MSE Newborn to 1 year Baby Club 1

pinkspiral1976

Missyy76 Thanks for your advice. He's a cluster feeder and had a growth spurt last week where he wanted feeding even more regularly than often. So its really difficult to establish a regular routine. He feeds 'on demand' but I always try to put him in his basket when he's asleep or seems tired. We've also started putting him to bed with a dummy at about 8pm in the evening, after a feed. In the vain hope that he will be ready to sleep by the time we are!! I'm reluctant to give him formula, because I've been told it will interfere with my milk production and he's putting on weight so don't think hunger's the issue. I did speak to my health visitor but she said that it was normal and made me feel bad for whinging, like I wasn't coping... kind of 'what did you expect it to be like with a newborn?' I have let him cry it out a bit during the day.... he just cries and cries. Reluctant to do this at night too much as we live in a terrace house.
Aimless - It's good to know that what I am experiencing is kind of normal and that it will get better!!

Sometimes I think it is wind keeping him up as he often makes funny noises in his cot like he's in a bit of discomfort, so I try and wind him some more and have started to use infacol before a feed to see it that helps. The other thing I wonder about is that his moses basket might not be very comfortable. Sounds funny, but it doesn't feel very comfy to me and even now at 4 weeks it seems a bit on the small side for him. I wondered about bringing his cot into the bedroom to see if he slept better in that. Like I said... I will try anything to get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep at night!!

*Ro*

Hello all

Carmilla - nice to see you on here. That's really pants mothercare won't pricematch, had another look to see if anyone else doing them cheaper but can't see anything, perhaps might be worth trying for secondhand one as I know they are so expensive sorry hun!

The person who asked about any MSE toddler groups sorry don't know of one specifically but you are welcome here

Mozzy - looks like we will both be doing weaning Sunday :eek: gonna start with baby rice !

Those struggling with sleep ((hugs))

Those with breastfeeding stress lots of sympathy, stick to your guns with what you want to do and find out where you can get support as it may help you, I don't really know but tongue tie might be worth investigating if trouble latching but might be just a rocky patch. I ended up combo feeding as Scott lost too much the first week. All I would say is that if you get help then the earlier the better. Also have you tried other positions eg rugby ball feeding in bed so you can sort of rest between feeds. (I know my main issues were not being able to sit/lie properly as had Epi/stitches/forceps !). I stopped combo feeding i think it was 3 months as he went from feeding in the day and night to only wanting it at night then not at all as bottle was easier. He used to scream at the boob in the end and yes it was upsetting but he had boob for as long as I could give it. I found expressing difficult but did what I could but never got much.

Those struggling getting baby into Moses basket have you tried warming the mattress first with hot water bottle, waiting until they are fully out doing the drop the arm test before moving

Sorry being rudely interrupted by Scott ...

Missyy76

No worries, hun, i know its hard - my first had terrible colic and cried non stop between 6pm and 10pm every night, i used infacol and it worked a treat.

As for establishing a routine, i used the Gina Ford books and when i gave the 10pm formula i just used a breast pump to ensure my milk supply was as good as it could be.

I know some people are all for demand feeding, but when you are shattered its no good for you or the baby, i would suggest maybe having a read of Gina Ford or similar and just taking what you want from it, i just used sleep and feed patterns and ignored the rest;);)

Fingers crossed he settles soon xx

Gillyx

Sent you a PM Pinkspiral xx

*Nutella*

Hi and welcome pinkspiral! :wave:

I can really empathise with the moses basket conundrum and agree that they don't seem very comfortable! Our LO will be 2 months tomorrow, and we've just ordered a cot bed - fingers crossed she'll be happier in that. I can't offer much advice as we're still struggling to get her to take daytime naps in her basket (if it's not moving and/or breathing, she's not interested). But from around 6 weeks we've been able to put her in her basket drowsy but awake in the evenings - keep perservering and I'm sure your LO will get there too. I don't know if you've tried distinguishing between day and night and introducing some evening sleep cues like a bath? We also feed on demand, so bed time varies, but she usually has a bath around 7.30/8pm (depending on when she seems tired and last fed), her last feed of the evening is in her dimly lit bedroom, we sing the same song every evening, have lots of calming cuddles etc. so she understands that it's time to sleep and nothing interesting is going to happen.

One mistake we made in the beginning was to not pick up sleep signals early on. She'd cry from what we now know was tiredness, but we didn't realise this and tried everything to calm her down, started worrying about colic etc. Now, as soon as we've had a couple of yawns or a bit of rubbing of eyes, we launch into sleep mode (rocking, singing) - if she gets overtired, it's much harder to get her to sleep. She generally can't stay awake for more than an hour and a half - two hours.

Sorry this isn't of much help - sadly I do think it's a phase many babies go through and it's perfectly normal... I must admit I put LO in bed with me for an afternoon nap every now and then if I'm really tired (sometimes I also do this at 5/6am to get one last sleep out of her before the day starts). I know co-sleeping is a bit controversial, but personally I see nothing wrong with it for the odd nap - I just make sure it doesn't become a habit, that the duvet is well away from her face, that she can't fall out of the bed etc. I cuddle right up to her, put my arm around her, my face against hers, sing her 'sleep song' etc. and she usually (touch wood!) falls asleep pretty fast.

Finally, if you can get your OH to take your LO out for an evening walk in the pram so you can have a nap, that might help too - at least you're not completely shattered when the night shift starts?

Big ((hugs)) - and if you do find something that works, please do share as I'm sure I'm not the only one finding sleep a bit of a struggle

turtlemoose

Pink spiral, I strongly advise getting your latch checked by a professional, my boy had a posterior tongue tie, also known as the "hidden" tie, because it isn't visible to the naked eye, it has to be pressed to be seen. I had my boy's tie snipped and while we still have struggles, it made a BIG difference. Babies need to be able to put their tongues to th roof of their mouth(they need that range of motion to create a vacuum properly) and my lad couldn't. So it's worth checking out - he could feed, but he now feeds more efficiently - he has to work less hard for more milk - well worth an appointment if you suspect a tie.

Also, google or get a local professional to teach you deep breast compressions. When you have a store of milk in your breast, these push the hind milk forward quicker, meaning baby doesn't fill up on the lower fat foremilk and gets a nice tummy full of fatty hindmilk quickly.

I'll have a quick look and post here a really helpful site for tongue tie....for me I read the list and it was my boy to a t - might be worth a read and see if it seems familiar.

And well done for lasting this long, you're not the only one struggling (although I know it feels like it!), and remember you are doing an amazing job! If you are not ready to stop yet, then just take it a feed at a time rather than thinking in days or blocks of days - its hard to do but I've found it helps to make it seem a bit more manageable xxx

*Nutella*

Has anyone ever been able to phone Toys R Us? All their website talks about is e-mail, postal address, online forms... :mad: I want to call them! I placed an order online, so calling my local store won't help. If anyone does have a phone number, I'd be ever so grateful.

turtlemoose

Really useful tongue tie article:

http://milkmatters.org.uk/2011/04/15/hidden-cause-of-feeding-problems-however-you-feed-your-baby/

If anyone has any questions on the procedure I'm happy to share my experience.

Also for breastfeeeding tips in general, google Dr Jack Newman - lots of helpful videos etc.

I'd also recommend getting hubby involved or if he's not keen then do it in front of a mirror....all the videos you are watching the woman face on, whereas with your own baby you are looking down - totally different angle and you might be doing something really simple wrong but youve just got the wrong view so can't spot it.

*Ro*

http://www.flickr.com/photos/81888506@N07/7544094280

Scott & cuddly panda puppet !

sunshine_1988

Hello everyone :j

Lirin - gosh, I am so sorry to read what you have been through!! You are one tough cookie it seems. Sorry that it seems to still be causing you some trouble though, heres hoping they can nip it in the bud and solve things once and for all. I can't believe what they did to you...as someone else said - admiration!!

Pinkspiral - we had very similar problems with our little monkey, he would only ever sleep on one of us or if we were out in the car/pram. I didn't really ever solve it to be honest, when he hit about 11 weeks he started going down better and has improved since then. My LO had bad colic and a reflux, I know every baby is different but what worked for us was dentinox drops and gaviscon. He doesn't have the colic drops anymore and his gaviscon dose is being reduced. Aiden used to scream and scream from about 5:30 up until 9-10pm. He used to be better if wetook him out for a walk and for some reason he used to drink a lot of water?! I really hope things improve for you hun as I know its hard, mine just seemed to grow out of it but it was hard to ride it out!! Is there any mother and baby groups about, maybe others have some suggestions.

Ro - what a cute piccie!! He has beautiful eyes Looks like he loves that Panda!

Hi Sammie ! - wow on Noah's sleep!! Lucky you Aiden has slept right through a couple of times but not for a while

Had his jabs today :( was very upsetting for him and me! He got way more upset than usual and didnt really settle properly until just now. Picked my mum up from work after and she had bought him a little outfit because he had 'a bad day' lol!

Nutella - sorry I can't help re Toys R Us...is there any other way of contacting? Email or online form maybe?!

Hello to anyone I have missed!! Gonna finish off tea and I'll be back a bit later.
xx