Due May 2024? Part 3

[Sa11yCinnamon]

Just kicking off a new thread, hoping no one else does it at the same time!

@Athena1984 hope all is ok, keep us posted xx

@Mum2b2024 we’re bottle feeding too and do 120ml roughly every 4 hours. She’s 4 weeks old. The bottles finished every time, sometimes she wants to feed again after 3 hours but sometimes she’ll last longer and go to 4.5 hours. We’ve been establishing a routine since just under a week old as she wouldn’t latch for breastfeeding and I found it painful and stressful. I’d say she’s still fed on demand with the bottle but it just so happens that she fits well to the guidelines on the formula pack.

We’ve moved to combi feeding as she was struggling with her weight, but now seems to be thriving.

Question for those who feed formula when not at home, how do you do it? I’ve had a look into it and not sure on the best way? We take ready made currently when out and about, but would like to take powder eventually I think

I’m not bottle feeding but in the past I used to take a flask of boiling water out and a bottle of cool boiled water. I’d add a couple of ounces of boiling water to bottle, mix in the powder to kill the bacteria and then topped it up with the cool boiled water to make it ready to drink 😀
I have added in one bottle a day in the evening this week as I’ve done it with both my others. I don’t want to risk the bottle refusal! The rest of the time she lives on me 🤣 no pattern to feeding at all, can be every couple of hours but then can easily cluster feed for ages as well. I’m just going with the flow for now

@Dexnt15 I take my nuby rapid cool and a thermos of boiling water. Pop the water from the thermos in the nuby then it’s ready to mix with the powder. You can portion out your powder in to small tupperwares too so you know you’ve got the right number of scoops to just tip in your bottle.

@Dexnt15 We make bottles in the morning and cool them in the fridge. They're then stored in the cool bag section of our changing bag along with an ice block and used as required. Not optimal but we haven't found a way that works better yet.

Thanks all :) that's been helpful. Yes I was curious how people did out and about so thanks for the tips!

Thanks for the replies, it’s definetely given us some ideas on how we want to do it.

@SarahB88 do you still use some of the boiling water as a hotshot to add to the formula first, or do you cool all of the water before adding to the formula?

@Dexnt15 You need a hot shot whatever method you use to make the bottles as it kills any bacteria in the powder :)

@Dexnt15 no the rapid cool makes the water the correct temp but I always sterilise my bottles. The nuby rapid cool is nhs recommended unlike the prep machines and it was recommended to me by friends who have used it with no issues.

Thanks everyone for the advise, as with everything baby related we are gonna try a couple of options and see what works for us

Hello, hope you all are doing well. I had my little girl almost 3 weeks ago! Time just flew by! I was 41+2 and was booked for induction at 7pm but went into labour at 1pm, went to birthing center for water birth, all went well except a 2nd degree tear 🙁. But so happy to have our little girl.

How are your little ones doing? Mine doesn't sleep anywhere except on me or my partner, if we put her in her cot, she won't stop crying and wakes up the entire street. So me and my partner take turns to stay away 😟, we are so sleep deprived, now I understand why sleep deprivation is a torture technique!!! Have you experienced similar? Any ideas on how we can make her sleep in her cot? We tried warming the cot , swaddling etc but none worked!

@Athena1984 My son wouldn't sleep in his cot for the first week. The only thing that worked for us was a dummy.

His sister is very different so far and hates a dummy 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Athena1984 things that may have helped my wee one to sleep in his bedside crib are putting him in a swaddle sleepsuit, using a white noise machine, dummy, and putting the crib on a slight tilt. No idea which if any worked and of course it might not last, but he's going down ok between feeds at the moment.

We had our first visit from the health visitor today, day 15. Wee guy has gone from 8lb 3oz at birth to 9lb, it's daft but I'm so proud I could burst 😅 Makes all those long nights feel worth it!

Congratulations @Athena1984! our son was born just over three weeks ago so is a similar age.

Really sorry to hear your daughter doesn’t like the crib. We struggled with crib transfers with our first and it is really tiring and frustrating. We never found a trick - we would eventually get him in around 3am or so after multiple failed attempts when I guess sleep pressure was the strongest. I’m also a fan of dummies like other people have mentioned but realise it can be hard for them to stay in at this age. Plus we used to get him used to the crib during the day when he was happier to be in it.

Has anyone had a baby with a cold yet?

I woke up with sniffles this morning and feel like he is going to catch it too. He already seems a bit sleepy and sad but otherwise doesn’t have proper symptoms.

Mine had a few sniffles a few days ago, snotty nose and sneezing quite a bit. The main things to watch out for is any breathing difficulties or reduced feeds - need to aim for at least half the amount of normal feeds. Keep an eye on temperature, anything 38 or above and would need to be seen in hospital. Otherwise it’s just a matter of seeing them through it, Saline nasal drops are really good to have as they clear the nose and make it easier for them to feed. Don’t give paracetamol at this age as don’t want to mask any temps. Hopefully if he does get anything it will be mild and won’t cause him any problems x

Hi all! Just thought I should update as it's been a while. My little girl is 8 weeks old tomorrow! She arrived early at 37+1 in the end due to complications with gestational diabetes and then we had a very stressful couple of weeks back in hospital due to some complications with medicine I was taking that affected her. Thankfully all was fine in the end and DD is now peacefully asleep on top of me in her sling 🥰

She's suffering pretty badly with reflux bless her so I've got to get to grips with administering some new meds for her that I hope will help.

I will try to catch up on the 8 weeks (!) of messages that I've missed...but just wanted to let you all know that we are doing well in case anyone was wondering!

Gosh I am having a rough day with our little one today. She’s slept for all of 30mins and feels like she’s been crying the rest of the time. Have barely stopped to eat or drink anything today and she’s still crying away. Solidarity to anyone else in the same boat. Not even rocking is helping anymore 🫠

@newbie12345678 Congratulations :) Sorry about the reflux, my son had it and it was horrible. He grew out of it by a year old thankfully.

@junebuglb I hope you have a calmer evening with your little one! ❤️

Hey all! Question for fellow c section mamas- I felt like I had healed really well (4 and a half weeks on). Yesterday I carried the pram and bassinet into and out of the house and went on a walk (about an hour or so). Today my scar has felt super sore and I’m worried I’ve potentially caused damage- has anyone else experienced anything like this? Hoping I’ve not got an infection or opened the wound or something- it looks fine externally!

Also on an unrelated note, I want to send some baby thank you cards- has anyone else ordered personalised ones, and if so- from where?

@junebuglb I’m feeling your pain! I settled baby since yesterday evening. However, big mummy mistake! I was making up her bottles today and suddenly thought omg I didn’t put the right number of scoops in yesterday! So poor things been having really watered down formula, no wonder she’s not settling and still hungry 🙈

Also nutramigen is a life saver that you can make the bottle in advance she store in the fridge for 24 hours!

Hiya, I find if I over do it, my scar just starts hurting a bit as a warning, so I know to reign it in.
My pain only usually lasts for 24 hours if that.

Hope the pain you've experienced has started to ease.

Just caught up on the thread, I've been missing in action navigating this new life & keeping a tiny human alive.

Congratulations to everyone on the birth of their babies. Seems strange that we've all gone from talking about pregnancy problems to parenthood problems.

I hope everyone is coping OK. We are still experiencing sleep deprivation & working out what is the best feeding times for her. She tricked us into 2 nights of sleeping through & then it hasn't been great since. I feel like I'm the queen of napping now a days.

Thanks @Emmacb82. So far it’s just a mild cough and runny nose, although he was quite unsettled overnight. I had a sinus headache so wondering if he’s experiencing the same thing 🥺

@newbie12345678 congratulations! Sorry to hear about your hospital stay - that sounds like a long time but glad everything is better now.

@LondonGirl1992 I’ve used the TouchNote app in the past for baby cards. It’s really convenient but depends how fancy you want them to be.

Sending solidarity to anyone recovering from a rough night. Our little one was quite upset for a lot of the night but now that it is daytime seems to be sleeping soundly 🙃