Newborn and baby advice

Hi girls!!

I have been reading ALL the posts, but haven't posted - I was a bit depro last week with hubby having been away so didn't want to post and come across as miserable, he he

He's been home for the weekend so we've had some nice family time and I've had a few breaks so I'm feeling a little refreshed again!

Pinky - I think Connor also has a little colic, not very severe - but come EVERY afternoon, from around 3 - 7, he is sooooo cranly and irritable and was crying up a storm on Thursday afternoon. I've now tried giving him Bennets Colic mixture and so far, it seems to settle and relax him, and falls asleep and sleeps through the worst part of is afternoon, which is great, I must say!! Do you think that babies can have different degrees of colic? My mom says it is possible that he is just a little colicky and that he doesn't have a severe case of it! Luckily, he is now 10 weeks, so he should be outgrowing it by 3 or 4 months, we are almost there!!

Ok, I'm off - am trying to catch up on all the other moomie posts!! Hope u guys have a great weekend.

Hello everyone...

At last our internet is working again... I HATE telkom... anyway.. enough about them..

Hope you are all doing well... We are doing okay, Karla definitely has got Colic... not nice... luckily she only cries in the day and not at night...(I think she is too tired to cry at night as well...)

I am giving her Bennets colic mixture, seems to work a little bit, but I only gave it to her last night and not today at all... Tomorrow I am definitely giving it to her in the day as well. She screamed the whole day today... if she is awake and not drinking she cries... don't really know what to do anymore...

Thi chiro did manipulate her a little bit on thursday, but I think because of that she was awake the whole of thursday night... we didn't sleep at all... I think she was a bit tender maybe... Last night she slept well, but today, oh today!!!

I want to try that cherished belly... I have to get rid of this flab around my waist... I have always had a VERY flat tummy and I am not use to having anything show... Oh no.... Do you ladies think it will work? It is quite expensive...

We are going to try the bottle again tomorrow, today was too traumatic for her with all the crying, I think I will give her about 50 ml and then just my boobs... hopefully she will get use to it!!!

It is COLD in Joburg tonight... Can't wait to have a bath and jump in my nice warm bed!

Have a good evening and night ladies!

Hello Ladies!

Belated Happy Birthday Nicky! Hope you had an awesome day!

Hello L's mom! How old is Elam now? I think many of them get to a stage where they struggle to put themselves to sleep during the day - then they get overtired and spend hours niggling or even crying. I found that with both my babies. At night it is dark and there is nothing to distract them but during the day there is so much stimulating stuff that they struggle to "shut down". When are you going back home? It's a pity your nanny isn't as warm as those other ladies.. they sound lovely!!

Hey Pinky - so sorry you guys had a rough week. Hopefully the chiro appt will help - seemed to do wonders for ScribblingAl's Emily and many others! Keep us posted! (If Telkom keeps you connected.. grrr.. lol.. we've also had ADSL problems on and off)

*waves* Hello crazylove! Glad you are back online.

Bundle - Luke is growing so nicely! Lia was also 5.8 at 8 weeks.. but she isn't as tall as Luke, lol, she's a chubber. She's definitely over 6kg's now and I think she'll be busting out of 0-3 month clothes in the next month for sure.

Hey DesDes! Sorry you've been having a rough time. If you have enough milk then I tend to agree with Claudia - sounds like comfort sucking. Sucking is a baby's natural way to deal with any stress or pain or discomfort. I found with both my babies that they'd want to suck the whole day if:
(a) They were over tired and trying desperately to "shut down"
(b) They had wind - then they'd want to suck to relieve the wind but unfortunately constant drinking creates more wind so it's a vicious circle
(c) They were feeling a bit sick - sore throat etc - because there are hormones in milk that make them feel better so it is like medicine to them
The most common one is the first. What you can try to do is watch for baby's tired cues - yawning, rubbing eyes, turnign away and not keeping eye contact or smiling as usual. When baby does this you either wrap them up and put them down (with or without dummy) in their bed to sleep. Unfortunately my kids didn't put themselves to sleep like that, so when I see the tired signs, I put blankie around baby, take to quiet room and either rock & shhhhh or sing until she sleeps - or if she is content, I just walk up and down with her until she dozes off (this can work in carrier or tied to back or whatever) - then you put them down to sleep. If baby wakes up in 5-30 min's still yawning etc, check nappy etc, and repeat getting baby back to sleep again. I find that when baby is tired they naturally suck their hand or root as if thirsty - but I'm learning to tell when Lia is really thirsty or when she is just trying to suck her hand for comfort, to get to sleep.
It is tough because on a rough day you can spend more time trying to put baby to sleep than anything, but this is an inbetween age where they are so stimulated by everything that they really do struggle to shut themselves down or even stay asleep at times.

Starting solids will just complicate things as baby might get a tummy ache and want to comfort suck anyway. I agree, it is a bit soon.. especially if you know your milk is enough and baby is growing nicely.

Oh, another thing - if baby really seems in distress, you might have to rule out an ear infection - those are always worse when lying down at night as the fluid builds up in their ears and hurts.

Oh and if baby genuinely seems hungry 24/7 - perhaps it is a growth spurt which should pass in a few days.

Hey Claudia! Glad to have you back! Glad James is doing so much better, sounds like it has been hectic that side.

Enough rambling from me. Have a great weekend guys!

Hi all, shew its been ages since I logged on, had no internet for ages, and then hubby was away so never had a free moment to be on the net. Took me ages to catch up on the posts, but its nice to see people having similar problems:)

James is 5 weeks now. His colic has finally seemed to come under control. The ruteri drops definitely work, its just been crappy having to wait for them to make a difference. Hes been on them now for 3 weeks and the screaming from 5 till 12 has almost completely dissapeared. He still does get mild cramps and has "niggly" patches where you can see the cramps in his tunny are sore, but its manageable - I dont feel ready to give him away at the end of the evening anymore:)

@ Des Des: last weekend James started doing the same thing to me. I felt like I spent the whole weekend with him sucking because he was so irritable and that was the only thing that seemed to placate him. Then his stools went green and because I was over feeding him he had started getting only watery foremilk and no fatty hindmilk so I was forced to feed only one side and push feeds to 4 hourly (so much for demand feeding) Monday was horrendous. I felt like I was torturing my child and he was miserable. I also landed up going through the whole engorgement thing again. Then when I did put hm on the breast my milk was coming out so fast that it was choking so I had to lie down and feed him (so he had to suck agaisnt gravoty). Hes now feeding much better although he has had a growth spurt so is currently wanting food evey 2-3hrs. The midwife who is supporting my breastfeeding thinks that James was feeling my stress and comfort feeding to satisfy his irritabilty (my hubby left for london on the weekend). Is your baby maybe feeling a bit under the weather or have you been a bit stressed lately? Otherwise maybe she isnt sucking strongly enough? Why dont you contact la leche - they are great! Just try not get yourself into the crazy situation I landed in:)

Hi Ladies,

Great to see s many of you from pampers. My baby was born on the 26 April.

For the last 3 days, she has been crying none stop day and night as she struggles to sleep. The only way to stop her crying is to put her on the breast for hours and hours. She falls asleep but as soon as I take her from it, she cries. I have enough milk.

She falls asleep only around 2 or 3am. Before, she would at least sleep during the day but now she

My mom says she doesn't get full and I should introduce solids but I think its too soon.

I am at the end of my tethers, I do not know what to do.

Any advice ladies?

Hi Ladies, you all have been chatting up a storm today

Took Luke to the breastfeeding clinic today to be weighed. He is now weighing 5.83kgs @ 8 weeks.

Asked the nurse about the espressing and my boobs not being as full and hard as before. Says its all normal as my milk supply is established now. Also fine that Luke only feeds for 10-15mins as when they get bigger that suck harder and get more milk quicker. So I have nothing to worry about.

I found that when I espressed an hour after his feed I got more out (50mls) so it still does work, but it really seems like such a hassle as I only get bits at a time. Am thinking formula will be so much easier just for those times when I am not around to give him the breast and if we are out somewhere it will be convenient to give him a bottle so I don't have to plan my outings around his feeds.

Enjoy the weekend, going to feed Luke now.

Hi ladies
it has been so long since i chatted on the site-virus on pc and repairs took forever...

He is still a picky sleeper during the day but sleeps okay during the night.

sorry for the long mail but have a couple of questions
1. my son is now 14 wks and has been drinking Nan from 4 wks (night feeds and when needed) but from last week he is refusing to drink the bottle. my mom suggested that i must try s26 (milk is richer)
he is starting creche in 3 weeks and so nervous that he stop drinking bottle.

what is the difference between NAN and S26
Please advise?