February Valentines 2012

[RJ2]

Okay heres another question- Everything is so unknown! The hospital said newborns are supposed to eat every 2-3 hours. But Kenny likes to go 3-4 hours. So he's technically not eating enough "times" during the day. But he has tons of wet diapers and hes gaining weight like a champ, already over his birth weight at a week old. I tried to feed him an extra time, by waking him up, just so I could get the allotted number of feedings in 24 hours and he spit it all up. Should I just trust that he's getting enough based on his diapers and weight gain?

I dont know.. i was also told by the hospital that it needs to be every2-3 hours... I find i need to wake him up for most of his feedings. I do every 3 hours and 1, 4 hour. If you think about it that gives the recommended 8 feedings.I have never tried leaving it for him to tell me, i would like to try to get a scheduled going if i could with him. I have also been anal about charting everything but today i have not charted anything. He seems to be having lots of poo's and pees.

Anyone's baby getting loads of wet diapers and not any poopy diapers?
Elliot gets 8-10 wet diapers, but he has not #2ed for 2 days now...i now in the early days poohs are highly important. Its not until after a couple of months that its not a concern to go without them...im just trying to keep an eye on everything with the IGT and all. We usually have to supplement 1/2-1oz a few feeds per day...which im fine with because with DS1 we were supplementing 24oz per day...so IGT has def improved with pregnancy and getting the breast tissue growth that comes with that....but im not sure about his lack of poops

I don't know if it is just different in Australia but with both Harry and Charlie I was told on average they should feed every four hours and that has been what they have done since birth and both have kept that timing themselves. I haven't woken them for feeds but they pretty much wake themselves bang on the four hour mark except for the odd cluster feed which has always mainly been in the afternoons. Was also told from six weeks onward they may have longer periods of sleep at night, Charlie has done a couple of 5 and 6hr stints at night but nothing regular but from about eight weeks Harry was having an 8pm feed then would sleep through to 3am have a feed then wake for his normal 8am feed and then every four hrs through the day. Charlie is currently putting on 200-300grams a week which i think is between 7 & 10oz a week. (I know I make it sound easy but I have just been blessed with some brilliant children)

Guppy as far as him not pooping I took Charlie to the doc the other day as she hadn't pooped in about 5 days and the doc said the in breastfed babies this can be normal and that they can go up to 10-12 days with out pooping and that breastfed babies don't generally get constipated. I now get one maybe every 2 days.

 

[sparklez]

Guppy I've heard that if babies have a lot of meconium it can take longer for things to get going poop wise

mum that's ridiculous, you know best, just ignore her.

wrt sleeping we woke her every 2-3 hours when she was jaundiced as she woud not wake otherwise and it was helping to get rid of the jaundice, from 2.5 weeks onwards we just let her wake, sometimes she'll go 3 hours, sometimes its 30 mins

joker we were told no hats inside (so why did I buy like 7 hats before she was born, they were too big in the hospital and just fell off her head now she doesn't need them) just wooly hat when you're out

elli if you top up with formula I've heard it's better to start with the formula- just 1oz then breast feed, this is less damaging to your supply but also ending the feed on the breast makes it a positive experience for both of you and gets the feel good hormones flowing

when she's awake and doesn't need feeding/changing/bath etc we look at each other and talk nonsence and I kiss her cheeks to try to get her to smile - we're getting close it's very exciting, if she gets grizzly I sit her on my knee or lie her on her back/ tummy so she can look around. We have a baby book she loves (this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Faces-Babys-Very-First-Book/dp/0333994175) and some black and white toys which she'll stare at for a good 5 mins, if her dad has her he plays her music and bounces her, she loves metal!! we were trying to soothe her last night so I tried several 'relaxing baby sleep music' type videos on youtube but she cried right through them, then we put dio on and she fell asleep to hold diver!!! go figure she still doesn't enjoy the swing or bouncy chair as she wants to be close to us so when she's bored of looking at things or starts yawning I stick her in the sling and we walk round doing chores, I chat to her a bit at first then she'll fall asleep

 

[mumanddad]

Elli thats what i do, at night too, but other wise he gets an ouncd of ebm or formula depending on milk supply then he goes on the breast..

But corbyn can be such a lazy stroppy boy and we do have to give him a bottle of ful feed because he doesnt want to be at thd breast x

 

[Jokerette]

On the rare occasion that i put him to sleep in his crib, I always put Kenny to sleep on his back but sometimes he rolls almost onto his side. I don't think he could make it onto his stomach. Is side ok if he does it himself? He looks pretty cozy all swaddled

But honestly he does his best sleeping in his swing and we have been guilty of having him sleep the whole night in his swing. Is that terrible? I worry about everything... From posture to forming bad sleep habits. But it gets us 4 hr stretches of sleep instead of 2 hour. We also have a Fischer price Rock n play sleeper that he likes.

Am I bad for using these as sleep surfaces ?

 

[swanxxsong]

Aria is 2.5 pounds from doubling her birth weight and has gained an average of 10.67 ounces a week. grow little one grow!

 

[Jokerette]

Yay Aria!!!!! That's awesome!! What a little grower!

 

[swanxxsong]

I should be mortified to admit this, but I call her a little chunker sometimes. I can't help it, she's all cute and getting little rolls and it's adorable.

 

[ellitigg]

I should be mortified to admit this, but I call her a little chunker sometimes. I can't help it, she's all cute and getting little rolls and it's adorable.

Great news that she's putting on a good amount of weight though!

I can't remember who it was who was talking about the baby whisperer book but just thought I'd share this as I think everyone has been having similar frustrations... Sorry for the length of the post but thought it might be useful!

I bought a copy of the baby whisperer and was reading up on settling overtired babies. I've come to the conclusion that some of the issues with night sleeping we've been having are due to overtiredness (possibly triggered by not getting enough milk from the breast and then not settling and then getting overtired). In the baby whisperer, they recommend that you don't use settling techniques that rely on you to settle (like rocking, feeding etc). I'm definitely not making any judgement if that's how you settle your baby because everyone is different but we decided we wanted to try to get Josh to learn to self settle.
So late this afternoon, I think we missed his 'tired' cues and when we tried to put him down, he got steadily more grizzly until he was all out wailing. The baby whisperer advises that if you think the other boxes have been ticked (they are not hungry, nappy is clean etc) then try swaddling, followed by gentle comforting and repeat until baby settles. I was a bit sceptical about this because we've been trying rubbing his chest and comforting him softly or 'shhhing' him and he just tends to scream louder. This time, we persevered. He was having a proper yelling / crying fit by this point. Every few minutes, DH and I took it in turns to go into his room, shh him, talk softly and rub his chest. To start with, he barely quieted at all before we left the room. On about the 4th or 5th turn, I went to his room and did the same thing again and all of a sudden he went quiet and settled to sleep. I was really amazed and kept pressing the monitor to my ear but it actually worked. It was really hard to listen to him crying like that but I'm really pleased I didn't cave and offer him a feed. It actually meant I got to eat my dinner.

 

[RJ2]

I've got my first mum's group in an hour and I am really excited.
Since I don't have family in Sydney and my few friends I have are in the Navy too they are at work during the week and are often away at sea so i rarely get the chance to socialize and Hubby is doing weekly running till April when he goes for 2 months so I only see him on weekends I am relying on this to keep me sane and for that all to important adult conversation.

Of course you girls go a long way to help with that as well.

I hope I have a good group.

Don't forget to stop and smile everyday and don't sweat about the little things.

 

[swanxxsong]

How was your first mum's group? I hope it went well! I need to make myself a plan soon of what group(s) I want to attend and when they meet. I think I want to go to the local LLL meetings if I can fit one into my schedule (the one meets during choir rehearsal so I'm hoping their other meeting is a daytime one lol) and I want to start going to a local mom group, but I'm still waiting a few weeks because you have to give your LO to their sitter and I still don't feel comfortable giving Aria to a stranger. I'm a little neurotic I guess. haha.

My Baltic Amber nursing necklace came today! Yay!!

 

[Almost Mama]

I should be mortified to admit this, but I call her a little chunker sometimes. I can't help it, she's all cute and getting little rolls and it's adorable.

Great news that she's putting on a good amount of weight though!

I can't remember who it was who was talking about the baby whisperer book but just thought I'd share this as I think everyone has been having similar frustrations... Sorry for the length of the post but thought it might be useful!

I bought a copy of the baby whisperer and was reading up on settling overtired babies. I've come to the conclusion that some of the issues with night sleeping we've been having are due to overtiredness (possibly triggered by not getting enough milk from the breast and then not settling and then getting overtired). In the baby whisperer, they recommend that you don't use settling techniques that rely on you to settle (like rocking, feeding etc). I'm definitely not making any judgement if that's how you settle your baby because everyone is different but we decided we wanted to try to get Josh to learn to self settle.
So late this afternoon, I think we missed his 'tired' cues and when we tried to put him down, he got steadily more grizzly until he was all out wailing. The baby whisperer advises that if you think the other boxes have been ticked (they are not hungry, nappy is clean etc) then try swaddling, followed by gentle comforting and repeat until baby settles. I was a bit sceptical about this because we've been trying rubbing his chest and comforting him softly or 'shhhing' him and he just tends to scream louder. This time, we persevered. He was having a proper yelling / crying fit by this point. Every few minutes, DH and I took it in turns to go into his room, shh him, talk softly and rub his chest. To start with, he barely quieted at all before we left the room. On about the 4th or 5th turn, I went to his room and did the same thing again and all of a sudden he went quiet and settled to sleep. I was really amazed and kept pressing the monitor to my ear but it actually worked. It was really hard to listen to him crying like that but I'm really pleased I didn't cave and offer him a feed. It actually meant I got to eat my dinner.

*raises hand* i'm the baby whisperer culprit lol. and i found that part amazing! the part where she speaks about comfort aids vs. sleeping tools was great as well... so now I intend to try to just use her swing for activity time after the feed, as opposed to using it to help her sleep, which is why we originally bought it.
she offers so much advice that i'd never have thought of. ive been trying to talk my sister into trying pick up/put down with her 7mth old who still wakes at night to feed, but she's turned him into a snacker, and refuses to just give him the full feeds during the day on routined basis.
the one thing im unsure about tho, is she says if they wake hungry, feed, and put back down immideately... no walking or cuddling or whatever... but how do you keep this from becoming habit? I know to increase the intake amount during the day... but it could only take a few nights to start a bad habit. we'll see how it plays out i suppose, but i'm planning on following her suggestions, at least for E.A.S.Y, the 4"s" sleep guide, and p.u/p.d, if necessary.

 

[Jokerette]

I have tried what you said above in the middle of the night... Kenny will eat and be totally passed out and if I could just put him down ti sleep then he would totally sleep I know it... BUT.... Everytime I feed him he either wets or has a huge BM so I need to change his diaper. So the little peaceful baby who fell asleep on the breast after a nice nights feed is now wide awake from the unswaddlinh and the diaper change. What do you guys do? It seems like he will get a rash if I just put him back to sleep. Or is it ok to skip a midnight diaper? Or I'm afraid the diaper will become so full that if he pees again it'll leak.

Kenny is such a cuddler... He needs ti be held for a while before he can be put down. In the happiest baby on the block it says you can't hold your baby too much in the first three months. After that then its time to start weaning. So that kind of conflicts with baby whisperer huh?

 

[Jokerette]

Ps- Kenny naturally started increasing his intake during the day and yesterday during the day he fed every 2-2.5 hours and he ended up going 5 hours last night from one feeding to the next!! Then the next one was 3.5 hours! Minus about 30 mins of me rocking him ti sleep I got a couple good shifts of sleep in!

 

[swanxxsong]

When Aria wakes in the middle of the night, our routine is:

Change diaper, nurse, back to bed. She is rash-free and will sleep for anywhere from 2-5 hours at a time. And our only leaks thus far have been blowouts while awake lol. Always a pleasure xDD

 

[RedheadBabies]

Ladies, I don't know what to do...breast feeding has taken a turn for the worst. I still can't supply enough to feed her at times, and now she has started throwing screaming fits when trying to latch on. We are still supplementing formula in small amounts, and are still having to use the nipple shield. We are working on getting rid of it, but it isn't going well. I try and pump an hour or so after she eats, but sometimes I do, and she'll wake up and be hungry again because she didn't get enough at the last feeding. I'm eating enough, drinking lots, and let her on anytime she wants. We only do formula when I have nothing left to give her. Oh, and my milk let's down in really small amounts...like less than one ounce each side. I will keep chugging along, but do any of you have advice? Tips? Things that worked for you? I'd love to hear it! Of and she is a very sleepy eater. If she isn't falling asleep, she's wide awake and super distracted. I don't think she ever fully drains my breasts. I try and pump right after she eats to get everything out, but sometimes I get nothing even though to the touch I don't feel "empty". I feel like breast feeding wouldn't be hard if I had the supply I, just don't know how to get it.

Sorry for any typos, did this from my phone with one hand!

 

[Junebugs]

Jokerette- I normally change 3/4 of the way though a feeding for that reason. I find he has done most of his business by then and he finishes off with the rest of his feeding and falls asleep

 

[dizzyangel]

Breastfeeding is a nightmare for me too. She seems to constantly be on the boob at night, I'm sure I was sat from 11pm to 4am feeding! I have such a sore left nipple and an aching boob which is made even worse by lack of sleep.
Am I supposed to have some kind of routine by now at 11 days old? Or should I just be feeding on demand and she will settle into her own routine?
I'm so tempted to give a little bit of formula on a night time just to help her sleep for a few straight hours instead of me breastfeeding, putting her in her Moses basket then her crying again 5 mins later. If I do this, how much should I be topping her up with? I don't want to give up breastfeeding but I'm getting fed up with not having any sleep

 

[swanxxsong]

Aria is 7 weeks old today and still has no set feeding schedule, so if it's wrong, then I'm doing it wrong. She's slowly falling into a somewhat recognizable pattern, but I BF her on demand. Which may be why she's gaining like crazy but whatever. rofl!

Have you spoken with a LC RedHead? I'd definitely try to find someone from LLL or a LC to speak with, to see if they can tell you anything. Also, I'd say skin-to-skin as much as possible. It got messy sometimes, but I'd take Aria to bed with me and she'd be in just her diaper and I'd be topless and we would snuggle. If she wanted to nurse, I'd let her, otherwise she'd just drift off and I felt the closeness really helped my body regulate itself to her. Or putting her in a sling or carrier of some sort without a shirt on to S2S that way would work also.

I know that I've heard Gatorade, fenugreek, mother's milk tea, oats... things like that help to build supply. You're doing it right, lots of water will help keep you hydrated! And I know it is difficult, but they told me that relaxation was key - hence the being in bed with baby for the day. Stress just makes everything difficult.

Aria can latch if she's awake, but we still use the shield too - mostly because she's so messy without it (she's messy enough with it, let along without, the lazy bugger). But if she wants to, she can nurse without it... I should just wean her 100% but whenever I start, then I have a sloppy mess in the middle of the night one night and go back to it. It's bad.

Sorry I can't be of much help, but I'd see if there's someone you could call who would be local to help you. Hopefully they'll have some advice for you!

 

[RedheadBabies]

Breastfeeding is a nightmare for me too. She seems to constantly be on the boob at night, I'm sure I was sat from 11pm to 4am feeding! I have such a sore left nipple and an aching boob which is made even worse by lack of sleep.
Am I supposed to have some kind of routine by now at 11 days old? Or should I just be feeding on demand and she will settle into her own routine?
I'm so tempted to give a little bit of formula on a night time just to help her sleep for a few straight hours instead of me breastfeeding, putting her in her Moses basket then her crying again 5 mins later. If I do this, how much should I be topping her up with? I don't want to give up breastfeeding but I'm getting fed up with not having any sleep

I started out just giving Mallory 1oz of formula before bed. Now, I feed her for 20 mins each side, and then give her 2oz in a bottle before bed. I'm trying to stick to just the bed time bottle. We still don't have a routine either. I hope things get better for you also. People talk about how hard breast feeding is, I'm giving 100%, but my sweet baby girl is so lazy! It's so much based on babies latch, interest, hunger, etc... I want to be producing milk like a dairy cow!! Hopefully soon!

 

[RedheadBabies]

Aria is 7 weeks old today and still has no set feeding schedule, so if it's wrong, then I'm doing it wrong. She's slowly falling into a somewhat recognizable pattern, but I BF her on demand. Which may be why she's gaining like crazy but whatever. rofl!

Have you spoken with a LC RedHead? I'd definitely try to find someone from LLL or a LC to speak with, to see if they can tell you anything. Also, I'd say skin-to-skin as much as possible. It got messy sometimes, but I'd take Aria to bed with me and she'd be in just her diaper and I'd be topless and we would snuggle. If she wanted to nurse, I'd let her, otherwise she'd just drift off and I felt the closeness really helped my body regulate itself to her. Or putting her in a sling or carrier of some sort without a shirt on to S2S that way would work also.

I know that I've heard Gatorade, fenugreek, mother's milk tea, oats... things like that help to build supply. You're doing it right, lots of water will help keep you hydrated! And I know it is difficult, but they told me that relaxation was key - hence the being in bed with baby for the day. Stress just makes everything difficult.

Aria can latch if she's awake, but we still use the shield too - mostly because she's so messy without it (she's messy enough with it, let along without, the lazy bugger). But if she wants to, she can nurse without it... I should just wean her 100% but whenever I start, then I have a sloppy mess in the middle of the night one night and go back to it. It's bad.

Sorry I can't be of much help, but I'd see if there's someone you could call who would be local to help you. Hopefully they'll have some advice for you!

My pediatricians office has a full time LC on staff. I'm going to call Monday and try and set something up with her. The hospital also offers free breastfeeding support groups. I'm looking for all the help I can get! I plan to ask them about the mothers milk tea, fenugeek and all the other things to see what they recommend.

Do you guys pump in a schedule around feedings? How much do you get if you do?