January 09 - 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4......and we're off

[fourlittlestockingedfeet]

Here's a brand new thread for the early party poppers!

moose and heron... now I am wandering about the silent reflux too. Jude just won't settle, but stops crying the minute he is slightly elevated. His breathing also becomes slightly 'panicked' when I put him flat, sort of fast, rasping and shallow...but calms whenI hold him. I am not sure if it him just wanting to be held or something more like silent reflux. He doesn't bring up much wind, tends to be a farter rather than burper, so don't know if this is part of the problem. DD used to just go straight down, no problem, so this is all new to me!

Dog- Someone gave me a swaddle from mothercare, but tbh I find a normal blanket works just as well if not better as DS is quite long and a wriggler.

Good to have you back Elkie, well done for persevering with the BF, sounds like you had a tough time but have come through the worst of it.

Lenni - you're on!

lets do a weight check in 6 months as hopefully some of it'll be gone by then (beginning aug)!

DD had reflux- so if anyone has questions, I'd be happy to post what helped us.

re weight- I am losing a kilo a day approx
DS was weighed today- he has gained a pound in 4 days!

hi, just got back from seeing the doc, he thinks DS might have the start of reflux. we are trying infant gaviscon for a week. if things do not get better, we will take medication.

what is the medication for reflux? and do they work? does the reflux go away at around 12 weeks?

i am taking it one day at a time - really hoping DS does not have reflux and gaviscon works.

booksgalore i wonder if he acts that way because he sees LO getting attention when she screams.

i lost track of time. i'm off to baby talk group at the community centre. the group is for mothers with babies between 0-9months.

heron- we had gaviscon, though depending on severity, you may need ranitidine too.
DD didn't grow out of it until solids were established- around 9 months

dog- yes, he is just sucking it off me completely!

it is ridiculous how expensive things are!

Hi all,

Just been to GPs with DS1 and my suspicions were right, he is having classic migraine attacks.

Doc said I was doing all the right things and because of having them myself for so long was probably better qualified to manage them then he was! He suggested sticking with the calprofen and calpol at the first sign of an attack (which is what I tried for him last week and it did reduce the severity of the attack) and if it doesn't seem to help or they seem to get worse he would consider prescribing pitzotifen as a preventative. (I really don't want him on daily meds at his age and I reacted really badly to pitzotifen so would rather not put him through it.)

My elder sister turned up out of the blue today with her daughter and grandson. He is eight months old and I can't believe how huge he looked next to DD!

Have bitten the bullet and ordered a Baby Jogger City Mini for using on the bus, despite DH telling me it was too expensive, (decided that as it was my inheritance money I was using and me that has to use the buggy I should choose the one I really wanted). It should be arriving on Monday and am stupidly excited about it!

Thanks dog, glad its not just me that gets excited about these things!

moose- sorry for ds1- this is presumably why he has been vomiting so much recently? He seems so young to have migraine hope they are controllable.
With you on the buggy- you have to use it all the time- it needs to be one you're happy with!

hkz/heron - re reflux- you may find it v useful to raise the head of the crib/cot/ moses basket- whatever you're using- just pop some thick, sturdy books under there- an angle will improve things for little one. Go for as steep an angle as you can. you can get mattress wedges too, but can be £££

When dd was in the cotbed- I used a sheet tied to bars and threaded between her legs so that we could have a steeper angle but she didnt end up in a crumpled heap at the bottom IYSWIM.

Also- hold them upright for 20 mins after each feed- a killer after night feeds, especially if your baby feeds for a long time, however it does make a difference. I just popped dd upright on my shoulder and read- got through quite a lot of books...

Despite having reflux from birth, dd never lost weight- she was always a good feeder, and using above techniques meant she didn't actually throw up much.

We did give her gaviscon after feeds, but I'm not sure how effective it was, compared with the upright positions.
She always hated tummy time too- so you may want to use it sparingly when they're at that age.

Meant to say- daytime- in a sling (upright) was best for her, and bumbo when she was older.
Thankfully she sat unaided pretty early which also made a difference- not least to my back and shoulders which were extremely tired!

Moose - give your DS my sympathy I too have migraine. I know you might have said but do you know what triggers it? It took me 10 years to work out what mine were due to - it was only on TTC that I kept a diary and realised I had a migraine on precisely the same day of my cycle each month!

I'd highly recommend writing everything down, food, sleep etc for a couple of months to see if there are any patterns

I'm assuming kids can't take 'triptin' medication - might be worth asking about as it really helped me (zolmatriptin)

eppm- thanks for the suggestion, will try raising crib mattress if there is no improvement this evening.. Just put ds down on his side and he seems to have settled a bit better, but still waking up quite frequently and he hasn't slept much all day... oh and he's crying again... He jsut seems so unsettled the last few days, but is feeding well and doesn't seem as though he is in pain. He stops crying when he is picked up pretty much instantly so am not sure if he just wants to be held or it is silent reflux or something else bothering him..

Know what you mean about reading...have managed to get through about 5 books during the night feeds since DS was born...just wish I could get a bit more sleep in too!

Moose- Glad DS has had his migraines diagnosed so they can be treated effectively. They are horrible to have to suffer, especially for a child.

fym, we know that being overtired and not eating regularly seems to trigger them. We are keeping a diary to help us identify any other triggers though.

I kept a thorough diary myself and never did work out what my triggers were.

The GP said most of the migraine meds are unsuitable for such a young sufferer.

I was on topiramate (topamax), which is an anti-epilepsy drug, on a sort of drug trial for 6 months and it cured my migraines almost completely. It was hell as I suffered serious congnitive dysfunction (eg loss of memory, speech etc) and a host of other nasty side effects (eg loss of sensation in hands and fingers) , but it was definitely worth it and I would do it again (my migraines could last 7 days at a time, occasionally longer and were pretty much wrecking my life). Obviously this is not an option for him either. One great side effect of Topiramate though is weight loss, I have never been so svelte. Apparently I had all the worst side-effects on the lowest dose which is pretty much unheard of so I must be super sensitive to it I guess.

hi eppm, thanks for the tips. will try them. for his 6pm and 10pm feeds last night it seemed the gaviscon worked cos he fed quite calmly. BUT he woke up at 1.30am and 3.30am and was wriggly and hardly fed at all. woke also at 5.30am and only took 1 oz of feed.

is this what happens with silent reflux babies? cos gaviscon seems to work during the day.

Thanks for settling advice books - I think I might be brave and try letting him cry for a time as you suggest - last night we spent from 2am till 4am trying to persuade him to sleep in his cot; finally gave in and let him nurse himself to sleep between us and of course by then we were asleep ourselves and never moved him as we planned! Sometimes the dummy just seems to wake him up more - he sucks more and more maniacally on it before spitting it out and howling!

But luckily had an early night, so had 2 stints of 4 hour sleep, so not feeling too bad this morning.

That nipple shield has really helped; the crack is almost gone and I can go back to normal feeding. Would def recommend trying it for a couple of days if anyone else is still in pain!

MM Glad you and LO like the moby wrap; we get very hot in it too, that's the only problem. After a while I change him from the newborn hug hold to the regular hug hold by bringing his legs out, which I think helps to cool him down. He doesn't seem to mind the heat though and always sleeps for about 45 minutes in it. Which is a long time for a daytime nap in our world!

Migraines sound awful! But good that your diagnosis was spot on and at least now you know what is going on.

Still no decision on buggy - am now sorely tempted by the chicco as the baby can face inwards even when sitting up. Very expensive though, but if it means I don't have to buy another buggy, it could be worth it?

Have other people made their child benefit and/or tax credit claims?

Not yet but have downloaded form from here www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefit/claim-info.htm

For the tax credit form you have to call them up on 0845 300 3900.

That's as far as I have got!

Did the tax credit on the phone last week. Sent the child benefit form 7 days ago and got it back today! Last time took ages!

elkiedee i did mine yesterday, but thats because i only registered her yesterday! haha! You can fill the form out online and then print it off. I think they only back date pay for 3 months, so as long as you file before they are say 10 weeks, so you shouldn't be short of any money.

Esme has a REALLY sore bottom, have been through EVERY nappy cream on the market, whoever said they were using the red clover nappy cream, can you believe that one was the worst for her, she HOWLED everytime i put it on. Anyway he has given us another cream to try which is stored in the fridge

Fingers crossed.

missJ / Any of you looking at the baby whisperer stuff- i hadnt had much luck with the dream feed idea... could never get her interested in boob while still asleep... but then read easier with a bottle, so expressed a bottle, and ta-da- much easier with a bottle as can wiggle teet into mouth without waking her and sucking reflex starts while in sleep! Perfect!

Genius idea rray; haven't got around to expressing yet but will try that out when I do. Poor little Esme's bottom; I love the Neal's Yard Baby Balm but you have prob already tried it.

Talking of money, has anyone decided which child trust fund they will go for?

Oh no ray! It was us with the red clover, was fab with our boys and using it with DD with no problems so far. Am so sorry it was no good for poor little Esme.

If it doesnt improve I'd get her cehcked by GP as some nappy rashes can be caused by a bacterial infection.