End of May 2013 babies CONTINUED..

[babyface15]

I guess by now we might have all our may babies

baby calla is doing good. she's gained back all her birth weight. I'm finding breast feeding her to be a bit taxing though as she falls asleep at the breast so often that she doesn't feed enough. then when I go to lay her down she wakes up right away wanting more.

I'm also finding I'm getting really stir crazy. I'm exhausted so I try to sleep when she sleeps but it seems like I just spend all day in the bedroom

someone tell me it gets better haha!!!

 

[pebbie1]

Hahahaha babyface, bless you. It does get better Markus keeps falling asleep on the boob as well. I've given him a bottle yesterday and today and he manages to stay awake for them!!!
He's proper starting to settle in a routine and hubby and I had the night to ourselves the last few nights whilst the kids are fast asleep in bed Proper bliss

 

[CLH_X3]

It does get better!!

 

[babyface15]

oh wow! the night to yourselves?? sounds like a, dream haha. do you give him breast milk or formula in the bottle?

thanks girls

 

[Zfbaby]

Hahahaha babyface, bless you. It does get better Markus keeps falling asleep on the boob as well. I've given him a bottle yesterday and today and he manages to stay awake for them!!!
He's proper starting to settle in a routine and hubby and I had the night to ourselves the last few nights whilst the kids are fast asleep in bed Proper bliss

So jealous!

Pebbie you mentioned you were giving m infacol. I've been giving it to l yesterday and today. It seems to have helped I think but have you noticed its changed Los poos?

 

[CLH_X3]

Iv started giving infocal on Astons last feed today, he did 3 big burps so It defo helped as the bottle before I couldn't get one!!!
He's now zonked in his little chair downstairs while me and my oh watch tv!

 

[pebbie1]

Babyface we put formula in the bottle. The other day After trying to feed Markus for 5 hours I was sick of it and got formula. So we have him a bottle of that before bed at 7pm. He then slept till 11.30pm and I breast fed him then and he slept till 4.30am. Yesterday we had a BBQ and I did want to have a few drinks so Markus had formula from his feed around 3pm. I did express though to keep the milk flow going. But Markus is happy either way and is having another boob feed now. No nipple confusion here

Zfbaby, you should try the night time bed thing. It's so nice when the house is quiet and you have time for your oh. It's bliss I haven't seen a significant change in his poo. What changed? Markus his pooh is still yellow seedy mustard like. X

 

[babyface15]

that's great he isn't finding any confusion over the two. I can definitely see why you wanted to try it. these frequent feedings are rough

Calla just slept from her feed at 10:30 pm until 2 am!! longest stretch yet. I'm just about to lay her down from this feed. fc she sleeps well again

 

[Zfbaby]

Babyface we put formula in the bottle. The other day After trying to feed Markus for 5 hours I was sick of it and got formula. So we have him a bottle of that before bed at 7pm. He then slept till 11.30pm and I breast fed him then and he slept till 4.30am. Yesterday we had a BBQ and I did want to have a few drinks so Markus had formula from his feed around 3pm. I did express though to keep the milk flow going. But Markus is happy either way and is having another boob feed now. No nipple confusion here

Zfbaby, you should try the night time bed thing. It's so nice when the house is quiet and you have time for your oh. It's bliss I haven't seen a significant change in his poo. What changed? Markus his pooh is still yellow seedy mustard like. X

He's gone from having a bm at every feed to just two a day and they are HUGE and gloopy still mustard like just more sloppy. Twice now we've had major leaks. The first time it covered me

How does your bedtime thing go?

 

[pebbie1]

Yeah, Markus is pooing less than before. And they are bigger, plus he wee's more too. And he loves to wee when his nappy is off lol! The midwife was here for the last time today and she weighed Markus. He gained 12oz in the last 10 days. So that's going well!
At night we put Markus in the bath around 6.45pm and after that he has a feed and then straight to bed. It's dead easy and dead nice hahahaha. We still do the same thing with Marielle now and just have added the reading a book after the bath. She loves it and we've never had any problems putting her to bed. And it's dead relaxed
When Markus wakes around 11-11.30pm I just feed him in our bedroom and put him straight back to bed and he continues to sleep.
X

 

[Zfbaby]

I think that's where it might not work for us as he won't sleep. He doesn't even really take a nap. I normally have to feed him to sleep or let him sleep on me or he wakes after 10mins. He doesn't seem to like either of his baskets and he has to w really tired to sleep in there for long. I can't seem to get the hang of making him drift off when he's tired as he just fights it. He just had quite a long nap now but only because he was on me and then he woke up and cried instantly. I keep being told to give him stimulus and activity time but his only modes are sleep,cry or eat. Makes it a bit difficult to do anything.

 

[pebbie1]

Oh that must be so difficult Zfbaby! Markus is basically being fed to sleep at night as well. He is already a bit sleepy from the bath and then he drinks warm milk and that sends him to sleep. I think the quietness in the room then keeps him asleep until he wakes for his next feed again. Does he sleep at night at all?

 

[Zfbaby]

He sleeps for a few hours if we are lucky but it takes forever to put him down. Last night he finally slept from 11-1am then dh managed to get him down again at 4am then he woke at 6:30 had a feed and slept with me until 8/9We tried to get him to take a nap at 11 but he didn't sleep til around 1pm.
He does like a bath we have a shantala tub and he screams before and after he's in it but seems to like being submerged in the water. I think I want to make the transition to bottles so that we can start to get a solid routine and hopefully he would be calmer knowing when he was being fed. Its just upsetting that there's never any awake time that isn't involving screaming and he seems to hate all the things we bought like the swing, bouncer chair etc so there's nothing to stimulate him or calm him. He won't even lie on the activity mat which is really plump and comfy Egh parenting is so hard. I thought we'd have a happy little baby that fed and slept well. Stupid oh:

 

[passion4shoes]

Does he just like to be on you zf? He might be a sensitive little soul that just finds it difficult to adjust to all the stimulus outside the womb. Have you got a sling/wrap so you can have him on you but can still get stuff done? It won't last forever. The most difficult part of this is understanding what they are trying to tell us is wrong!

I like the sound of your routine pebbie. DS is an excellent sleeper, I am hoping to do the same with LO. can't remember what I did though!

I would like to do bottle, bath, book, bed after the 6pm feed but OH wants to see her and he doesn't get in untill 8. But we have no evenings to ourselves (doesn't bother me at the mo, I could cuddle LO all day and night!)

 

[pebbie1]

Ahhhh bless zfbaby. I agree with passion though. It seems he's struggling a bit with being in the big open world. Markus didn't like his Moses basket at all. The midwife advised to either put a hot water bottle in the Moses basket before baby went in and then roll up 2 towels and put 1 on each side of baby so he has the feeling he's snug. When Markus was in hospital they had a towel rolled up and then laid out in a circle. Markus lay in it with his legs over the back of the circle if that makes sense. That was the first time he actually slept so I did the same at home. Rolled up the towel and laid in a circle in his Moses basket and he's actually slept in it since. Maybe that could help. Otherwise the swaddling is always good to try as it gives him the feeling of being in the womb again.
X

 

[Zfbaby]

We have a sleep positioned which sounds the same as the towels on either side of lo. we used it for the first time when we got back from our walk. Dh swaddled him and lay him on his side between the bolsters and he's been asleep since 5:30-6. Not sure what time exactly as I was having a mini breakdown he doesn't seem to like lying on his back so maybe this will help. With the bolster in place at least I don't need to worry about him rolling over onto his face. We put him in the nursery instead of with us so he's in the dark and quiet. Normally I keep him with me and maybe that's keeping him up.
We had a long talk after our walk and I've decided to just do formula. I need to try and put him on a routine and have a handle on his formula as I think he will be calmer without the breastfeeding. I'm going to miss the snuggles but not his frustrated screaming when I try to latch him on.
We've devised a schedule to try based around the 7,11,3 routine you suggested. We are going to try it out over the next couple of days and see how we get on. We are going to do 6 feeds of 90mls and increase it to every 2 hours if he can't make it for 4hrs or increase the amount he has.

As he's not on a routine now an is used to eating whenever he wants how do you suggest transitioning himmin to the routine without him having to wait for a feed and scream in the meantime?

Oh spoke too soon, just woke up screaming hysterically again

 

[pebbie1]

Oh seriously zfbaby. I wish I could come over to you, even if its just for a big hug!!!
It sounds like a good idea to get him on formula. It'll take a lot of stress away and you can still sort of snuggle with him and sniff his hair and that. Lovely. I love looking at Markus his face when he has the bottle as you can see it really well when bottle feeding.
With the feeds, I really like the 7,3,11 one. The times are good too. When he's had a bottle and is due his next feed, try an stretch it as long as possible towards your next feed time, by going for a walk or lots of cuddles. You'll slowly get to your timings then. How much does he drink now, as 90ml doesn't sound like a lot? Markus drank 180ml during one feed yesterday! I made 120ml and he was still upset after so I made 60ml more and he was a happy boy after that! But on average he drinks towards 150ml each feed? X

 

[Zfbaby]

We've been doing between 120-150mls but dh pointed out he never drinks it all. He's just had a 90ml bottle and gone back down for now (FC)
I think it's probably not enough either when you consider he normally has some breastmilk first. I figure if he wakes again within the next say 30mins then I'll give him more and up the next bottles. it's sooo hard not to offer him the breast. Do you think there's a way where I can still do maybe one feed a day breastfeeding or as some sort of comfort feed or would that just be too confusing?

I suppose that if he is sleeping when he's due a feed I should wake him to eat at least to start with until he naturally starts waking at the right time?

 

[Zfbaby]

If you were to decide to formula feed Markus would you do 150mls at each of the 7,11,3 feedings?
I've noticed with Louis that he can be a bit of a snacker with his meals possibly because of the crazy trapped wind he gets. He tends to spit up a lot!

Also, another q whilst I think of it. What has everyone got their los sleeping in? Louis seems to get so hot so quickly so I've just got him in a sleepsuit with no vest or sometimes just a vest not both. We've been using muslins to swaddle and or a small cellular over the top of him. Even with the heating off and a window ajar the nursery is still 24*
I've stopped putting him in multiple layers during the day too as he gets so red and clammy.

 

[pebbie1]

I did 120ml with him but he guzzled it all up and just wanted that little bit extra. We have milk leftover but sometimes it's 20ml. At least he's had the 10 extra he needed. Does he drink the full 90ml and does he keep sucking even though air comes out? If so I'd make 120ml. Their tummies grow quick and he'll have plenty of growth spurts coming up where he'll drink more anyways.
I'd definitely offer him breast if you want to. You have most milk in the mornings so I'd give him a feed then. Maybe the first one of the day so you'll have a wake up snuggle If he stays hungry, make like 60ml milk, breast feed him and then top up with formula. See how you get on.
Markus now has a sleep suit on with nothing underneath. It's really warm in our room too, and he seems happy with it. He sometimes doesn't even want a blanket. They'll let you know by crying if they're to warm or too cold. And especially if you swaddle him, I wouldn't dress him in too much. And during the day he has had shorts and a T-shirt with nothing underneath.
When you are working towards your timings with feeding it'd very unlikely he'll sleep more than 4 hours so you should be ok. If he does sleep when it's like 7,11 or3, let him sleep. Sleeping babies are happy babies and they're more likely to get grumpy if you wake them. So you feed him when he wakes and then again at the next time. So say if he wakes at 12 and is an hour late for his 11 feed, feed him at 12 and the next feed again at 3 as normal. Marielle hardly slept through the times though. The only one he'll start sleeping through are the 11pm and the 3am. Once you get in that rhythm and Louis gets into it, it's so relaxed. Whereas now you can't really plan anything as when he's hungry he wants to be fed, no matter what time! I'm slowly trying to get Markus into the timings as well. Yesterday I was completely off the timings, but that's fine. Today was lots better and I got pretty close to them x