I have a couple ?'s for all you momma's out there.
- How long do you let your newborn sleep before waking them to feed? During the day and night. (During the day we go 2 hours, at night I let him go 4)
- When do you give them their first bath? Dr. said we can do it now, but with Lu they said to wait until her little cord fell off. (I did wash his greasy little hair this morning though, while he was still in his jammies).
- Pumping. When your boobs are rock hard and the size of your head...do you pump? Last night I pumped for 3 mins and it seemed to help a little...but I'm back to square one with the massive knockers. And I don't want to confuse my milk production. Help.
- At night after you nurse, how long do you burp? I hate laying him flat after he's just chugged from the watermelons.
- And I'm all about getting out. I want to go to Target today BUT....am the biggest germ-a-fob (I won't even let family touch him without hand sanitizing)
Would love your insight. Remember it's been 9 (very fast) years since I did this.
14 comments:
It's just me:
1. once he's up to birth weight, dont' wake him to eat.
2. bath him, he'll probably thank you.
3. pump and freeze, ask Brookie about this, she's the master pumper.
4. I'm the worst burper ever, Meg prentice is the master burper.
5. Get out, just keep him in his carrier and don't let ANYONE..especially that sweet lady in line touch him. Why do people always touch their hands???
All I know is pumping sure makes life better. For me it took awhile before my supply was consistent and regular. So, I say pump when they're rock solid and throbbing….and, keeping you up when you need to sleep.
And, what is the deal with people touching the babe?! Maybe keep a blanket over his carrier? If they can't see him, it might keep them away. :)
You are probably going to get lots of contradicting advice so I will give you mine but at the end of the day do what works for you.
1. Agree with HC 100%, let him sleep.
2. I did sponge baths on both my bakes till their cords fell off. Maybe that is why their cords hung on forever.
3. I say don't pump, just feed off the booby till he is 4 weeks if you can. It will help you both establish a good feeding pattern and will avoid under/over production. Give a bottle at minimum weekly after 4 weeks to ensure he will take one. With Reece I pumped ALOT and overproduced, I got up every night and pumped which meant Reece and Craig started sleeping through the night at 1.5 months and not me till 8 months when I finally smarted up. Also with Reece I had bags of frozen milk, lots but at the end of the year alot got thrown out and I regretted all my overproducing. With Celine I have a couple bags for reserves, just what I need and I am rested which for me is a way better deal.
4. Till he burps or you are tried of burping him, but I am with HC here too I really have no idea. If I stop before the burp and the scream I keep burping.
5. Get out, use a carrier and be mean if you have too.
Because our first was a super sleeper (sleeping 4-6 hours days after coming home, I know, right?!? Our second... not so much), I laughed at the nurses when they told me to wake her to eat. Do what you feel is right, but my suggestion is never to wake him. You'd hate to continue waking him to find out (one night when you don't wake up) that he would sleep through the night!
Bathing - our doc still suggests sponge baths until the cord falls off. I did wash their mops of hair much more often since it gets so greasy from all the petting, haha.
Pumping produces more milk, but a little relief is nice every once in a while. Mostly your body is probably reacting to him sleeping longer than you expect him to, haha. If you stop pumping even for relief, after a day or two your milk should adjust to be ready when he is. (And in the event that he ever adds a feeding, your body should adjust to that too.)
Burping. Both our girls produced more burps when we sat them in our laps and propped their little heads in our hands. Looks so uncomfortable but the hunching always seemed to push out the gas.
Definitely don't let the ladies in stores scare you, haha. You can walk around with a giant bottle of hand sanitizer - they'll get the picture. :) (And if the lady in the line at the post office sees your 2-week-old and tells you her children didn't leave the house until their were 3 months old, you be sure to tell her you have a life and that's how it works these days. Not that I would know. :))
Most of all, remember he's only 4 days old so you'll figure everything out in time. Do things the way you want to do them and life will be good. :)
Love the ?'s....
1. Never wake a sleeping baby.
2. I am obsessed with bathing. They poop and puke all the time. I bathed them even with the cord.
3. At the beginning I pumped a lot. Got my milk up and had a lot in the freezer. Eventually the boobs adjust.
4. I'd stay in as much as possible. Rsv and whooping cough are going around like crazy. Let zeb babysit and go out by yourself.
just my 2 cents
1. I agree with Heather, once he's up to birth weight don't wake him, he knows when he's hungry and will let you know
2. Go ahead and give him a bath just keep the cord dry
3. I pumped and froze because it really helped when I needed to get out and we needed to feed and honestly it really helped me to produce more milk. But of course breast feeding him directly when you can is the best but when it is rock hard and he wasn't up I used the pump.
4. Sammy was a bad burper but he did really well if we sat him facing out put our hand under his chin and patted him and we did it after every feeding.
5. Get one of those tags they sell for the carrier or just make one "it's ok to look but please do not touch the baby. Thank you" It really does keep people away:)
1. don't wake him at night to feed him!
2. i waited with both until their stumps fell off - it's not like they have BO or anything so i wasn't in a huge hurry
3. your body is just regulating your supply and it's normal to be engorged at the begining - if you pump you are telling your body to make more milk, if just nurse on demand you're body will balance out. if you keep pumping you'll always been engorged - www.kellymom.com is my favorite nursing website.
4. i am not sure what you are looking for here - i just burp them until they burp? I didn't burp at night for very long though, at first i did, not sure when i stopped
5. GET OUT!!! I was out with both kids like the day after I came home from the hospital - totally necessary for my sanity!!! Just keep him in his carseat, he'll be fine :)
1. Wake to feed every three hours max during the day and never at night-let him sleep even before he is back to his birth weight. With big knockers hell get there.
2. Bathe if you desire.
3. Ask Brooke. I pumped to relieve but then I just hung with it until my supply evened out.
4. Burp for a few minutes and lay him down, if he can't settle, he probable has a burp.
5. It's hard to stay inside, just be really, really careful. Sanitize and keep him away from any one who has a cough. Anyone! I was out with Caroline four days post partum, and she got sick from me, no one else. So just be careful. He's so precious.
1. Your schedule seems great. I think he'll know when he's hungry and wake up. He seems like a pretty smart cookie.
2. I sponged until it fell off but hers fell off really fast.
3. I pumped often because my boobies went crazy and I thought they'd pop :). It also increases your milk supply. And if you pump too much you can donate your milk to moms in need :). True story.
4. Maddi LOVED burping. She would fall asleep burping.
5. Put hand sanitizer in a water gun and shoot anyone trying to touch your baby and go out. Go out often. Like, say, to Amazon to meet T for lunch.
1. Amazing sleeper - don't wake him!
2. I sponged but my daughter's fell off pretty early.
3. Pumping for me only made me produce more and drown my baby girl in milk. Once I leveled off about a month in, I pumped.
4. My pediatrician said try for five mins. Like someone else said, sitting on my knee with her head in my hand leaning forward produced the best results.
5. I was all for getting out ASAP. I would put a muslin blanket over her carrier in target, etc. After my nephew's NICU stint at 5 weeks with RSV - I would probably be more paranoid about school age kiddos.
First, you're doing a fantastic job. Seriously. This 2nd PB&J is for you momma.
1. I did the controversial Baby Wise. I'm so edgy. So far both kids seem to be thriving and happy and big and sleeping! Will they endure countless hours of therapy? Most likely. But not because of Baby Wise.
2. I gave bathes. And always went over board with mustella.
3. Frozen breastmilk for me is liquid gold, aka freedom. I use to pump after the first morning feeding and then before I went to bed. I now only pump before I go to bed. I currently could leave Camilla for a 42 day vacation or mental breakdown (with her eating 6x a day). The milk is good for 6 months frozen. I'm currently tapping into my January stash. It was also nice to let kuba feed her so i could get a few hours of Zs in a row. It should also be noted I'm the most unnatural breast feeder ever. My shoulders are up to my ears.
3. I'm an impatient burper.
4. Come over. Although I'm positive there are cleaner places in public than my house. But seriously, I'm around if you want to log face time and baby talk.
Hi Meghan - I left a comment on your bf post awhile back. Congrats on your baby boy! He is perfection.
I am all for using a moby wrap in public when they are this small. Baby is snuggled up to your body and people would basically have to reach in your shirt to touch him. Most babies love it and it's nice having him close to check breathing, sniff his perfect little head - all (perhaps slightly crazy) things you do in those precious first weeks!
While bfeeding, all of your immunities are passed on to Briggs - basically his immune system is as strong as yours. Amazing.
You are so fortunate to have such a supportive group of women as friends. Every new mom should be so lucky!
Congrats again and those 6 day photos are something to treasure. So gorgeous.
Love you all. Thank you!!
1. I haven't woken him since reading your comments. He went five hours last night.
2. No bath yet...can't now that his weiner is a little sausage.
3. Pumped a total of 3 mins.
4. Haven't left the house except for dr's and walks.
So, you don't know me. My sister is friends with Meg. I have a 7 year old and a 7 month old and in some ways it feels like a million years ago since I had #1 and other times it feels like yesterday. I will tell you that #2 has reached 7 months a lot faster than #1 did. :-)
1) Don't wake a sleeping baby (unless he is underweight and it sounds like baby Briggs is doing fantabulous in that department!)
2) I just watched a video somewhere that showed them completely immersing newborn babies in baths in Japan, so it must be safe to do if a whole country of nurses do it. I kept #2 sponge bathed until the stump fell off.
3) Pump. Pump as much as you can. You never know when it will come in handy and it is easier to store few days worth that to try and produce it. I needed cortisone shots when Keely was 6 weeks old and couldn't nurse for 2 days. Thankfully I had milk frozen for her so we were okay. It is also great so hubby and older sis can help with feedings when sleep deprivation catches up on you and you need to sleep more than 3-4 hours straight. If you are going bak to work in the future, its nice to have several days at the ready. I have found that my production has really tapered off. I do still wake up engorged a few times a week though.
4) I got a great JJ Cole car seat canopy that attaches to the handle and it keeps everyone out as well as provides shade and wind protection. The oldest started first grade 10 days after #2 was born (and 3 days after she came home from level 3 NICU). It would have been impossible to keep all the hands off her without it.
Congrats on the new addition!
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