Discovery Home & Health

Hi girls,

Thought I would take the bull by the horns and start this thread. I hope July and August girls don't mind joining together but it seemed the best option.
I am loving being a mum again but have to admit the sleepless nights are hard!
Can't wait to hear from you all. I bet our posts are not as regular now we are all mummies!

Chele

thanks chele.

i've up all night and think i will go back to bed soon.

is anyone else mixing breast and formula? i did to give me a rest, but after a bottle Amelia gets trouble pooing and seems to be in pain when she trys to go. i think i am going to stick to the breast only and see how it goes.

amelia is 23days

hi chele and chris

good idea chele, july thread wasnt really getting any action, lol

well for those who come on here and dont know me,

im Emma, 25, from bedfordshire uk, married to kev, we have 5 children, katlyn 5, shannon 5, ella 4, shea 2 and bernadette who was born 18th july 06,

Will pop back on later, ive so much to catch up with here

have a great day

Em, xx

hi girls welcome to the parenting forum and congratulations on your precious new arrivals!

sorry to butt in Cris but i was just reading your post about mixing milk.. when your baby is so young it's not really a good idea as they can get easily confused. they may decide they like one type more than the other (as they taste completely different) which could result in refusing to breast feed.

when you give your baby the formula feed do you express some milk as well? i say this because if you reduce the amount of feeds you do, then this will decrease your milk supply. i find expressing in the morning when there's plenty of milk means i can give my baby his last feed in the bottle, which is much quicker and a least someone else can do it for you to give you a break. the avent isis pump is very easy to use and quick too.

about the poo thing, breast fed babies tend to have more runny poo, and don't have problems with constipation, which is caused by some kinds of formula milk. (also you may find that breast fed babies poo actually smells nice, formula makes it pong a bit!)

anyways i hope this helps you out a bit, if you need anything else please let me know.

love

Hi Girls,

Found you! hope you are all well if not a little sleep deprived. Leland was weighed yesterday at 12 days old and weighed in at 7lb 4oz which is a 10oz gain since birth so i was very pleased about that. i am still breastfeeding though he is also having the odd formular feeds too as he is so unsettled as i can not fill him has my supply is not very good so i have been expressing also to try and increase my supply but as yet with no luck. Leland has been fine with the formular milk with no constipation cris what formular are you using as midwife told me aptimil is the best when combining the two as thats what they incurrage on special care units on preemies which recieve both breast milk & Formula. it would seem i have a greedy baby who is playing catch up i think as i can only express 1 1/2oz yet leland will take jsut short of a 4oz formula feed so if things continue as they are and don,t improve i will switch him to formula completely as he seems far more settled on that.
I Hope everyone is well and babies are thriving
will catch up again soon


Love to you all

hi all

Karly - thanks for yr advice, it is v confusing because everyone is telling me different advice. the HV said it was was fine to give Amelia one formula bottle a day, but I have started trying to express now instead because i would rathe give her the breast milk only.
Sharon, it is aptamil 1 that I was giving her. I usually express about 3 oz from one boob, but i just tried it after a feed - she is still hungry and getting frustrated as I think the milk is running out, but i could only express 1 oz this time.

yesterday I left her for the first time, with her aunty, i went to tesco, i felt so lost without her!!!

cristina & amelia x x

Hi Girls,

Well I am embarrassed to say that Charlie was weighed yesterday and weighs a whopping 11lb and 4oz. Cannot believe it! He is only having breast milk! My mw is lovely and says there is nothing to worry about but I hope he slows down soon as he is not going to be a baby for much longer at this rate!
I have to say, I was thinking of introducing formula as his last feed in a couple of weeks as he is feeding so much in the night but not sure whether to or not. I never seem to have time to express. I still have sore nipples!
Sharon - well done for persevering, you are amazing!
Emma - your little girl sounds to be sleeping well!
Cris - Well done with breast feeding - it is not just as easy as it seems is it?

Speak later
Chele

Hi there,

Chele, thanks for starting this thread up.

I am looking for some advice from other mums re: breast/bottle feeding.

Hope this is not too long winded! My midwife and maternity hosp encouraged me to breastfeed and it is/was my intention to do just that til Joseph reaches 6 mths. However, he was quite a small 6lb 8oz born, did not lose any weight during the first week, then went up to 6lb 11oz at 11 days old, so when the health visitor came last friday and said he is 6lb 15oz, I was very upset as she suggested I might need to give extra formula as a top up and this could also be why Joseph does not settle for long as he is hungry! I have since given him 2 oz of formula in the evening and he does settle better

Is it true that a mother may not make enough milk? I had worked so hard, persisting through the sore nipples etc, so determined to breastfeed, but now am confused...Any advice greatly appreciated...

Hope all the new mums are not too tired!

Lots of love, silky xxxxxxxx

Hi Silky - as you know i struggled to breastfeed for the first week but have now given up and Katie is totally on bottles. She was 8lb 3oz born and went down at 3 days to 7lb 3oz. I just wasn't producing milk. The midwives had me breastfeed and then top up after each feed with a bottle. She guzzled the feeds down as she was so hungry! At 6 days she had gone back up to 7lb 10oz. I suffered with extremely sore nipples - they were just one total scab and felt like shards of glass every time she sucked. After a week i was so upset and dreaded each feed that i decided enough was enough and went totally onto the bottle. She is really settled during the day BUT at night she is really unsettled between 11 and 1am ish! She also tends to sick up most of her feeds at night (not too bad during the day though!) and really struggles with her wind. She was just as sick whilst only having the breast too so it isn't necessarily because of the bottlemilk. I have tried changing her milk and it is no different. We also now have her on infacol to help with her wind which she does seem to be bringing up a bit better. Going to try propping her mattress in the crib tonight and also some "staydown" milk!

Emma5 - isn't it funny that in a world where large families are definately not the norm anymore that there are 3 of us with 5 kids on here!!!! It is a nightmare in our house at the weekends when StepDaughter here too - all 6 kids in one go!!!! No honestly it really is lovely to have so many kids - makes for an interesting life and definately not boring!

Hope all you other mummy's are doing well.

Karen and Katie (3wks today!)
xxxxx

Thanks Karen,

So it is true then that some mothers may not produce enough milk. (Joe is downstairs with Holly guzzling 3 oz of aptamil!)
I think I had got all worked up about breastfeeding and did not buy ANY feeding kit, but went out at the weekend and bought some avent bottles and sterilising stuff. Also feel VERY silly for not realising that my baby was still hungry! I can see the full switch coming and if it makes everyone happier then its got to be good..

Gonna post some more pics later on...

Hi to Cris and Chele and anyone else I'd forgotten. (need a chart of who had who and when etc!)

Love silky xxxxxxxxxxx

http://tickers.TickerFactory.com/ezt/d/2;10726;31/st/20.../dt/5/k/c5ba/age.png

Silky - i was getting myself so worked up about it and in the end i am much happier and so is Katie (well except for the being sick but she was doing that on the breast anyway!) I know breast is best but for one reason and another my other 4 all ended up being bottle fed and they are all perfectly healthy! I was worried as i suffer from asthma, hayfever, ezcema etc but none of them have anything so i don't feel as bad!

I think you just have to do what is right for you and your baby and if you decide to move to the bottle then you know you have given it your best shot and that is what matters.

Just testing the ticker thing, but can't seem to do it....oh well!

i've tried too but with not much success!!!

fancy that it worked that time!