April 2021 - The Last Stretch

[drumst1ck]

Made a new thread for us as we were coming to the end of the previous one!

@rainbow95
I am EBF and express once a day so that my husband can take a feed at night.
I started doing it from day 1 and never had any issues. I don't get the waiting 6weeks thing... if anything it helps with supply!!!

And having a break and a 4hours block sleep is awesome 👌

My girl is also an eating machine so i understand the struggle ...

@SunnySideUp2020 thank you for your reply. It's good to know that breastfeeding and expressing can be done! My little girl fed from the bottle well last night and went back to breastfeeding this morning which is reassuring. How much expressed milk do you give your little one? Do you express as much as you can into a bottle and then give her that or do you measure an amount?

@rainbow95
I think if she latches well there won't be an issue with switching. This morning DH had to giver her 30ml when i was at the shop and as soon as i got home i gave her the breast and she took it immediately. Literally makes no difference. Only thing is we use ultra slow flow tits nd the calma from medela. Otherwise other tits are too fast.

As for quantity, right now i express and stops when i have between 110ml to 130ml so that it covers a full feed. I store in milk bags in the fridge. It takes around 10/15 min depending on how full my breast is. Best is first thing in the morning after DH fed her during the night and breasts are extremely full.
She is 3 weeks and 4 days today so perhaps your LO will need a bit less for a feed.

@SunnySideUp2020 yes she's latched on well so hopefully I can breastfeed and express. I've got the Medela Swing Flex which works really well and have used slow release teats too. Expressed 90ml this morning so I'll see how much she needs later. It's great knowing that I can have some help with feeding her. Thanks

Hope everyone is doing ok. Is anyone combination feeding? My daughter is constantly hungry and I'm finding it exhausting to constantly breastfeed and express. May start using some formula.

My little girl is nearly 5 weeks now and is constantly cluster feeding. It does settles around week 6 but they go through so many growth spurts for the first few weeks, all they do is feed and then feed extra to ramp up your milk.

Girls I'm so glad to hear everyone's doing well and we all have our babies now. Having baby is lovely but the thing I'm struggling with is housework and keeping some semblance of clean around the place. It stresses me to see the mess and I'm trying to make my peace with it as I don't seem to be making any dents, just managing to skim the surface! Other than that things are all good and baby is a delight.

Quick question, we have been discharged from midwife as he is back over his birth weight but when will he next be weighed and is there a baby clinic? When I had my others we took them to clinic as often as we were advised to bring them in but this time I've only been advised to book the 6-8, week health check with GP

My health visitor is offering appointments to get baby weighed at the clinic. She did come round to mine as the dr had asked me to get him weighed and clinic was fully booked though.

We don’t have an option to get them weighed, unless there’s an issue with weight gain, then it’s an appointment at the clinic. My HV has come to the house to weigh Ollie last week, as we needed an up to date weight for his omeperazole prescription (he’s 8lb 6 now!)

I’m struggling so much at the minute. Never realised what an easy baby my first was, Ollie is such hard work 😓 must be touching my boobs at all times (amazing considering I pump for him, stopped putting him on boob a while ago!).

In answer to above question - yes we’re combi feeding now. I was sick of the 1-1.5 sleeps. He’s formula fed 6pm-6am, then breastmilk 6am-6pm. Still trying to get his reflux under control, but it’s working well for him.

I didn't realise how challenging having a newborn is! It is definitely something no-one can prepare you for. The lack of sleep and constant breastfeeding makes it difficult to get anything done around the house. I'm just glued to the sofa or up for hours feeding her. Occasionally she'll have a more settled day and night where she will feed every 2 hours and nap in between, but that's rare! May have to start combination feeding soon for my own sanity! Dont want to wish the weeks away but I'm looking forward to her being a little older and hopefully in more of a routine.

It’s just... 🤯🤯🤯

I really dislike the newborn stage generally anyway, can’t wait for him to be a bit older and a routine down.

My eldest has just started nursery school so thankfully getting a tiny bit of a break now x

This time round feels a lot harder. Were formula feeding and had some four hour stretches between feeds. He's seven weeks old now. But it's still unpredictable. My first was nothing like this and sleeping through at eight weeks! Sleep deprivation is hard.

Hope everyone is okay.

I can't believe how hard this is, & think I'm getting post natal depression

Fin doesn't go down on his own for a sleep, he won't lay in his Moses basket, he has to be in my arms all the time.

Also at night won't go down in his cot, had to be in my arms. Anyone else experiencing this? Xx

@amylee1817 it's so so hard. I'm currently doing a course and it covers all things newborn. The teacher was telling us that when a newborn is happy and ready to be put down they open their hands instead of having clenched fists. Since I've been told that I've been putting my little one down in his basket and it seems to be working. Worth a try.
The fourth trimester is really hard as all they want is their mom.
Defo contact your gp if you're feeling down though.

Hope you are okay @amylee1817
My DD never wants to go in her basket either, is co-sleeping an option for you? I did it with my first and doing it again this time around, it really helps with the sleep.

Remember it will get easier, I know it doesn't feel like it now but I promise it does!

Hope you’re ok @amylee1817

Ollie sleeps so lightly by day and only in arms! Even the sling he refuses sometimes 😯. Sometimes he’ll go down in the pram, but I seem to have to get the timing just right

We had peak stress/no sleep at 5/6 weeks and I caved and started giving him formula at night. He’s 9 weeks old now and will sometimes do a 4-6 hour stretch which is lovely. It definitely feels like we’re getting past the crappy tiny newborn bit and my PND is easing up loads 🙏. Also did an elimination diet as he was so fussy, gassy etc and turns out he has an egg allergy it seems, so no more eggs for me!

Thanks every one ❤️ I mean don't get me wrong I'm loving our time together and he's great in the night. We're are currently co-sleeping. But my mum is saying how much of a bad idea it is and it's just making me feel like a bad mum.

Again, I enjoy him sleeping in my arms through the day but I'm just feeling like it's the wrong thing to do!

Also just discovered that Fin had colic, he's been much better since giving him the infacol and colief though 🙏

@doritodiva I will be trying this today! Thank you xxx

@FlappityFlippers1 oh that sounds good, glad you got to the bottom of it!

I can't wait to be at that stage 😁

Ignore your Mum! It's not a bad idea if it gets you more sleep then it's a genius idea

Well that's what I thought! Surely if I'm getting a better sleep then I'm going to be able to cope better in the day! X

Ignore your mum 100% - she isn't the one up all hours, so she doesn't get a say!

I co slept with DS1, he is 3,5 now - sleeps perfectly, in his own bed and never comes into us any more (which makes me a tiny bit sad!) I've tried co sleeping with DS2, but he seems to much prefer his own space.

You'll be at that stage before you know it! The hours are oh so very long sometimes, but the weeks fly by

What is everyone dressing baby in at nighttime now it's hot? I have forgotten everything I did with my first it seems

@BaaHumbugg. I’ve been putting DS in a vest and sleepsuit, no blanket