feelin low

[leanne]

the past couple of days i feel like im fighting a loosing battle. zack has been a bit niggly and not slept much during the day, he has been really trying and crying more than normal. he will only seem to settle on the breast which he falls asleep on and as soon as i put him in his moses basket he wakes after about 30 mins to 1 hour durin the day and then crys again. my oh gets aggitated as zack is being breastfed so he cant do anything to help, thing is its more diffcult for me as im the one constantly attached to zacks mouth and the sofa. got ohs mate visitin tomorrow and staying for a few days and the house is a tip and i want thing to be nice for him coming but hardly get enough time to go to the loo never mind tidy up!!!! have had to resort to putting zack in his cot for 10 mins at a time to get him used to cryin by himself and for me not to go to him every time he crys. its hard as i feel really guilty when he crys but i have realised i get all angry when he crys and nothing can settle him. another thing, hes been more dribbly the past couple of days? went to my grans today and i showed her a mark on zacks neck, looks like he has nipped himself? looks exactly like a small love bite and i said it liiked like he'd nipped himself, he has quite a strong grip so i assumed this was what it was? she said he wasnt old enough to do this and said it looked like a zip mark? i assumed she was remarking that it was down to me gettin his skin trapped in a zip? she then told me to get it checked out by a doc. i feel like my family is trying to belittle me. feel like shite i really do. christ im only his mother. for sake. dont wanna swear as i dunno if i'd be chucked off the site but you can probably guess what i wanted to say. feel drained, bear with me coz i know ive posted alot but i havent been online since saturday due to the fact ive been in demand but in a restricted way!

 

[lauramumof2]

Can you express some milk him?
Would it be a though to top his feeds up?
Does he have a dummy (dummy police, dont shoot me )?

Sorry you feel like jobby!

 

[leanne]

hiya lauramum01 ive tried expressing but only get about 2oz each time i try, that can be from both sides added together. must be doing that wrong too!! zack doesnt like dummy too much he sometimes gaggs. have a small teatted one but he dont like that one, the nobbly one he will tollerate if hes in the mood but he gaggs. i wanna try to stick at just breastfeeding but if things dont improove i will have to resort to topping his feed sup, feel at the end of my tether!

 

[beanie]

Hey Leanne, I think you have my baby . Seren was also very demanding when she was very little, I felt that she was always feeding and she wouldn't settle. The evenings would be the worse, she would scream if she wasn't on the boob. We would get her in her crib eventually, but it would be about 2am, and she would sleep for a couple of hours then it would start again. Don't worry about the expressing, I am pants at it too, can only get about the same amount as you have. Babies are much better at getting the milk out. Seren also will not have a dummy, we have every kind going but none of them will do as she prefers to have the boob. However it is getting easier, she is going to sleep earlier, the cluster feeding is rare and she is happy for me to put her down for a little while so I can go to the loo. I know it doesn't help hearing it gets easier, but it is true. The early weeks of the breastfeeding are the worse. You could top up with formula, however I would say that if you are going to do this you should let Zak feed off you, and when he has finished then offer him a top up if he needs it, otherwise your milk supply will reduce. I personally did not find that Seren settled any easier on formula then on breast milk, she will sleep the same amount on both.

When you are tired and not feeling very confident as all new mums do, it can be easy to mistake what the person thinks is well meant advice as criticism. I have all the comments from "she seems to be always hungrey, you should put her on bottles", to "that rash looks sore, have you changed your washing powder" and I have taken all of these to mean that I am a rubbish mum. Its tough, but you know you are doing a great job. Hang in there hun xx

 

[lauramumof2]

Beanie,
Would you agree that at around 1 month - 6 weeks are the worst times. This is when things catch up with you and you cant see it getting any better. But it does It really does. Leanne, If you have tried all the different things then you are doing your best. I didnt breastfeed for long so Im no expert but if thats what you want to do then you do it!

 

[Manda]

If you feel that bad i would maybe get a carton of formula (the single ones) and maybe give him one after you've fed him yourself, don't feel as if you've failed but you're no use to him if you feel this way and even if you do it for a couple of days doesn't mean when you feel better you can't go back to all breast feeding, my milk had dropped a few times and i've just fed her more often for 2 days and it goes back up at one point i was only breast feeding twice a day now i only bottle feed once a day and thats before bed. Also some people have problems expressing i could use to express a full bottle now i'm lucky to get an ounce but i know i jhave enough milk as i can feel it letting down and hear Abi swallowing it.

Hope you feel better soon x

 

[Lucy]

Hi Leanne

The breastfeeding can be hard going at times can't it, we've had our ups and downs with it and what I find gives me the break I need from time to time is to do what Beanie suggests - some evenings after Olivia has been feeding for a couple of hours my DH will then top her up with a bottle of formula. This gives me chance to go and have a nice long hot soak or give the house a quick tidy, I would give Olivia expressed breast milk but like you I can't seem to express much at all (although when I do what Rosieroo suggested of expressing from one boob when Olivia feeds from the other) I do manage to get 2 oz from one side which I then freeze or put in a bottle for later (I'm not very good at having a sterilised pump to hand when Olivia is feeding so I don't do it often!).

It's nice you've got a friend coming to stay but don't worry about not having a tidy house - they honestly wont expect it as you have a newborn baby.

It will get easier hun {hugs}

Lucy

 

[hels]

Aw Leanne, I feel for you i really do. Charlotte is much like Zack but especially at night 8-12pm. My OH gets in from work after 12hrs at 9 to her screaming!! As Lucy an Rosieroo suggest get a couple of cartons of formula and see if OH may be able to give him some whilst you chill OR get him to clean the house if its his mate coming!!! LOL.
It seems this stage is quite a tough time hun, and from what ive read and my experiences your really not on your own. I think you are doing a totally fab job, thanks for your support the other week when it was me feeling the same as you!
have yo tried music?? I switch on MTV and sing to Charlie when she is really unsettled, its the only thing that calms her....i sang along to 'When will i be famous' the other night, worked a treat
Or try the cot mobiles???
Keep smililing hun, PM any time if you wanna swear LOL!!!!!!!

 

[leanne]

zack is totally different today. ohs mate turned up and we went out in the car to visit places, made sure i gave zack a good feed from both boobs before we went out and so i knew he wouldnt be crying from hunger. as soon as we got in the car he was asleep. he was fine all day and still fine, really happy, smiling and talking a bit, seems totally different to ytesterday!!! thank you for all your advice and tips ladies it is really appreciated i dont know what id do if i didnt have advice like you give!!! im really glad i found this foum it really helps, give yourself a big pat on the back!!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[melhoney]

Hi Leanne,

sorry I have just seen your post today, and when I read it i just thought you were talking about my little girl!!!!!!
The only difference, and it's a big one, is I don't breastfeed, so it's a little bit easier for me I guess, as DH can give her the feeds when he comes back from work.

Your babies are approx same age, so mayb it's the time for this. Maheen was really bad at sleeping at night but really good during the day at the beginning, then she shifted it all, and was sleeping better at night but gradually has been sleeping less and less during the day and these days, even if she does seem to be a happy baby, she does sleep only 20-30 minutes at a time during the day and has strated to sleep less and less at night as well!

I just hope she will get better at night again, because I am nackered today!
Also for the mark on Zack's back...was it there before? Because Maheen has the same, and at first I thought I had pressed a button from her suit too hard on her skin and it had left a mark, but the mark got a little bit bigger and never faded, so last week, i shoed it to the HV at the baby clinic, and she said it was probably a birth mark!
so maybe it could be the same thing? get it checked if it's still there and not fading! They said it's fine as long it remains flat.

Hope you are feeling better,
take care,
Mel xx

 

[leanne]

melhoney i took zack to hospital a and e yesterday morning, the mark on his neck was still there but there was a small hard lump underneath the mark. started to panic as i should have got it checked out earlier. they said its could be a cyst, blood vessel or a birth mark as normally birth marks dont come out in babies untl they're over 3 weeks old. got an appointment at gp on tuesday so they can check it out, hospital sending a letter about me going in, gp may send me to a paedeotrician surgeon to get it checked if he thinks there is a problem with it. gotta go back to hospotal if it starts to get bigger or he stops feeding!!!

 

[Urchin]

I'm sure it's nothing to worry about leanne, but you did the right thing getting it check out

 

[melhoney]

i am sure it's nothing as well, it's better to get it checked, so you did the right thing
don't worry, keep us updated

take care
mel xx