March Mummies 2011

[Shell'sAngels]

thanks girls, Midwife came over Mason has gained a little but literally 1oz! but at least its a gain better than a loss or staying the same, i should bloody hope so too with the amount of effort im putting in his feeding lol... im trying so hard to avoid him going into hospital to be monitored we had this with my other 2 and im addiment to try and keep Mason out cuse we just cannot go through that again!
She didnt seem too concerned and told me i was doing everything right and he was gaining so at least he is getting some! im now trying colief picked some up will get it on prescription if it works but needed to try something today!...
Im lucky if i get 2oz feeds down him and he is a week old now!

 

[blessedmomma]

shells- im glad you got some medicine in him and he is gaining weight. hope he doesnt have to go back in hospital!

 

[Tanikit]

Natty Ethan is really cute! Sorry about the infection - especially after all the ffort you put in, I really hope it clears soon.

Shell's glad Mason is putting on some weight - sorry you had to go through hospital stays with the others and hope Mason keeps gaining well and that the reflux gets better.

At least the air con and the drive settled Laurana eventually and Kirima somehow stayed asleep (how do they sleep through screaming toddlers?) Laurana is trying so hard to be a big girl and at the same time also wants to be a baby. Some moments are so sweet and I love them both so much and other moments are so frustrating and I love them but want to cry.

Melissa I do not know how you look after 3 - baby and 2 toddlers at any time, let alone a morning run so hats off to you!

 

[natty1985]

Thanks everyone shells hope the meds work I used that with fin xx blessed I might sound thick herebut co sleeping ? Wat is that ? X

 

[blessedmomma]

natty- thats not thick at all. not many people in the US do it and im not sure about the UK.

my babies sleep with us til they are about 1-2 years old. there is a lot of benefits to it and it works best for us. i have a king size bed, so room isnt an issue at all. some people use an attached side bed, but we put them right in with us. a lot of other countries its the norm, but here it can be frowned upon. its more natural for us and since i studied it a lot in college while i was pregnant with my first and was studying psychology and sociology- i am completely convinced it works best for mine.

here is some links about it...

https://www.breastfeeding.com/reading_room/co_slepping.html

https://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/01/09/cosleeping-benefits/

https://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/handout1.asp

https://www.naturalchild.org/guest/tami_breazeale.html

there is a lot of physical, emotional, and psychological benefits to it. its supposed to work out really well for BF moms too, and even though i dont BF i still get a lot of those benefits too because i keep his bottles by the bed ready to go. so the second he wakes up i can have a bottle ready. the quicker i can respond to him, the easier he goes back to sleep. have done this with all 5 of mine now, wouldnt change a bit of it. my babies start sleeping through the night very early on

 

[natty1985]

Well I am convinced Ethan would sleep better with us I don't think he would be so upset he's so settled by me and I like the idea of co sleeping ! In just really scared I'll make him too hot or roll on him ?! How do you do it with nathon ? If Ive fallen asleep with Ethan in my arms he wakes up really sweaty on his head on the side he's lay in so then I get paranoid x I think you could re assure me though having done it with all yours x

 

[blessedmomma]

well i know its not for everyone. im a very heavy sleeper, but for some reason when i have a baby there i sleep really light. i wake up if they make the slightest noise or movement. i dont roll a lot in my sleep anyways, so thats not a concern for me. i have never even almost rolled on one of them. i dont know why it works this way, but its like even when im asleep im aware of them. my DH usually rolls a lot, but for some reason he doesnt when we have a baby in bed.

of course they say if you take sleep meds, drink alcohol, or use any drugs that might knock you out or make you sleep harder you shouldnt co-sleep. but i think if someones doing any of that their gonna have a hard time getting up to get a baby anyways in the middle of the night.

they sleep on my arm all night long. usually i switch sides when they wake up to eat. right now nathon is so little that i have to keep him warm by cuddling him more. when they get bigger and can keep their warmth more i just dress them in less. we sleep with 2-3 fans on us, so its not very common my LO's get hot. you definitely dont want them to get overheated or too cold though. my last DS is a big boy and i started noticing he would wake up hot around 4-5 mos old. so he started sleeping in just his diaper.

i think every mom has to decide whats best for them. for us co-sleeping works perfect. but then i have done it so much its very natural to me

 

[MumtoJ]

Natty, I co-slept with Jacob, if you want to chat about it I'm happy to talk. I have to say I slept v lightly when I had J in the bed with me, and OH who usually sleeps v heavily would sense he was in the bed even the dog who often sneaks up on the bed, would check to see if he was there before trying to get in.

As he got older he would be put down in his own bed and then when he had his night feed would stay with us, until he got to the point where he figited that much that he was more settled in his own bed.

There are things to be aware of like not drinking, smoking, taking drugs (even some medications that can make you drowsy) that all mean co-sleeping is not recommended.

You can also get special items that are designed for co-sleeping.

You have my number if you want to talk about it...

 

[rottpaw]

Hey girls! Is anyone breastfeeding? Have a couple questions if so. Hugs all!

 

[MumtoJ]

Hey girls! Is anyone breastfeeding? Have a couple questions if so. Hugs all!

Rottpaw - Tanikit is I believe and I am planning to and did with DS1, if your comfortable doing so just post your question up and either a current BFer or past BFer will do their best to answer, warning - you may get multiple answers as different things work for different people, which may be confusing at first but often works in the long run as if one things doesn't work you can try the next suggestion.

Hoping all you other mummies are doing well and it is so good to hear that the weight gains are generally going in the right direction.

Hoping those with reflux are finding things that work - Shell I believe your FF not sure which milk your using, have you tried a different one that my be easier for Mason to digest??

Hope to be this side of the fence soon xx

 

[Tanikit]

Nice to chat about co-sleeping. My eldest slept in a carry cot next to my bed til she got too big for it them I started her in a proper cot at night but brought her into our bed when she needed her first feed (often around 23:00 - she woke a LOT no matter what I did and often fed 6 times a night all the way til 20 months) so we pretty much co-slept til 2 years - she still climbs in bed with us but not every night - some nights she does sleep through.

Kirima is also in a carry cot next to our bed but I often BF her lying next to me and put her back into the carry cot if she is finished. When I feel safer doing it she will co-sleep properly. Kirima sleeps better than my eldest did.

Angela I am BFing and there are more on here who are too I think.

 

[Shell'sAngels]

Hi girls...

Well Mason was a little better last night, not sure if its the colief or not but we didnt have lots of screaming fits so maybe its helping?... My hubby kindly did night duty last night i was just so tired i needed some sleep so he slept downstairs with Mason, he said he had a feed at 11pm 2oz, 2am 2oz and 5am 2oz he then woke at 8am and took another 2oz so i think we are getting there slowly! it still takes a good half hour to hour to feed thought and normally is 1oz then have to wake him by changing his nappie and then he will take the other oz.... he is due another feed shortly... he seems to be going 2-3 hourly 4 if we are lucky lol

 

[pinkycat]

2nd time i hope the contractions kept going.
Cathryn- i cant believe your still pregnant! Hurry up baby lol

Shell -colief is great, so are gaviscon satchets from the doctor. I used them both with my DD2

Natty- Ouch i really hope the antib's kick in and you dont need them doing again

Niamh is taking 4oz then an hour later she will usually take another 2oz, its hard work by the time iv fed changed and pumped i need to start all over again. DH and MIL keep telling me to put her on formula but it seems a waste as i have loads of milk (just expressed 110z eek) and as blessedmomma was saying formula is very ££££

 

[blessedmomma]

angela- if i could BF i definitely would try. wish i could help you out. i know there are several on here that have BF and there also is a BF section. also there is the la leche league thats a good resource.

shells- sounds like mason made some progress yay!!!

 

[Tanikit]

Shell's glad Mason is doing better. Kirima gives me one long period of sleep a day and the rest is about 3 hourly which suits me fine - she does have some periods where she will drink and stop and drink and stop and keep this up for ages. Is Mason maybe a bit hot - I find the warmer Kirima is the less she wants to drink - sometimes having her in only a short sleeved vest has helped.

Pinkycat sounds like you are doing a great job. I would love to know how much milk Kirima is getting, but she seems quite happy and I am due to get her weighed tomorrow so will see what they say too. I am sure I read somewhere why you are pumping but can you remind me? Is there a way to maybe get your little one back on the breast to save you time at any stage - I did speak to someone who pumped the whole way through and coped but it is very time consuming.

 

[Shell'sAngels]

think i spoke to soon, projectile vomiting tonight!

 

[2nd time]

i grauated at 8-32pm sunday 6th march what do you think to Aanissa Vittoria as a name

 

[rottpaw]

Thanks Blessed!

2nd time I LOVE that name! Beautiful!

Cathryn - thanks on the BF questions...The issue we're having is just really low milk supply. Some milk is definitely there, but it does not seem like he gets very much at ALL when nursing, and when I pump I only get like 10 ml on one side and 3 on the other. That's not even close to what he needs in even a single feed... and they have me pumping which, as others have mentioned, is completely exhausting when added to the already hectic feeding and changing routine (minus sleep!).

Milk came in starting Friday (and boobs KILLING me so it seems like there would be plenty there) but there just is not much of it coming out, and I have no way to know what he's actually getting when he nurses... not a lot of swallowing that I can hear, and certainly no gulping. I also can't see milk coming out or expess much myself... if anyone has any tips I would welcome them!

We can't go by diaper output because the pediatrician absolutely forbid us to nurse only - we are required to supplement with formula until we know there's mlik there, and I would not be willing to make him go without anyway. So that's not really a helpful gauge. But he does have somewhat "breastmilk" consistency stools, so hopefully some is making its way in!

Hubby and my MIL and I talked today and decided to just start letting him spend as much time nursing as he wants, instead of pumping. At least during the night, when we all desperately need sleep.

Any other tips anyone has would be welcome! Thanks ladies!

 

[MumtoJ]

Angela, it is hard when BF to be confident that they are getting enough, I know last time when I expressed I got very little but by the weight J put on he was getting enough. What I did find though in the early days that helped me with the let down reflex as my boobs were so sore was a warm shower before feeding to relax the let down or if no time for that to heat a damp muslin in the microwave and then placing that on the boob I was about to feed from - tended to find the feeding much easier and then as everything settled down and my boobs became less sensitive / painful that I didn't need to do it any more.

Make sure you are drinking plenty of fluids as you use loads when producing milk I remember drinking about 500mls every time I fed J and I just would get sooooo thirsty.

Also babys tummy is still little and can only take little bits at a time, if you are mixed feeding the bottle will be much easier to get milk out of so he may not want to suck hard enough to get the milk but the above with the shower / muslin trick may help with this as well. In the UK advice is different - we are advised that if BF not to introduce a bottle for the first 6 weeks so that baby learns how to BF as well as mum but you need to do what makes you most comfortable and confident. But I would suggest if you want to BF that you offer boobs first and let him have a good go at that and then offer a FF or have certain feeds that are only BF and then others that are FF. but if you offer a FF first and then boobs he will have filled up and wont show much interest.

Hope that helps - I hope none of it is preachy its not intended to be. Lots of luck
xxx

 

[Shell'sAngels]

well i dunno what to say ladies im at my wits end, i feel im getting somewhere with Mason then all of a sudden we have a massive projectile vomitting episode and it all comes back up! he was in so much pain last night screaming and windy too bless him and i didnt know what to do with him, i just pray when they weigh him 2moro he has put on weight or we are back into hospital!