💙🩷From Bumps 2 Babies & Beyond!🤰👶🍼🤱🤱

[MummyTo4BoysXXXX]

following on from the Due February 2024 thread 7.. now this shall be thread 8! For us all to continue our pregnancy&postpartum journey together 😊

@Cheetocat how is little one doing now

@undercoverhero74 I'm 6w pp and the BO situation has definitely settled down. The first few weeks I STUNK, it was so bad.

@Cheetocat hope everything is ok with baby, and this stage is soon behind you.

@Angelslookingafterus @LavenderSweetPea Thank you both for thinking of us, baby is doing okay, currently struggling with a bit of a gassy belly, we just gave him a nice warm bath to try help move things through his belly a bit. We're still going to be in the hospital for another 6 or 7 days when his full course of antibiotics is done. He gets a few antibiotic infusions per day. Poor thing is already on his 4th canula because his little veins are fragile. He's feeding well and I get to spend loads of time with him at least.

@Cheetocat @LavenderSweetPea ah man! So I have at least another 3/4 weeks of this. It's like no matter how often I shower/cleanse within hours I stink again 🤦🏼‍♀️ I definitely do not remember this first time round 😂😂

That all sounds positive you are doing fantastic be proud of yourself you’ll soon be home x

A little over 4 weeks so you are right I maybe need to be a bit more patient. If it still feels weird at 6 week check I can bring it up then.

Finally kicked myself out the house today with baby and went to the breastfeeding support group - feel so much better for having done that. Also got some suggestions that hopefully might help with the continuous overnight feeding I’ve been having.

It’s so reassuring to hear other people talk about post partum BO and uterus shrinking because I didn’t know who to ask without sounding crazy! I’m 4 weeks post section on Saturday and BO has definitely eased. Uterus is contracting and getting smaller too but no where near flat. Still spotting but not lots of blood.

I finally saw a feeding specialist today after 4 weeks of asking for support from my midwife and the health visitor. She was so lovely and helped me feel more confident about latching and how/ when to express, and recommended I attend a breastfeeding support group she runs weekly to see how other mums are doing. My supply is still low and I’m trying everything I can but baby is growing well and is happy so I’m trying to be kinder to myself.

I really want to reduce the formula because she’s having issues with her digestion that we can’t quite figure out. We’ve gone from supplementing with Aptimal from birth but she had trapped wind and infacol wasn’t helping, to then switching to Aptimal comfort which made her realise more wind with pungent smells as well as really loose green poo which worried us too. Now I’ve move her to SMA pro in the hope that she will settle with it while I work on my supply and hopefully reduce (the eliminate) formula feeds.

@KayakingBex what advice did they give you to help with the continuous overnight feeds?

@Ebonythoughts it sounds like you've found some lovely support. My little one was so refluxy after formula but now while I'm EBF he barely spits up a couple of times a day, cutting formula made a huge difference for him. He still gets gas pains and stuff but he used to wake up in his bed freezing and covered in spit up which hasn't happened once since cutting the bottles!

The feeding specialist at the group watched him feeding and felt he wasn’t opening his mouth wide enough. She thinks because he got born so fast his neck is a bit tight as well - she says that’s common where there’s been birth trauma or a fast birth (mine was fast) and it can make it hard for them to position correctly. She gave me a different position where I recline a bit more and lay baby so he is below my boob lying on my thigh and stomach rather than cross cradle. It seemed to work and he had a much bigger mouthful of my boob and seemed to feed much better and seemed more satisfied after feeding. She also said while cluster feeding is normal and it could be that he’s a more demanding baby, the fact his position wasn’t quite right meant he may not have been getting the milk he needs as effectively - so taking longer = continuous feeding.

we had a decent night last night with a late evening feed and a 2am feed then a 6am feed so fingers crossed the different position may have helped. Early days though!

Charlie has started smiling, which is very cute! 🥰

What are your nighttime routines looking like? Charlie is sleeping 8pm-12.30am, fed/nappy changed and then back down from 1am until 3am-ish, fed again but then he is up an hour later at 4.30am stretching and smiling, ready to start the day… 🫠 He won’t settle unless I put him in bed with me but I’m too frightened to sleep so just end scrolling on TikTok/buying things on Amazon prime until 6am and then we get up! 🤣

If I try moving his bedtime and putting him down later at 10pm, he will still wake up at midnight. He’s 5 weeks on Sunday. Any ideas ladies?

@RachLeeds We don't really have set times but he cluster feeds in the evening, gets really full and satisfied and falls asleep, he'll sleep for around 2 hours and then I'll change his nappy, feed him for about 20 mins and then he'll sleep for three hours, then another nappy and feed and 3 hour sleep and the night is done. I wake him every two hours to feed during the day since he's ill and still quite small for his age. It can be really hard to get him back to sleep if something disturbs him in the middle of a sleep, he gets so alert and aware of his surroundings. Oh and he's 5w today.

@RachLeeds my little girl is also 5 weeks.

Ours is similar, rough times below;
Last need 2200/2300
Next 0230/0300
Morning 0500/0600

This is really good going for their age; my first was up every hour and half/2 hours.

They'll soon start going longer stretched

@RachLeeds

My little girl is 5 weeks now, and for the last three nights something has clicked 🙌🏽

She's having a bath around 6:30 and then a bottle, won't usually go down properly after this but might have a quick nap... this time of night seems to be her most awake of the day atm 🙈

Then has another bottle around 10:30/11 and some nights has gone down around 12:30, last night it was 1:30.

However, the previous 2 nights she has then slept through until 6am! And last night until 7:45am!

She's suddenly not needing that extra feed over night, just need to crack settling her down a little earlier now if we can but more than happy atm to take the 5.5-6 hour blocks of sleep she's allowed us the last 3 nights.

We've found the lack of sleep so so tough, I've felt amazing in comparison the last few days.

She's guzzling her milk through the day, usually 3 hourly, then moves to 4 in the evening and taking almost 150ml each feed so we've no concerns about her dropping the feed at 3/4am

@RachLeeds meant to add, that at this time I don't think there's much we can do, but it will just click.

The bath at night has really helped- I don't know if it's a coincidence but we switched from bathing on a morning (she's quite sicky so was needed after night times and feeds) but swapped to each night and she is a lot more chill. We've also not needed to use gripe water the last few nights since moving bath time. Previously she was very unsettled, a mix of colic/refluxy symptoms

@RachLeeds Normal naps and then night time bottle at 10.30pm, feed around 3.40am or 4.40am (some nights differ) and then up at 7.30am with his brothers 💙

Baby is 5 weeks old x

I am so jealous of all you!!
Baby girl is six weeks and I'm up every 1.5h or so to feed 🥲
She's been worse over the past few days and falls asleep on the boob within 5-10 mins and I can't wake her to finish her feed! Even with nappy change, rubbing her feet etc... sometimes she's completely knock out!
Then she's up again an hour later demanding to be fed.

So frustrating and exhausting :(
Nappies are wet and dirty, she's not less alert than normal but I can't help but worry that she keeps falling asleep during feeds. There's definitely milk, I do a test squeeze every time she falls asleep so I'm not sure what the problem is 😢

My girl is also sleeping through. She has her last bottle at about 9pm, wakes up for one around 3am and then wakes up at around 7am. I feel like a totally new person and never have to nap in the day anymore!

@msp2023 that sounds tough :( I hope things improve soon x

Hi everyone, so glad I found this thread, my girl is 6 weeks and I think I have postpartum anxiety a few things that worry me....

My girl still mainly sleeps all day? A few times awake in a day, any one else?

Plenty wet/dirty nappies and taking feeds okay.

Eyes roll back in her head when falling asleep/in her sleep?

Has a rash that I've been told is baby acne/heat rash but looks like CMPA rash also sometimes, slight silent reflux no other signs .

Please reassure me or tell me I'm going mad!

@Kirstylvsya Congrats!

My little girl doesn't always have 'wake windows' if she does most it's for is an hour and she's knackered, other times she'll drop off after bottle.

Eye rolling, it'll be either wind or her just falling asleep.

If you've had rash checked out then it'll be fine, if it worsens or your still worried get in contact with GP.

@msp2023 totally normal for a breastfed baby, their stomachs digest breast milk so much faster. I’m also up every two hours and with my first I was up for feeds until he was two, when I stopped breastfeeding he slept through. It’s so tough but you’ve got this 🙏

@msp2023 I'm also still in the "no routine, feeding all the time" club. It feels like progress here that my wee boy has started to sleep for stretches of 60-90 mins in his cot at night after weeks of refusing to be put down.
After chatting to brilliant peer supporter from breastfeeding network- who agrees feeding is well established so risks are low - we introduced a dummy yesterday. Only going to use it for sleeping in the hope it helps him settle for longer.
He'll be 6 weeks on Monday, we've sort of accepted this is how things are for now and not stressing too much about a routine yet as it feels far away.

Those whose babies are starting to sleep 5+ hours, are you formula, breast or combi feeding? Does it make a difference? My baby girl is 4 weeks today and we’ve been getting 3 hour stretches at night and 2 during the day but her wake windows are long and at night can take anywhere from 40 mins to 3 hours to get her back to bed. At the moment I’m combi feeding but hoping to reduce formula in time.

How much formula should we be giving at this stage or so is it unique to each child? I don’t have a guide but we’ve been giving her 4oz and she’s been super hungry (her 0-3 clothes just about fit so she’s growing fast) so I’ve increased it to 5 oz since yesterday but I don’t know if it’s too soon to do that. She also wants to sleep on the breast after a feed for comfort. Would love to know how many oz everyone is giving and at what point they increased it.

Have you spoken with your doctor or midwife?

I recommend the book “week by week” it tells you what to expect in terms of baby behaviour, sleep hours etc. You can even google “hours per day x week old sleep for”.

They do mainly sleep at this age.

Also google “active sleep” - it looks freaky but again, normal baby behaviour.

Baby acne super common. But any concerns, get doctor to look at her skin.

A good night for my 5 week old is last feed10/11pm, next feed 3/4am (he generally just starts making little noises so I’ll change him to fully wake him) then around 7am.

I generally breastfeed through day, and formula from evening. I try to pump during the 3/4am feed but not always, so potentially my supply will slow down or stop soon. But just taking a relaxed approach to breastfeeding. Sleep deprivation was killing me.