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Finding new positions as your baby gets bigger and heavier! ;o)

Hi,



My little boy is now 5 weeks old and a whopping 12lbs now! :lol:



I'm starting to find it more difficult to find a position that is comfortable and works because he's starting to get too heavy for my to hold up for a whole feed, just in my arms.



I'm tending to lean back onto cushions at home which means he is resting more on my tummy which is fine but when I'm out and about and sitting more upright (and no cushions etc to hand) I'm not sure what I can do. Presumably I can try to roll up some of his blankets and pop them under him but we're currently using the cross over hold and my arm is struggling to cross over him because the length of him is increasing.



We were starting to get a bit lazy with the latch so I'm quite strict on holding him in this position now to make sure he gets on so I'm not sure that I can just not use this arm as it helps him get the right position but is there a different position/technique you've found useful as baby gets bigger?



I know there is the cradle hold which is similar but I'm not sure if there is a best/fail-safe method of getting them on like this?

Perhaps I should pop back to the bf drop in to ask their advice but I'll need to wait until I'm able to drive again.

Replies

  • hi i sympathise, my boy was 8 13 at birth and now two ounces off a stone at 8 weeks. Im only little (his dad is the reason he's big!) and have always struggled. I have a widgey bf pillow from john lewis and i honestly take it everywhere! I stuff it in the basket under the pram or hang it over the bars and i put it round me no matter where i am and lay him on it. I use a nipple shield to feed and its too much to think about putting that on and not exposing myself too much as well as trying to heave him about! Plus he loves it to as he flakes out on it post feed!



    i found some widgey type pillows on an american website which fold in half and make for easy transporting around, they also have a privacy curtain on each side to pin to you (so the baby feeds in a little tent reaching from the pillow to you). this is useful for me with the nipple shield as i struggle with subtle feeding! I havent bought one yet but think i might.

    I can find out the web page if you're interested.



    I often use the widgey when im just sat with him too and i did worry i wasnt learning to manage him and of course he's only going to get bigger - but my mum pointed out he will help me more as he gets older.
  • you can get a blow up pillow that might help, also the mamascarf gives a little support whne feeding, i tend to cross my legs and have her bum on my raised knee and my arm under her, i usually end up with a dead arm :lol: shes super long so he legs dangle and are quite weighty!
  • :lol: Alfie our little ones are very similar!

    Connor was 8lbs15 and I'm just under 5ft4 and my Mum's babies were never bigger than 6lbs1 even 2 weeks overdue! But his Dad is 6ft and weighed 8lbs+ a week early so I'm blaming him for my giant baby :lol:

    Plus Connor's head was 37.5cm (above the 95th percentile!) and Daddy's was 37cm.



    The widgey pillow sounds good so I might look at one.



    Piggypops I use the same position with Connor but often I don't have the strength to hold him up with one arm whilst I shape the boob/restrain his crazy hands with the other.image



    I'm focussing on him helping me more x
  • hi tuliprose, henry's head was 36.5 at birth so think your LO was just that bit bigger! My poor boy was so packed in that he strained a muscle in his neck and is having physio - a common problem with big baby and small mum! Did you need help to get him out? Henry was back to back and tilted, i needed hormone drip and ventouse and epidural as i was pushing at 3cm due to his position. I couldnt have managed without my widgey, its honestly been the buy ive used the most. We go to postnatal group every week where we sit on plastic chairs - i honestly dont think i could cope without the widgey, a supportive armchair is different but id struggle so much to position him i think we'd have given up going - and i really love seeing the other mums and learning about baby related stuff so that would be a shame.



    I have to say at 8 weeks henry still no nearer to helping me and growing all the time. Im sure he will be its a way off yet so you need something supportive. A blow up pillow sounds good but stressful needing time to blow it up when LO wants to feed lol :lol:
  • Oh gosh - sounds even more similar!

    I was pushing at 5cm as Connor had a tilted head too.



    I was induced with a pessary anyway for a compication but then had to have the syntocinon drip too and pushed at 10cm for 3 hours. They then wanted to use ventouse or forceps but he had gotten stuck in the birth canal so they went straight to c section.



    I hope Henry's physio helps his poor neck. I wondered about seeing an osteopath for Connor as his poor head had quite a bit of a battering throughout the whole thing.



  • my son was quite teeny at birth, 6 lb 11 (thank god), 2 days past due date, but at 10 weeks hes grown to be a whopping 14 lb 15! im also only 5 foot 4 and a size 6-8. but hubby is 6 foot 4 so hes got his daddys length and my baby chubb (i was so fat as a baby!). he was 11 lb at 5 weeks. 34cm head at birth. i usually nurse at home and have a nursing pillow for that but when out i also cross my legs and lay his bum there. no idea what ill do if he keeps growing the way he does though. carrying him around is a real strain on my back now.
  • I'm not sure what you'd call the position, but I'd have my DS sort of slightly diagonal on me. So his bum/legs would be on my lap with him lying 'tummy to mummy' and then use a rolled up change bag/blankets, etc under my elbow on the feeding side.



    I varied my pillows a lot along the way feeding at home. at first I used a giant v pillow. then as he got bigger I found that made him a bit too high, so then I used a tiny little travel pillow under my elbow when feeding on the settee, sort of propped on the arm of the settee. Then he became too heavy, so now I used a normal bed pillow with him on top. Just keep trying lots of different props/positions, as things will constantly be changing. We're at 13months now!!
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