jennyh

Ah that is great news! I have mixed experiences of Kings but overall I too have been impressed. My labour experience wasnt ideal and the breastfeeding aftercare wasn't fantastic but they are often too stretched and still manage to give great care (I think I was an exception where the maternity care is concerned). The breast assessment unit is fantastic and having had lots of trips there I really value having such a great hospital down the road! Good Luck!!! How exciting!

Hi So sorry to hear that you are having such a dreadful time of it. I took my daughter for cranial osteopathy but only ended up going for one session as her digestive issues improved as her system matureed. I have heard such great things about the treatment though and would really recommend trying it...I went to see a lady at the Dulwich Therapy Rooms, can't recall her name. She was lovely and very good with my girl, had lots of interesting toys for her to stare at whilst she was doing the treatment. My daughter's head got stuck during labour so was quite badly forced forwards and then the cord got wrapped and it was all quite stressful, she also had her hands pressing against her temples during birth so the pressure of that gave her huge indents on her head and the plates took such a long time to settle - even at 16 weeks her head is still funny looking! I tried lots of things for my daughters digestive problems, she didnt cry as much as strain and push and grunt etc despite not being constipated, lots of raising legs up etc. Gripe water was better than infacol in my opinion so perhaps try that. She also found warm water quite relaxing as I lay her in it, otherwise I raised the end of her moses mattress using a rolled up muslin - not sure if that helped. Oh its so hard, thinking of you and hoping that it gets better soon. Are you getting much rest or support at home? Jenny

with these shades..do that all work on parent facing mode? Im going to start staring at other pushchairs when the sun comes out again, if the sun comes out again!

Yes fair enough, I think my midwife said that boiled water could be offered up until 5am actually, after which the hunger is prob very real so milk is the only option. Hmmmmm...how does the dreamfeed go?

have you tried boiled water??

Ha - yes they will look cute, what about us though!?

very wise...I am doing both! :) although killing time before the 11 dreamfeed then hopefully off to the land of nod!

Thanks everyone! It is a bit of a minefield, still shocked at the amount of effort i put into planning these things and thinking in advance about what is to come. I should have learnt my now that there is no point in trying too hard. Perhaps I am trying to cling onto the orderly approach i took to working life!

yep, I still put suncream on her, also a faff! Its more trying to find a solution to her screwed up squinting at the slightest bit of daylight! Anyway, Ive taken over SB's post...apologies!

does the silver shade actually shelter their eyes from the sun or is it just UVA/VB protection? Maybe I will invest in some baby sunglasses or a visor!

OOOh i have a few dislikes of my Bee...it is too low down, the basket is too small and fiddly to get stuff in and out of, the shade doesnt seem to come down very far. All the things that you dont think about when you are so excited about having a baby and more interested in what colour coccoon to go for! That said it is very light and narrow so can zip around and on and off busses easily. I hope that my daughter comes out of her Bee hatred soon!

My daughter is currently having a pushchair strike and screams in it so we went for the maxicosi on the bugaboo bee today...I can categorically say the raincover does not fit, although I gave it my best shot. Re the cover in parent-facing mode, I have never managed to get it to fit snugly, always a bit loose but I just strap bits where I can get it the tighest, but yes the basket still gets wet...good tip about the plastic bag! On another note, if the weather ever improves - what is the best way to shade baby from the sun in parent facing mode? I currently use pegs and a muslin but it's a bit of a faff to be honest. The parasols seems to be equally irritating, I considered the shade-a-babe thing but would ideally like my baby to be able to see out still, does such a thing exist? whats the silver cover thing that I have seen, any good? Anyone got a great product or invention??

Surely mine will be the one with type 1 diabetes running around hyperactively wearing pull-up pants on account of the diarrhoea she has due to developing an unhealthy gut. But yes, I've run out of chocolate as well so better stop now. Stopping now.

good point, I have eaten an entire sharing bag of giant buttons to spur some kind of surge in endorphins and stave off the feelings of gloom and inadequacy :) If I become obese I wonder what it could do to my daughter. Speaking of poor air - only since having my baby have I really considered pollution, nothing like being stuck behind a bus trying to cross the road with the exhaust at pram height. Maybe I will fashion some sort of mask to filter out the grubby bits...something to sell to the health conscious parent who resides in this nappy valley.

sophiechristophy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Re: evidence showing nutritional benefits of > breastmilk vs formula: > > http://www.bellybelly.com.au/pregnancy/baby-formul > a WOW - managed to get half way through, think i might go and slit my wrists now. Thanks for that, what a lovely balanced article in the good spirit of this discussion. it would seem that my daughter has beaten the odds by surviving 6 weeks, still, she may well get scurvy or grow another limb or develop some hideous killing disease in 30 years time. Then again so might smokers, interesting.

cuppa tea - love your post, very succint and completely balanced. Spot on. Nothing admirable about making people feel shitty about their decisions and attempting to play a game of one-upmanship. And yes - far too much time online, good job my formula fed baby is fast asleep and happily dreaming about rabbits or spotty socks rather than the big bottle of nasty formula coming towards her! :)

I wish i had managed to stay out of this because it really does just mess my head up, but it just draws me in! I just wanted to know what the research was that backed up the theory that formula is a very poor nutritional alternative to breastmilk? Considering that the medical research that goes into developing formula is so extensive and worth such a lot of money to the companies that produce it...you would think they had got something right!? I don't doubt that breast is best and I completely agree it is the best choice but I am genuinely interested about why formula is so nutritionally poor. My 16 week old daughter is on formula and she has doubled her birthweight, she can roll over both ways, she holds her hands out to toys and to be picked up, she can hold her head up brilliantly and she laughs and smiles constantly, she is developing brilliantly. Granted she had more digestive problems in the early days and she suffers from colds but as two GPs have said to me - she is building her own immune system rather than relying on a borrowed one from me. Then again I know loads of breastfed babies who suffer from regular sniffles and coughs so not sure where the super strength immune system kicks in... If breastmilk from another mother was the best second option then why is it not more readily available, other than to premature babies? If it was then I would have probably considered it as I desperately wanted my daughter to have the benefits of the antibodies but is wasnt to be (although as I mentioned above, why do breastfed babies get poorly too? genuine question...) I am actually quite tired of the notion that there is always a way to successfully breastfeed, I completely agree that everyone should be encouraged to and that support from midwives and health visitors is vital but someone needs to also tell new mothers that formula is not evil or bad because too many babies end up poorly because mothers are so reluctant to offer formula when they are dangerously underweight. Similarly too many mothers end up depressed and on the verge of breaking down because of the deeply distressing emotive issue. Like everything, it is a balance. I am delighted that my girl is a chubby little thing and that she is very strong, very alert and very happy. Oh I really do need to stop now! I could go on forever but would probably never make a point!

This is the sort of thing that I would love to do but to be honest my experience was too distressing and emotionally traumatic and having just about got over my inability to breastfeed I would rather not regress to that messy state! I hope that it works out though and would be interested in seeing the finished piece, good luck!

Yes her morning nap is usually 8.30am/latest 9am but she needs at least an hour otherwise is massively crabby. Problem is she rarely sleeps longer than 45 mins so i spend the rest of the time trying to get her to sleep a bit longer...often takes me up until 10am or just beyond. Anyway, sure it will all change by then, I imagine that the 10am would be best. Hoping that she will eventually be happy with shorter naps so that I dont have to do the ssshing, rocking, patting etc! Thanks everyone.

Hi I want to sign my daughter up to swimming in Sept when she wil be just over 6 months. She currently has a milk feed at 7am, 11am and 3pm and when the time is right I will introduce solids. My question is what time is best for the lesson? I have the option of 10am, 11am or 12pm. She must wait an hour after feeding before swimming but I am not sure which session to go for. Without wanting to completely over-complicate, she currently naps at 10am and 12pm ish. I've no idea what sort of a routine 6 month old babies keep so I am not sure what the best time would be. Anyone got any advice or experience of 6 month old napping/feeding habits?? All thoughts greatly appreciated! Jenny

We dreamfeed at 11ish and I actually introduced a dreamfeed at 3am as well as my baby was in a 4 hourly feeding pattern so I always set my alarm and pre-empted het hunger. This way I did it on my terms, I knew it wouldn't take too long and it involved no waking or tears. However recently she started refusing milk in the morning on account of being full so I stopped the 3am dreamfeed and instead waited for her to wake. There followed a few tricky nights of 4am ish wakings with tears whilst I fumbled to get the bottle ready, then she still refused milk in the morning. I then offered her boiled water in the night instead of milk (she feeds over the guideline amounts during the day and has doubled her birthweight) and she wasn't fussed about taking it and would rather just go back to sleep. After that she hasn't woken for a feed since...fingers crossed!!! I'd say the 3am dreamfeed worked well for us as it enabled me to control how much she had and make sure she was well fed to keep her asleep till the morning. I think it also helped as she hadn't really developed the habit of waking in the night which I understand babies can do which is mistaken for hunger, there begins a vicious circle! That said we are in the midst if a growth spurt so back to demand feeds, routine on hold!

We introduced a dummy around 6 weeks old as our girl had a v strong sucking reflex and instantly found it the perfect comforter. I wasn't able to breastfeed so I do wonder whether her need to suckle was more intense as she didn't get this comfort elsewhere. Anyway...found the dummy very useful in early weeks to he'll settle her to sleep, to stop the tears after bathtime and during changing. However gradually bit by bit she started beginning modify dependent, whereas in the beginning we said she only has it to settle in the evening, then it suddenly became every naptime, then on the pushchair etc etc, she would cry until she got it. We decided to remove it about 10 days ago aged 15 weeks because she started screaming during the night when it fell out every half hour!!!! and when she seemed to always want it all hours of the day yet spat it out and then whinged! I have to say the nights are much better but the daytime naps are a nightmare and I'm not looking forward to her next set of jabs without the dummy! That said...she is now a big sucker/chewer of everything as I think it's her stage, toys, hands, muslins etc. She is very happy without it and I have to say that I do quite like having to work our what she needs/comfort her myself, it was getting a bit too easy to just pop it in!!! Whilst I dont think it was working for us recently I def appreciate having used it when she was tiny because she needed it and I wouldn't change it. You'll know when it feels like the right time to give/get rid and as long as it brings comfort I don't see an issue with it. Our girl was just making it impossible to keep it!

Yes I've tried all sorts to help the daytime nap, not the sling though. I tend to either take her out in the pram and wamder aimlessly round the park for hours or I go into the room when I anticipate she could start to wake and I put on her lullaby and slumber bear in the hope the familiar sounds will keep her in a sleepy state, occasionally buys me an extra 10 mins. I hate to say it but if she has a cry then she often drops off again for another 30 mins or so. And also picking her up and rocking her in my arms can send her off on me whilst I sit pinned to the sofa. Good luck tonight, I'm still struggling to be honest and whilst lots of people found their babies got over it quickly..mine still remembers and make her dummy rooting face but thinks its improving! Just gearing up for the growth spurt now! Feeling good that she is able to go to sleep on her own though, despite all the tears!!!

HIya I got rid of the dummy in the end. I got some advice from the FSIDS charity about removal of a dummy and they went through other factors with me and agreed that it wouldnt be wise to keep the dummy if it was causing both of us to lose out on so much sleep, she was really struggling and was exhausted during the day and I wasn't much better. We went cold turkey last Friday and she hasn't had it since. Things have been going ok so far but she is still missing it and sucking on anything and everything she can lay her hands on, but then I think that she isat that stage. She is learning to go to sleep on her own and has been doing quite well albeit with the odd tricky time here and there. I find that night-times are much easier actually, I think her bodyclock knows its night so she finds it more natural to sleep whereas the naps are a nightmare if i'm honest. Where she sleeps for the first 45 mins (1st sleep cycle) she now refuses to go back to sleep even though she needs more, previously the dummy would send her off again! She has however slept through the night (with a dreamfeed at 11) for the past 5 nights, a complete turn around from what we had before. i do look at her sometimes and feel so mean taking away her comfort but I try to give her more cuddles etc and she sucks on my finger every so often. She was pretty much rejecting it herself as she spat it out so much. To sum up - we are getting there but every day and night is still a struggle, although no more so than when she had the dummy and she is happier during the day as she sleeps well at night. Good luck!

Hey Jenny You ok? Tippee Toes is tomorrow at 10am, think that me and Bess are going but not sure until tomorrow - depends on if she has a nap or not!!! x