Got advice?
1. WW makes the most awesome colored poo. And while I have a lovely fascination with it I am not so keen on seeing it after a load of laundry has been done. What product/s can I safely use to de-orange stuff? (I use arm & hammer free & clear detergent and have tried a scoop of oxi-clean)
2. Any tips on burping a breastfed baby? I use the bend forward (his chin resting in the web between my thumb and index finger) and pat on the back method- but I just don’t seem to always get him to burp. Will he always have a burp?
3. When should I/ can I start pumping to let Mother do a feeding for me here & there?
4. This weekend WW got a mad case of the sniffles and he HATES the aspirator. Other than trying an aspirator with a smaller nozzle, are there any other tricks or gizmos that can clear his nose out?
5. Anyone else have a babe that fights the swaddle? It is beyond busting out of them, he reacts like it is torture. Should I give up the swaddle?
6. Sleeping…um. He does great falling asleep right after a feeding, but getting him off of my chest and into the snugglenest (in bed co-sleeper gizmo) is a giant FAIL for me. He stays asleep for about 30 seconds and then the screaming begins. I usually wait a bit to see if he will calm back down, but he never does. basically any advice/tips on sleeping would be appreciated.
Any input you have I will listen to.
HI,
Congrats on WW’s arrival and everything you’ve gone through so far, sounds like you are doing really well!! WW looks like a real sweetie!
My suggestions would be:
- sunshine for the stains, it really is the only thing that works
- pump whenever you feel ready, about 20 mins after you first feed in the morning can be good, or if you can manage it while you give first morning feed try pumping of the other side at the same time. You might need help to get the logistics of it going but can work really well. I use tommee tipee breast-like bottles but not sure if you have them ( i’m in UK!) and they work well. I started giving bottle about 6 weeks and theat seemed to work once she realised milk was there!!
- burping – try circular motions with baby sitting on your knee and moving the top of his body around in a circular way!! This was recommended by midwife from research done in Africa and seems to work well!!
- sleep. This is a hard one and one you’ll get tons of advice for and all conflicting!! One of best tips we had was to try and put baby down awake or rouse as you do so they get used to settling themselves. This was much easier with bottle fed baby it has to be said than the breast-fed one (who is still not a good sleeper at 9 months!!) In hind-sight wish i had tried not to feed to sleep because now in bit of habit…..!!
hope that helps!
Keep enjoying the cuddles and give WW a kiss from his friends in the UK who have enjoyed the journey of his arrival!!
take care
nic x
My gawd! Where was this vast community of knowledge when I had Wil? Unfortunately I have no real advice as I didn’t BF but for 2.5 weeks, had to do laundry in industrial washers due to living in one room apartment, Wil slept with us due to one room apartment, and he loved to be swaddled. But I do love your new header, I do think you are doing an absolutely phenomenal job, and I do love you very much.
My old roommate had to put her oldest daughter in her car seat for like 6 months to get her to sleep. Just like you, the baby would fall asleep on the chest, but as soon as you tried to lay her down, she’d wake up and not sleep or sleep for 15 minutes and wake up and not settle back down. She found this trick on some new mommy listserv. Until she found the tip, her hubby would sleep in a recliner with the baby on his chest all night.
I’d say if he doesn’t want to be swaddled then don’t swaddle him. It sounds like he freakin’ hates it, so why continue doing something that he hates? Some kids are clingy and some like their space. It reminds me of the parents who do “attachment therapy” and force their very large children to lie in their laps and drink from a baby bottle. Then there’s the forced “loving gazing” about three inches from the poor kid’s eyes. If somebody tried to do that to me as a child I’d have headed for the hills, probably screaming all the way. I’m not comparing swaddling to making an eight-year-old drink from a bottle but I think it’s important to recognize that babies have different ways of expressing/accepting affection and just because a book or a so-called expert endorses a method of comforting a distressed child doesn’t mean that it’s right for your child.
As for burping, my hubby is the world champion of getting a burp from a gassy baby. I’ve watched him and as far as I can tell, he puts the baby over his shoulder and pats around the bottom of the ribcage. They’re pretty firm pats, too. It always works for him but it works for me about sixty percent of the time. i have no idea why. it could be the firmness of the patting.
Sleep, try a white noise machine. I never did co-sleeping because i didn’t want to eventually have a seven-year-old who refused to sleep anywhere but in my bed. With me. And hubby. There are a few bloggers who are going insane trying to get their kids to sleep in their own beds. it isn’t pretty. babies are lovely and snuggly and all that but at the end of the day I want my space. If co-sleeping works for you, Lord love you. I couldn’t do it. Good luck.
1) I use a spray and wash thing with resolve power. It even gets out stains that were in clothes that were handed down. You use it before the wash, so I think anything that would be harsh for baby will come out with the washing.
2)I have always either cradled the head and tipped forward as you describe or pat on shoulder. Breastfed babies don’t always burp, but they sleep better if they do. If the first two methods didn’t get a burp, I cradle the baby over my arm with head facing elbow and firmly pat the back. This helps colicky babies, too.
3)I tried pumping, but my first two were twins and I never had enough left to pump, and my little girl doesn’t leave much either. First thing in the morning is good, and if the breast your child is not suckling on leaks (as mine did) using a hands free pump on that breast will keep that milk from going to waste. I have almost always used formula for those times I needed a break because of the reasons previously mentioned.
4)we always used a humidifier when the babies were newborns. It cleared out all sinus stuffiness. The only time we used the aspirator bulb thing was for head colds. Spraying the buffered saline solution sold for babies flushes the nose and makes clearing it out easier.
5)Our twins HATED swaddling, and I thought they would love it because they were used to being so tight. Our singleton couldn’t sleep without being swaddled. The thing with babies is always to find out what works for that particular baby, not a theoretical baby in a book, or even a previous child. If your kid hates it, he hates it, if it’s not working for you, don’t do it.
6)Sleep is a loaded topic. The best thing to do that I can think of is to try anything and everything until you get a sleep method that works for the baby AND you, and that you ALWAYS think of the future as well as what works for you right now. Also, throw out your pre conceived notions and start from scratch. For example, I thought that I would have the twins sleep together in a bassinet in out bedroom for easy breastfeeding, and that they would prefer to sleep with each other. WRONG. They HATED sleeping together, and they snuffled, snorted, farted,and sighed so loudly in their sleep that they kept us awake. They also couldn’t stand being swaddled, and due to minor reflux issues, they couldn’t sleep flat. Then baby B became wicked colicky and started screaming. Baby A slept in his carseat for 4 months, and Baby B ended up sleeping in the cradle swing for 6 months. Both methods worked great, but we had to stumble upon them with a great deal of trial and error. Your baby might love: 1)vibrating bassinet or bouncy seat 2) swing 3)being rocked to sleep then put into snugglenest or something completely different.
Congratulations!!! And best of luck
I agree with the sunshine diaper remedy. Also, if you’re trying to stay away from chemical-y stain removers, both baking/washing soda and toothpaste are wicked stain removers. Maybe try keeping a box of soda by the diaper pail, and do a sprinkle before dropping the dipe in the pail? Oxycleaners essentially use baking soda, and the soda’s usually waaay cheaper.
And if you can stand the gross, the quickest easiest way to clear out a little baby’s nasal passages is to put your mouth over his nose, and suck the mucus out. That’s right; it’s how poor folk do it in other countries. Suck it up and spit it out. Totally works.
Have you tried a half swaddle? Swaddle his legs up nice and tight, and leave his arms free? Otherwise, maybe just get him a sleep sack if he hates the swaddle. Somebody above said to make sure you deal with the real baby, instead of a theoretical one. Soooo true. He may break all the rules you read as prep. Whatever works, sez I!
And WW is one gorgeous baby!
Everyone already answered everything, but here’s my two cents on te last four.
3. Pumping…
You can start pumping any time. Mornings are best, usually, because you tend to have the best supply first thing in the morning. Something about hormones kicking in overnight. So, morning is a good time. Try to do it right after feeding WW (or as some suggested, pump one boob while feeding him on the other… I never mastered though). You don’t want to pump right before his usual feeding and then have there be not so much for him and have him get p.o.’d at you. Don’t worry about how much you get. When you are breastfeeding WW, you probably won’t get very much. Maybe 1/2 oz to 1 oz. That’s because WW is taking most of it and that’s all you have left. So, whatever you get, you get. If you are away from him for several hours and pump, in the future, you will find that you are producing plenty. But when he’s sucking it all up, you won’t have much left for the pump.
As for your mom feeding him, the standard is 6-8 weeks, I think. If you plan to bottle feed, they say it’s best not to wait longer than that because some babies will refuse the bottle if you wait too long (like my nephew) and then… well, you can’t ever leave them, which sucks.
But don’t stress about the timing too much. Jo was well established with bfeeding when we bottle fed him at 6 wks. He took it right away and he has never had nipple confusion or refused either the breast or the bottle. He just had no problems with the transition. I don’t doubt that some babies do, but the books sometimes make it sound like you’re definitely going to screw up your baby if you don’t do it right, and well, that’s not necessarily the case.
4. Sniffles…
Saline nasal spray can help as can just letting hot water fill the bath tub and taking him in to breathe in some steam. That having been said, I think most babies hate the aspirator but there are times when you will just have to do it, like when WW has a bad cold and is so stuffed up he can’t nurse without you clearing out the old nostrils. Jo can finally blow his own nose and that is lovely, but even so, when he’s sick, sometimes we still bring out the aspirator and he still hates it. But he survives.
5. Swaddle…
Is he fighting it when you put him in but then he settles or does he fight it while it’s on. If the latter, maybe no swaddle. He may not like swaddling. Others have said that though.
6. Sleep…
No one can tell you how to get your kid to sleep. You have to find what works for you. Babies don’t sleep like adults, so they wake more easily and startle easily. It can be really hard for them to be put down. Others have mentioned just letting the baby sleep in a car seat or sitting upright or such. You might also want to hold WW on your chest longer before trying to transfer him. If he can get into a deeper sleep before being transferred, he might stay down. Also, remember, just because he wakes when you put him down doesn’t mean he is necessarily up for good. He might well be up for good, but it took me far too long to realize that sometimes, even if Jo wakes when I transfer him from arms to crib, I can rub his back and talk to him soothingly and sometimes he falls back asleep after 5 or so minutes. Not always and if I try that and he is shrieking, I pick him up and we start again. But it’s something I’ll tell you because honestly, it took me a really long time to figure out that just because he wakes up doesn’t mean I can’t necessarily coax him back down. It was a long time before I could really transfer J. successfully. I forced myself to get it down because I was terrified of him going to day care at 3 months and not being able to be put down and not getting any naps. It was hard, but we did it. Lots of practice. And Jo wasn’t the most difficult baby with that. Good luck.
I only have advice on the swaddling thing–my nephew hates it and has since he was a day old, so just do what the boy wants–though he doesn’t mind his legs swaddled:) Congrats again. WW is just perfect:)
The new baby thing is usually a mystery-each little creature has their own quirks, but here’s what I’ve got:
*if he doesn’t like the swaddle, don’t worry about it. My son was too big for the conventional swaddle blankets pretty early on, but when I could manage it, he liked to have at least one hand free. Sort of defeats the purpose, but he liked it.
*I started pumping almost from the git-go. I had huge supply and a well-fed baby. I would do a feed, and then pump after I had put the baby back down. It helped to even out supply and helped to build up a frozen stash. I would suggest that you hold off on starting the bottle until he is about six weeks-you’ve got your supply well-established, and your chances of nipple confusion are low.
*Sleep, ah sleep. I didn’t co-sleep, but the first one was tough to put down too. I have to admit that I nursed them both down and was close enough to the crib (with the level set up high enough)that it was a pivot and set down. Sometimes the coolness of the sheet can wake them up, so maybe there is a way to address that. EAch one is different-my second would have to have her latch broken and a pacifier given. It will get easier as you develop more of a routine, and sleep patterns even out. Six weeks seemed to be the break-even point for both of my kids.
*last point on the burping-sometimes a BF baby doesn’t burp, esp. if they take their sweet time (I’ve had one gulper-great burper, and one sipper, not so much). I’ve found that if I know that there is a burp there, if I would be holding them on my shoulder, and then stand up. The change in elevation seemes to make a difference. Totally came across it by accident (thanks Mom), but that’s the way that a lot of things happen-you just end up figuring it out.
Good luck!
Our baby hated the bulb aspirator too. We tried many things but finally resorted to the Graco electric, musical aspirator. Nate doesn’t mind it at all, he mostly laughs when we use it. We affectionally call it the “marvelous musical snot sucker and you can get it at ToysRus. It’s well worth the $19.99.
Vinegar or sunlight to bleach out the stains in the diapers or whatnot.
Sucking out the nose with my mouth was the ONLY way Bliss didn’t freak out.
Burping took me bouncing Bliss but it is so different for each baby.
I would personally wait two to three months of good breastfeeding before introducing a bottle but that is me.
The swaddle … sometimes tighter works when you think it won’t, other times it just isn’t gonna work. Bliss went through phases than changed weekly it seemed.
The baby to bed off chest thing…I would end up laying him down while still feeding so when the boob was unlatched he was on his back or side so there was not moving done, it was a little tricky but when I tried other things he always woke up.
Love Love Love to you
1. Never found anything that worked too well, except keeping the poo off clothes. Not easy.
2. My son did not always burp, but when he didn’t I kept him a bit upright for a good 20 minutes after eating.
3. It is nice to share a feeding with your mom, but what would really make it worth it is if you can get 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep. For me, I let my breasts dictate when that could happen.
5. My son started bustin’ out of the swaddle pretty early too. I gave up and we were both happier.
6. I never figured this one out. But so many people swear by putting the baby down when he is drowsy to help him fall asleep on his own. My son couldn’t do that until he was 18 months old (not to scare you), but I think WW is too young for that. My son, and I have heard that it is not so uncommon, slept on my chest for about 3-4 weeks from the age of 4+ weeks (I think). He just cried if he was anywhere else. Luckily I could do it.
No idea about the stains.
He won’t always burp and that’s ok. I usually do the shoulder burp where kind of rest his belly on my shoulder and then a do a combo of patting and rubbing on his back for a minute or two. If he doesn’t burp in that time, he’s not going to.
Give up the swaddle. Not every baby likes it. Both of mine hated it with the passion of a thousand fiery suns.
Pump whenever you can. I usually like to do it about halfway between feedings. Your body will compensate.
As for the sleeping thing, I’ll be reading your comments to see what everyone else suggests because I’m out of ideas.
Hey,
I always had problems with getting a burp out of my breastfed baby. Even now at 6 months old, sometimes she does not burp after a feeding. I laid her on her belly on my knees and that seemed to work. Then as she got older, I leaded her forward and cupped her chin in my hand like you said.
As far as the swaddle went. once we left the hospital we used it like once. She would do okay in the Sw-ddle Me made by kidopotmus but she eventually would bust out of that too. We just gave up and she did just fine. I had issues with moving a sleeping infant at first too. I would wait about 20 minutes after her falling asleep to even attempt to move her. I know that is probably not what you want to hear. It does get easier.
As far as breastfeeding with a bottle. The class that we went to suggested that the first bottle can be introduced at about 3 weeks. they said don’t go to far beyond yet because many babies will not accept it then. We introduced it and it has been fine. I pump while at work or when going out for the evening and somebody else gives her a bottle. If you pump before that time, you can always put it in the freezer. I like the Me-dela pump and store bags. I freeze it and it is fine later. I hope that helps.
Good luck with it all your questions. I think those are the onlyu questions you had.
Kathy V
Aaaawww…they ALL hate the aspirator. We had a super long one for Will and I kept it for years to use on myself. Gross? Yes. But so helpful.
1. Just hang stuff in the sun to dry and it’ll bleach the stains right out – safe and free!
2. I used to just hold him upright.
4. Squirt breastmilk up his nose.
5. TBB was always swaddled, TTG never has been.
6. Don’t move til he wakes up lol. I fed TTG to sleep on a pillow on my lap so I could read blogs while he slept. 9 months later he’s there right now