Need baby advice

August 25, 2009

I started back to work this week and need some advice. My daughter took to

breast feeding pretty well but now that I am at work her daddy needs to give her

a bottle but she absolutely refuses. We have tried a few different types as

well as nipples, and I am pumping so she doesn't get anything different than

what I give her but she screems in protest! She eats by suringe so she doesn't

go hungry. Help please! Also, did any of you have issues with your little ones

being extremely gassy while being breast fed? How did you help them feel more

comfortable? We do tummy massages and if absolutely needed i will give a bit of

mylicon. Thanks so much for taking time to read this.

Amity

August 26, 2009

My son was kind of gassy, but it was when I ate cruciferous veggies

(basically the cabbage family - broccoli/cauli/cabbage and of course

sauerkraut). he also had issues with dairy, but this was before we

found out he had the milk protein allergy. I did cut things out of my

diet as they affected him and it really did help. It wasn't till later

when we intro'd supplementing with regular formula for

oatmeal/barley/porridge stuff that his allergy showed itself full

force. (not saying that this is the case with your little one - I

don't even know if you eat dairy products). That's what my

observations were with our son. Oh - We did find some relief with baby

massages - it was also fun.

I think we did also resort to mylicon since I don't think I did a good

job back then of cutting out my favorite veggie family or milk (at

that time - if I knew now what I knew then...as they say.)

Missie

On Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 5:30 PM,

havingagreatfulday<havingagreatfulday wrote:

>

> I started back to work this week and need some advice. My daughter took to

> breast feeding pretty well but now that I am at work her daddy needs to give

> her a bottle but she absolutely refuses. We have tried a few different types

> as well as nipples, and I am pumping so she doesn't get anything different

> than what I give her but she screems in protest! She eats by suringe so she

> doesn't go hungry. Help please! Also, did any of you have issues with your

> little ones being extremely gassy while being breast fed? How did you help

> them feel more comfortable? We do tummy massages and if absolutely needed i

> will give a bit of mylicon. Thanks so much for taking time to read this.

>

> Amity

>

--

http://mszzzi.zoomshare.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mszzzi/

~~~~~(m-.-)m

August 27, 2009

Lily wasn't gassy (thanks goodness), but she had issues with being bottle fed.

you are braver than I, as I didn't use the syringe and instead kept her on the

slow-flow nipples up to 1 year. There were 3-4 days a work week when she only

took 2 ounces while I was at work pumping my butt off But, I always asked

that she was not even offered a bottle 1-2 hours before I got home, so that she

and I had a great nursing session immediately upon returning home.

And, I said all this w/o even giving advice on what worked for us, b/c nothing

really worked. Will you let us know what works for you?

--- On Tue, 8/25/09, havingagreatfulday <havingagreatfulday wrote:

havingagreatfulday <havingagreatfulday

Need baby advice

Tuesday, August 25, 2009, 6:30 PM

I started back to work this week and need some advice. My

daughter took to breast feeding pretty well but now that I am at work her daddy

needs to give her a bottle but she absolutely refuses. We have tried a few

different types as well as nipples, and I am pumping so she doesn't get anything

different than what I give her but she screems in protest! She eats by suringe

so she doesn't go hungry. Help please! Also, did any of you have issues with

your little ones being extremely gassy while being breast fed? How did you help

them feel more comfortable? We do tummy massages and if absolutely needed i

will give a bit of mylicon. Thanks so much for taking time to read this.

Amity

August 27, 2009

I went back to work when my daughter was around 8 weeks old. I pumped and we

used the playtex bottles.

For the colic/gas, I made my self crazy eliminating foods, going down to just

rice for a couple of days before my husband convinced me that my stress level

was probably causing as many problems as what I was eating. We used a

combination of tummy rubs and about an ounce of weak chamomile tea a day. It

lasted from 4 weeks until about 3 months.

________________________________

havingagreatfulday <havingagreatfulday

Tuesday, August 25, 2009 5:30:08 PM

Need baby advice

I started back to work this week and need some advice. My daughter took to

breast feeding pretty well but now that I am at work her daddy needs to give her

a bottle but she absolutely refuses. We have tried a few different types as well

as nipples, and I am pumping so she doesn't get anything different than what I

give her but she screems in protest! She eats by suringe so she doesn't go

hungry. Help please! Also, did any of you have issues with your little ones

being extremely gassy while being breast fed? How did you help them feel more

comfortable? We do tummy massages and if absolutely needed i will give a bit of

mylicon. Thanks so much for taking time to read this.

Amity

August 27, 2009

Hi-

I forget exactly how old your baby is- and of course I delete all the old posts.

I don't have much advice re:the bottle/breast, except to say there's so much

more than breast milk involved. It's the smell, snuggling, etc.And small babies

get very quickly attached to mommies. It's nature's way of ensuring the

continuation of the species- mom's need to go to work (or get out of house every

so often!) notwithstanding. I do have one small thing to try: have your husband

wear/drape over himself one of your dirty shirts, so it has your smell on it,

when he feeds her. My SIL had her husband do this some 20ish years ago, and

apparently it worked.

As for gassiness in newborns, I'm probably going to start a big old mess by

saying this: I don't buy it. I started out as a new mom with the mylicon, etc.;

the only person who I think felt better with that stuff was me (well, and the

company that makes it). Don't get me wrong, I'm sure some babies do get gassy,

and since I'm piggybacking on Missie's post here, it sounds like she traced it

to cruciferous veggies. But unless you're hearing all that gas discharge at some

point, I'm not so sure. I've had 4 babies who would qualify as semi- to

extremely fussy newborns (12 weeks and less, I'd say), and here's the conclusion

I've come to: babies fuss because that's the only way they have to get out their

excess energy. They sleep a good part of the day, and have no other way to get

it all out- no play, no talking, etc. So they cry. And to top it all off, they

have these wacky immature nervous systems. My baby (8 weeks today) does get gas,

but I know where it's

coming from- she's swallowing air while she's crying! I can hear her! Argh!

Then, the 'gas' magically disappears- when they're asleep, and then usually

permanently somewhere in between 9-12 weeks. Now, if your newborn is waking up

to cry and pass gas, then perhaps you have a bona fide case of gas here. I just

think that most of the time, we adults feel better if we can explain all that

crying with some sort of 'reason' that we can understand, other than 'some

babies fuss. A lot.'

Regardless whether you want to disregard my philosophical ramblings on fussiness

in newborns above, I do have a few ideas. You've probably already discovered

some of them. And some of these worked with one of my kids, or all of them, or

somewhere in between; they were all different.

-Walk around outside. Newborns love looking at trees. I don't know if it's the

leaves rustling, or the shifts in the light. Heck, they aren't even supposed to

be able to see that far away. But it's worked for me, with all four kids.

-Bounce on a big exercise ball, aka a swedish ball. bounce big, bounce soft,

experiment. It's worth a shot.

-swaddling. 3 of my kids hated it. #4 loves it. go figure.

-pacifier. my first two refused them totally. the last 2 loved them.

-one odd thing I've discovered with #4 is that she actually settles down much

more quickly if I'm still, most of the time (aside from the walking around

outside). most babies seem to like to be jostled around. not her. I sit 'criss

cross applesauce' (un-pc version would be 'indian style') and lay her in my lap.

she loves it.

-Wear your baby. I wear them 75% of the day, anyway. But there's at least

something satisfying about salvaging all that fusstime by doing laundry etc.

-I also have two hints for YOU: I always get through fussy time by watching tv

on mute and reading the closed captions. it drove me crazy at first, but now I

actually prefer it. it gets your mind off the screaming. With #2 I actually

realized I had sustained hearing loss in one ear, and finally figured out that

was the shoulder she was on. After that, I wore ear plugs. Yeah. It was THAT

bad.

-BEER. Not a whole lot, but my friend's sister, a neonatologist, actually delved

into the research, and it does really seem to help breast milk production.

You're supposed to wait a few hours after a beer to nurse, but you're pumping

anyway, so I guess you could use pumped milk in a jam. And knowing I have that

beer chilling in the freezer for when Eleanor finally gives up the fuss makes me

feel a little better.

The good news is the reason-less fussing usually ends by 12 weeks. Mine seem to

give it up at about week 9.

After that, they fuss because they're hungry or tired or...but you will have a

better idea of how to solve it. but it WILL end. The babies never seem to be the

worse for wear, either, which I don't get.

best of luck- i know these are trying times. i'm right there with you!

j.

________________________________

Missie <mszzzi

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 11:40:13 AM

Re: Need baby advice

My son was kind of gassy, but it was when I ate cruciferous veggies

(basically the cabbage family - broccoli/cauli/ cabbage and of course

sauerkraut). he also had issues with dairy, but this was before we

found out he had the milk protein allergy. I did cut things out of my

diet as they affected him and it really did help. It wasn't till later

when we intro'd supplementing with regular formula for

oatmeal/barley/ porridge stuff that his allergy showed itself full

force. (not saying that this is the case with your little one - I

don't even know if you eat dairy products). That's what my

observations were with our son. Oh - We did find some relief with baby

massages - it was also fun.

I think we did also resort to mylicon since I don't think I did a good

job back then of cutting out my favorite veggie family or milk (at

that time - if I knew now what I knew then...as they say.)

Missie

On Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 5:30 PM,

havingagreatfulday<havingagreatfulday@ > wrote: