New addition to the family + BF observations, questions and mayhem!

Hello! Kinda new here to the group.. before I get started do I have my
abbreviations correct?

DH = darling husband
DW = darling wife
DS = darling son
DD = darling daughter

I had to look these up at Wikipedia lol.

So anyway... our DS Declan Rian (leaving his last name out) was born
5/14/07 at 4:33AM weighing 6.6 pounds. (Wife is petite at 4'10" and
136 lbs). He lost a pound during his first week (the norm), but gained
his pound back in 3 days! lol. He's gained more and now weighs 7.5
pounds! I think while she may be petite, he might have my genes? My
family is tall folks 5'10" to 6'. Who knows..

It's our first, and the bf'ing thing is quite crazy! Everyone has
different opinions from nurses to pediatricians to lactation
consultants. From the onset at the hospital, we were told that if he
dozes after he feeds, to keep stimulating him to wake him up and feed
him 3 to 4 hours 20/20 to 30/30 per side. Some say 5 to 10 minutes.
The first 2 weeks we did good, but a couple days ago he was getting
real fussy between his feeding schedule. We've since dropped the
schedule and now feed him on demand AND the DW now does the side lying
position which seems better than football or cross cradle, because
both can doze to sleep after or during. And it's more intimate and
beautiful and.. well... it's just great.
We had 2 nights of arguing and stressing over the past 2 weeks over
BF'ing - she felt helpless and stressed over the schedule and him
crying in between feeds and I trying to control the schedule and all
that saying that if he cries he's just tired he needs to fuss let him
be. Nah, that's just not natural/right because he wasn't fussing he
was wailing! So like I said, now we feed on demand and it's working
like a charm.

We give him a couple tummy times during the day until he gets fussy or
sleepy. About 5 days after he was born when he was home he was able to
lift his head up enough where he looks like he's a pecking chicken so
that he can turn his head to the other side. Sometimes he can get his
head way up where his chin is like 2-3 inches off the ground.

The sun! Some people have told us give him like 5 minutes of sun a
day, others say no!!!!! his skin is too delicate!!! Well we take him
out in his stroller with the hood up but take it down for a minute
here or there during the walk to get him some sun and that Vitamin D.
Hasn't bothered him yet. No sunburn. I just can't see keeping a baby
inside during the summer, we've been on this planet for millions of
years it's just not natural. And it's not like we're leaving him sit
to bake in the sun at high noon for horus on end. I think people
overreact instead of taking the middle ground. It's all about
moderation I think. I can appreciate people being protective and all,
but to say no sun is a bit extreme. Maybe during the first couple days
after he's born, sure... but they didn't say that they were just like
no sun! lol.

Projectile stools!!!!! lol. Why didn't anyone ever mention this? No
one said a thing during any classes or at the hospital other than DS
will have soft stools. Yeah, ok, they are soft, sure! But at times
he's like a plastic jar of mustard that you can squirt onto your hot
dog! lol. Wow... that seedy mustard stuff really shoots far! Before I
went to work this morning as I was changing him ( i enjoy doing my
part ) he only had urine in his diaper so i thought ok cool quick
change! Boy was I wrong! He unloaded from his diaper pad on the bed
across the footboard of the bed onto the floor, luckily we have
hardwood floors! lol. And he peed twice, got me on my work pants! ugh!
But i was patient and DW and I laughed, it's all you can do!

BTW - what are the "seeds" in his stools? Is that the very early
stages of what will become formed bm? Curious..

I have a question - when you change (have changed) your DS, has the-
squirting-stools-and-pee-going-everywhere happened to you and is quite
a normal thing? The pediatricians say it is. As long as it isn't
watery or really loose and all that. DS has been textbook going from
the tar merconium to the dark green now to the soft seedy mustard
stuff. And still some green seedy stuff too.

Wet paper towel or commercial whipes? We like using wet paper towels
instead of whipes. I want to try to be natural with his body and stay
away from the additives and perfumes of the whipes.

We also use Buttpaste for any red areas or prickly heat/pimples, works
like a charm!

When we change his diaper, more times than not, DS ends up peeing and
pooping I guess from the sensation of the wet paper towel and water.
We try to use cold water but it doesn't seem to matter. We've even
waited like 10-15 minutes after he fed, to give him time to go, but it
seems he enjoys going during the diaper change! lol. Is this also
normal? I would imagine so. We can't win! It's not all the time, but
i'd say maybe half the time.

Ok, well i think I said enough lol. Thanks for taking the time to read
and responding and any advice is greatly appreciated!

were there any specific questions?

could you post your announcement on misc.kids.pregnancy, a lot of people
took time to answer your questions, it's hearing the birth announcements
that keeps them going.

These days the advice is to breastfeed on demand and it has been for quite a
while. It's hard to give breastfeeding advice without looking at a
particular situation, if a newborn baby is drowsy very fast at the breast
and is lethargic and jaundiced, then waking them up to feed on the other
side and making sure you feed at least every 3 hours is good advice, but it
doesn't mean it's the right advice for a baby who is alert and breastfeeding
vigorously - so there isn't any generic advice to hand out, just guidelines
as to what is normal, feed on demand, expect to feed 8-12 times in 24hrs, in
each feed let the baby indicate when they are finished, or ready to swap
sides, feeding one or both side is fine, if you feed one side, start with
the other side next time. When you were told to feed every 3-4hrs, they
probably meant you should do it at least that often, not that you shouldn't
do it any more frequently - having said that, if a healthy newborn is going
for more than that one session a day, hopefully overnight, I'd let them
unless I had any additional concerns (jaundice, low weight, poor milk supply
etc.)

Cheers

Anne

"Snugglemonster" wrote in message
ps.com...
Hello! Kinda new here to the group.. before I get started do I have my
abbreviations correct?

Yes -- and welcome!

So anyway... our DS Declan Rian (leaving his last name out) was born
5/14/07 at 4:33AM weighing 6.6 pounds.

Congrats!

We've since dropped the
schedule and now feed him on demand AND the DW now does the side lying
position which seems better than football or cross cradle, because
both can doze to sleep after or during. And it's more intimate and
beautiful and.. well... it's just great.

Smart moves!! Feeding on demand is really the way to go with newborns as
long as they are healthy and alert and eating well.

We give him a couple tummy times during the day until he gets fussy or
sleepy. About 5 days after he was born when he was home he was able to
lift his head up enough where he looks like he's a pecking chicken so
that he can turn his head to the other side. Sometimes he can get his
head way up where his chin is like 2-3 inches off the ground.

He's a strong little guy!

I have a question - when you change (have changed) your DS, has the-
squirting-stools-and-pee-going-everywhere happened to you and is quite
a normal thing?

It is normal. I didn't happen to me a lot but it did happen.

Wet paper towel or commercial whipes?

I use cloth diapers so I also use cloth/washable wipes. They are nice. I
just wet them with water or make a solution of water with a bit of baby
shampoo, oil, and a couple drops of lavender and Tea Tree Oil.

We've even
waited like 10-15 minutes after he fed, to give him time to go, but it
seems he enjoys going during the diaper change! lol.

How about just waiting until he poops

Be sure and hang around and ask any questions that come up and share all the
cool stuff to


--
Nikki, mama to
Hunter 4/99
Luke 4/01
Brock 4/06
Ben 4/06

On May 30, 10:20?am, Snugglemonster wrote:
Hello! Kinda new here to the group.. before I get started do I have my
abbreviations correct?

DH = darling husband
DW = darling wife
DS = darling son
DD = darling daughter

I had to look these up at Wikipedia lol.

So anyway... our DS Declan Rian (leaving his last name out) was born
5/14/07 at 4:33AM weighing 6.6 pounds. (Wife is petite at 4'10" and
136 lbs). He lost a pound during his first week (the norm), but gained
his pound back in 3 days! lol. He's gained more and now weighs 7.5
pounds! I think while she may be petite, he might have my genes? My
family is tall folks 5'10" to 6'. Who knows..

It's our first, and the bf'ing thing is quite crazy! Everyone has
different opinions from nurses to pediatricians to lactation
consultants. From the onset at the hospital, we were told that if he
dozes after he feeds, to keep stimulating him to wake him up and feed
him 3 to 4 hours 20/20 to 30/30 per side. Some say 5 to 10 minutes.
The first 2 weeks we did good, but a couple days ago he was getting
real fussy between his feeding schedule. We've since dropped the
schedule and now feed him on demand AND the DW now does the side lying
position which seems better than football or cross cradle, because
both can doze to sleep after or during. And it's more intimate and
beautiful and.. well... it's just great.
We had 2 nights of arguing and stressing over the past 2 weeks over
BF'ing - she felt helpless and stressed over the schedule and him
crying in between feeds and I trying to control the schedule and all
that saying that if he cries he's just tired he needs to fuss let him
be. Nah, that's just not natural/right because he wasn't fussing he
was wailing! So like I said, now we feed on demand and it's working
like a charm.

Sounds good. If baby has no medical issues requiring a schedule to be
fed at certain intervals every day, then feeding as soon as they wake
and show signs of hunger such as rooting around with their head turned
sideways, fists in mouth, etc. just keep going with the demand part. I
found it impossible to wake my sleeping newborn to force him to feed,
even with removing the clothes and wet washcloths. It only worked for
a minute and then out he went. He, and I stress "he", chose to eat
every five hours usually with an occasional deviation to a closer
interval, but that was his choice and not mine. lol. got lucky there.


We give him a couple tummy times during the day until he gets fussy or
sleepy. About 5 days after he was born when he was home he was able to
lift his head up enough where he looks like he's a pecking chicken so
that he can turn his head to the other side. Sometimes he can get his
head way up where his chin is like 2-3 inches off the ground.

He sounds very strong already.


The sun! Some people have told us give him like 5 minutes of sun a
day, others say no!!!!! his skin is too delicate!!! Well we take him
out in his stroller with the hood up but take it down for a minute
here or there during the walk to get him some sun and that Vitamin D.
Hasn't bothered him yet. No sunburn. I just can't see keeping a baby
inside during the summer, we've been on this planet for millions of
years it's just not natural. And it's not like we're leaving him sit
to bake in the sun at high noon for horus on end. I think people
overreact instead of taking the middle ground. It's all about
moderation I think. I can appreciate people being protective and all,
but to say no sun is a bit extreme. Maybe during the first couple days
after he's born, sure... but they didn't say that they were just like
no sun! lol.

I have three children. They were all born in cold fall and winter
months. They were never taken outdoors just to get sunlight and only
taken from building to car-from car to building. They got what they
needed from having windows in our house, and I didn't purposely place
them in front of windows. Unless he has a medical condition dictating
that he HAS to have this much sun exposure, I wouldn't worry about it.
You can take baby out in the stroller just fine. They don't like
bright light in their faces, including sunlight, so just being out and
about is good in and of itself.


Projectile stools!!!!! lol. Why didn't anyone ever mention this? No
one said a thing during any classes or at the hospital other than DS
will have soft stools. Yeah, ok, they are soft, sure! But at times
he's like a plastic jar of mustard that you can squirt onto your hot
dog! lol. Wow... that seedy mustard stuff really shoots far! Before I
went to work this morning as I was changing him ( i enjoy doing my
part ) he only had urine in his diaper so i thought ok cool quick
change! Boy was I wrong! He unloaded from his diaper pad on the bed
across the footboard of the bed onto the floor, luckily we have
hardwood floors! lol. And he peed twice, got me on my work pants! ugh!
But i was patient and DW and I laughed, it's all you can do!

This is very common. My niece once hit a wall from halfway across a
room. lol. Here is a baby-changing trick. Before you undo the dirty
diaper, put the clean diaper underneath him. When you fold down the
dirty diaper underneath the hind end for cleanup, should anything
start rumbling, you can grab the part of the new diaper hanging down
between the legs and cover up the parts to shield everything from the
assault. lol. My husband ALWAYS got the worst of the waste attacks
until he figured this maneuver out.



BTW - what are the "seeds" in his stools? Is that the very early
stages of what will become formed bm? Curious..

Yellow seedy is still good and will eventually change to a more peanut-
buttery consistency. The really formed BMs usually don't start
happening until solids are introduced. It might not be long before you
are back here asking why DS hasn't had a BM in a few days and whether
he is still okay. A lot of breastfed babies reach the point to where
they don't go for days on end and when they do - it is usually what we
refer to as a blowout. Meaning it goes out through the leg holes,
halfway up the back, even up the front. lol.



I have a question - when you change (have changed) your DS, has the-
squirting-stools-and-pee-going-everywhere happened to you and is quite
a normal thing? The pediatricians say it is. As long as it isn't
watery or really loose and all that. DS has been textbook going from
the tar merconium to the dark green now to the soft seedy mustard
stuff. And still some green seedy stuff too.

That sounds normal. Use the diaper maneuver described above to be on
the ready for the urinating. lol. Never leave baby totally naked as
you remove one diaper to grab another - it is inevitable they will get
you, the wall, the table, etc. When you slide out the dirty diaper,
all you have to do is flip up the clean one that was already placed
underneath.



Wet paper towel or commercial whipes? We like using wet paper towels
instead of whipes. I want to try to be natural with his body and stay
away from the additives and perfumes of the whipes.

I bought a batch of white washcloths to wash baby's bum directly over
the sink with some warm, soapy water, as wipes can aggravate a
newborn. Since they were white, I could disinfect them appropriately
and wash in hot water.



We also use Buttpaste for any red areas or prickly heat/pimples, works
like a charm!

When we change his diaper, more times than not, DS ends up peeing and
pooping I guess from the sensation of the wet paper towel and water.
We try to use cold water but it doesn't seem to matter. We've even
waited like 10-15 minutes after he fed, to give him time to go, but it
seems he enjoys going during the diaper change! lol. Is this also
normal? I would imagine so. We can't win! It's not all the time, but
i'd say maybe half the time.

You will figure out the timing of when the best time to change your
baby is. Instead of changing him right when he wakes (unless he is
poopy messy), just wait until you hear him go. Letting urine sit for a
few minutes isn't harmful, but not something you want to let sit for
an hour either. Most babies I know would poo while they were eating or
immediately afterward.


Ok, well i think I said enough lol. Thanks for taking the time to read
and responding and any advice is greatly appreciated!

Congratulations!