Kim's diary of being a new mum

[Kellie mum of 4]

She is gorgeous so pleased she is finally better x

 

[Danni86]

Subscribing

She is gorgeous xx

 

[Jess<3]

hope your both doing good, shes just so adorable! x

 

[PrincessPeach]

Hi honey xx

Finally catching up! How are you and the gorgeous little Rebecca getting on?

Hope you're all well xxx

 

[Kim26]

Omg someone tell me how I get rebecca to sleep in her crib at night.....Shes a monster! Fed at 12am, battled for over an hour until about 1.20am then she was in such a state (angry cry) I had to feed her again to calm her down. Ended up in my arns in bed wide awake...eventually dropped off but for the sake of getting an hour or two of sleep I dosed with her in bed. Shes feeding again now and I'm dreading putting her back in her crib as I know she will scream! I just don't understand why as she sleeps in there during the day without this fuss!

Have been in tears this evening/morning as im so flipping tired and she's tired but she will not give in. I've debated giving you up breastfeeding (my first real wobble) which I know probably won't help but anything to get a bit of sleep.

We have to be up in an hour and a half as we've got to go to have her hearing follow up appointment because of the meningitis.

I am one very tired mummy any suggestions appreciated xx

 

[sarah_lou1981]

I have this problem with Cole but the other way round, he refuses sleep in the day.
We had a week or two where we struggled to get him down at night so we borrowed my sisters musical light up cot mobile and played that on repeat. We would wait for him to fall asleep on one of us, put the music and lights on then put him in his Moses basket. It would take us an hour most nights as he'd wake up as soon as we put him in his Moses basket so we'd keep putting his dummy in to calm him. We also played white noise to him if the music didn't work. We always made sure we put him down at night in pitch black too (apart from the mobile light). After a few days he gradually calmed down when we put him down. Now I put him down fully awake after his bottle and he's literally asleep in minutes. It was hard work but worth it x

 

[missy1978]

Omg someone tell me how I get rebecca to sleep in her crib at night.....Shes a monster! Fed at 12am, battled for over an hour until about 1.20am then she was in such a state (angry cry) I had to feed her again to calm her down. Ended up in my arns in bed wide awake...eventually dropped off but for the sake of getting an hour or two of sleep I dosed with her in bed. Shes feeding again now and I'm dreading putting her back in her crib as I know she will scream! I just don't understand why as she sleeps in there during the day without this fuss! Have been in tears this evening/morning as im so flipping tired and she's tired but she will not give in. I've debated giving you up breastfeeding (my first real wobble) which I know probably won't help but anything to get a bit of sleep. We have to be up in an hour and a half as we've got to go to have her hearing follow up appointment because of the meningitis. I am one very tired mummy any suggestions appreciated xx

I completely get this - Seth was the same at Rebecca's age and younger. Wide awake and screaming the second his head hit the basket! Only way I could get him down was to let him fall asleep on me (I give him a good 20 mins to make sure he's really asleep) and then transfer him very carefully to the basket. I have a fleecy blanket lining it so it doesn't feel as cold and I get the white noise on as soon as he's in there. I can totally see why people co sleep now although I've never felt comfortable enough to do it myself but I have like you let him fall asleep in bed with me so we could both doze when I was totally desperate.

Tbh this is why we started giving him a bottle of formula last thing in the evening, I found that it got me enough sleep that I could deal with the rest of the night feeds and feeding through the day. The way I saw it giving one bottle was better than giving up bf entirely and I would have done if I'd not done it as I was at breaking point! I'm sad that we're not exclusively bf anymore and I'd love to drop the bottle if we can one day but it was doing the best of a bad job at the time...

You're doing amazing to still be exclusively bf, I was on my knees after a couple of weeks of it and you're still going at over a month! It's so so hard and you're doing brilliantly.

Now tell me how you get Rebecca to sleep in her basket in the day cos Seth refuses! Despite doing it at night with no problems. He's a contrary boy xxx

 

[Kim26]

I completely get this - Seth was the same at Rebecca's age and younger. Wide awake and screaming the second his head hit the basket! Only way I could get him down was to let him fall asleep on me (I give him a good 20 mins to make sure he's really asleep) and then transfer him very carefully to the basket. I have a fleecy blanket lining it so it doesn't feel as cold and I get the white noise on as soon as he's in there. I can totally see why people co sleep now although I've never felt comfortable enough to do it myself but I have like you let him fall asleep in bed with me so we could both doze when I was totally desperate.

Tbh this is why we started giving him a bottle of formula last thing in the evening, I found that it got me enough sleep that I could deal with the rest of the night feeds and feeding through the day. The way I saw it giving one bottle was better than giving up bf entirely and I would have done if I'd not done it as I was at breaking point! I'm sad that we're not exclusively bf anymore and I'd love to drop the bottle if we can one day but it was doing the best of a bad job at the time...

You're doing amazing to still be exclusively bf, I was on my knees after a couple of weeks of it and you're still going at over a month! It's so so hard and you're doing brilliantly.

Now tell me how you get Rebecca to sleep in her basket in the day cos Seth refuses! Despite doing it at night with no problems. He's a contrary boy xxx

Ahh I'm glad it's not just us then! I'm going to try a hot water bottle in the crib to warm it up before we put her in as I'm sure the coldness of the mattress doesn't help. I was seriously at breaking point last night as all I wanted was a couple of hours sleep and she just would not go down.... But she was screaming in anger and couldn't be consoled unless she ate!

Oh hun I completely understand I've contemplated missing that last feed and replacing it with a formula feed just so I can get 2-3hrs sleep... if I could get that id be better able to deal with the other night feeds. Everyone says it will get better.

Oh and I haven't been exclusively bf she had formula in neonatal and ive given her a small top up twice since we've been home. Im happy to mix feed I just want the bf to be established and make sure my supply is good as I worry the time in nnu didn't allow my supply to catch up with what she needs.

Rebecca feeds pretty constantly between 6/7 and midnight which can be very draining and I worry that I don't have time to build up a milk supply that gives her a decent feed at that midnight feed....so she just wants to feed all night as she's never really done. Not sure how to solve it though. I tried feeding from just one side when she's cluster feeding in the eveninh but wow it can get a bit tender so I resort to using both sides.

Re getting her to sleep in the day we swaddle her once she is asleep after a feed and she tends to go down without too much fuss! If only she would do that at night!

 

[Danni86]

Thomas goes down in Moses basket fine after first feed but middle of the night feed he doesn't want too, last 2 nights he's slept propped up on breast feeding pillow in middle of bed after that feed! Might try holding him until he's completely asleep and putting him gently down tonight xx

 

[pjallen1982]

Hi

Subscribing.

Re Moses basket, we had trouble to begin with. The mw suggested putting a few books under one end so that it is slanted. Apparently babies don't like sleeping flat. Also to put one of bf's t shirts over the mattress so that it smells of him. She said not to put mine because Oliver would smell milk.

These seemed to help. He isn't always brilliant settling but better than he was and we don't let him sleep on us at night. If he was screaming and screaming then I probably would but thankfully we haven't had it that bad since the first week

Hope this helps x

 

[missy1978]

Ahh I'm glad it's not just us then! I'm going to try a hot water bottle in the crib to warm it up before we put her in as I'm sure the coldness of the mattress doesn't help. I was seriously at breaking point last night as all I wanted was a couple of hours sleep and she just would not go down.... But she was screaming in anger and couldn't be consoled unless she ate! Oh hun I completely understand I've contemplated missing that last feed and replacing it with a formula feed just so I can get 2-3hrs sleep... if I could get that id be better able to deal with the other night feeds. Everyone says it will get better. Oh and I haven't been exclusively bf she had formula in neonatal and ive given her a small top up twice since we've been home. Im happy to mix feed I just want the bf to be established and make sure my supply is good as I worry the time in nnu didn't allow my supply to catch up with what she needs. Rebecca feeds pretty constantly between 6/7 and midnight which can be very draining and I worry that I don't have time to build up a milk supply that gives her a decent feed at that midnight feed....so she just wants to feed all night as she's never really done. Not sure how to solve it though. I tried feeding from just one side when she's cluster feeding in the eveninh but wow it can get a bit tender so I resort to using both sides. Re getting her to sleep in the day we swaddle her once she is asleep after a feed and she tends to go down without too much fuss! If only she would do that at night!

Ah hun, it's so hard trying to weigh up what's best! I think the evening feeding frenzy is pretty common, Seth feeds fairly constantly throughout the evening from about 5/6 ish until 10/11 ish when he falls asleep for the night. Then he has his bottle and he'll sleep from 1 ish until anywhere between 3.30 and 8! He doesn't feed half as much as he did during the day now which gives me a bit of a break.

With the supply issue, I got told the main thing is consistency with mixed feeding. So if you add a ff your supply should adjust to accommodate that as once bf is established you should only make what you need. I was also told to express at the time you would normally bf if you replace a feed so you're encouraging your supply to stay up, plus it helps with the sore boobs I have to say over the last few weeks it has noticeably got easier during the day, it's just evenings that can be tough now. If I need a break I give him some expressed milk from the fridge and that takes the edge off for long enough that I can get a tiny bit of me time of an evening!

Do you have any bf support where you are? We have the infant feeding team and they are fab, if you have something like that they might be able up advise on building supply. I had them out about a million times in the first two months

 

[Mis-behave]

Hi it's possible that she's going through a growth spurt and it's common to cluster feed for 24/36 hours .. Had it with both my boys .. I ended up feeding laying down ..baby attached most of the night I dozed and he slept and ate and ate and slept and ate ..

I did the put to bed at 7ish feed at 12:30, 3:30 and 6pm other nights - sometimes the 3:30 feed was skipped, but I still woke up lol kept wee one with me till really asleep and pop back in bed .. If cry pick up and wind, change if needed and try feed again .. As at the age they are they have very basic needs and aren't trying to get one over on you .. They just need you constantly Tiring but rewarding !

 

[Danni86]

Hi Subscribing. Re Moses basket, we had trouble to begin with. The mw suggested putting a few books under one end so that it is slanted. Apparently babies don't like sleeping flat. Also to put one of bf's t shirts over the mattress so that it smells of him. She said not to put mine because Oliver would smell milk. These seemed to help. He isn't always brilliant settling but better than he was and we don't let him sleep on us at night. If he was screaming and screaming then I probably would but thankfully we haven't had it that bad since the first week Hope this helps x

Thanks we put a book under one end and he spent whole night in Moses basket last night xx

 

[pjallen1982]

Thanks we put a book under one end and he spent whole night in Moses basket last night xx

Ooh excellent. Hope that continues x

 

[Kim26]

Hi

Subscribing.

Re Moses basket, we had trouble to begin with. The mw suggested putting a few books under one end so that it is slanted. Apparently babies don't like sleeping flat. Also to put one of bf's t shirts over the mattress so that it smells of him. She said not to put mine because Oliver would smell milk.

These seemed to help. He isn't always brilliant settling but better than he was and we don't let him sleep on us at night. If he was screaming and screaming then I probably would but thankfully we haven't had it that bad since the first week

Hope this helps x

Thanks hun going to try tilting it as thinking about it she was tilted when she was in her neonatal cot so maybe she prefers that. Will also tell mike to give me a tshirt. I tried putting a muslin cloth that id had stuffed down my top all day over her mattress but I guess it makes sense it probably made her think of food!

Ah hun, it's so hard trying to weigh up what's best! I think the evening feeding frenzy is pretty common, Seth feeds fairly constantly throughout the evening from about 5/6 ish until 10/11 ish when he falls asleep for the night. Then he has his bottle and he'll sleep from 1 ish until anywhere between 3.30 and 8! He doesn't feed half as much as he did during the day now which gives me a bit of a break.

With the supply issue, I got told the main thing is consistency with mixed feeding. So if you add a ff your supply should adjust to accommodate that as once bf is established you should only make what you need. I was also told to express at the time you would normally bf if you replace a feed so you're encouraging your supply to stay up, plus it helps with the sore boobs I have to say over the last few weeks it has noticeably got easier during the day, it's just evenings that can be tough now. If I need a break I give him some expressed milk from the fridge and that takes the edge off for long enough that I can get a tiny bit of me time of an evening!

Do you have any bf support where you are? We have the infant feeding team and they are fab, if you have something like that they might be able up advise on building supply. I had them out about a million times in the first two months

Thanks hun, we've managed without topping up this week and yesterday morning I woke up completely soaked where id leaked and soaked a breastpad and my pj top! So I guess my little friend may have done her job and upped my supply with her constant feeding. Friday night she did fantastically and went down in get crib with no fuss at 1am then again at 4 am. Sad to say the same didn't happen last night lol she was awake most the night again.

I've got a list of breastfeeding support groups so definitely going to go along and get some support. At the moment I'm trying to wean her off of the nipple shields I used while she war in neonatal (was the only way to get her latched but now she needs to learn to latch without them!) She is doing well with it so I'm hoping that in a week we will have them gone!

Hi it's possible that she's going through a growth spurt and it's common to cluster feed for 24/36 hours .. Had it with both my boys .. I ended up feeding laying down ..baby attached most of the night I dozed and he slept and ate and ate and slept and ate ..

I did the put to bed at 7ish feed at 12:30, 3:30 and 6pm other nights - sometimes the 3:30 feed was skipped, but I still woke up lol kept wee one with me till really asleep and pop back in bed .. If cry pick up and wind, change if needed and try feed again .. As at the age they are they have very basic needs and aren't trying to get one over on you .. They just need you constantly Tiring but rewarding !

I think she was having a bit of a growth spurt her feeding has calmed down a bit the last day or so. My main problem is my boobs are quite large and I don't feel comfortable feeding her in bed... im scared she will suffocate herself as she has a tendency to push her nose in to my boob as well so I have to concentrate on what she's doing so at the moment I'm getting up and going in to the living room to feed.... which also means I don't disturb mike too much.

Does anyone else find their babies make a bit of a drama out of doing a poo? Rebecca is hysterical she groans and grunts and makes sure everyone knows she's trying to do a poo. Very funny in the day not so much at 3am!


Well rebecca is 5 weeks old today. She had her follow up hearing test on Friday (due to the meningitis and also one of the antibiotics they use can cause hearing loss) but I'm pleased to say she passed so at this stage there's no signs of damage. Such a relief!

Tomorrow she has an MRI scan of her head which I'm a bit anxious about.. Really don't want then to find anything else wrong as I'm not sure I can take the stress.... But on the other side I know they need to know what is happening with the bleeding/infection they could see when they did a cranial ultrasound when she was in neonatal. So fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Mike is back to work tomorrow and I'm dreading it....I don't know how I'm going to get anything done as all I seem to do is feed and care for monkey and suddenly im going to have to do housework and feed myself lol.
We've had a very grumpy girl today.... overtired I think and she just would not give in and sleep. We took her for a drive and she fell asleep but woke up the moment we got home and screamed so we took her for a walk in her pram and she slept. We then sat in the garden and she had a feed and then finally fell asleep on me... we came in and she's still asleep on me. Lets hope she wakes up happier!

Hope you girls have had a fab weekend xx

 

[Mis-behave]

I hope the scan goes well tomorrow, scary stuff! Good that her hearing is ok

Can understand about worrying about feeding laying down if your boobs are big, mine are not so big

Don't worry about the housework too much, baby, feeding you and getting some rest need to be 1st on your list.. The house work can be done little by little .. Your figure out what works for you in the times she awake and asleep. Don't feel guilty about leaving things for someone else or to do tomorrow.

 

[Danni86]

Glad to hear her hearing test went well and good luck for MRI tomorrow!
Hope your first day without Mike goes well, I was nervous when my DH went back to work but was fine still find it hard to eat sometimes though!!
Can I ask why you had to use nipple shields? I had to use them as I have flat nipples but I've kind of given up and just express as he doesn't feed very well! I need to google wether breast pump will help bring them out! X

 

[Mis-behave]

Glad to hear her hearing test went well and good luck for MRI tomorrow! Hope your first day without Mike goes well, I was nervous when my DH went back to work but was fine still find it hard to eat sometimes though!! Can I ask why you had to use nipple shields? I had to use them as I have flat nipples but I've kind of given up and just express as he doesn't feed very well! I need to google wether breast pump will help bring them out! X

Yes the breast pump should bring your nipples out, my nephews wife had flat nipples and that what we did for her and now her sons feeding just fine .. But she had a very hard time to begin with.. Also she has to use a cross body hold for BF
Have a look on u tube for cross body hold breast feeding ..

 

[Danni86]

Thank you, I will look it up xx

 

[Kim26]

Thanks girls im looking forward to getting a routine of sorts in place for me and Rebecca just unsure how im find to do so with a baby who isn't keen on going to sleep in her crib... Although she will during the day but only if she falls asleep on me first!