Sept 08 - newborns, milk, nappies and all the rest ....

[Sassafrass]

Hope noone minds me starting our post natal thread now that the babies are arriving so quickly.

Arrivals!
28-May - Johnworf ? Katherine, 1lb 8oz
30-June ? KashaSarrasin ? Felix, 1.39kg
26-July - Jenbot - DD, 3lb 6oz
11-Aug - Crabby - Lilah 2.34kg
13-Aug - Sassafrass - Katie Rose, 7lb 2oz
20-Aug - Sunshinemummy - Effy Marilyn, 6lb 3oz
22-Aug - Talia1 - Anna, 6lb 2oz
26-Aug - Jenpet - Samuel, 3.166 kilos (about 6lb10oz?)
28-Aug - Potxola - Lorea, 7lb 6oz
31-Aug - Digitalgirl - Alfredo, 7lbs
1-Sept - Debithescot - Andrew, 8lb 10oz

your sil is a loon, imho. that is called 'crying it out' (CIO) and it CAN BE dangerous for a tiny baby.

get your baby to sleep anyway your instincts tell you to do it. we have instincts for a reason.

Hello everyone and congratulations on all the lovely September babies.

I feel like a new kid interfering on the conversation of some old friends, as I haven't posted much on the Due Sept 08 thread. I have, however, been following it closely, eating pineapple and seeking eviction nookies along with you girls - my ultimate labour inducing trick was a ride in a car with bad suspension through North London bumpy streets, by the way.

I was on the original due dates list, so just for the record, Baby Diego was born on the 30th of September and weighed 3.526 Kg. Labour was not as natural as I had hoped as there were a few complications. It was also quite long at 22 hrs - I'll spare you the birth story, as there are some lovely ones up there, and mine wouldn't be one of them.

Now, at 5 days old, DS wants to feed ALL THE TIME. He's been at my breast practically non stop all afternoon. Do any of you get this, and is it normal? Could it be that I don't have enough milk? Any coping tips?

Hello pacita. Sorry your birth didn't go as planned. Feel free to share it if/when you are ready.

Feeding all the time is normal, normal, normal, and hell, hell, hell.

Tips include reducing your expectations of both your lo, and ability to do ant housework or entertaining.

Stay in your PJs so that people understand you have no idea whether it is day or night and to demonstrate that your body is still recovering.

Make sure you always offer a second breast after the lo has slowed on the first.

Whenever you can, go to bed, and get anyone helping you to stay with Diego only bringing him to you when all other attemps at settling have been exhausted. Get them to check on you and take him away after the feed if you want.

Sleep in shifts, looking at getting 7ish hours over a 24 hour period.

Eat fast food.

Co-sleep if you can. Start with day-time naps if you're nervous.

Set up feeding stations around the house with snacks, remote, phone, computer, drinks, good novel etc so that you can park yourself for hours at a time.

Hth

Pacita - DD's one month today and still glued to my breast.... well a little less now thankfully...

MoonlightMcKenzie thanks so much for your post. It all makes sense, and it makes me feel better to know that I'm not the only one!

I'll try to snooze now, as Diego has finally dropped the nipple!

hmm...

i have been expressing lately, but i'm noticing my supply is starting to go down...is it because of the expressing? i've been breast feeding ds, but figured i'd express incase i became unavailable...so he wouldn't be without food.

Well I've been suffering awfully with a blocked milk duct over the last few days, it has been unbelievably painful! think it's almost cleared now, but one good thing to come out of it (?!) I've been feeding only on the blocked side to try to help clear it, so obviously the other side has been building up a bit and I've been expressing - which I had never done before. So, I've saved the milk & given it to Sam at his "last" feed before I go to bed - well, I'm not sure if it's coincidence but last night he had that, plus both sides at about 11pm, slept til 3.30am and then had one side, then slept until 6.30am - thats almost like a normal nights sleep!!!! Well, not normal exactly but I can cope with that anyway...wish I'd not had to have the blocked milk duct to find it out though...

Hello everyone,
Just wanted to do a quick proud mummy post Phoebe started smilling this weekend, Dp was blowing rasberrys at her and she gives the biggest grin And she is only waking once in the night now aswell.

I never thought babies could be like this
Ds never slept more than 1 hour and he fed all the time!

Morning everyone,
jenpet I too have a blocked duct that feels like a hard lump. I've been massaging it with warm water and feeding him on that side with a rugby hold, but it's still there. The MF said to call the GP if still there today. Do you know why, or what the doc can do to help?

Very jealous on your night sleep. DS was latched on most of the night and I'm exhausted!

jenpet - that's what I used to do with DS and by 2 wks he'd sleep til 7am from after his 11pm feed. just started doing that with DD (1mo) as she seems insatiable and needs nipple/me to sleep and last night slept from 11.30 til nearly 5am!

for sore nipples, not sure if they work for blocked ducts, but a friend recomended these and my nipples get better quite quickly with these (not something to wear when out and about unless you're going for the Madonna look )

It's horrible pacita my boob was so painful I was struggling to pick Sam up & hold him against me to burp him. I fed him exclusively on that side, also try a warm flannel & gentle massage. I found a powerful jet from the shower on the area was good too..I found quite a bit of info on here about it, but I've got to feed him in a sec, so will have a search for the link for you later.
I think if you go to the GP you will probably end up with antibiotics. (well you would here anyway, french dr's are pretty drug-happy at the best of times!) Sympathy to you though, I know how horrid it is...

pacita have a look www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=breast_and_bottle_feeding&threadid=394224-any-tips-for-recurrent-blocke d-ducts-painful-breasts-feeling-a#8021764here

Hi Moon/Starlight - I have floppy breast most of the time too - but DD seems to manage to get plenty from them. She's 13 days and put on 10oz already!

Does anyone else seem to have their milk let down practically everytime they look at their babies?? I also find let down a little sore and achy - just me?

Someone said about sore wrists - I got REALLY sore ones last time and ended up on constant ibuprofen. I learned to use my forearm and cushions more so look after them!

If those feeding cues always meant hunger Maebh would be hungry all the time she's awake!! She's a bit of a suckler and likes a boob in hermouth to get to sleep -sometimes the milk that comes with it is an unwanted side effect!! I think some little ones learn to use them for comfort too.

bogie how lovely is that first smile - fantastic!

thanks jenpet - will check link. typing w 1 finger now cos babe @ boob!

anyone alse really sore shoulders?

Sore shoulders - check
Sore wrists - check

I done the same last time and I've tried my hardet to avoid it this time. I'll get halfway through feeding and realise my shoulders are up by my ears. I have to make a real effort to relax them.

Good news with the weight gain. Mac put on 5oz in 5 days without any ebm top-ups. So no more expressing - yay!

I think we are both getting a cold though - bummer.

Mac is 4 weeks old today and we've also had a few smiles from him

thanks foxy, i know i'm a new mum and have been through so many wars in 5 weeks with the LO i'd be quite happy to let him sleep with me all the time. I wish i'd left him close to me at 3 this morning, instead DH and i moved him to his bed, cue 3 hours of colicy screems, and constantly on the breast while DH went back to sleep, muggings here was left holding the baby.
I have tried leaving him to cry for 5 minutes only and found it increadibly hard just to leave him in that state, SIL says i'm making problems for the future, ie clingy baby etc. but if he feels he needs me then is it so wrong, after all for the first week of his life we had very little contact at all, and no skin-skin. do you think this could have effected him in some way?

Barnpot There's a lot of recent research that shows that responding to your baby gives them an optimistic outlook on life and makes them feel very secure leading to independence, wheras a baby not responded to develops a very dim view of the world, making them insecure, needy and more clingy and desperate for reassurance.

I doubt the first week will have made much of a difference in the long run provided he is responded to now. We are all doing our best. Even the most 'attached' mother needs to be seperated from her baby at times.

barnpot everything Moonlight has said is right. at this age a baby's wants and needs are identical. when we meet those needs, they go away. a newborn's brain is 25% of what it will eventually become and this first year is the most vital as far as brain development goes. Babies need cuddles and human warmth and contact as much as they need food and a clean nappy.

Babies who are held close (carried and / or slept with) for the first 6 months of their lives cry a lot less in their second 6 months. The research to prove it is out there.

If your SIL carries on with her 'rod for back' theory, smile blankly and say, 'my rod, my back.' end of.

Your first 5 weeks sound very much like mine. Difficult labour and delivery, no skin to skin, jaundice, poor post natal care in and out of hospital (HV's only feeding advice was 'then you will have to top up with formula') a dh who 'felt weary' if he didn't sleep so I end up holding the baby at 3 am. A very long road to emotional recovery which, tbh, is still with me and at times now I reflect on how bad those times were and how different this birth was that that one and how poor dd1's first few weeks were so traumatic and it shouldn't have been for very simple reasons.

My advice to you is hold your baby as much as you want. It will also be a part of the healing process for you. You need to have him close as much as he needs you close. IMO cosleeping will get you more sleep than any other way and if your dp doesn't like it, stuff it. You need your rest too, and your sanity. He is a grown up, he can learn and adjust. A baby cannot. They have their needs and these needs must be met. If they are unmet, they remain needs and will manifest themselves later, one way or another.

barnpot - listen to Starlight and Foxy, they are wise woman indeed. Ignore the rod for your own back shite and listen to your instincts and your baby.

I think society forgets that babies are human too, rather than miniature manipulators . If you saw someone crying/distressed/in need of a cuddle, would you turn the other cheek? Of course not! So why do people think it's acceptable to ignore a baby's needs? The most helpless stage a human can be in?

I shall stop ranting now!

I only popped in to say that last night was the first night for 4 weeks that I have slept without knickers on. No more lochia! I can't tell you how happy that makes me

finally put a profile page up with photies

pmsl at wearing no knickers being such a joyous event.

Lovely pics Foxy

thanks ladies, truly noted to listen to instincts, and will be doing so. if elli is telling me he needs me near by then so be it, i'll be there for him.
tbh i don't want to feel anymore guilty than i already do, we are truly blessed and increadiby lucky that he is here now it could have been so different.
loving the pics foxy, where did you find that sling?

i got it pre-loved from the yahoo group UKbabywearingSWAP. i have a stretchy one for sale if you look down this thread a couple of days or so. it is pink and note that elliot is a boy but a lot of mami's wear a sling for themselves not the gender of the baby.

feeling terrible and now worse thanks to posts here - I've been cosleeping and the last few nights it's just meant getting no sleep as A is snorting and squeaking in his sleep way too much. not to mention the times we've been unable to settle him during the day even holding/cuddling permanently. eventually we decided to tuck him in his basket in the other room as gaving all three of us crying wasn' helping as he couldn't get more unhappy than he already was. turned out mrnc rocked him for an hour, but when i came to get him after two hours (i'd slept about half that) he was much less miserable and i was somewhat more sane.

last night did another two hour stint with him in other room. tbh, i'm beyond caring if people think i'm ignoring my baby - i'm doing my best for him by doing what's necessary for me not to just run away and never come back. and to be able to love and cuddle him during the day. which i'm doing right now. so there.

Hello all. Sorry i didn't get chance to email over the weekend foxy, it was a bit of a busy one as charlotte seems to have caught a cold at 3 weeks old!!!
She is having trouble breathing through her nose, poor little mite, and seems to want to feed constantly from 8pm to midnight, despite being on ff. She was also up for another feed at 5am. DP has gone back to work today, so it's all a bit hectic!
She is still sleeping like an angel, in her moses basket and rarely cries, so i doi feel very very lucky.

Anyone know when periods come back? My lochia has been tailing off over the weekend (still need to use a towel but quantity went down) but today it has come back with vegence - lots of blood and period-type cramps. Any ideas?

Fianlly, I think I'm going to call it a day on the bf front. Many thanks for the offer of advice foxy, i really appreciate it but Charlotte is feeding so well and I'm still managing to express a full bottle for her every day, so she's getting some of my good stuff. it's not ideal, and certainly not what I'd planned but it works for us and, most importantly, she's happy and growing.