jennyh

saila - your post reads exactly like my experience!!! weeks and weeks of pumping every 3 hours and eventually getting nowhere, 2 weeks of mastitis, a baby with jaundice and no ability to wake up to learn how to latch! To top it all off i found a lump and upon further investigation found large numbers of cysts and lymph nodes that were blocking my milk ducts. Still waiting for biopsy results, if i were still trying to breastfeed i prob wouldn't have found the the lump. I digress...this post isnt about the dramas of breastfeeding!! I think that it is right to say that women who cant breastfeed do feel like failures and therefore people do rally aorund to make them feel better and as a result breastfeeders could feel put out, when really we are all trying our hardest and doing a fab job so should give each other a big pat on the back! i still wish I had breastfed and have massive respect to every mother who does, i am also supremely jealous but need to get over it! Ultimately providing for our babies should be an enjoyable experience whether it be using a bottle or on the breast and no-one should take that experience away by bringing up negativity surrounding a very positive thing!

Fuschia Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > That's how I know that the whole breastfeeding > issue has been built up by the formula companies. > it's not enough to just offer formula to those who > need or want it. They have to try to create an > environment where any positive support for > breastfeeding is wrong and immoral and designed to > make other mums feel bad. Hence those horrible > phrases like 'breastapo' > I dont often get riled easily but having just posted about my feelings about formula companies as a formula feeder I think that this comment doesnt fit. Having looked on various formula websites to find the best formula for my baby I felt rubbish to be continually reminded at how breast is best - just a few extracts taken from the most popular formula websitess so you can see my point, all of which are plastered over the homepages and not hard to find, in fact finding help on choosing a formula is harder! an extract taken from SMA website - Breast is best Why breastfeeding gives your newborn the best start in life Why breast is best for your baby Breast milk is made up of the exact mix of proteins and nutrients your baby needs It?s full of antibodies giving added protection against infection It reduces the risk of asthma, eczema and other allergies It?s sterile It?s easy to digest It?s available on demand at exactly the right temperature It?s harder to overfeed your baby when breastfeeding It?s free It?s best for mums too: Breastfeeding helps you bond with your baby It reduces the risk of pre-menopausal breast cancer It helps your uterus return to its pre-pregnancy size and helps prevent ?post partum haemorrhages? It?s convenient. Breast milk comes ready prepared, so you don?t need to spend time sterilising bottles An extract from Aptamil website - The benefits of breastfeeding Breastmilk is one of Mother Nature's most wonderful creations. It provides everything your baby needs, when your baby needs it, for healthy growth and development. As well as being a satisfying source of nourishment, your body responds to your baby?s needs by only ever producing as much or as little as is required. The act of breastfeeding itself encourages intimacy and makes your baby feel safe and warm and gives you both precious time to bond. It also burns around 500 calories a day, making it easier to shift your pregnancy weight. Keep reading to find out more about the numerous reasons why breast is considered best. Home > Feeding and nutrition > Breastfeeding advice > What are the benefits of breastfeeding? What are the benefits of breastfeeding? Christine, pregnancy advisor and mum Breastfeeding gives your baby the very best start in life. As well as providing all the energy and nourishment they need, it helps strengthen their natural defences. But it?s not just your baby who benefits from breastfeeding, you will too. This article will tell you more about the benefits of breastfeeding, but if you have any questions just give us a call. Christine, pregnancy advisor and mum 08457 623 623 An extract from the Cow & Gate website- Breastfeeding ? the benefits for your baby Breastmilk is perfectly balanced to suit your baby. It is easy for them to digest and contains antibodies which help support their growing immune system. It also contains nutrients called prebiotic oligosaccharides, which the friendly bacteria in your baby's tummy feed on. These bacteria then help to fight off bugs and potential infections, helping your baby to grow up happy, healthy and ready for anything! And it even contains fatty acids that help your baby?s brain develop! Why breastfeeding is good for your baby It's completely natural. It contains all the nutrients and antibodies they need. Breastfeeding can help to protect your baby from chest and ear infections and some allergies, like asthma and eczema. Research also suggests that breastfed babies go on to have healthier blood pressure as children and are less likely to become obese adults. Why breastfeeding is good for you Breastmilk is free and it's always at exactly the right temperature! When you're breastfeeding, your body releases oxytocin, also known as the love hormone, to help you and your baby bond. Mums who breastfeed reduce their risk of developing pre-menopausal breast and ovarian cancer and fractures from osteoporosis. Breastfeeding helps your uterus return more quickly to its pre-pregnancy size and might help use up any extra pounds you may have gained during pregnancy, helping you get your figure back more quickly! Breastmilk is readily available, whenever and wherever you are, there?s no need to sterilise bottles.

good point oldnewromantic, i think everyone should speak up about their experiences! When i originally posted my desperate post about breastfeeding problems weeks and weeks ago i had so many replies and it was incredibly supportive. Thats why this forum is so good, lots of healthy debate but also huge amounts of support from lovely people!

Its such a shame that the issue raises so much angst, we should all feel proud that we provide for our babies whether it is breast milk or formula but the fact that it is such an emotive issue means hat the feelings of inadequacy are always apparent. As someone who couldnt breastfeed for lots of reasons I have huge emotional baggage that is dragging along behind me after weeks and weeks of 'accepting' it! My daughter is growing and doing really well and i feel very fortunate for that, breastfeeding mums should feel immense satisfaction that they are doing such a good job in often difficult circumstances as well. Motherhood is hard enough without the media stirring up bad feeling about our choices and decisions. The other day someone told me that the fact my daughter has a cold is DEFINITELY down to the fact i am formula feeding her which really upset me, a bit of sensitivity wouldnt have gone amiss. The thing is that the issue is a massive one and if i could do something to lessen the huge debate I would because in my experience it doesnt make anyone feel better about being a mother, only makes you question yourself or feel some sort of guilt or regret. Mothers should feel they are doing the best they can and not feel bad either way. Ultimately feeding our babies is just one of the things that we do to provide for them, we also teach them to speak and to walk etc. Having had a difficult upbringing myself and strained relatioships with my parents i am going to do everything i can to make sure that my daughter knows how much I adore her every day and in turn knows how to relate to other people. Less emphasis should be made on the feeding and more on the endless years of nurturing and growing! And just quickly in relation to the formula advertising - it actually makes me feel rubbish. One of the ads actually starts by saying that breastfeeding is best and then goes on to say that later in life formula can be used, what if you have no cboice but to use formula from birth! Also - every bottle/carton/tub says that breastfeeding is best, they are legally obliged to print that. I have it on very good authority from a midwife that the formula feeding companies are encouraged to dissuade mothers from formula feeding by making the instructions on making feeds and storing milk complicated, designed to put people off! So I guess that regardless of how you feed your baby, the advertising and printing of these sorts of results will always make mothers feel pretty poor for one reason or another!

we had some doors fitted along with a glass wall, roof and some sliding doors and found that going to companies who normally do commercial fits were much much cheaper than people like apropos or sun fold (although this may be mainly been down to the need for the roof. We found a company called MS Aluminium who were based up in Berkshire who mainly did larger jobs but were happy to do a residential job - again this may have been down the the fact we did quite a few jobs, but they may consider doing onee-off sets of doors. Only advice we'd give when considering how they fit is that when diong measurements for the gap you need to have filled by doors, is to specify how much of that space needs to be the actual doors them selves and how much should be frame or panelling (especially at the top of the doors.) Also, if getting bespoke doors made, be prepared for the door company to have to take final, precise measurements of the space for the frame, which may needed to be boarded over for a few days. Also, do pay attention to the thermal values of the class & framework as they do make a difference in both the hot and cold! Hope this is of some use and not just rambling! JH

i have the bee+ and the cocoon, i cant see how the baby would lie without it as it creates the flat platform?? i must say that it is roasty though, are there other products that would do the job but non fleecy versions? Jennyx

Agree with positive comments about the bee. We live in a flat with a small hallway so the fact it is narrow is great. I find it easy to put up and down and attaching the carseat is handy and easy. Nice and light so I can carry up and down stairs with the babe still in. My only negatives...so lightweight and responsive that it tends to lean when on any slight slope, plus my girl lies a bit low for my liking! We didn't have space to store all the bits of the travel system so we needed something that carried us through the months. Good luck!

I really want her to get used to these things but she seems freaked out by things like wind and trees so is only happy in the park in her pushchair, tears erupt if I even think of getting her out! Think the change of environment and sleeping arrangements got her all in a pickle, shes been a good sleeper so it was a shock for me! She isn't a big fan of taking her bottle in public either, gets so disracted and fusses and cries at sudden noises. On the good side though she can't get enough of toys, she loves smiley people and now enjoys baths. Sensitive little things aren't they!!!?? Clearly not an outdoors type of child!

It was awful!!! I literally stood up the whole night, depths of despair for me! She then spent all of yesterday in a terrible mood because she was tired and there were lots of new places and faces so totally overstimulated, cried most of the way in the car. good news is as a result she was knocked out last night which was bliss!!! Jennyx

So it's our first night away from home and also my first night on my own with the baby. So she doesn't really want to sleep and has opted instead to thrash around and whinge continually. I'm currently pinned down to the bed that I would love to be sleeping in myself but sadly she has chosen to settle only on me and won't be put down :-( I can say for sure that I won't be making an overnight trip again anytime soon and feel thoroughly fed up! Jennyx

all excellent suggestions, thank you very much for the info! Jennyx

Hi Again Have come across this company in my searching for first aid and wondered if anyone would be interested in taking part? It looks like you can either get 6-8 people together and hold it in someone's home and split the cost (sadly mine isn't big enough!) or you can build a class to suit. They are NHS nurses who come to give you classes in basic first aid and accidents etc. It is quite pricey but for some reason I have become a bit obsessed with the fact that i would never know what to do if my girl was choking or burnt herself etc, too scary! http://www.theparentcompany.co.uk/ Will keep searching as well, there might be a cheaper option run from Kings. Jennyx

hi Sally that is amazing, thanks so much! Have replied via PM. Jennyx

Hi, Looking for the above as I have impromptu trip to make this weekend. My girl has outgrown her Moses and having just got her sleeping better in a big cot I an loathe to go backwards and cram her into the basket! Understand if no-one can help but thought it was worth asking anyway!!! Thanks Jenny

Hey I have recently been thinking how incapable I would be of helping my baby if anything serious happened to her, so im keen to do a basic first aid course. I'll check with the doctors but has anyone ever done such a thing in Dulwich? Thanks Jenny

Thank you everyone!

My 10 week old needs settling to sleep each daytime nap, she always seems to have the light/disturbed sleep force good 15 mins before a deep sleep kicks in. I guess I should start to think about trying to get her into the habit of going to sleep in her own but it seems like such hard work when I'm so tired!!!

Hi Little one is 10 weeks now and im now looking for the ultimate activities in the areacwbs would love some suggestions, a top 5 of the best classes and activities. I'm thinking she'd be a good age for anything music related or anything to stimulate her senses but they do need to be quite short as her attention span I'd pretty short and her mood is entirely dependent on feed times! she's just starting to hit the toys on her playgym but is far off any coordinated movement! I know there are loads of threads about baby and toddler activities on the forum already but it can be a minefield searching page after page so im hoping people won't mind recommending things again. I'm happy to go on lists for classes starting in the coming months so if anyone can think of things suitable for 3/4/5 month olds as well as 2 months then would love to hear! Both paid and free things!!!?? Thanks! Jennyx

Indeed! 2 nights done and I'm getting more used to it! She seems to sleep much more soundly which doesn't surprise me as the mattress is much nicer. Feels good to have an adult room again. Just need to put up het blackout blind and see how it continues! She's 10 weeks old now and has a pretty decent night routine, I really hope it doesn't all change!!

Tonight is the first night in own room and cot! She has spent the last few nights waking herself up by hitting the sides of her basket and headbutting the top so no choice really. Can't say I'm happy to move her but I think it's partly because it's a bit if a milestone and it will be really odd not having her next to me :( We've bought a new monitor and she is in a room right nectdoor but I'll still worry and prob check her constantly! Have tried to get her used to the cot with naps and playtime etc but we'll see how well it goes tonight! She has a bumper on at the moment but is still unable to move around so no fears of her getting wedged behind it. If it gets very hot I guess we'll remove it. Oh the decisions and worries!!!

Yes that would be easiest, I am just having issues with the idea I'd moving her in there soon and so would feel more comfortable at the beginning being able to see in the room! You are right though, we may have to do that!

Hey Does anyone know of a way of keeping the cats out of the baby's room using some sort of tall gate or screen?? We want to be able to keep the door open so we can hear her but dont want the cats to go in there and they would be able to jump over/squeeze through a normal gate. Was thinking perhaps a fly screen or something would work but wondered whether anyone had come across something purpose built for this need!? Would need to fit the frame and be pretty tall to keep them out! Jenny

Thank you everyone! I feel quite comfortable with it but as with everything I read something and then freaked out! She makes such a lot of noise and part of me also wonders whether the transition would be easier if it is made earlier, surely the older the baby gets, the more used to their surroundings they become so the harder to change?? We are already facing a big fight when we get rid of the dummy eventually so I am not sure whether I want that to coincide with changing rooms!! Plus her cot looks SO much more comfy!!! She doesnt nap well during the day so not sure I could pop her in there to get her used to it but I will try. Could also pop something of mine in there so she feels more comfortable, we do her night feed in the dark in there and also change and dress her in there so she does know the room. Could I also ask...where does everyone stand on the cot bumper debate? We were given one as a present as I know that babies can get their legs and arms caught in the bars but I have read different opinions - either they are dangerous as babies can try and climb on them or press their faces againt them or overheat etc. I hate that parenting comes with so many decisions that make you a little crazy!!! To think that I used to manage a stressful job with a lot tougher challenges!

Thank you. She makes horrendous straining noises and grunting so I'm already sleeping in the living room!! Not ideal. Similarly she is only feeding once between 11pm and 7am (long may this last!!!) Thanks for your post! Anyone else?

Hi We have a 2 month old who currently sleeps in the moses basket in our bedroom. She will be outgrowing the basket in the next few weeks so we built her cot today in her room. The issue is how comfortable I feel about moving her out of our room and I wanted to get some opinions... The problem is that the cot wouldnt fit well in our bedroom, if we moved some bits around and got rid of some stuff we could squeeze it in but I wonder whether it is necessary. I know the FSID people say that the risk of cot death is doubled if the child is moved out before 6 months but I wanted to see what other parents thought and what other people had done? Her room is right next to ours and I can see the bedroom door from my bed and could probably hear her just as well. Does anyone know what the FSID recommendation is based on? - being able to hear them, see them, check on them etc?? Please help! Jenny