March 09 - The spring babies have sprung

[jollyjoanne]

Thought I'd start us up a post-natal thread for the new mummies of March 09 (or thereabout!)

The cow and gate website reckons between 0-4 months a baby 'should' have between 90-120mls 6 times a day (oh to only feed 6 times a day !). HTH.

Thanks, wheely - that does help. And you're right - six times a day? Hah bloody hah.

Took Rhys for his two-week consultation today -- he's put on 300g since leaving the hospital 10 days ago, which seems to be within reason for a BF'd baby. He's just a long, skinny 'un.

In the UK, are you told to give your babies multivitamin drops daily? Apparently tis the thing to do here.

Also got VERY because we've not been rigorous enough about drying the little man's wrinkles after bathing, so he had kind of grotty armpits. Live and learn (and feel guilty).

go and check out the antenatal thread......

OMG! I am, for the first time in my life, rendered speechless!

Corgi and wheely the best measure of expressed milk I've heard (and works better for those of us with never-ending feeders!) is:

baby's weight in kg X 180mls, then divide by number of feeds a day.

So a baby weighing 4 kg feeding 8 times a day is 4x 180mls =720mls/8 = 80-90mls per feed.

jolly, don't worry, I was a bit too! He's been fine today so who knows....

I don't know what to say . Except i did work with a lady once who conceived 3 of her 4 children before her 6wk checkup.

I;ve just remembered another measure of milk - its the one thing I took from GF and that is 2.5 ounces of milk per pound per day so an 8 lb baby would have 8 x 2.5 = 20 ounces of milk a day divided by number of feeds 2.5 ounces of milk per feed (3 ounces is just below 90 mls I think) so thats about the same as Laumiere's calculation.

applauds at antenatal thread

Mind you, conceived DS1 after 1.5 weeks of trying and DS2 after 4 days... this is why I want a contraceptive implant til DH gets the snip!

No sicking up today so now feel a little better about the world.

Like some of your LOs, Spike seems to have entered a period of falling asleep at the boob. Last night it took an hour and half to get him to feed for 20 mins (his "usual" length of feed). He seems to feed for 5 mins, conk out and then we spend quarter of an hour trying to wake him up. I have tried making sure he is properly hungry/not too warm, etc, to no avail. Has anyone had any luck with other tactics? I have resorted to expressing from time to time and giving him the EBM in a bottle, as the faster flow seems to keep him awake - but it's not really a long term solution.

Oy vey!

laumiere, although I hate doing maths, that's a very helpful formula (plus it makes me feel better about not having to express a huge amount per feed!).

fearless, consider the baby whisperer duly poked in the eye. Piper to be paid later, and to heck with it.

yarnie, something that works well with Rhys is actually just running my fingers lightly up and down his back -- for some reason, that seems to wake him up and keep him suckling quite effectively.

after stepping back to the antenatal thread I will never moan again about having 2 under 2 - wow - omg - !

Had a dreadful evening with Rosie last night. Think she was just over stimulated by me sitting with her while dd1 shrieked at ITNG on tv. Got her to sleep at 9pm and the wee darling gave me two 4 hour stretches of sleep - bliss!

DH is finally happy that he can hold Rosie again (as he shouldn't be mumps contagious any more) so I have spent the morning with dd1 and he has done the baby holding/feeding. I was beginning to get a frozen shoulder from carting Rosie around - it is nice to get a wee break!

I have no idea how much milk Rosie consumes in a day - around 6-8 bottles of 120mls. But I reckon we'll be increasing that soon to 140mls as she always seems to want more!

can't believe it - no chance of more babies here!

OK now I am over the shock - congrats loli!

I will definitely have to put in some more effort with the expressing then if I plan to leave Mae for anymore than 1 feed! Thanks for the help. Fortunately no problem with the bottle though as I did feed her the milk I had expressed. And then through the next lot away.

Hello all,

Have been lurking lately but can't seem to find time to post as DH is just finishing his paternity leave and we've been filling our time with loads of lovely outings like picnics and rainy walks and trips to the park. It's been rather idyllic . Apart from the baby permanently clamped to my boob, but I just shove him under my bebe au lait cover and keep going...

For the last 2 nights we've tried topping George up with formula at 11pm but although he's slept for longer he's not been very effective at feeding during the night afterwards. He also seems to find it more difficult to pass formula than BM. And I was sooo uncomfy by 2 am even though I'd expressed. Consequently I've decided that the negatives outweigh the positives. We're going to try feeding EBM a few nights a week instead, as I want him to get used to a bottle for those occasions when I would like to leave the house for a couple of hours!

DD is a tiny menace and still adjusting to the arrival of DS. She's lovely to him, charming to all strangers, mostly good for her daddy, and absolutely vile and horrible to me. Why IS that?!

Astounded by the news from the antenatal thread. DH isn't getting anywhere near me until i've had the implant!!

Have anyone else's pelvic floor muscles just given up? I'm doing my exercises assiduously but i feel like everything has just, erm, flopped. Suspect I might have a mild posterior prolapse - anyone else have any experience of this? No probs with bladder control though thankfully.

Yarnie - Have the same problem as you with DS falling asleep during feeds. I tend to find a nappy change after the first 10 mins wakes him up. I've also resorted to washing his face with cotton wool and water which sends him into a frenzy but does the job! Is it worse during the night? George is always more alert if i take him into another room and put the light on.

threw goodness my spelling is rubbish

Yep Mae also falls asleep during feeds, and if I let her sleep she wakes up wailing as she is no longer eating. Have also found nappy changing works, along with tickling her - feet, sides of belly etc, and occasionally i resort to a gentle tap on her face or head. I don't like to put the light on at night or move to far becos then I can't get her to settle after the feed - it is a bit of a catch 22 situation. I want her awake but not too awake!

Hurrah, got Gabriel to settle in for the night at 8 not 9 tonight.... his brother was sleeping through the night at 16w so there's something to aim for!

Had an easier than usual day today, as either one of the boys was asleep at any given time, so it was like only having one child!

I am turning into my mother.

She tells stories of sitting with me as a baby, rocking me with tears pouring down her face at the thought that something bad might happen to me. I'd always scoffed at that!

Today, Rhys seems to be coming down with a cold -- and I'd look at his poor puffy little eyes and just weep at the thought that he wasn't feeling well. I am a heaving sac of sentimentality at the moment, and it just seems to be getting worse by the day. Guess this is motherhood...

I think I've been holding him nonstop since about 3pm, watching him sleep and talking to him. Baby whisperer be d*mned!

corgi don't beat yourself up, think how rotten you feel with a cold, and how he doesn't even know what it is making him feel so awful. Mummy cuddles are definitely best!

I did controlled crying/routine setting with my first, and will probably do it with Gabriel too, but there are always exceptions for poorly babes

Random question when do the tinkers eyes start changing colour?

DD1 has her daddy's eyes and i was really hoping this one might have more of me in her!

corgi Hope Rhys cold is a little better today poor little mite. I have to say you melt my heart with your sentimentality, you are so good at putting into words how we all feel !! IMO if you want to sit an cuddle all day then thats exactly what you should do!! Mummy knows best .

laumiere what age did you do the controlled crying from?

livismum I believe its around 6mths, however DD2s eyes changed colour from blue to hazel when she was 18mths old!!! i believe that if either of you have brown eyes then this is normally the dominant gean, im gutted because my DH has the bluest eyes ive ever seen and so far non of our DCs have inherited them , its not looking like Alex will either because his eyes are already staring to look quite brown.

livi Brown is dominant, but if either of your sets of parents has blue eyes you will carry a blue gene recessively and your kids might have it... I have been wondering this about with Mols her eyes are grey at 4 weeks, I want them to go brown though, since DP and I both have brown eyes. I've heard people say their dc's eyes changed at up to 2 years, or quite soon after birth so it's a long wait to see what will happen.

corgi I got a bit panicky earlier in the week as Mols had a cough especially because they are too young to give anything to and they don't really know what's going on. Was a bit irrational about giving her masses of cuddles even though I know she'll survive really. It's over now thankfully.

yarnie Mols basically doesn't sleep unless I feed her first probably not a great thing, but anyway - if she hasn't had enough when I put her down in the basket she wakes up again very quickly and we just start feeding again. I can keep her awake during a feed by moving her around a little while I'm feeding her and that normally keeps her alert enough to have some more.

corgi I feel the same as you even with no.2. I can work myself up into such a state if I let myself think about all teh horrors that could befall them if I am not there to protect them. I have to be strict and not think about things, not let my imagination run riot, and definitely avoid any newspaper articles about children. If not I would sob 24 hours a day

I hate it when either of my lo's are ill (Rosie has had her first cold too and it was awful to hearher snuffles - poor Rhys) and yes,it is motherhood. It never goes away you just manage to deal with it better.

Has anyone elses baby had a sticly gunky eye? Rosie has had oit since we left hospital 3 weeks ago. Used breastmilk when I still had some - now just saline solution to wipe. I am loath to ask for antibiotics as she is so young (and doubt I'd get them as my GP's are very anti-antibiotics for children unless really necessary). Anyone got any other tips for sorting it out?

ellie sounds like your dd is just seeking attention from you. I would just ignore her (what age is she?) and I bet she'll be asking for mummy cuddles soon. My dd1 is being adorable with Rosie at the moment - I am sure it will change when it is just me with the 2 of them and she isn't getting the attention she wants.

Today we have miraculously got them both napping at the same time so both eme and dh have our feet up - aaaahhhhhh!

law and livi, DH has Maltese heritage and stunning dark brown eyes and DS1's eyes were brown by 8 weeks. DS2's are starting to change now at 8 weeks! I know what you mean about wanting them to take after you a little (my eyes are blue). However, both boys have my slanted eyes and DS2 has my pale olive skin and hair colour at least.

3cute I start from 6 weeks (putting the baby in a dark quiet room for evening nap at 9pm and letting him cry (provided he's not hungry/windy) for 5 min, then 10, 15 etc). DS2 is starting to self-settle at 8 weeks, DS1 was sleeping through the night at 16 weeks. It seems to work for us!