weekly chat oct 1-7 - Page 3 « Back to Group Discussions

[Carlin]

Congratulations on your son dmpkmom! I've been wondering how you were doing!

[judybean]

Congratulations, dmpkmom!!!

[crystal_buffaloe]

Congrats on the big baby boy, dmpkmom! Those clots do sound scary, though -- I'm super glad everything worked out okay.

Pads - I keep thinking I don't need one any more, and then I do. My SIL brought over a pack of disposable and I used them until they ran out, but I wish I'd just gone with my cloth from day 1, they're a ton more comfortable. I am oh-so-ready for several months of lactational amenorrhea, though.

Jend - . 2 hours is just not enough sleep. I hope you figure out a more sustainable solution soon. Can you hand the baby off at all? Nap?

Cloth diapers - hats off to all the mamas using CD! We don't have any newborn size ones, so DS will be in disposables for probably two more weeks. I also never got our 7 aplix pockets converted to snap ... so maybe I should jump on that

Pumping - I started pumping yesterday. Did about 5 min in the morning and then about 8 min this morning (i just don't like it, plus seriously, who has time?!) I'm shooting for one pumping session a day. We'll introduce a bottle around 4-6 weeks and then I'll go back to work (just at a quarter time) in January. I always get more pumping to replace a feeding (while at work) than I get trying to pump while EBF. If we don't end up needing what I stock up between now and Jan, I can donate it

[Princessjules]

Congrats dmpkmom!

[Jend1002]

I don't know what to do abouty poor little guys belly. He's clearly in pain all night and I can't tell if its just gas or also reflux. Symptoms are so crossed on these two. Ped says time will tell. Gee thanks. I hate to see him so uncomfortable. We didn't sleep at all last night. I have done side lying, propped him up, mylicon. Has any one tried probiotics? My ped suggested BioGaia (spelling?) so I will look for that. How about gripe water? Can you tell I getting desperate?

[MadiMamacita]

We have done gripe water a few times but Jude's glassiness seems pretty light and infrequent. Not sure it would on something more serious but worth a shot!

[MissE]

Our walgreens sells biogaia for 30 bucks the little bottle. Haven't tried it yet. We did give audrie gripe water though which seems to help her calm down.

[WindyCityMom]

Jend - have you tried cutting things out of your diet? I know that can sometimes help!

[help007]

I just ordered the BioGaia from the pharmaca website (20% off, and free shipping over $30). In the interim, I have given my baby a tiny dose of my probiotic (BioKult) which I know is appropriate for toddlers who have taken it for the GAPS diet, but I'm not certain it is indicated for infants. That said, she has skipped her fussy 7-9p last night, and the 2a-4a fussy period was a ton easier last night.

Also, I had moderate afterpains for the first 3 days pp, but then nothing for days and days. Then, last night, I had the worst afterpains ever after a middle of the night feeding. Now, I realize how some women have compared afterpains to labor pains. Rough!

[MIrandaM]

help007, I've also been looking around to see if Biokult is ok for newborns . . . it's what we take (we were on GAPS for a while as well).  The other thing I've considered is putting a little bit of milk kefir on my nipples for a few minutes then wiping it off and letting him nurse.  Do you think there would be enough cow's milk left on the nipple to cause him harm?  I've had huge improvements in my health from the milk kefir so i'd like him to get a bit of those good bacteria. 
 

my quick vent: In-laws are here and while they are great, they are CONVINCED that James has 'indigestion' and the keep saying it, over and over and over, anytime he cries or is fussy it's his 'indigestion' from my milk. That my milk is what is making him cry.  lsdkfjdslkjfdslkf. When he cries and I comfort him my FIL says 'Oh there's absolutely nothing wrong with him.' as if I shouldn't be comforting him . . . I obviously just carry on with my kisses and cuddles and bouncing and back pats for the baby but it's so irritating to me! My MIL wants to give him a pacifier at the slightest peep when I'm really trying to keep it for critical moments only, and they keep opening every window in the house and it's freezing here. They bought him some anti-flatulence medicine that is full of preservatives and anytime the baby fusses they're asking if I've given him the medicine for his 'indigestion' !! I haven't even opened it yet and their irritation about that is palpable. He's peeing, pooping, burping, and feeding perfectly - he's just a normal farty, burpy, sometimes fussy baby :0 Last thing, my FIL insists on doing all of the kitchen clean-up, which is so nice, but he's old and can't see that the dishes are still filthy after he's washed them, he doesn't rinse the soap off (wtf??!) and I have a nice bottle of natural dishsoap at the sink but today they bought a huuuge bottle of dyed, scented, conventional soap that he uses to wash the dishes now.  At least with my natural dishsoap I figured that some leftover bubbles on the dishes weren't a big deal, but I don't really feel like consuming this chemical yuck soap every time I eat or drink.  thanks for letting me vent, i can't spill it quite so bluntly to DH and I feel much better now :) On the plus side, they're cooking a lot, holding the baby so that I can shower and eat, and walking my dog three times a day! gotta love that. 

[help007]

My midwife said it was okay to give the baby a small amount of BioKult (adult probiotics in general), so I feel better about already having done that!

If you are getting probiotics, you are already passing some of those along to your baby.

[WindyCityMom]

My probiotics give baby a TON of gas- at least I'm assuming they're my probiotics.  I stopped them and she's not as gassy.  Probably not good seeing that I *need* them to combat the constant struggle against candida in my body.  sigh.

[mole]

So little time to respond to anyone! Congrats DMPKmom.

I have two questions:

1) S's ass/legs etc. are stained yellow from his poop. He has very sore looking diaper rash right around his asshole. We are wiping him with warm water and cloths. I am hesitant to use soap because of his diaper rash, and I don't think the yellow staining is harming him, but still. Maybe water isn't enough?

2) I am now starting to pump twice a day 15 minutes after S eats, so that I can try to increase my milk supply and so I can get some stored up because we are going to a concert in a month. Do you boil your pump after each pumping session or just at the end of the day?

[Ava's Mama]

Hi Mole,

I make my own wipe solution and this is my ratio.  1/2 cup water, 1 TBSP Bronner's Baby Mild Soap, a few drops of tea tree oil.  I use cut up tee shirts for the actual wipes and mix about 1.5 cups of it in an old plastic wipes container.  MY DS also has a diaper rash on and off.  Try giving S some air time without a diaper and see if that helps clear it up.  Coconut oil can also help.

I have not started pumping yet, but when I did with my DD I would pump and then put all the bottles and parts that touched the milk in a plastic bag in the refrigerator and then I would pump again and wash everything at the end of the day.

[mole]

Ava's Mama- I actually made a pump bottle with that exact recipe! S cried when we used it though- we weren't sure if it was the tea tree oil irritating him or just the water in the pump bottle being room temperature instead of warm (now we are keeping a thermos of warm water to use for wiping him and he likes that a lot better). Maybe we could use that once/day to help combat the staining. It's so cold here I don't know how to keep him bare bummed. I know it would help him, it's just so COLD! I've been keeping the cover off and just having the prefold snappied on him for a little while to get some more air circulation.  thanks for the fridge pump suggestion- I'll do that tomorrow.

[Monkey Keeper]

Originally Posted by mole 

 He has very sore looking diaper rash right around his asshole.

 Do you boil your pump after each pumping session or just at the end of the day?

IME, a rash like that (is it red and bumpy?) typically is due to a sensitivity to something in your diet. My Milk/Soy Protein Intolerant baby had once starting in the hospital. It possibly could be yeast too since I'm sure there were abx involved in S's recovery. 

I am pumping for a friend's baby, and I am only washing pump parts maybe once a day. I NEVER (rarely) boil them, but we have a dishwasher and always run it on a sani cycle because it's the only way the soap dissolves fully and rinses. If you're worried about your parts, you can store them in the fridge between uses but there is NO need to sterilize them more than once a week or so.

[Worldshakerz]

Super exhausted! Up until he was about 2 weeks old Benji has been a very sleepy baby and he had to be woken up to nurse, etc. He was above birth weight but was on the "low side of normal" weight gain wise. The past two days now, he is complete opposite all of the sudden. He will nurse well and eventually pop off the boob or nod off to sleep. A few things happen after this. Either when he pops off he immediately gets fussy and starts rooting around again and so I switch sides. Sometimes I switch sides multiple times. When he falls asleep he won't stay asleep for more than 5 or 10 minutes and then he wakes up and very quickly his little cries turn into very loud almost desperate cries for mommy/boobies. It just repeats over and over. I does seem a bit better today compared to yesterday - he had a few 10 minute periods of wakefulness where he seemed content but then he started acting hungry again. I'm thinking growth spurt plus its possible he has a cold, since his older brother has a cold. I've been trying to keep his older brother away from him but its kind of hard. I guess I just need a little support/reassurance. This is probably just a growth spurt right and/or cold and will calm down soon? He went from being so calm and laid back to being so fussy, he is either nursing or crying and sleeping in small spurts for the most part. 

[katt]

i'd say growth spurt.  baby is probably the safest one in the house in regards to your older child's cold.  what with your antibodies and all.  :)

[MamanFrancaise]

Sounds exactly like a growth spurt. Don't be surprised if it continues for 3-4 days. I am waiting for Dexter's 3 week spurt... I hope he's easy on me. LOL

[judybean]

Worldshakerz-- I would guess growth spurt as well.

And on the subject of possible baby colds or otherwise... Leo has been stuffy-nosed/somewhat congested for a week now (and he's just two weeks old). It doesn't seem to interfere with nursing but it makes for really noisy/goopy-sounding breathing and I can't imagine it feels good. I'm not sure what the cause of it is. His left eye is sometimes a bit weepy/gunky (though nothing like dd4 had when *both* of her tear ducts were clogged for months and constantly looked red and sore)... could that be it? Could it be some sort of allergy (whether food-related or caused by external factors like our cat)?