Speaking of sleeping, we've had a bit of a rough patch lately. He's not going to bed as easily as he was (he's had some gassy episodes that give him pain in the evenings) and he's not always going right back to sleep after he nurses. Last Thursday night we started having Keith give him a bottle of pumped breastmilk during one of his nightly feeds and while he takes the bottle willingly and happily, it doesn't calm him and soothe him nearly the way nursing does. This could be because he finishes the bottle so quickly compared to the time it takes him to nurse. We're also trying to figure out how much to give him since we have no idea how much he eats when he nurses. I'm also trying to figure out what in my diet might be giving him gas - I've cut back on dairy and I'm pretty sure that broccoli is an offender. I might try cutting out dairy completely for awhile and see if that does anything. And we'll see, maybe he's not quite ready for a bottle feeding at night yet. Did anyone else try this with success? So these are our current conundrums!
On Thursday an RN is coming to our house. This is a free service offered by the county and coordinated through the hospital where we delivered. She will come to check on both me and Colin. I'm particularly interested in her assessment of our breastfeeding and am hoping to get some tips. While we are doing fine with it, I just think there is always room for improvement.
On a positive note, the weekends seem so luxurious now when Keith is home all day to help out. I get a lot done. This Saturday Keith's parents came up for the day for a nice visit. On Sunday we made blueberry pancakes, went grocery shopping (all three of us) and went on a couple of nice walks and met even more neighbors. Blueberry pancakes, reading the paper, drinking coffee, and clipping coupons on Sunday morning were things that 2 and a half weeks ago it felt like I might never do again :) But look at us now!
Grandma O giving Colin a big boy bath in a tub!
Grandpa O giving Colin a big squeeze
Enjoying his first tub bath last week
Hi Maggie,
ReplyDeleteIt's so hard to know how much they actually get when they're nursing. As I've found out going back to work, Charlotte eats way more than I'm able to pump. So we're now we're forced to supplement with formula - mixing it with the breastmilk. Are you able to do the side-lying hold so that you don't have to actually sit up while feeding Colin at night? It actually allows me to doze a little bit. I really didn't have Charlotte fed from a bottle unless I wasn't physically there.
Infant Mylicon drops worked wonders for Jimmy when he had bubbles. J was not much of a sleeper from the very beginning though, so he just slept with me and nursed whenever he felt like it. Nursing is amazing for so many reasons - it's calming and warm and bonding for the baby, plus it's reassuring because he can feel and smell his Mama right there. You might also try continuing to swaddle tightly. I highly recommend "The Happiest Baby on the Block" (the DVD takes less time than the book). Take it with a grain of salt, but there are some great basic techniques that helped me tremendously with my little dude, who was very fussy about sleep.
ReplyDeleteMaggie-
ReplyDeleteYou are a pro!!! It sounds like things are going great!! I had Mike do some bottles, but never in the middle of the night... so I don't know that I have any advice! I also have no idea how much milk Lindsey took- that is difficult to figure out for sure!! I have a good friend who is back to work and like Stephanie, she isn't able to pump as much as her little guy needs- so she pumps an extra time at night to add some to each bottle..... ahh... the things we do for our kids!!!! SO glad to hear that things are going well!!! Hugs!!!