Sept 08 - Is it day or night?

[lollyheart]

Hope no one minds me starting a new thread?

and another thing...when do you or how do you know if you need to take a supplement to increase milk supply? and what is best to take?

Hopefully - Great to hear that Teddy is getting on with the dummy, now you've just got to hope that he'll forgive you for the fact that it's orange! I know there is a website that sells blue ones but I expect you'd have to pay through the nose for the shipping costs.

Ponymum, I am very jealous. My LO woke at 12, 3 and 5 to feed, and has been doing similar stints for the past 4 days.

To make matters worse, I had food poisoning the day before, so I was throwing up violently as well as feeding every two hours. Hence no MNetting yesterday - too wrecked.

I feel better today, but concerned that LO is not putting on enough weight. He was 4.360Kg yesterday, whereas he was 4.390 last week. I had a panic when I saw it, then I remembered that he had been weighed by the HV with his nappy on - so I guess that accounts for more than the 30g difference, so he MUST have put on some weight.

Also, still no poo. We are on day 6 now.

And DP accuses me of being neurotic, but how can I help not worrying a little bit? Or is it my sleep deprived brain playing tricks on me?

PS: sorry for the moany post

I just phoned DP in complete hysterics because I couldn't put T down for a nap - he kept nodding off, jerking awake and screaming, and taking ages to relax enough to nod off again. The conversation went something like

me: I can't do this any more. I'm going back to work and you're looking after him
dp: You're doing really well, calm down. What's he doing?
me: well he's asleep at the moment but he'll wake up in a moment screaming (accompanied by much sobbing on my part)
dp: (makes consoling noises for a few minutes) He hasn't actually made any noise while we've been on the phone has he?
me: oh.

At this point I left his room, and he's been asleep for 10 minutes and counting. Now why couldn't he have done that before I did my mad banshee impression to DP?

Pacita you poor thing! I think you are entitled to a moan or two!

Whoever just posted about expressing, I can only ever get 1.5oz, no matter how long I express for and how long after a feed it is. But I have never had supply issues and T is always going at least 3 hours between feeds now, so he must be getting plenty at each one. I have come to the conclusion that my body is completely unconvinced that my pump is a real baby!

So hopefully, do you think that at some point in the near future DS will be able to go over 3 hrs between feeds? I can see that happening right now!

Also, although he was very good at being content during the day, he now requires feedign to go to sleep. That is the big NO-NO in all sleeping books. How do you manage to get yours to sleep?

As to expressing, I have been told to wait till DS is 6 weeks, which is next week, so, regarding expressing: What is the best pump and bottle? And how is it best to use the expressed milk, e.g., what feed does it substitute?

sorry, i meant "I can't see that happening now"

Ah, and still no joy with dummies - he HATES them all!

Sometimes I can get 4oz in the blink of an eye, other times I get about three drops, no idea why. I have found moving the pump around so the pads aren't always on the same spot helps, also as it's slowing down I do 4 pumps then rest for a few secs, 4 pumps, rest etc. Also each pump is a bit elongated rather than very short iyswim.

I use Dr Browns bottles but store in the tubs that come with the pump (Avent manual breast pump). I now only heat up 2oz at a time as DD is unpredictable with how much she takes so a lot has been spoiled.

Hopefully - Bad luck about becoming banshee-woman!! Easily done though.

oh dear....I have no time to catch up with all the recent posts. Why can't MN let us 'bookmark' our last post so we know when to start reading from. I have no idea when I was last here.

DD had her first jabs yesterday. She hollered for a minute, then was fine. In fact I think that the yelling shifted the bogies out her nose as they all came out in the evening . She slept well too, 11-6, so my brain cells have returned. I daresay she won't be doing that on a regular basis but it's a start. I actually had the energy to garden with DS today, well I pulled up the big weeds and tidied and he picked up the mud from the pots and dropped it on the guinea pigs in their run , they can dodge him now.

eek... DS has just woken from his nap and is banging around. I think he's teething. I seem to have a mellow baby and a grumpy toddler. Better go!

Pacita I hope your DS makes it to 3 hours soon. It's also nice for me, as I know that as long as T's taken a full feed, I've eliminated one of the potential reasons for crying for at least a couple of hours!

Settling to sleep is still one of our biggest problems. about 30% of the time T settles relatively easily (inside 20 mins), 40% of the time he settles within 40-50 mins, and the remaining 30% of the time he is absolutely impossible and just doesn't settle. It drives me bonkers as every time I get one of the non-settling naps I don't feel like we're moving forward at all.
I'm fairly obsessive about trying to put him in his cot vaguely awake (although in the longer settling times and non-sleeping times I'll take what i can get) and shh/patting him to sleep (a la baby whisperer). He usually cries, needs picking up to calm down, and putting down again at least once, but on a good day he'll then go straight to sleep.
However, it's been a long slow road from rocking him to sleep. I really wish I'd used baby whisperer techniques from the word go, as I'm sure they would have worked (we just didn't know what to try, rather than him being terribly difficult I think), and we would now have an easier to settle baby. At least we're on the way though.

Hello everyone. Back from the UK thank goodness. Nice to go to M & S, but I'm so glad to be home! Cannot believe how well Samuel coped, I was terrified neither of us would sleep all week, but he stayed in much the same pattern as he does here, slept during the day when we were travelling in the car and was generally easy-going. Phew!
Cannot help with all this expressing trouble some of you seem to be having as I gave it up as a bad job with both babies, just cannot get on with it at all...

Sounds a bit trivial, but are any of your LO's suffering with "neck cheese"?! (TMI?!) You know when the milk kind of runs down into the folds & creases & gets stuck and makes it look sore & red? Sam is bathed every evening & I try & keep his neck clean & dry after a feed, but it still seems to be really red. Any ideas??

Sorry, still on Halloween name, off to change it...

jenpet just put some sudacreme in the neck creases after you top and tail. The milk will still gather but it won't go sore. I also find that shoving a muslin under his chin after feeds (or during if its a bottle feed) is far more effective than any bib. My HV told me that babies have to grow into their necks! Ds's is full of cheese but its not going sore thankfully.

Ds has been having a ff at 10/11pm for a few weeks now, last night for the first time I fell asleep while dh fed him and put him to bed, then he didn't wake til 3:40 (we swapped sides of the bed so I couldn't hear the snuffling so it was quality sleep too) then I had to wake him at 7:15. Hooray! That's the least broken night's sleep I've had this year (no joke, what with dd and pregnancy!) He didn't feed well at 7:15 though, obv took too much in the night, so didn't nap well coz he got hungry again quite quickly. It was so easy with my dd who was ff coz you could just give an ounce less in the night so she was more hungry for breakfast and the day would get off to a better start, but sadly my boobs don't have a gauge on them.

Today we've not left the house, which has made dd a little stir crazy, but ds has had his best ever awake times, and settled for two naps! He didn't sleep for nearly as long as I think he needs to, but then he's used to being in his pram at this time of day with a snuggly blanket and the lovely rocking motion. He'll probably be out cold all afternoon and up all evening. Oh well, I've got my girly friends coming over tonight for a curry and dvd so they can take turns in cuddling him

hopefully I've made calls like that to dh - usually in reference to dealing with a disaster with dd, but be assured that next time round you won't even realise the baby is crying - they'll have self-settled before you've finished wiping the finger paints off the floor and cleaning play-doh out of the carpet! Sometimes its just nice to offload isn't it, even though the dh's can't actually do anything to help!

Wow we nearly need a new thread already.

We went to harrods yesterday to see father christmas, DD has not been well she wouldnt have her photo with him, there is always next year.

For thoses who live in london how on earth do you get around? the tube stations are a nightmare with no lifts.

lolly - I live near a rail station with ramps, and otherwise get buses. And use escalators. Luckily I know London well enough that I know which tube/train stations have stupid amounts of stairs.

I did go through Clapham Jn the other day, but people are fantastic at helping you up and down the stairs, sometimes fighting each other! I suspect help may dwindle as A gets bigger and less obviously adorable...
Buses are great outside rush hour but a nightmare in it (don't move, A wakes screaming, can't bf in the crowds, can't get off bus until next stop, etc...)

Currently in local library while stairs are put in at home. Knackered - again A woke at 5 straining to poo, and continued squealing until 9am, refusing to eat. Bah.

So! Went to mother and baby screening at local cinema today. Huge success - Frank slept in his sling (Tricotti - highly recommended for the cack handed) and just woke up for a little feed towards the end. What a great wayb to spend a morning.

Course, now he is over my shoulder screaming and kicking me energetically in the tummy and boobs.

thats cool that your cinema does mother and baby screenings charitygirl. is that normal?

since i last posted ds2 has had another feed and hasnt been sick since first thing. he's slept a lot -is sleeping in my arms now thats why i have no capitals and bad grammar- but when he was awake he was cheerier and more with it than he's been for a few days so i think he's getting there.

Debi a lot of the Odeons have parent and baby screenings (called newbie showings? I think) i keep meaning to go but haven't got round to it.

pacita I use a dual electic pump by medela - they're not cheap but I bought it last time when I went back to work and I find it fantastic. I usually get 7 ish oz, but have got 12 (when M had had a 2 bottles of ebm to replace 2 feeds). You just don't have to mind feeling like a milch cow . I always watch tele to express as i think you have to relax.

Should i be worried that M's been really sleepy for the last couple of days? Apart from being awake an hour this morning when i dress, showered and fed her, she's been asleep within 10 mins of waking up all day.
I suspect she might have what dd1 has.

dd1's been off school for the last 4 daysand is driving me crazy!! I had such a nice week planned too. I've missed 2 baby groups, an exercise class with a free creche, lunch with my friend and taking M into work to show her off at a big event i organised. I guess that's being a mum and i do feel for her as she's had a high temp all week, but i suspect she's milking it a bit now.

hopefully at the conversation with your dp. how can it be so hard? but it is....

ponymum at 9 hours - it took me years with dd1 to do that!

We must think of names for new threads - I'll start but hopefully someone can think of something better

a) where oh where have our newborns gone?

b) routine or no routine that is the question

Debi - my local cinema is quite arty, but i think mainstream cinemas do them too. quite commercially savvy really, three screens were half full - not bad for 11am! it was great - they use the cinema bar as a buggy park and there were prams for miles!

I think today is officially my day of not coping. Not sure why, as T hasn't been particularly bad (normally if he won't go down I just pop him in the pram or baby bjorn, but for some reason today decided to persevere with them, resulting in screaming through both of the last 2 naps), but I have basically wept since midday, except a brief 20 mins when he was asleep in the cot.
Am really feeling like a crap mother, and generally awful, which I haven't had for a good couple of weeks. Am contemplating sending DP out for formula when he walks in the door, so he can take T off me for the whole evening. Am totally at my wits end.

Ah hopefully - i had a friday like that 2 weeks ago. i just cried along with frank and became convinved i had PND! i think fridays are hard - five days on our own IYKWIM.

Have you been for a walk today? Too dark now but i find a day without an outing is a recipe for disaster and depression.

You'll probably have a blissful saturday, as T will have worn himself out with all the crying. hand him over to DP when he gets in and tell him he's having special bonding time with his baby this evening. you on the other hand are having some wine, and only want to see T for his feeds!

oh hopefully, poor you.....had a bit of a day like that myself today...Toby WILL NOT settle for me during the day at all. My back is killing me from carrying him around all day trying to soothe him

Hope you feel better soon x

to Hopefully - tomorrow you'll probably wonder what you were crying at. I take a bath with DD (which we both enjoy) if I have moments like that.

Thread names anyone??