Nov 2008 - sleepless nights and exploding poo, dear oh dear now what do we do??

[Dozymare]

Sorry that is soooo crap but we needed a new thread!!!!!

hi londonboots; congratulations on the birth of your DS and welcome . I'm glad we have been helping you along so far.

I wouldn't worry about the lack of daytime naps if he is sleeping better at night. at that though

My DS has gone back to not latching terribly well and then coming off every time I try and latch him....ah well we had one day of things going well

Hi Londonboots welcome to the group

Oscar, my little boy, also has a little baby acne and my HV suggested using Avent Magic Cream which i'v been using for a week now and is helping to clear up the spots. I bought it from Tesco's and it says that it helps to moisturise, remove dry atches and heal rashes. Don't know anything about GF and routine though i'm afraid, we are struggling ourselves there

Welcome Londonboots
I've also been wondering about the lack of daytime naps because E doesn't seem to sleep much during the day and demand feeds which takes quite a lot of time as you say. I couldn't follow GF's timing with her, she'd be screaming for food! I'm just going with it and not trying to get her into a strict routine at the moment as she's still not quite 5 weeks old and I figure it's a bit early. She sleeps really well at night (see previous post) so I don't want to upset that. The sling has been a godsend as it allows me to get things done given that she won't sleep anywhere on her own at the moment. I think it's just a case of going with the flow for the time being - I've also found it a bit of a struggle but it is gradually getting easier

Hi londonboots can't help with the cne, but is sounds to me like you are doing really well. I am not a GF routine user (or fan) so my advice is biased in the direction of not worrying in the slightest that LO is not fitting into her routine. He will find his own routine eventually and IMPO(In My Personal Opinion) whatever routine he falls into will be more user friendly to your lifestyle.
At least my DD did. She wa sgreat cos she eventually chose to have her afternoon snooze at about 3ish 4ish which meant that I coudl be out most of the day, as I mostly am, and then come nome for her snooze. Worked well for me

DS has been good today, sleeping peacefully in his bean bag.
What fun I had in town today. DS was in his sling and what a lot of attention that brought him, in this small town not many people can be seen 'wearing' their babies So we were quite an attraction. That and the fact that 'ah, he so smaall'
DH was not so impressed by the time we had only made it 100 yards (well, not very far anyway) along the street in an hour! He is very patient with my constant yapping but that and the fact that moving in the shops was difficult anyway, he was definitely tested.
But I loved showing off my little bundle!!

Oh lordy yeah, those wee fists when feeding!
Yup, just get em out of the way. I swaddled DD, which did the trick nicely. DS does not swaddle so I am afraid I manhandle those wee fists, popping the closest under my boob, the other pushed to his chest, then, yup 'whack' him on when the going looks good.
My sister laughed at the violence of it all!
Obviously I am not actually being violent with him, just getting him on quick, before that wee mouth shuts again.
I also found/find night feeding lying down can be a bit of a fiddle.
I have to prop myself up and hold the wee head 'whack' him on and then flop, making sure to keep him in place. It's become a bit of a knack now, but so good once he is on.
aaand Relax!

Welcome Londonboots!

Well, Z didn't settle after that feed, but we decided to play a family game on the wii and Zack fell asleep on my shoulder, so I put on my wrap sling and placed him in, he slept for about 90 mins in the end. I had to wash his hair/head as he sweats so much when screaming.

Evening everyone!
Hi Londonboots

Hope evryones o.k. this evening
Things o.k. here - wondering about a routine for William. What time do you start getting your l.os ready for bed? Have been putting william down about 10 but am thinking this is too late and maybe 7 would be better?

episiotomy (sp) Had William 13 days ago and my lady bits still really ache/ sore - is this normal? When will things feel ok again?

hope everyones having a great weekend!!

Londonboots welcome

HM2J poor you with Z - there really is nothing worse than a screaming baby who won't settle, whatever you try!! Lol at the Wii game doing the trick though

Barbs I put Sam in his Pj's (otherwise known as a babygro!) at 6.30 when we go upstairs for DS1's bathtime and then he is down with us for the evening - hopefully sleeping peacefully in his moses basket then we go to bed 9.30-10ish (rock and roll in the Ceebee household you know ) - I try and 'dreamfeed' him without much success and he goes into his crib for the night. Not sure when I will be brave enough to leave him upstairs - with DS1 it was about 4 months

Merry forgot to say that I am glad the twins are on the mend - it must have been very traumatic for you.

Anybody got any ideas how I can get Sam to drink more than 2oz of milk at a time?? He is so stubborn and drinks 2oz and then stops and shuts up shop - but it means he needs feeding after another 2/2.5 hours - is this normal?? (I seem to have forgotten everything that happened with DS1!) Maybe I am expecting a bit too much bearing in mind he is only 2 weeks old.

Thanks Ceebee! That sounds like our evening - William has a feed about teatimeish then sleeps with us in the lounge then we get him ready for bed about 9ish/10ish, last feed then (hopefully) sleep in cot - I usually jump into bed then too (bliss if he actually goes to sleep!!)

I don't know how to encourage Sam to drink more - have no idea how much William takes at a time but he is feeding at about the same intervals - my mw said anything from evry hour to every 4 hours is normal. soz is not very helpful.

barbs my "bits" are still sore (im on day 13 too)
i think i am finding this harder to cope with than the sleepless nights!
MW said it is a good sign that things are getting tighter and healing!! i hope so!
welcome londonboots

hope you have a better night tonight heartmum ceebee Ewan was only drinking 2oz at a time and MW suggested i switch to the variflow teats (im using tommee tippee bottles) as the size 1 flow makes them work to hard at sucking they tire themselves out.
it seems to have worked for me as he is now taking the 3oz at each feed

barbs, my stitches felt really bad around the two weeks mark. My MW said that the stitches were dissolving and the skin healing. After three weeks things had settled right down and are fine now. See your MW or HV/doc though if you are worried; they can check for infection.

londonboots, I've never bothered putting anything on baby acne; it'll clear up eventually, but sudocreme is good for spots if you have any (you get a wee trial one in the bounty pack I think)

Not sure about getting babies to take more milk. If I knew that one I'd be asleep all night

hana, weeks 3-4 are the pits; growth spurt, hormones, initial influx of visitors has dried up, husbands back to work...it all adds up. We're at five weeks now and things are much much better and DH and I actually feel like human beings again. We're even cooking for friends tomorrow!

just been sorting out Christmas presents. It looks like a measly haul for the DCs this year, and poor Bumba hasn't got anything . We'll get him something from the other two and a wee thing from Santa, but at eight weeks he's not really going to notice, is he?

Bit of advice please, James appears to have colic but I'm not convinced....

Started Sunday night when he cried all night and I was up until 530am.... Same thing every night this week. I have been using infacol religiously since Monday.

Last night James seemed to be doing well but woke at 430am and screamed until 12 noon!!!

Range the emergency doc and finally saw him at 5pm but, of course, James was asleep.

My gut says there's something wrong with his tummy / bowel. The screams increase when he farts / poos. Today's session was proper, in pain, screaming.

Doc says to take him back when he's screaming and he might admit him to hospital (again, he asked if I wanted him admitted!!!)

What shall I do?

We find we can settle him eventually, let him sleep in our arms, put him in his cot and within minutes he's screaming again. The cot is still raised from the bronchiolitis. When he's 'normal' he goes down in his cot with no issues what-so-ever.

Could it be silent reflex? He's rarely sick and doesn't have the usual symptoms.

For those who have / have had colicky babies - is this typical? Is 5 - 8 hrs of crying 'normal' for colic?

Sorry for the me, me, me post - I have to sleep when James does now as I have no idea when the next nightmare will begin.

Obviously I have done everything - feed, change, cuddle, talk etc.....

Oh, and my physio said that lots of pelvic floor exercises increase blood flow to the area and promote good healing....so get clenching

mummynic, we had about a week and a half of all night screaming with Fin and him being in pain with his bowels. He also does lots of gagging and choking sometimes when being fed and we wondered about silent reflux as well. We started giving him colic relief remedies and things have slowly gotten better. He still makes a horrible noise when pooing and groans and grunts with wind, but he has started bringing milk back up (never thought I'd be so glad to see a baby be sick!!) and we get the occasional self burp as well.

If you are worried about him though, I wouldn't hesitate to get him back to the doctors or checked over at the hospital.

sounds like a nightmare for you and your poor wee man

It is, horrendous.

I think I might fo with my gut, who cares if I 'waste their time' - my baby is the most important one here and I'd never forgive myself if he had a problem that I ignored.

Will wait for tonight's screaming session and ring the doc again.

Good to know that another baby screams when pooing (not good for baby though!).

I don't understand when he's breast fed and I'm not even expressing now (was giving a night feed by bottle) so no excuse for wind really.

MummyNic, I am sorry to hear that James is having a hard time. DS1 had typical colic, in that he was fussy for several hours during the late afternoon/evening. I am pretty sure Zack has silent reflux. He gags, chokes, coughs and gulps/swallows alot, I can actually see what he has brought up sometimes, but is never sick, except for a tiny drbble out the side of his mouth.

I agree that if you are worried about him, it is best to follow your mummy instinct and get him checked out.

WHen he lies down (when he's ill) he coughs and gags and dribbles sick out.

Have you had the reflux looked at / diagnosed?

I think that might be the route to take although the doc we saw today dismissed that as he's not really vomiting..... That's where I think only the hospital can help or to wait and see my GP on Monday and insist they test for reflux.

When you say fussy - was it crying or screaming? James doesn't do it in the evening it's late night throughout the whole night. Or, like today, from very early in the morning onwards.

Oh should add.... We have a motion sensor pad which has gone off twice this week. Thursday and today. It goes off when no movement is detected for 20 seconds. We startled James into action... Looking at reflux - this can be a symptom - anyone else had this?

Mummynic no advice as never had a baby with silent reflux - but my friend had a baby who was lactose-intolerant and he was incredibly unsettled, miserable, screaming constantly until he was diagnosed at 4 months - once he was on soya milk, he was like a changed boy. Not saying that is what is wrong with James but I would say it is definitely worth taking him to the doctors so they can rule out all possibilities.

chocolategal thanks for the advice about the teats - we are using Avent ones and are already on the size 3 ones (for 3months +) for the very reason you have said - don't really want to go to the next stage ones as it seems too much too soon (iyswim)

Daisy we are exactly the same about Xmas pressies - DS1 has got loads of stuff, stocking fillers etc - so far Sam has one thing but I am working on the same principle that he won't know any better - plus all the relatives will buy him something so he is not going to be empty-handed

Thanks all for the welcome and advice!

LolaBella, will try the Magic Cream - even if it does nothing for the spots, his skin is getting dry so might be good just as a moisturiser.

Of course, now that I said DS slept well at night, he woke at 8.30 (usually sleeps 7-10)! Shall keep my mouth shut in future! barbareebar this is (was!) the GF bit that was working well for us - the evening routine. Feed at 5, bath or top & tail around 5.30, more feed 6ish and in cot at 7 until next feed at 10.

Just sent DH out to get some Colief - will try that for the possible lactose sensitivity. I'm not going to rest with this as it's beyond colic imo.

Wish me luck!!

Just quick post to keep this on my ' threads am on '. Had relations over for few days - great to see them and dd was lovely in the day and terrible at night its getting worse and worse - she wont settle in her basket- she fell asleep at 4 am after feeding , snack feeding , colic drops , nappy change and dh / me doing massage, walks round the house- boh am now going to try to get on kellymum to get tips about EBM as can't go on like this and at night have to take turns on the sofa -
Hugs to you all I want to read all posts but dd is demanding food .

Afternoon!
Thanks for responses re: episiotomy - good to know things should start to get better now!!
Had a good night with Will - he managed to sleep for 4 hours without waking for a feed (ahhh - bliss!!) And then wonderful dh took him in the morning so I had a lie in until 10a.m!!!

MummyNic Sorry to hear you are having such a worrying time with James. I hope things get better soon x

Hope everyones having a lovely Sunday!

ooh - p.s. - Anyone had problems with pets adjusting to the new addition? Think our cat might be depressed - not eating/ drinking just looking sorry for herself/ sleeping Any advice on how to help her? Maybe I should do a post in the pets bit?