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Welcome to the LIVE New mums webchat!
in Baby
We've got author and mum of three Lucy Atkins here 12-1pm TODAY to host our live new mums webchat. Got a question about coping with your new life, or how to handle your newborn? Perhaps you're wondering how best to meet other new mums or looking for tips on surviving endless sleepless nights? Lucy is here to help!
Lucy has written a book called First Time Parent - and we have five copies to give away to the first five people to post a relevant question on this thread. She is also a member of the Fairy Godmothers panel, leading a campaign to provide support and advice to new mums and mums-to-be as they prepare for their new arrival.
Welcome to babyexpert, Lucy!
Please go ahead and post your questions for Lucy here.
Web Ed Nicola
Lucy has written a book called First Time Parent - and we have five copies to give away to the first five people to post a relevant question on this thread. She is also a member of the Fairy Godmothers panel, leading a campaign to provide support and advice to new mums and mums-to-be as they prepare for their new arrival.
Welcome to babyexpert, Lucy!
Please go ahead and post your questions for Lucy here.
Web Ed Nicola
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Replies
I was wondering if you have any tips about getting my little girl to sleep better at night? She'll have a couple of nights where she'll only wake twice for feeding and then have a night where she wakes crying every 1 to 2 hours!
She is 17 weeks old and is breastfed.
Lisa
[Modified by: lisajoy on November 10, 2008 11:46 AM]
My baby is 5 weeks old, he feeds every 3-4 hours, but doesn't wind very easily, I rub his back, put him on my shoulder and pat/rub but he still doesn't burp, he wriggles loads! I do persevere for at least 15 mintues normally 30 minutes..then he suffers with tummy ache where he screams and screams with his legs pulled into his tummy... is there any tips? sometimes he can cry for over an hour!
BUT he has trouble with daytime naps at home. If we go out and he is in the buggie he can sleep the whole 3 hours or so in between feeds, no problem. If we are at home, he MIGHT fall asleep on his own, but he would sleep top 30 minutes .... If he falls asleep after a feed in arms and stays there, he might sleep for about 2 hours, but as soon as put down wakes up ... or sleeps for 15 minutes and wakes up. Putting him in the buggy at home doesn't work either ...
I am not really sure how to resolve the prob, he has no problem settling himself during night ...
So at the moment I just try to spend most of my days outside of the house (which is great for both me and him), but if the weather is crap (as today) I really wish he would nap at home!
Any ideas? Thanks!
Lucy
My baby boy is almost 2 months old now and is usually very good in the day and has naps every few hours but at night as soon as he goes into his crib he will scream for an hour or more despite feeding him just before he goes down. Once asleep though, after every feed in the night he willl settle so its just that first few hours when he goes in. He is awake enough in the day and so should be tired but seems to hate his crib! I was just wondering what i could do to help him learn to go to sleep there.
She does have a sleeping bag - luckily we were given lots 2nd hand as she is a fidget! I have been told that she is not hungry by my hv as she is putting on more than average weight! The silly thing is that she slept really well the night that i'd been out all day and she only took about 4oz from a bottle between 9am and 5pm! I thought she'd have a bad ight as would be catching up on feeds! I will keepup our bedtime routine and make the most of the better nights!
Lisa
The next thing is your winding method. Try this instead of the shoulder - it worked much better for my own very windy babies: sit him on your lap supporting his head and chest under his chin with one hand while you rub or pat his back with your other hand - try to keep his back straight. You can also try winding him mid-feed. As for your mammoth sessions - I wouldn't go on winding for more than a minute or so - if nothing comes out you're unlikely to have any joy (and you'll get frustrated!). It's very common for babies to have wind problems in the early days as their digestive systems mature. It's hellish for both of you, but it will pass I promise, Lucy x
thanks again
x x x
Hello Fooxoo - first of all, I've got to say little Hugo sounds like an absolute star with his night time sleeping. Lucky you. You don't say what happens to get him off at night though - is he crashing out during the feeds? Or do you put him in while he's still awake? If you can put him in his cot when he's awake but sleepy, rather than letting him crash out during a feed this will help him to learn to put himself back to sleep when he wakes fleetingly during those daytime naps too. It could be that at night he's totally knackered, so goes back to sleep when he wakes fleetingly, but during the day he's sleeping in a lighter pattern and so can't get back to sleep without mummy's arms or a rocking buggy (though he's initially knackered during daytime naps, hence his falling asleep relatively easily to begins with). The key, then, is probably to concentrate on encouraging his (already pretty decent) ability to put himself to sleep without the rocking/mummy factor. This way you stand a chance of having a bit of rest this winter rather than being out, pacing the streets in rain like this! I hope this helps - I had this problem with my first two babies by the way - it's really a very common issue. I only cracked it with Ted, my third, by religiously putting him down to sleep when he was still awake! good luck, Lucy x
[Modified by: LucyAtkins on November 10, 2008 12:52 PM]
My lo is 16 weeks old and is bottle fed. He was 15 lbs ozs at his last weigh in and was 8lbs 1oz when he was born. He's a great sleeper and untill 3 weeks ago a brilliant feeder taking 5 bottles for 8-9fl ozs.
Over the last few weeks he's really dropped the amount he has amd I'm a little worried.
This morning he would only take 3 fl ozs at 7am and 6 at 11am. He's normally not interested in his 7am bottle but drains his 11am and 3pm so I'm at a loss. I wind him which is ok but if I offer him the bottle back he just pushes it out with his tounge and sticks his hand in his mouth! Thought it might be teething but just wondered is there anything I can do to help hin take a bit more or feel better?
We've bought all sorts of things to chew on but his or my hand are much better apparently!
Thank you
Many thanks to all of you who posted questions, also a big thanks to Lucy for fitting us into her busy schedule. Lucy has kindly agreed to answer as many outstanding questions as possible posted during the session, so come back later to see her answers.
Web ed Nicola