Anyone due in April part 4

[XenaTheWarriorPrincess]

Hey guys, new thread for the April due dates.

Looks like the other thread maxed out before someone could make a new one, so I'll tag a few people and then if they could tag a few and they tag a few and so on, so we can try and get everyone in.

There's no way I can get everyone tagged myself, it's a nightmare on mobile.

@Pinkstuffs Try not to worry about doing activities, there will be many years ahead to fill the day with activities. At this age just watching and listening to you and having lots of cuddles are very worthwhile activities :)

Sing - doesn’t have to be baby songs, I just sing a long to songs I like on spotify.

Touch baby’s hands and feet and play games like “this little piggy went to market” and clap their hands or feet together. I sing Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and touch the relevant parts.

My baby is starting to make noises and I smile and copy him so he knows I hear him.

Hi all,
My baby is 6 weeks old on Friday. We are still waking every 3 hours for food (formula fed) whether it’s day or not. Is this still normal? I am starting to see many people saying their baby is sleeping through the night but we tend to have a feed around 10, 1, 4, 7 through night. Is there anything I can do to get him sleeping longer through the night? Through the day I feed him on demand and he’s sleeping around every hour - hour and half.

@Emilyj13 my baby still wants food every 3 hours during the day but will go from 10pm to 3am and then to 7am. How much do you give when you feed him?

@Pinkstuffs he’s on 150ml each feed now but goes through stages (about 2-3 times per day, 1-2 times per night) where he wouldn’t eat all of that and is in between 90-150.

@Emilyj13 my sister's baby is 6 weeks and still wakes every 2 hours for 150mls. It's perfectly normal. Mine wakes about twice in 10 hours for a feed at night, no set time apart just generally twice but my first born never slept more than 20 mins and refused feeds all night, they're all different but theres nothing wrong with your bubs routine x

@Emilyj13 Totally normal! They're still so small with little tummies and really are biologically programmed to wake pretty frequently. Some will do longer stretches but many won't. They say FF babies sleep longer/better than BF babies but my FF daughter used to wake anything up to hourly whereas my BF son is zonked at night, it's really just luck.

Try to get babies clued up with day and night and keep daytimes bright and busy and night time dark and quiet. Keep them filled up with food in the day and use white noise to encourage sleep at night but beyond this there isn't much you can do to keep them sleeping longer if they're just hungry.

Besides, there are many sleep regressions to navigate yet and when all the babies reach the 4 month regression things will all change with sleep so don't feel like every other baby has 'got it' as sleep is so up and down.

@Ttcmumma @sugarplum33 thank you so much. So reassuring, it’s my first so I am always double guessing should I be doing something else. I am shattered, so very jealous of the mums getting longer stretches of sleep but I also wouldn’t change my little man and it’s worth it so will just ride it out.

Anyone whose breast feeding had their period return already? I'm 6 weeks post partum and pump a minimum of 8 times in 24 hours, I thought I might get away with longer. Hoping my prolactin isn't dropping and going to affect my milk supply.

How is everyone dealing with visitors? I'm still uncomfortable with people visiting and asked DH to tell his sis and family not to come round tomorrow (to be honest I'd forgotten), cut the story short his family want me to apologise. Apparently now the next time they can come is for another 3 or 4 months. Am I being ridiculous for not feeling like having visitors yet? I feel my baby is still really small and I am still not sleeping very much or at all at night. I just feel really lonely in this whole thing :( :( Thoughts?

@Petris123 I can understand both sides but it's your baby not some prize to pass around. I had visitors from very early on, if they do come make sure they wash hands etc before holding baby. Luckily none of my visitors stayed long and if I didn't feel like getting dressed I didn't!

Thank you @Ttcmumma, I just feel bad about the whole thing but I also don't have the energy for all this family politics 🙄 but I also don't want them to hate me. Just really unsure what to do

@Petris123 i think it depends on the visitors, how long they will stay for, what they expect etc. I am nearly 6 weeks postpartum and it is only really now that neighbours and friends are visiting, family have been visiting from the start. Dhs family visited at 2 weeks but stayed in a hotel for 3 days, they will be visiting again next weekend and staying with us for 3 nights.

But I understand people dropping in is tiring especially when you are sleep deprived/possibly breastfeeding etc. I have been trying to keep visits short and spaced out, when people come in I am usually feeding my baby and I tell them I cant get up and tell them to stick on the kettle if they want tea/coffee :)

sometimes its nice to have company, sometimes i would honestly prefer if they went away....but I try to remember that these people are friends/family, they are here because they care about us and are welcoming my child into our family and community which can only be a good thing. Soon we will emerge from the fog of sleep deprivation and be glad of the support of these people around us.

@Ttcmumma,@Janeykat do you let visitors hold baby? Or have any rules in place? In my case it was SIL, her husband and 2 boys (12 and 6), not really someone I'd feel comfortable wearing my PJ's around and breastfeeding. Even so, I don't want them to think I don't want them around, it's just the wrong time. Still under 4 weeks post-partum and not feeling up for it. I'm thinking of sending text to them to clarify cause I'm not really sure DH's way of putting it helped very much 😑😑

@Petris123 Is there an actual reason they can’t visit again for months or is it just them being argumentative? If they live hours away and genuinely aren’t going to be back for months I’d probably say they can pop round but ensure they know it’s not a long visit as you’re not up to entertaining. If they live 10 mins away and are just saying this to force a visit then I’d think differently! We had family visit the first couple weeks as I appreciated it’s their grandchild/cousin/niece and they wanted to meet her but I was almost always in my pj’s/comfy clothes, unwashed hair, house a mess😂 I just said they could come to meet her but it absolutely wasn’t going to be a visit with me “hosting”! I’ve let visitors hold baby but just asked everyone to wash hands first and no kissing and everybody has been absolutely fine with that x

@Petris123 i let my inlaws hold the baby but they were around for 3 days, I always offered them the baby when it suited me, they never asked or were pushy or anything. When neighbours or friends pop in they generally dont hold her as shes usually either feeding or sleeping-- sleep is precious at the moment so not having her nap disturbed by anyone😅

I know what you mean about not feeling comfortable about feeding around people, i felt the same but ive decided to just do it anyways as i hope to feed her for at least at year, so for me I just need to push through and get used to doing it around other people.

At the end of the day everyone is different and if you dont feel comfortable having visitors just yet then that is entirely understandable--maybe explain to your SIL/family as you did here? Im sure they are just excited to see you and new baby but may not understand how you are feeling. Its such a lot to adjust to at the start! Good luck and congratulations on your new baby❤

@Petris123 my parents came the day I got home from hospital and they had my son lol which is fine! But my father in law came too 😳. I was in PJs, a mess and breastfeeding. I didn't get dressed for him, just covered up. I use a breast feeding cover if I don't feel comfortable feeding in front of them or sometimes leave the room to pump etc, it also kind of makes them realize it's not a great time in life to stick around long lol.

I let most visitors hold her as long as they wash hands, aren't smothered in perfume, no signs of illness and no kissing her! She has been passed around at a couple of birthdays recently too. She's 6 weeks now and I've always got my eyes on where she is, I find that one abit uncomfortable as it just seems too much. Thankfully she's never gotten sick or anything from it. Only from my son bringing a cold back from school 🤦🏼‍♀️. I also have a sister who has a baby 5 days older than her and a 3 year old son so we often meet up to let the older boys run around together while we chill with the babies x

@Petris123 after having a Covid baby and no one meeting my baby last time , we’ve tried to be really relaxed about visitors this time and have had even over night guests since about day 5. Everyone who’s come round has been really helpful and I’ve loved them having those Newborn cuddles that my first missed out on! It makes me realise how hard and lonely it was the first time without being allowed visitors. However you have to do what is right for you and what you are comfortable with, don’t feel pressured!

@Mrsttcno1 they live a couple of hours away but the reason is that one of their kids has sport activities/matches at weekends. They picked the date to start with, and as it was ages ago I'd forgotten. I told DH to tell them they could wash hands/ wear masks if in close proximity(suggested by midwife) but he didn't want to tell them that.

@Petris123 first sorry to hear that the fam being not understanding and asked you apologise. I had exactly the same struggle when first given birth and overwhelmed by EVERYONE want to see the baby. My experience came to realisation is that no one will care about you as much as YOU. Even DH might distracted by the newborn and couldn’t care you as much as he could. I am on your side to go with your instinct and stick with it. You are vulnerable right now with all the hormone affecting your mood very easily. And this is what I learned from hearing many stories from others that ‘they wish they had listened to their guts…’ and they regretted certain things during their preg or childcare.
you are not alone! Hope it helps!

@Ttcmumma i am 8 week post partum and no period return. I would say I completely stopped bleeding two days ago and no longer using pads. And I have no clue when my period will be back. I haven’t yet tried pump breast milk but I feed 10-12 times a day.

I wonder why you concern the prolactin dropping? Is it because when period comes that will drop?

thanks!

Just want to hear from anyone who got similar experience about this…

my baby yesteday and today relatively more gassy. He looks very uncomfortable since last night between feeds. He would wiggle constantly and had a fart/poopoo face. And just hear the fart sound all the time. Online mention potentially is my diet affecting the breast milk. I would say I did had half a cup of matcha latte (during preg I cut out caffeine completely). That’s the only thing I could think of may have affected. Otherwise, my diet is balanced and nth had changed much in past days. I tried tummy time and feed more upright, but seems not quite helping.

i wonder any tips from others might help?

thanks!

@MumDaisy1980 because they say most nursing mum's won't get their period back for the first 6 months, it's usually when the baby starts to feed less that the prolactin levels drop and that kick starts the hormones to have periods again. My post partum bleeding stoped around week 4 but then I did get the contraceptive injection week 5 and bleeding quite heavy now at week 6 so maybe even the contraception messed me up a little. Just concerned the return of the period will mean lower prolactin and therefore lower milk supply for my baby. Hopefully not!

@Ttcmumma I see. Thanks! Indeed hope milk supply not affected!

Anyone elses baby suddenly decided not to sleep?! My daughter is 6 weeks tomorrow and used to sleep in 2 or 3 hour blocks, now she is really fighting sleep during the day and waking hourly overnight :( she used to sleep in buggy/car seat but now stays wide awake, the sling works sometimes and sometimes she sleeps on us. But sometimes in the day she just totally refuses to sleep and could be up 3 or 4 hours at a time which is way too much for her age. Also when she is awake she just wants to feed/comfort suck so my poor nipples are in pieces. Ive tried 4 different types of dummy and she refused them all.

Has this happened to anyone elses 6 week old? I thought the 2 hour blocks of sleep were bad but now I really miss them!