September Stars

[SisterRose]

Daisy - I was just coming on to ask about how you're all feeding your babies.

Laura - My OH goes back to work tomorrow and i'm not looking forward to him leaving either! quite scary thinking I'll be all alone but I'm sure we'll manage

I've been breastfeeding Ellie for the last 2 weeks(and 1 day now to be pedantic) but she doesn't seem to ever be satisfied with what she's having and it's getting increasingly difficult to cope at nights with her wanting more and more constantly.
I had her on the boob from 7:20pm last night and she only finally dropped off to sleep at around 12:30am after wanting to be constantly fed. I'm starting to feel as though she isn't getting all she wants too.
I've been expressing for a while aswell as putting her on the boob, i find it's good cause i can see then how much she's taking at a time and she's having 90ML+ and still crying for more afterwards and I don't know if she should be wanting that much ALL of the time?
I caved in last night and fed her 60ML of SMA formula milk and she went right to sleep 30 mins after having it and seemed contented! she didn't even wake for hours afterwards and I feel really guilty giving it to her or like I'm trying to take the "easy" way out but she did seem happier and I'm wondering if it'd be best to just move to formula now after breastfeeding the two weeks.

I was wondering how many of you are breastfeeding and how many of you are formula feeding at the moment?

Genies - My OH made a comment a sec ago about how cute your display pic is with both babies

 

[Emzywemzy]

Bekklez as you already know I breastfed for 11 days but then switched to bottle feeding as she was losing too much weight. I felt DREADFUL about it for ages and have recently only really come to terms with it! I was sooo gutted that I couldn't breastfeed her as it's something I always wanted to do and it took me ages to get my head around the fact that I couldn't. I felt like a bad mother and like I was robbing her of something and scared that I might not bond properly with her. But, over the weeks I've come to realise that I really did do the best thing for my baby by switching. She was poorly and losing a lot of weight and now look at her! She is thriving and gaining so much weight and I know I did the right thing by switching. So although I can't tell you what to do, I will say trust your instincts. I am a firm believer that Mum knows best and happy mummy= happy baby. When I was trying to persevere with breastfeeding, I was constantly in tears as she was crying and crying and couldn't get enough from me, it was heartbreaking. Now she is bottle fed she is so much happier and content. Bottle feeding hasn't been without it's trials though, what with wind and reflux but I'm still confident that I made the right choice for Holly and you will too for Ellie, just trust your instincts x

 

[_LauraK1982_]

Thanks everyone - Feels scary that it will just be me and her day in and day out. I think its just worse at the moment as I am still housebound and will be for at least another 10-14 days. I cant even shower or walk to the shops on my own

I am BF and although it seems to be going well, I keep getting a little worried that she is not getting enough. She only wakes once during the night for a feed and only feeds for a small amount of time in the night. I feed her about 9pm ish and them give her a top up about 11pm. She wakes normally about 2pm and then sleeps until about 7/8am. I worry that she is nt getting enough but she certainly isnt screaming with hunger or anything. HV is coming tomorrow so hopefully she will of put some weight on which will ease me a little bit and stop me worrying.

Bekklez - You have to do whatever you feel is right. You know your babe better than anyone else

Asher, hope your OH coped on his night out. Mine is the same - he would much prefer to have a few drinks at home than go out and get lashed !!

Hope everyone has a good sunday. xx

 

[FirstBean]

Bekklez I am Formula Feeding and have done from the beginning just a personal choice of mine like the other ladies say dont feel guilty you know best and what is best for your baby girl so just go with your instincts.

Laura my OH went back to work on Monday and I was worried how I would cope but have found it easy me and ollie have our own routine now and I seem to be able to get alot more done now he has gone back to work.

Ollie is 3weeks old today and cant believe how fast its gone.

 

[apaton]

afternoon ladies :wave:

i am also formula feeding after the first two days trying to breastfeed Eoghan had lost 10 oz which was nearly 7 % of his birth weight , he was on me for 6 hours at one point then every hour after that, i ended up in tears so was he i just couldnt do it i felt soo guilty and busrst in o tears when midwife walked in the first day ,but now he is over his birth weight and feel he is alot more staisfied i really loved breast feeding though it was very bonding

My boy was a little monster last night he usually feeds and goes back to sleep , but last night he wanted to stay awake all night i think hes bored , im thinking of things to stimulate him during the day any ideas? i have a bouncy and a baby gym?

my OH is back to work tomorrow im dreading it, im so used to shouting for everything i need

looks like we will have some new stars very soon

hope you are all well xxx

 

[Emzywemzy]

Apaton I have the same problem with Holly, she is awake all night wanting attention! I'm trying to keep her awake during the day more now which isn't easy, but I'm talking to her and putting her on her playmat and just moving her a lot really. Hope it helps as I need some sleep at night soon! x

 

[genies girl]

Beklez, thanks to your other half for the compliment, i need to change the pic as they look so different already.
Dont feel guilty about bottle feeding you can ensure she is getting plenty to eat and your oh can get involved.
I was the only person in the ward one night bottle feeding the other two women were brest feeding and both srying about it, i was so glad i didnt have that stress as id decided to bottle feed from the word go and besides formula has come such a long way with plenty of choice of brands. As my mum would say it did me no harm and i was a very premature 3lb 10oz baby i never looked back.

 

[Sarahkka]

Morning girls!
Simon started off his day by flinging his scrambled eggs all over the floor and table.
He is in a very long time out while Mummy regains her angelic and serene composure.
It is hard to believe that toddlers survive this phase. They are either racing off to do something dangerous or being so astoundingly naughty that one is hard put not to strangle them.
My goal today is to keep the discipline firm but not angry. Simon is just being a toddler. They are naughty by nature at this stage.
Sigh.
I must get him outside today somehow. Even though we've been forecast snow. SNOW!!!!!
Someone needs to tell the jerkface weather gods of Alberta that it is still officially summer, thank you very much.

Bekklez - I had a supply problem with Simon and supplemented him but kept BFing. There is no reason why you can't do both. You don't have to make any big decisions about stopping it altogether. In fact, you can have the best of both worlds. Just be aware that if baby is getting more of her food from formula, that it might affect your supply. You can keep pumping to keep your supply up and get a little extra into baby, and if you consult a doctor, there are lactation drugs to help increase your supply. I was on domperidone with Simon from 8 weeks post-partum to 7 months, when we stopped BFing (because at that point he had several teeth and bit me constantly - mama has some boundaries and those include keeping nipples intact!).
All of us get nervous about the BFing supply thing, I think. It is harder to tell how much they are getting and if the weight keeps dropping, that's really a worry.
Anyway, there's nothing wrong with doing both. Again, that's happy mama/happy baby and no guilt, girl!

 

[Emzywemzy]

Hi girls

Just a couple of pics of my baby girl. Can't believe how big she's getting already!

xx

 

[Sarahkka]

She's so sweet, Emzy!
I don't want to blink and miss a minute of this tiny baby stage. It just whips by, doesn't it?

Okay, I think I'm getting a tad obsessive, but Toby is sleeping a lot and not feeding as much as I would like. I'm leaking all over the place. He still feeds about every three hours, but I feel like I want to feed him about twice that much and my boobs seem to want to do this, too.
I can't believe I am complaining about a baby who sleeps three hours at a time, but I've had to change my shirt twice this morning already!

 

[Asher]

The breast/bottle thing is so hard. As soon as you become a mum you start to feel guilty about something! I managed to BF Archie for 12 weeks, but then going on bottles for him was the best thing we ever did! He started to sleep through and put on the weight he had struggled with. Jack was BF for 13 months, but I would have stopped when he was about 4 months if I could, he was a terrible feeder,terrible sleeper.... wouldn't take a bottle though! So far, Sam's doing well, but I know we could struggle at any time, I am taking BFing one day at a time! He's been on a growth spurt day today, and it's so hard a sI don't seem to have moved from the sofa. So much to do and not able to get to it. And the other two kids just see me feeding. I had to keep saying to them to bring books over and we would all read together.
As mums we have to follow our instincts and do what feels right for everyone involved!

Sarahka, Sam was like that at first. I was worrying that he wasn't feeding enough. But he gained weight and was settled between his feeds. Now he's behaving more like I would expect, feeding more often and being awake more often too. He seemed to wake up much more at around the time he reached his due date.

Ladies, I'm in the "entertain the baby" club too! If he's awake and happy, I am putting him on his playmat or under his mobile in the big cot. If he's settled, he's happy to lay there and look at toys and things. I am aiming for plenty of occupied awake time in the day, and dimly lit feeds at night. Didn't work last night though, little horror was so unsettled!

Hope we get a good night, no doubt I'll be checking in later on! Sometimes I just can't be bothered trying to type on my phone though! My latest adventure is twitter, I find it easy to do in the middle of the night, and there are lots of celebs to follow, I am sooo nosey! x

 

[Emzywemzy]

Grr holly will not settle tonight! She's been crying on and off all afternoon and evening. She stopped long enough for me to watch some of forrest gump and then fell asleep in my arms so thought I'd take advantage and take her up to bed, but no sooner did my head hit the pillow she was crying again. She's pretty colicy getting all annoyed, arching her back and drawing her knees up. She's been fussy with feeds today too, snacking on an oz here and there. Think I'm in for a long night! X

 

[genies girl]

emzy hope holly settles poor love ,layla has been the same all day!
Asher hows twitter going, ive never been on there, im liking the idea of being nosey though.
im typing with one hand and feeding layla with the other x

 

[Daisybell]

Bekklez go with what you feel is best hun, trust your instincts.

apaton Ollie was wide awake from 4am untill 6:30am
wish he would be awake for that long during the day.

Awww Emzy Hollys little cutie pie! I know when Ollie snacks during the day we are in for a long night. we are trying to find ways to keep him awake while feeding as he keeps nodding off!

Bathed ollie earlier with Johnsons bedtime bath and it seems to have knocked him out!

 

[BLONDIE35]

Had final midwife visit today. Little Ben is doing very well his weight had gone down from 6lb 9oz (birth weight) to 6lb 5oz and now 5 days later his weight has gone up to 6lb 12 oz which is great. His jaundice is also better and is filling out and skin colour looks much better. He is a very good boy and so chilled out which is nice. Feeds are still all over the place but starting to go 3.5 hours between feeds most of the time.

 

[genies girl]

ive updated my avatar pic, Laylas is the smaller and awake one and amelia the larger asleep one this is how they are most of the time x

 

[Asher]

Aw emzy I hope holly settles long enough for you to get some sleep in. X
Daisybell, go ollie with his bath knocking him out, bet he smells gorgeous too yum!
Glad ben's making good progress with his weight blondie, nice that he's spacing his feeds out too, hope he keeps it up for you!
Genies your avatar is fab! What gorgeous girls! They look very content on that rib! And very different from each other too. Sam's feeding, I am looking forward to putting him back down, need some sleep! Am gonna check the fb and twitter then hope he's done!
Back in a bit! Xx

 

[Emzywemzy]

Aw genies they are gorgeous! And both so different too. Did you say you were going to try comfort milk? If so did you find it helped?

Blondie that's fab news!

Daisy when holly kept nodding off during feeds the midwife advised us to strip her down to nappy and change her nappy mid feed and if she fell asleep put her on her change mat as its cool! All of this worked well x

 

[genies girl]

yep amelia is on cow amd gate comfort now and its been a success , the stuff is so thick looks like watered down pva glue so she has to have 3month plus teats on the bottles but she is much calmer with no discomfort, she just farts all day long

 

[Emzywemzy]

Hmm wonder if it might be worth a try for holly. I'd have to get the old bottles out though as the Dr browns ones she uses have a slow flow teat for colic and you can't buy others. Holly farts loads already LOL. Glad amelia is feeling better now x