent was here. He is farting so much today!!

Whinegums - lovely pics

Just re-read my post - that was Ethan farting not the estate agent

reading this with interest as not sure if dummy will help edie or not (both the dsc had them so am not snobby about it)... what I'm trying to figure out is if it would actually settle edie..given to date she actually has seemed to be hungry or full of wind and the hand sucking hasnt got too bad I am not sure if its dummy time yet but am watching all this with interest.

she is nearly 3 weeks old and seems particularly hungry -any one else experienced this?

Agree with everyone else about the dummy! I hated seeing DS1 with one but it really helped him. DS2 had one too but was never as keen as DS2 and gave it up much more easily. DD1 would never take one. Haven't tried DD2 with one but will if I think she needs it.

whinegums Barnaby is lovely, what a pout! they have the same sheets in the Queen Mum's as the Southern I see!

have been having the dummy dilemma too, and we're using one intermittently if feeding changing and winding don't settle Charlotte.

DH has just taken her out for a walk on his own to give me a rest, so should really be doing that instead of posting on here...

Essie - forgot to say - good luck for the lecture tomorrow, one tip - check your breastpads haven't moved before you start!!

debs advice good ..I've noticed that I've become remarkably immune to leakage/posset etc unless pointed out to me.. more slummy pigpen mummy than yummy mummy

Ah, yes, my main worries about the lecture have been what to wear, and what to do about my breasts! I did buy some Lilypadz and tried them out last week, but they floated away in a tidal wave of breastmilk. Yes, indeed, people, I am still in line for the Best in Show rosette - part woman, part Welsh Black cow.

On the dummy thread I started on the bf board, people keep telling me to let Iestyn feed in order to increase my milk supply. Increase?!

Off to join the dairy herd...

Thanks for all the lovely comments about Alex's photos - proud mum moment!

whinegums and neenz, gorgeous pictures too - needahand, know what you mean about feeling broody, I'm already starting to think about when we should start our next IVF and I have alot of baby weight to lose first!

Neenz, re dummies, my concern was always the dependency thing. I have alot of friends with kids and have baby sat for them and spent the whole evening up and downstairs returning the bloody things to them when they've woken up and either lost them or thrown them out of the cot! Put me off using one tbh! Alex seems to be discovering his thumb which really doesn't bother (dh thumb sucked til he was 12!), and I tried again with a dummy last night and still nothing doing! Ho hum . . .

Another unsettled night, gripe water doesn't appear to be making alot of difference so we have now bought the Aptamil Easy Digest to see if this will help the poor little mite.

fungle, I had a friend come round yesterday who is an ex-MW. Within 5 mins of holding Alex he was winded, settled and fast asleep - what's the trick?!

Oh dear, little man is stirring again! Off to feed . . .

Oh, and also I hope it's not as hot tomorrow as it is today (mainly because I need to wear a jacket). Since I've had a baby deodorant doesn't seem to be as effective - or am I imagining this? I'm just kind of sweatier.

So hot! Iestyn is here in his little nappy and nothing else.