Hello babies! - IAB's weekly threads. D days and newborns :)

[admiral765]

Really glad sunshine and how envious of you am I with Daisy only waking once! My girl was like that too! Grr! Xx

 

[bumpycat]

Wow, Sunshine, Daisy only wakes ONCE in the night? You are super lucky! Gabe is cluster feeding from 9pm till midnight, another feed at 3-4am, then again at 6-7am. I'm shattered by morning. OH is great, he insists on getting up even if it's just to do the changing while I sort myself out, and he never grumbles. I wish he'd skip it sometimes because he is really suffering with having to be at work all week, and I at least can usually get a short nap during the day.

Today I went to a breastfeeding clinic at the hospital and learned some terrific new techniques, and I think I will be able to get more milk into Gabe at one feed now. He has been really gassy, which caused a lot of problems with getting him to feed fully off both sides, and he was expending extra energy with all the fussing trying to get him winded - all that means shorter intervals between feeds. I've fed him twice today using the new hold and technique, and he has slept like an angel for up to 3 hours at a stretch. I got a 2 hour nap, it was brilliant. Praying it works tonight!!!

 

[Blizzard]

Hi all, would you mind if I joined the thread? Would be nice to have other mum's around who gave birth at roughly the same time! I'm in baby club but this thread seems like a nice place to be . Xxx

 

[admiral765]

Hi blizzard! That's great, I recognise you! I am in baby club too but don't really post that much. How is everything? Xx

 

[Blizzard]

Everything's going really well thanks hun, nice of you to remember me . Apart from it being 5am! The seagulls seem to be having some sort of party and frankly I want to shoot them. Also my husband is snoring loudly and I can't wake him because he has to be up for work at 7am. I'm incredibly jealous.

How are you enjoying being a mum? How is everyone getting on? I can't believe Fin is a month old! Not quite as good as Daisy (lucky you Sunshine) but he only wakes up three times on average, so not bad at all. One time sounds amazing though!

To get proper sleep I caved and we co-slept for a while, but that's stopped almost completely now until morning when we always have a cuddle.

Just want to add that all of the babies are gorgeous! Congrats! Xx

 

[NotNic]

Hi Blizzard! :waves: Welcome to the thread! I am officially in Baby Club but I normally only have access to internet on my iphone, so it's easier just to catch up here.

Bumpy - What hold did they show you? I have reverted to letting Finlay feed how he wants for as long as he wants, and we seem much happier. He eats like a ganet though! We have formula of a nightime and he will happily down 5 oz, and has been known to do 7oz on the odd afternoon out! I can't keep up with the feeds though and have tried to express when he's asleep and I think he really must drain me, because we don't get very much! Not sure how much longer we will do this though. I can see me needing to wean him well before 6 months.

Hope everyone else is doing well. Finlay is a lovely pickle and we are so grateful for the invention of infacol. He is still colicy but we have more good days than bad and we're praying that lasts. He has started to be sick quite often though so I don't go anywhere without a muslin cloth!

 

[admiral765]

Things are going really well! My little girl is so adorable with him! Bf is sooooo exhausting. NotNic did your lo sleep better after a formula feed at night? I was debating whether to give him one to at least have a larger stretch of sleep. I'm still feeding every 2 hours and 1 hour at some points in the day or night!
Hope the rest of you are good. Still haven't heard from akerie xx

 

[NotNic]

We f'feed c.11pm and put him down about 40mins later and he will sleep for 4hrs. We then do another around 3ish and he will go down for another 3 hrs. During the day he can go longish stretches but normally wants to eat every 2.5-3hrs. He's not an especially quick eater (except when he's starving), so it doesn't really speed up feeding time but there is a definite end to meal times and hubby can share the feeds. Also we can dream feed so I don't have to waste time waking him up plus I'm less likely to fall asleep with him in the bed.

 

[bumpycat]

Bumpy - What hold did they show you? I have reverted to letting Finlay feed how he wants for as long as he wants, and we seem much happier. He eats like a ganet though! We have formula of a nightime and he will happily down 5 oz, and has been known to do 7oz on the odd afternoon out! I can't keep up with the feeds though and have tried to express when he's asleep and I think he really must drain me, because we don't get very much! Not sure how much longer we will do this though. I can see me needing to wean him well before 6 months.

It's called "laidback" breastfeeding. Gabe sits astride my leg with his body snuggled up to me, and his arms automatically brace his chest against me, so his head is raised like a little cobra. I can adjust how high his head comes up on my chest by reclining, moving his bum towards/away from me along my leg, or raising my leg by putting my foot on something. The idea is that his nose should be just above nipple height. Then I make a latch shape with the opposite hand to the breast he will feed on, but I use my first two fingers like scissors rather than cupping the breast. His reflexes generally have kicked in by this point, and he bobs his head sideways along to the breast, mouth wide open, and latches himself on. The latch is generally very good, and it is easy to remove my hand once he's in place. I use the arm on the same side of the breast to support his body and head, but it is primarily for balance because most of his weight is on my body and leg, and I can lean back so my back is well supported in virtually any position. My back and arms are a lot less achy now, and at least on the right breast I am pain free. We are still working through some positioning issues and a very slowly healing crack on the left. There are some nice videos if you google "laidback breastfeeding", but I found it most helpful to have someone actually show me, and to watch other mums doing it in person.

I can't keep up with Gabriel's feeds either. I had to stop expressing because I was having some bad referred pain from the nipples down into the core breast tissue and I was advised by the lactation consultant to let everything heal as much as possible. Gabe's on at least one bottle of formula a day, but only 3.5 oz (100mL) at a time. He did gain 10 ounces in 2 weeks between the last two weighings without any formula at all, but that is on the low side for such a big baby and I think he will be up to two small bottles a day before long. It's so hard when he's screaming for more and there is literally nothing left in either breast. I don't feel like I am failing or anything, but it's damnably frustrating.

ps - The head bobbing is @#$%ing hilarious. If you try the laidback technique, you're going to kill yourself laughing the first time your baby does it.

 

[NotNic]

Thanks bumpy! I'll give that a try as it's not too dissimilar to how we feed now. Finlay lays slightly diagonally with his head in the same position as you describe but supported by my elbow / upper arm and I let him find the nipple by himself. If he struggles I shape the boob or guide his head. He is a big head thrasher! I do get pain near my wrist though so I'll try changing his body shape like you do as I can see that really helping. Sounds much better for bf'ing in public too.

Have you considered using nipple shields? The bf counsellors don't recommend them but Finlay has such a vice like latch he kept reopening the cracks (even with the shields on sometimes!) but they gave me more protection and allowed me to more or less heal. You do need to wean them off though if you use them for a long time as the shields make them lazy in finding the nipple. We used them for 2-3 weeks and then to start each feed off. We now don't need them but I won't bin them in case things change.

 

[NotNic]

How is everyone doing? It's been quiet on here recently. xxx

 

[Blizzard]

I guess everyone's busy with their new babies . I'm fine hun, how are you doing? Xx

 

[admiral765]

I'm good! Dylan is still feeding every two hours or less night and day, looking forward to that changing so I can have a bit more rest but apart from that it's great! How is everything? Xx

 

[bumpycat]

I'm doing ok, we have a pretty reasonable night routine now, but I need a lot of catch-up napping during the day. Gabe's dad is suffering more because of being back at work full time. I don't wake him on purpose during the night feeds, but Gabe does cry and I need the night light to see what I'm doing. OH insists that as it is more comfortable for me to feed him in our bed, I should just do it there instead of staying in the nursery after changing him. We need to spend some time making the nursery more comfortable for feeding - there's a sofa bed in there now, but it's not really great for sitting up to feed, which is the best way for us. I'm getting out fairly often, at least once a day, and staying in touch with other local new mums. I've got my first parent and baby yoga class today!

 

[NotNic]

I am pleased everyone is doing well. Bumpy hang in there with the regular feeding. I've noticed that Finlay has started to want to eat less often. He is now waking up a bit later so eating at 7.30 instead of 6.30, which means he'll go through to c.11/ 11.30 before wanting to eat again. A few weeks ago we were having 3 feeds before 12. He also eats at 11pm and going through to 3.30-4. Before we were feeding additionally at 1am. We also go to sleep with the night light on so it doesn't disturb hubby when we're feeding at night.

The only problem we are having with this is that he wants for longer each time and he wants more ounces when we formula feed. He will happily chug 6-7oz a session. Even
with 2 ffs this size he has dropped slightly on the weight graph. I mentioned to the health visitor about the size of these bottles and she said that as long as he's not being sick more than usual then it's fine, and he obviously needs it for growing as he's not chunking up. She has suggested we up our formula feeds to 3 a day. Most days I express before bed just to keep the supply going but I can see him becoming more formula than breast fed soon, but I'd like to keep one or two bfs a day and I think by swapping feeds in a gradual way this will be possible. I just don't think he's getting enough calories and fat from my milk.

On more positive news his hip ultrasound went well. No sign of any issues. I also bumped into the lady I shared a room with after his birth. I really regretted not swapping numbers with her at the time so it's great I got to today.

Xx

 

[Vixx]

I have to say with all the classes and leaflets etc, no one REALLY prepares you for how intense and hardwork feeding your baby will be. And also the amount of pressure put onto new mums to breastfeed, I thought it was quite bad before Niamh arrived, but bloody hell, its a constant bombardment afterwards.

As you may of guessed, feeding has been problematic for us, we're currently combi feeding due to supply (and exhaustion) issues. I have a very hungry baby, who from very early on let me know that what I was offering wasn't enough. So I tried pumping etc and it didn't make a difference and it meant I was awake 24/7, either feeding or pumping! My midwife intervened after seeing the state i was in and discussing my medical history (long term hypothyroidism and chronic fatigue symdrome), she suggested either switching topping up with formula each time I breastfed and its been working well. Sometimes she doesn't need topping up at all and sometimes she'll guzzle 6oz after having ages on both boobs. So still a little unpredictable, but what baby isn't

 

[bumpycat]

Vixx - I've had a similar situation with Gabe and the variable top-ups. We're not dealing with any other issues, though, and I am trying to move us back towards exclusively breastfeeding - the last 24 hours he's had no formula at all and it's been ok. It was so distressing last week when he was still hungry after hours of continual nursing. We're still working hard at it. This afternoon, I was struggling to get Gabe to relax after an hour of feeding, and had even poured out some premade formula into a bottle before forcing myself back to the couch for another nursing session. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I felt so ashamed at even considering the bottle, and I sat there crying while I fed him. I feel better now, but still very mixed feelings about how pressured I feel and how all the other new mums I meet seem to be dealing with breastfeeding far better.

 

[NotNic]

Bumpy don't feel ashamed! If ebf is the way you want to go then good on you. It's a longer journey to get things settled but I have friends who tell me that it's worth it now. There is the argument that by ff your body becomes less productive at producing the milk your baby needs which then means that you end up using more formula. It's a vicious circle. I made a decision to combi-feed before Finlay arrived and I'm glad that I did. People tell me I seem relaxed and that Finlay is content - which he is. Now the pain issues have eased I'm happier. I still do on demand feeding, but combi feeding allows me to get out and about. He has 4 proper bfs plus an expressed bottle most days and 2-3 ffs and I offer the breast if he's unsettled. As he has quite an appetite, if I didn't ff he wouldn't gain weight as i don't think he would take enough as he is a slow feeder Personally I think any way that keeps you bf'ing is a good thing and I don't feel bad about supplementing. Feeding is hard!

 

[bumpycat]

NotNic - thank you. It does help so much to hear that, and to hear that combi-feeding can work. I've been frightened off to some extent by the intense pressure to breastfeed, to the point where I felt really uncomfortable even bringing it up at the mum & baby groups, and I have never given Gabriel a bottle in public. And yet I see mums bottle feeding all the time! It's just one of the many many things we can feel guilty about I guess.

 

[Sunshine12]

Hi girls. Just popping in (I rarely log in these days) to say hi. Hope you are all well. xxx