MSE Newborn to 1 year (& beyond!) baby club 2

delain

Welcome Oscar :wave:

I need to get some bits for my older monsters so I may go have a look

Never got to make bread today because we ended up having pizza so I had to do the dough for that!

We have got quite a collection of sippy cups too :rotfl: to be honest the sports top type you can get in packs of 3 from the 99p shop are perfectly good, although I'll admit they don't radiate class

We've had some Avent ones that were quite good, but as pointed out the stickers peel and they look scraggy, we had silicone spouted nuby cups where they chewed the spouts off (and in one case when Squeak was 10 months old put her finger up the spout when it was upside down causing a torrent of water all over herself and her buggy, which actually had a puddle in it... Since we were at a school parents evening I ended up having to beg a towel from the staffroom to mop it up ) The Tommee Tippee ones we have found to be OK though.

sunshine_1988

Re sippys, Aiden will only use a silicone spout so we have afew nuby ones with the straws. Need a few for nursery days and I have a habit of buying when on offer. I use an old nuby with handles but no lid for practising open cups. x

lazywife

Oscar, welcome and I feel for you with hungry LO and constantly feeding.
I've got big(ish) b00bies and found that if I hold my b00b to make it more "pointy" LO could get more of a mouthful and the clicking settled (also I think the clicking is too fast a flow from you? You just have to wait for her to cope better with that). It works for me however at 4.5 months bf is still a 2 handed job, one to hold my breast, one to hold him. I couldn't have done it so easily without "my brest friend" feeding cushion. It's blummin expensive but worth every penny for comfort (and looks like you can get them fairly good priced from ebay)... I've borrowed my sister's, great if they drift off when feeding as much more comfy for you.
Also (probably a little bit controversial) is she defo hungry every 2 hrs? LO seemed always hungry (rooting, mouth open etc), but I realised it's a bit like when you're at a buffet table and you keep eating just because it's there. If he was with his Dad he could easily go for 2.5 - 3 hrs and not be fussed. I would suggest trying to entertain her a little when she 1st starts to get twitchy... she may just be getting bored (but be careful, don't withhold feeds, if she's definately hungry).
I love that at 7 weeks you're considering how you'll cope with your hair appt. I cut mine myself 2 weeks ago, that's all I could manage!
Sounds like you're doing a great job.
L.xxx

Mrshaworth2b

Oscar - I can't advise you on breast feeding having only managed two weeks but what I will say is well done for getting this far, keep going it will get better. It's hard to see at the time but you are doing a good job and we are here to moan at when times get hard

fluffnutter

*Nutella* wrote: »

At 16 months, her bedtime milk still comes in a bottle - it's just not a battle I'm going to fight, given how much comfort it gives her

I don't think you need to have that battle at all. What's wrong with a bit of bedtime comfort? It's not doing her any harm. My nephew loved his night-time bottle - probably had one until he was three. Provided she uses other cups, which she does, it's not going to be slowing her development; like you say, it's just comfort. I still sleep with a teddy, every night. I find it difficult to get to sleep without one. When I go away I take Travel Bear with me. I'm 40

fluffnutter

Oscar_the_Pug wrote: »

Hi Ladies

This is my first post on this thread but I recognise a lot of the names from the pregnancy threads - my LO is 7 weeks old and although adorable I am completely knackered and getting to the end of my wits with breastfeeding. It was just getting manageable when she had her 6 week growth spurt and she's still feeding every 2 hours. That would be ok if it weren't for the fact that she's taking an hour or more to feed each time. I think it's that her latch isn't very deep - my boobs are really big (36JJ) and although all the HVs are telling me to feed her cross cradle I find it terribly uncomfortable because I feel like my arm's going to drop off after 5 minutes. As I'm using the other hand to support my boob I can't gather enough pillows/cushions to support her, and if I try she drops off the boob and loses any decent latch. I have tried every position going: cradle, rugby ball, laid back, lying down etc but nothing really helps and she pauses/clicks a lot. I know she's getting enough overall because she's gaining weight and doing lots of nappies - she had her check up today and she's in great shape. It's just that I don't have time to do anything as she only stops feeding when she dozes off. When she does she usually sleeps so lightly that any attempt by me results in her waking up and yelling loudly. She is always giving feeding cues too - tongue poking, licking and rooting, and putting her to the breast always calms her. She does seem to be drinking too, although the feeds are prolonged because of all the breaks - sometimes she'll go off for a few minutes but she will often look to go back on again. TBH unless I have to get up to change her, answer the door or on the rare occasion I look to feed myself (!) we would just sit in the one place all day long. I know when OH is around to help at the weekends she likes to play and interact with him, and she's definitely becoming more alert. It's just that I'm feeling miserable that all I do is stick my boob in her mouth, and I'm wondering when it might start to get a bit easier.

I know that when I did venture out yesterday and gave her a bottle of expressed milk she gulped it all down really quickly and seemed more content. I've ordered a double electric breast pump and a moby wrap (already had a medela swing but although my supply's pretty good I've not had the time to use it due to the frequency of her feeds, so hoping a double will let me express a feed more quickly so I can go to hair appointment etc and not worry that I'll have to try feeding her with my head in foils... Also due to have a scan soon for my own medical issues, and don't have any childcare sorted yet (both families are far away, my friends are all childless and they and DH all work full time anyway).

I really don't want to give up BF just yet, because I think I'd regret it if it got easier when she's grown and her mouth's a bit bigger. I would love to hear from other people if they've had similar experiences and what they did - it would help so much to be able to quantify when it might get easier. At the moment it feels like it'll be endless and I'm struggling with it all to be frank.

Sorry too for the long, mardy post...

OTP

She's got a tongue tie! See a specialist. SOON! Talk to me. Freddie had a tie which was sorted at five days old. I'm still breastfeeding at 14 months and I think I can help you.

Oscar_the_Pug

Thanks all for taking the time to reply.

The hospital midwife and the local breastfeeding support volunteer both ruled out a tongue tie (and I have to admit she has a very mobile tongue and I can't see much of a frenulum), but Dr Google suggests it can be a bit more complex than that and it's possible she might have one, or possibly an upper lip tie. Has anyone used a lactation consultant in the North West, or how do I go about getting a referral?

Pump has now arrived but I've only had time to sterilise it, not use it as she's been hungry today. We seem to have found a position which minimises the clicking and she's feeding for less time (40 mins) but so far she's still looking for another feed about 20 - 30 mins after coming off the breast. Thank God she mainly sleeps 6 hours at night or I would be in an asylum now...

Gillyx

Hi lovely, these are the lactation consultant in the North West. You can ask your GP to refer you but I know some LC's work on a private basis, so you would have to pay, but if they do find a tongue tie, they can snip it there and then.

http://www.lcgb.org/consultants_local_north_west.html

Edit: the 2 consultants listed on that seem to be under voluntary, so I guess you'd just contact them directly? x

minimuffin12

Hi all, can anyone recommend any good toys? Lo is almost 12weeks and think its time to get some nice musical toys with lights. Never bought any before and he only has his play gym.
We had our 2nd time at play group this morning, there are some clickey mum groups but it was ok, I want lo to get used to being around other kiddies as he is going into nursery in march when I go back to work. Might try a baby music group.

welcome oscar, sorry have nothing to offer re bf as lo has always been ff but hope things gets easier. Xx

fluffnutter

Oscar_the_Pug wrote: »

Thanks all for taking the time to reply.

The hospital midwife and the local breastfeeding support volunteer both ruled out a tongue tie (and I have to admit she has a very mobile tongue and I can't see much of a frenulum), but Dr Google suggests it can be a bit more complex than that and it's possible she might have one, or possibly an upper lip tie. Has anyone used a lactation consultant in the North West, or how do I go about getting a referral?

Pump has now arrived but I've only had time to sterilise it, not use it as she's been hungry today. We seem to have found a position which minimises the clicking and she's feeding for less time (40 mins) but so far she's still looking for another feed about 20 - 30 mins after coming off the breast. Thank God she mainly sleeps 6 hours at night or I would be in an asylum now...

It's not always easy to diagnose. Three times Freddie was cleared as OK, but he deffo had one. His tongue was perfectly mobile and I couldn't see anything obvious. But his latch was appalling, and his tongue was slightly square at the tip. Nothing that obvious, but enough to really affect feeding. I've sent you a PM.