September 08 Remember what we were doing this time last year?[wink]

[Debs75goldrings]

So what were we all doing this time last year?

Thanks a lot Starlight. I think I'll give him EBM and then offer the breast if he's still hungry.

This 60ml are actually the fruit of my 6th attempt, previous ones having been pathetic. Also, I am using a medela electric pump that a friend passed on instead of the manual tommy tippee, and it is much better. I know you are never supposed to use someone else's breastpump, but quite frankly, these things are quite pricey and I've sterilised it, so don't feel too bad...

Bfinfg mothers suffer less stress
It protects against breast cancer and reduces risks of osteoperosis.

BUT that is not what I meant. What I meant was that before (and during) the 16 week growth spurt people may be inclined to believe that ff can sometimes be the easier option.

After 16 weeks bfing becomes less demanding overall. The baby is an expert, and is big and robust enough to position themselves and take the milk in a fraction of the time of newborn and with possibly less feeds.

They'll also be more easily distracted from needing to feed in the exciting world they are discovering so things are a lot more flexible.

The baby also has more needs and emotions than simply being hungry and wanting to feed and nearly every one of these can be 'sorted' at the breast.

Mothers needs can also be sorted at the breast i.e. baby be quiet for a bit so I can make a phone call.

For a ff baby, the mother has to work harder to find solutions to resume harmony and keep the baby happy.

Most women I know that have managed to get this far are very grateful to have been able to do so since it is no longer debateable which of the feeding methods is easier.

Never heard that you're not supposed to use a pump 2nd hand before. Prolly just the marketing people wot say that.

Hi everyone!

back to normal from today, DP back at work, DS back at school ...

we had two great nights, on the 30th M slept from 9.30pm to 8.30am!! but she was overtired, all her semi-routine having been out of the window through xmas, and had basically 2 feeds before bedtime instead of 1. the following night, I fed her around 1am and she slept through til 10am, and only woke up when her brother came in our room! I tried repeating it at different time, 8pm-7am, but doesn't work still, she wakes up around 1am for feed so we've gone back to the breast-bath-breast at 6-7pm, wake her for feed at 10-11pm (though last night she didn't seem that interested in it) and then she wakes around 7am. Still very good though, after her re-lapse of waking a couple times during the night. and for me this is a kind of sleep-through, as it means she sleeps through when I do! But yes, looking forward when she'll "completely" sleep through 7pm-7am...

with regard to bf, she's always been a fast feeder (DS's "quick feed" would mean 40 mins at least), her feeds are rarely longer than 10-15 mins (both breasts), maybe 30 mins at night/first thing in the morning. I think the growth spurt is over, as she hasn't needed extra feed/half feed during the day, and she's really getting more and more fascinated with our food (maybe because we sit her on her bumbo on the dining table as we have our meals if she's awake ). She's an absolute joy though, a part from whe she refuses to sleep during the day (I'm sure she's allergic to day-time sleeping), and adores her big brother more and more every day, they just melt my heart when they're together...

pacita I've used my friend's electric pump, never thought it'd be a problem as it was washed and sterilised (though I prefer my manual one)

oops, sorry about mommouth post... and forgot to ask the BF experts: I normally express around 10-11pm, usually managing 5-6oz, but for the last couple of nights it's been a struggle to get 60ml, even doing two sessions. anyone can help with why? should I take some fenugreek tabs? I have to re-stock the freezer as I should have a nigth out soon, but didn't want to start with formula having gone so far with no ff...

if you had a pump routine and stopped it for a few days it would mean that your body has dropped making that feed.

catted to eandz today for a bit till dd1 bumped me off the u-cuter. she seems fine if a bit busy.

foxy - thanks, was just lazy and giving breast on demand instead... will get pumping againg then . are you and DD2 better? enjoying the heat? we have melting snow ...

oh, forgot to say, if anyone's interested in pouch slings, I went to TKMaxx last week and they had peanut pouch slings for £19.99, they had this, this and this at my local.

Foxy and befanas, since you're both around and are sling queens, would a ring sling be useful for a long time? A friend of mine is selling a few of her huge collection of slings, and she has a few different ring slings. She said they can be used as a sort of hip carrier for an older child, and that you can BF in them. I'm not normally a sling sort of person, but can see the appeal of just chucking a sling in a bag for short walks when T begins to toddle, in case he gets tired. As well as being able to stick him in a sling for those naps when i want to go shopping in the shops with no lifts! And I guess would be useful for feeding potential second child (was planning on getting SIL one for her second before it all went wrong).

Went to the cinema today (mother and baby screening at local indie cinema) and met up with a nice lady from my NCT group. She mentioned an internet forum she used. I instantly thought she just seemed like an MN kind of person - wonder if she is! She has the most astoundingly chilled out baby in the world, I am . Although T was bloody brilliant at the cinema, fed for a while and then sat on my lap and watched the film.

hopefully - I've never tried ring slings, but LOL at putting me in the same league of foxy! I wish I had her experience and collection!!! I guess it'd be a cross between a pouch and a wrap, but foxy's the expert, sorry...

Hello all and happy new year! Sorry to hear some of you had sad news over the holidays.

We still can't get rid of the thrush, and baby has stopped sleeping as well at night since DH has been working weird hours - he's working to half one every other night at the moment so the house isn't really quiet all night and it seems to be confusing/disturbing her. She woke up when he came to bed last night and stayed wide awake for 3 hours (yawn).

I'm starting to think about when I ought to be weaning already. Some people say do it late for premature babies, some say do it early. She doesn't seem to be showing much sign of needing food though as yet so I'll wait and see how she's doing at 6 months in a few weeks. Actually, that's assuming I'll recognise when she wants or needs food!

Ooh, another thing that's been happening recently is that C cries when other people hold her instead of me or DH! I didn't think babies became "shy" until later but she definitely only wants mum and dad at the moment, not gran or nan or anyone else we saw over Xmas.
I don't know if I ought to be trying to hand her round more to make her more happy to be social, or keep her to myself as that's what she seems to want for now? Any advice?

wow it's been busy - just putting a mark here so I know where I'm up to.

I'm hoping for a better night as I'm knackered and am going to help my parents prepare for Gran's funeral tomorrow. So send that memo back to us, it's been disregarded for the last few night!!

Well M has just pooed in the bath - with me and DD1 in there too. The whole bath was BRIGHT yellow!!

eeeeeewwwwwwwww

yes - I've never seen DD1 move so fast and I had a good shower afterwards. But it is only milk ..... (she chants to herself)

DP and I try to think of it as yoghurt (processed milk?) when we get it all over us...

ninja - I hope everything goes as well as it can tomorrow, I'll be thinking of you all.

Jenbot - IMO what your lo is going through is a developmental phase, it has got a name but for the life of me I can't remember what it is. Anyway, when your dd feels insecure I believe the worst thing you can do is pass her to someone else so she gets used to them. She is crying because she isn't with someone familiar, and you passing her to someone unfamiliar is reinforcing her fear that she is going to be passed to someone unfamiliar - iyswim.

Strangely enough M was like this weekend with my parents and he's never been like that before.

ninja hope all ok tomorrow

and we had bath incident once here too (well, once with both me and DS in), and same here, DS was out like a rocket and probably only time he wasn't scared of the shower!

Jenbot I agree with ILTMIMI Reassuring her that she can be with you whenever she needs to will lead to her being confident that she's not abandoned when with someone else and will in the long run make her more independent and secure and happy to be held by others. At the moment she's not too sure of the world.

Any of you experienced mums able to advise on head-banging 2yr old? His forehead is yellow and purple.

ninja at yellow bath! hope all goes well tomorrow.

pacita hooray for the memo!

jenbot A is usually ok with other people for a short while as long as he's not hungry or tired. But if I'm in the room will almost always want to be with me after a few minutes with someone else. I just thought this was because he was more aware of his surroundings.

Last night A fed at 7pm, 11:30pm, 4:30am, 7:30am. He woke for several whinges at 8pm (patted to sleep) and a short one at 6:30am (ignored). So his longest stretch was 5 hours...

A hasn't really dropped his post bedtime whingeing which this evening has quickly turned into crying. So I picked him up and rocked him to sleep. After which he's been deep deep asleep. So not sure if this ignoring theory is going to work all the time or we're sailing dangerously close to CIO - which is NOT what this was supposed to be at all. I think maybe we just need to keep an eye on this post bedtime stage, make sure we don't let him cry for long or he'll get too distressed. It's hard though, because when I'm about to go up and see to him he stops for half a minute, then starts up again, then stops and sometimes at this point goes back to sleep. So tricky.

Also, I still have really engorged boobs in the middle of the night...wondering how long it will take for my supply to adjust.

We had a great day today though. I drove to the shopping centre with him (first time since the bump) and did a bit of shopping, he was a dream all day! I think I've got my confidence up to go further afield with him now.

ouch starlight sorry can't help, but you have my sympathies.

Hopefully, ring slings are really useful for carrying for short periods of time. I mostly used mine with dd1 to carry on the hip and it was fine to use until she was old enough not to want to anymore, so about 2 years old. I really liked it for bringing to the shops or similar and giving her a carry if she was tired of walking.

DG well done on managing to go further afield! And also well done on the drop in night feeds. I'm sure you're not remotely close to CIO - from what you write on here it's clear you are a very responsive mother and would never leave A if he was remotely distressed rather than just having a grumble to get himself back to sleep.
Incidentally, T never grumbles himself to sleep. Every grumble turns into full blown screams very quickly, day or night. He will remain totally and utterly silent when he is sleeping long stretches, his light sleep phase must not be very light!

T is trying to BF with his fingers in his mouth and getting very cross . I am having to hold his hands away from his mouth.
This feed is following me and DP having a bit of a row in which I had to explain the concept of cluster feeding - because T hasn't done it at all since about 3 weeks, DP refused to believe his crying could be hunger (despite the fact he had napped and had a clean nappy on), but luckily gave in after some major screaming from T, who threw himself upon me like he hadn't fed for a week!

Thanks Sass. think I'm going to go for it, since she's selling them pretty cheaply.

go for it hopefully get her to show tou the ins ans outs of the hip carry which your ds could just about do at the mo.