New baby and post birth advice #3

[Babyyoda88]

I think I've managed a grand total of 10 hours sleep in the past week.
Twin 2 had been a nightmare with wind was taking us over an hour to settle her. She's now settling absolutely grand and twin 1 has decided she wants to be awkward Add in the fact the iron supplements they have to have daily makes them vomit and they've both got the world's worst diarrhoea, the words explosive nappy doesn't even begin to cover it . I'm putting the lottery on this weekend this mama needs a night nanny

Don’t know how you do it with two. This baby slept about 45 mins last night she just won’t go down of a night. She’ll instantly sleep on me as soon as she’s picked up though. It’s going to be a looong 4th trimester. I thought being in her incubator all those weeks would have taught her how to sleep alone. Clearly not bless her

 

[Definitelyme]

Hey guys can I ask some really dumb questions about sterilising? I've been exclusively breastfeeding so far but have finally decided to try and pump maybe once a day and try a bottle feed with the expressed milk. But I'm finding the guidance really confusing.

We have a tommee tippee microwave steriliser. So it says if you sterilise bottles and leave the lid closed they remain sterile for 24 hours. But obviously I need to open the steriliser to get out a bottle to pour my pumped breast milk into (I have a manual Mamia 'pump' from Aldi which is amazing, tested it for a few mins the other day but I poured the milk away. It's not really a pump but more like a gentle pressure to collect milk from one boob as I feed from the other, like a Hakka). NHS guidance says use a sterilised bottle as soon as possible but it also says you can store breast milk in the fridge for up to 8 days (I doubt I will, but still). So can I pump in the morning, pour it into the sterilised bottle and store in the fridge for a while or not? Or do I definitely need breast milk storage bags? Or can I just keep the milk in the fridge in the pump and then pour it into the freshly sterilised bottle just before I need it? I am utterly confused tbh, am I just overcomplicating things? I have a lot of admiration for those that bottle feed, you must be so organised! The only reason I've been putting off trying a bottle is because of this whole sterilising malarkey which sounds ridiculous but there we go .

So basically if anyone who pumps and stores breast milk could tell me exactly what they do it would be much appreciated

If you are exclusively breastfeeding and feeding breastmilk in bottles you no longer need to sterilise. A wash in hot soapy water is enough. That is the advice of the milk bank in Northern Ireland anyway, and of course they have very high hygiene regulations. In fact, they actually ask you NOT to sterilise.

You don’t need milk storage bags, but if you want to freeze milk they are the best option as they can lie flat and not take up too much space. You can pump and leave milk in the fridge, then pump again later and add the new milk to the fridge milk when it is at the same temp. So you can layer milk in the fridge but it all has to be fridge temp. Or you can leave it out (for 6 hours) and add the next lot of milk to it and then stick in the fridge.

I haven’t pumped in years as I found it too much hassle (and I never go anywhere ) but I would pump, pour in to a different bottle and leave in the fridge. Then pump again and add to it until I had enough. If I needed it that day/next day I’d leave it in the fridge. If not, I’d freeze in a milk bag.

 

[I’mThankyou_]

Don’t know how you do it with two. This baby slept about 45 mins last night she just won’t go down of a night. She’ll instantly sleep on me as soon as she’s picked up though. It’s going to be a looong 4th trimester. I thought being in her incubator all those weeks would have taught her how to sleep alone. Clearly not bless her

I think the incs make them worse if anything! Mine completely crave touch even if they're in their bed they just want us touching them I guess cause our hands were never outta the fish holes .

 

[Hbirdette]

Update on tummy sleeping: up 5 times to roll him back over cause he got his arms stuck underneath him

 

[Babyyoda88]

I think the incs make them worse if anything! Mine completely crave touch even if they're in their bed they just want us touching them I guess cause our hands were never outta the fish holes .

Haha fish holes!! Making up for the weeks being separated from their mamas

 

[WhatABore]

Update on tummy sleeping: up 5 times to roll him back over cause he got his arms stuck underneath him

I don't know if it will make you feel any better but it only lasts a couple of weeks having to turn them back again

She cried every time she rolled onto her front...
So I'd roll her back... And she'd roll back again and cry

I did leave her a little longer when she was crying to kind of get her used to being on her front.
Not super long obviously I just wasn't rushing straight to her.

 

[LilyRose1234]

Baby girl loves sleeping on her front. She’s 13 weeks and can roll from front to back but not back to front. I know you’re not supposed to put them on their fronts but if I’m awake (e.g it’s naptime rather than overnight) and she can’t settle, I put her on her front and she’ll nap for hours - but only on our bed. If I put her on her front in her cot, she rolls onto her back and smiles like she’s an evil genius I figure a supervised front nap is far better than an overtired baby who won’t feed properly

 

[Ilando]

baby is 8 weeks today and starting to use his arms a lot more when I’m feeding him. I’m sure it will become very annoying but it’s making me laugh how he now hits my boob hard when he has finished feeding- talk about diva behaviour

 

[WhatABore]

Baby girl loves sleeping on her front. She’s 13 weeks and can roll from front to back but not back to front. I know you’re not supposed to put them on their fronts but if I’m awake (e.g it’s naptime rather than overnight) and she can’t settle, I put her on her front and she’ll nap for hours - but only on our bed. If I put her on her front in her cot, she rolls onto her back and smiles like she’s an evil genius I figure a supervised front nap is far better than an overtired baby who won’t feed properly

If she can roll onto her front herself, it's fine. Doesn't matter about rolling back

They say that by the time they can roll onto their front, they're capable of turning their heads ect and have enough control that if they did start to suffocate (unlikely but) or something being face down, they automatically turn their heads

 

[Sw4]

Hello, microbiologist here your bottle will be sterile as long as no air is allowed to get into it before you use it, so if you take it out the steriliser and make sure the top is on it, it will be fine to add your breast milk to at a later time, as long as it is within 24/48 hours of sterilisation depending on what method you use. As someone else has mentioned breast milk is anti microbial anyway so it shouldn't cause any issues, it's more formula you need to worry about!

I'm absolutely anal about this stuff and despite doing it for an actual job I still over think it

Thank you, although the bottles are in their separate bits in the steriliser so the top isn't on a bottle when I take it out...

Thanks everyone else too, I feel a bit better knowing there isn't really a set way. I thought I was missing something obvious that everyone else knows!

 

[WhatABore]

Thank you, although the bottles are in their separate bits in the steriliser so the top isn't on a bottle when I take it out...

Thanks everyone else too, I feel a bit better knowing there isn't really a set way. I thought I was missing something obvious that everyone else knows!

That's fine. Just build the bottles up as soon as you take them out and they'll be fine

 

[123456!!12/]

My little one is 6 weeks today, I’m pretty sure he’s going through a growth spurt. For the last few days, he’s pretty much constantly feeding but only short bursts, very fussy (both on and off the boob) and generally unhappy. He’s not sleeping during the day like he usually would and is only catnapping for 5/10 mins at a time, I’ve managed to get a decent nap by walking but other than that they’re short. Am I doing the right thing by just letting him sleep as he needs now? Should I be trying to make sure he’s sleeping for longer stretches?

 

[SophSpinsSillyStories]

My little one is 6 weeks today, I’m pretty sure he’s going through a growth spurt. For the last few days, he’s pretty much constantly feeding but only short bursts, very fussy (both on and off the boob) and generally unhappy. He’s not sleeping during the day like he usually would and is only catnapping for 5/10 mins at a time, I’ve managed to get a decent nap by walking but other than that they’re short. Am I doing the right thing by just letting him sleep as he needs now? Should I be trying to make sure he’s sleeping for longer stretches?

Id just go with the flow if I was you. My experience is that babies will eventually settle into a routine. My ten week old has only just fallen into a 9am/midday/4:30pm nap routine with a 7:30pm bedtime.

 

[LilyRose1234]

My little one is 6 weeks today, I’m pretty sure he’s going through a growth spurt. For the last few days, he’s pretty much constantly feeding but only short bursts, very fussy (both on and off the boob) and generally unhappy. He’s not sleeping during the day like he usually would and is only catnapping for 5/10 mins at a time, I’ve managed to get a decent nap by walking but other than that they’re short. Am I doing the right thing by just letting him sleep as he needs now? Should I be trying to make sure he’s sleeping for longer stretches?

I’ve found it very hard to get my LO to nap, even when she needs it. It often ends up with both of us getting stressed! I think just go with the flow rather than forcing it - if he naps when you’re walking, maybe try a longer walk so he gets a longer nap? But try not to stress too much, hopefully after the growth spurt he’ll revert back. I have found whenever mine has a growth spurt she goes back to napping and feeding like before after a few days - were past the three month mark and no proper routine yet, I just follow her lead

 

[WhatABore]

My little one is 6 weeks today, I’m pretty sure he’s going through a growth spurt. For the last few days, he’s pretty much constantly feeding but only short bursts, very fussy (both on and off the boob) and generally unhappy. He’s not sleeping during the day like he usually would and is only catnapping for 5/10 mins at a time, I’ve managed to get a decent nap by walking but other than that they’re short. Am I doing the right thing by just letting him sleep as he needs now? Should I be trying to make sure he’s sleeping for longer stretches?

Go with the flow
They'll only sleep when they want to. And even then they'll fight it
Since about 10/12 weeks, my daughter has only slept in 20 minute bursts about 3 times a day. Now at almost 6 months, we're lucky if she sleeps for the 20 minutes

 

[Definitelyme]

My little one is 6 weeks today, I’m pretty sure he’s going through a growth spurt. For the last few days, he’s pretty much constantly feeding but only short bursts, very fussy (both on and off the boob) and generally unhappy. He’s not sleeping during the day like he usually would and is only catnapping for 5/10 mins at a time, I’ve managed to get a decent nap by walking but other than that they’re short. Am I doing the right thing by just letting him sleep as he needs now? Should I be trying to make sure he’s sleeping for longer stretches?

Follow the baby he’ll let you know what he needs, and when. Sometimes they will have shorter naps, and you can’t force them to sleep longer, so just let him sleep as long (or short as the case may be!) and feed as frequently as desired and you’ll not go wrong
Growth spurts can be tricky as well, so by just following their lead you’ll ensure that when these fussier periods happen you meet all their little needs

 

[Sw4]

I also find that jabs really mess around with baby's sleep as well, so I'm going it until after the 16 week jabs to really try and start to figure out a proper routine during the day. Problem is that's also around when the 4 month sleep regression begins...

 

[Hbirdette]

Speaking of sleep.... I don’t get why sometimes it’s stupidly easy to put baby to sleep at night and others it’s like wtf am I doing wrong here thankfully tonight was an easy night.

 

[Chickenandgravy]

Speaking of sleep.... I don’t get why sometimes it’s stupidly easy to put baby to sleep at night and others it’s like wtf am I doing wrong here thankfully tonight was an easy night.

I always find it so much easier when my partner is night shift and not there...for some reason she is much calmer and goes down easier

 

[WhatABore]

I put baby in bed, and my partner does the 3 year old...
Everleigh has gone straight to sleep, and we came up a bit earlier, so I'm finished. But my 3 year old goes to bed at 7. I refuse to help. So I'm just laying on the bed
Not leaving the bedroom until he's put her to bed