Newborn advice

becky004

When making up bottles you shouldn't use boiling water as it kills the vitamins in the formula. If the water is too cool then the powder doesn't dissolve properly, a lot of people boil the kettle, pour required amount into each bottle and 10-15 mins later add the powder, these are then left to cool before putting in fridge.
Most babies will bring up some of the milk they drink, so don't worry too much about that. One idea is to roll up a towel and place it UNDER the mattress at the head end, so she isn't lying completely flat with a full stomach, it helps some babies.
If baby is very unsettled try using something you or her dad have worn during the day (t shirt etc). Place it underneath her like a sheet it will have your smell on and will comfort some babies. Another good thing is skin to skin contact, strip her down to her nappy and you or your partner cuddle her to your chest, directly on your skin. Loud ticking clocks can help too (sounds like mums heartbeat which they heard in the womb).
Most babies in the first couple of weeks will be awake more at night unfortunately! Good luck and congratulations to you both

tracy1_2

you are doing well and have loads of useful tips -
my one big tip which helped me no end with both of mine (now age 7 and 11) was try getting her to take room temp milk as then you'll always be able to feed her when you're out and wont have to worry about heating up or storing the bottles in those 'keep warm'cases for hours on end. yuk all that warm milk hanging around. On long days out in the future you can take stored boiled water in feeding bottles and add the required formula as needed - no risk of it going off. Needs an extra good shake but it does dissolve
good luck

mancitychick

You are so on the right track trying to get a rountine in place now. I wish I had, my daughter is 1 on 23rd December and still does not sleep through or mch in the day for that matter! If I could start over I would of tried to get her in a rountine from day 1! I am breast feeding and don't think she'll ever stop waking until I stop breast feeding.

across

hiya daddy!!! lovely news and what a cute name your daughter has! with the bottles we used to boil the kettle and make them up within the first hour and cool them down ready to go in fridge by standing them in a bowl of water, my first one didnt feed at all during the night and i was told that if they sleep leave them they will wake if they are hungry she never had night feeds and she still put on good weight! so let her sleep that is my advice dont clock watch and think she must be woken in the night for a feed because it is lovely to get some sleep yourself! my second one was totally different i had to get up!!! she couldnt get enough always hungry!!!more bottles than average and still crying!!! dont worry about anything just go with the baby and when you get her regularly weighed youll know if she is keeping her weight up. we also used to prop the mattress in the cot up slightly by padding towels underneath to just raise the head up a little we found this helped keep the feed down when they lay down and in hospital you can tilt the cot so it was the same as that(mine went straight into cot)
when changing nappy we pull vest poppers over one shoulder and fasten so that all her beautiful clothes are kept well out of the way while she wriggles to her hearts content!! and theres no reason why you wont be going on holiday next year WITH bottles! just buy throw away ready steralised bottles and ready made cartons of formula milk! unwrap bottle any time any place! pour milk into bottle and warm in caraff which can also be bought at boots (white thermos flask with extra large cup made for bottles to stand in) so youll get a holiday from making bottles!!! and put a massive pack of nappies in the hold on the plane(no need to pack them in case!)but make sure you allow weight allowance for them! ps, thompson superfamily are great!!!
good luck!!!!!!!!!

Lillibet_2

Hi New Dad

Congratulations, try & enjoy every sleep deprived second 'cos you only get each day once, even the bad ones!

My Spud is now almost 17 weeks old & I can remember the first 3 weeks like they were yesterday, amazing really as I don't think I got more than 3 consecutivie hours sleep during that time!

I left it until Spud was about 12 weeks old to try & get him into a routine, HUGE mistake! Do it now! I wish wish wish someone had advised me on routines during the first week or 2. Spud started sleeping through the night at 7 weeks old, I tried to introduce a routine at 12 weeks & he promptly reverted to waking at night & not napping during the day, still is and now it's getting worse, waking for 3 feeds a night! Get the routine established NOW, but 4 hours might be ambitious for a newborn, the 4 hour routine is more for 4 month olds (easy to rememebr, it's called the "4/4" routine). Try a 2 1/12 or 3 hour routine.

Spud is on mixed feeding & only has 2 bottles a day, can't comment on the being sick as Spud keeps everythign down , I tend to make up the daily bottles once the water in the kettle has cooled. Against all advice I don't keep them in the fridge, Spud takes them at room tempreature & we just grab one off the counter when it's time. HV says as long as they are used within about 6-8 hours this is fine & we haven't seen any ill effects so far. This is also what they did in the hospital. The only time I warm a bottle is after he's been swimming.

Babies need to sleep lots during the day. The better they nap during the day the better they sleep at night apparently. If she is due a feed & is not stirring you can "dream feed", which involves gently putting the bottle into the mouth whilst they are asleep, I was amazed that this really works, the instinct to suckle kind of takes over & they just take it!

Someone mentioned about getting her into her own room as soon as poss, personally this is the last thing I am doing. Firstly it is proven to be safer if bubs sleeps in your room for the first 6 months, they don't know why but it significently reduces the risk of SIDS (a unproven theory is that SIDS is caused by baby "forgetting" to breath & the sound of you breathing reminds them!), and secondly if you are getting up in the night to feed you want to stumble the shortest distance possible! I have found a growbag stops Spud getting cold & waking too much during night feeds & he goes back off a little easier.

HTH & good luck. PM me if you need a sleepless shoulder anytime;)

margaretclare

Hi

I agree with those who say boil the kettle but don't make up the formula until the water has gone off the boil.

A very new baby often doesn't like being put into a cot. Think of it from her point of view, where she was! A cot often feels hard and cold to a baby.

Also it is natural for a baby to 'posset' a little, bring up a little of the feed. It's not the same as what an adult understands by 'being sick'.

I am going to disagree with you all about 'getting her into a routine'. I've never been able to do this (and have a lot of experience with babies). In my experience they form their own routine. The most important thing is quietness and calm. They're like horses - they sense when you're uptight. A baby naturally sleeps most of the 24 hrs and doesn't know the difference between day and night. It's important to be warm and loving, talk to her, sing to her, don't expect her to be a 'little adult' in her early days! Put everything else on 'hold' for the time being.

They're not disturbed by 'normal' noise - my eldest slept in her pram outside while the Red Arrows were practising!! Don't wake her up during the day - why would you?

Best wishes

Aunty Margaret

windym_2

If you do get a minute :rolleyes: then I can thoroughly recommend this book this may not be the cheapest place but it is free delivery to your local store. Good luck.

Karnam

Lillibet wrote:

Spud is on mixed feeding & only has 2 bottles a day

how are you managing this?? my aurora was on mixed feeding with one bottle of formula a week but now she refuses it completely which made being on oxford street super hard as we had to rush over to john lewis to breast feed her in thier rooms.

mine takes a bottle of breast milk once every two days but when she latches on after a bottle it hurts sooo much, i know its her sucking technique which is being changed every time she takes a bottle (formula or not), but how do i prevent this? what teats do you use? I've been using Avent ones since i got a huge avent box but i was wondering if there are better teats for mixed feeding babies so they dont make thier mothers pass out when put on the breast! i've been wondering if different teats might help her 'remember' how to suck on the breast and therefrore not have to change too much and hurt me.

Karnam

margaretclare wrote:

they form their own routine

i agree with this. i didnt expect my baby to have a routine but since a few days old she's been sleeping for longer in the night, for maybe 3 or 4 hours a time before needing to get up for a feed. mine feeds every two hours in the day and every 3/4 hours in the night.

i wouldn't worry too much about a routine until at least 3 months...

but i agree about the hot water bottle in the basket thing! i stupidly let my kid sleep in our bed for a few days and now she wont sleep in her (expensive!) crib, only on a pillow between mum and dad and with us close to her so she gets warm.

Rikki

When babies breast feed they use the bottom jaw to pump the milk out and with the bottle they have to suck. This action is alien to breast fed babies and they tend to suck hard. Some babies find it difficult to do both.
You could try a faster flow teat so the sucking action is less fierce.
If this is early weeks at breast feeding it does become alot less sore as you get used to it.