Omneo Comfort nappies!

[shanaz]

Hi all

Things are going well, some mnor sleep issues and she is not taking as much during feeds (averaging about 3.5 - 4 fl oz) but she seems to settling into it well.  Just a quick question, how do you cool your bottles quickly in order to get them in the fridge asap?  It seems to take me about 5 mins per bottle to cool them running them under the cold tap and it also seems like a huge waste of water - any suggestions?

Hope you are well and enjoying the sunshine.  It is very hot here (Bristol), about 31 degrees which has made me a bit worried about lo and sleeping.  During the day when she's awake we just have her in her nappy but when she goes to sleep she needs to be swaddled otherwise she wakes up hitting herself, flailing her legs about etc.  We did try to use the 0.5 tog gro-bag but the same thing happened.  I would feel alot happier if we were able to have the room nice and cool but our little terraced house is like a furnace at the moment, the bedroom is about 29 degrees and we have an air cooler blowing at full blast.  It's a shame she's so young coz she can't even go outsde properly either.

Oh well, I managed to sit outside for a few hours while she was having a marathon snooze (2 hrs 35 mins!).

Take care
Shanaz

[linfran]

Shanaz

For cooling bottles I fill up the kitchen sink with cold water and put the bottles in it so the water just covers the level of milk.  Takes a bit longer maybe but saves on the water.

The hot weather can really mess up their sleeping can't it?  We're in Northern Ireland and its not too bad but we had a few scorching days last month and it really made my lo miserable.  We got a SPF factor 50 tent from the Early Leearning Centre so we put it in the shade and let our ds sit in it for a little bit - I hate keeping him cooped up indoors.

Glad your lo is settling weel, fingers crossed it continues!

[shanaz]

Hi Lin

Thanks for that, I also put the other bottles in the bowl in the sink with water covering as you do while I run others under the tap, I just thought they had to cooled as quickly as possible as the milk would be going off as they sit there, or does it reset once they're in the fridge and you can then count down from an hour when you remove it to feed them?  Sorry if that doesn't make any sense.

I'm going to get one of those tents as we're going on holiday next week to the Gower peninsula is South Wales and we'll need some shade, just not got round to it yet!  Glad to hear they're good. 

How long does your lo take to feed?  My lo is taking about 3.5 fl oz in about 4/5 mins but then doesn't really seem to want anymore than that a lot of the time.  I'm just assuming that's ok and leaving her.  If she is still refusing after 30 mins I don't bother anymore!

Shanaz

[Ennypen]

I do the same - leaving the bottles in really cold water for about 10 mins to cool enough to be put into the fridge.
They are not going off as they sit there so don't worry. They are fine. The hour rule is only a general guide so don't get too hung up on it.. just as long as you don't reuse it after about an hour you'll be fine. You will find that Omneo begins to separate if you leave it standing unchilled for too long anyway so you can see if its been left a bit long.

It sounds as you are doing the right thing with the feeds to me. Your LO will only take as much as she wants - William could never be convinced to drink more than he actually wanted. At your LOs age he was taking about the same every 2 hours. If your little girl is still putting on weight steadily and is staying hydrated on what she is having.. having wet nappies etc.. then she will be fine.

Keep going - it sounds as though the change has suited her tummy and she will go from strength to strength you'll see.

Enjoy your holidays!

H xx

[shanaz]

Hi guys

Did the standing in cold water thing, in fact, I added some ice tonight coz it's been so hot I wanted to get them chilled asap.  I aim to put them in cold rather than body temp, is that what you do?

She's doing ok on it but she is still puking A LOT, it's just that clear liquid as opposed to creamy/curdled milk that she had on SMA.  I phoned the Careline and they said to add Carabol (or something like that) to thicken it but I think I'll give it a few more days before doing that to see if she calms down.

Helen, you said your lo was taking that amount  but every 2 hrs, my lo can go up to 3.5 hrs between feeds, she only had 18.5 fl oz yesterday as she didn't have a night feed.  Oh well, I'll see how she goes!

Far too hot for her, she's been a bit grumpy today and living in her nappy only.  I get a bit worried about swaddling her in this heat but she just won't sleep properly unswaddled, she wakes herself up with her flailing arms & legs!

Cheers
Shanaz

[Ennypen]

Ah but William has always been a big boy... even at that age he was HUGE so needed to feed that bit more frequently til things evened out. As I said dont panic unless your LO stops adding weight or starts to become dehydrated.

If I were you I wouldn't thicken Omneo any more. Losing a bit of colourless fluid after feeds isn't too bad. William used to have some spit up.. its just part of it all.. and unless its truly huge amounts I wouldn't worry too much. If you are worried about it give your health visitor a call and get her to have a look and see what she thinks... better than the cow and gat helpline as its personalised advice for your LO.

I put the bottles in the fridge luke warm..

Poor baby in this heat. Is she just in her nappy and swaddled with a sheet? Thats what we did with William in the early days. He was born in July last year when it was VVVVV hot lol... We've got a fan running in William's room at night now and its still 28 degrees in his room.. hes in his nappy in a cotton sleeping bag so seems comfy enough.

H xx

[linfran]

The heat can really screw up mealtimes - my lo has been fussing today as well, it's been so warm here.

Regarding chilling bottles in cold water, I haven't poisoned my ds yet so it must be OK!  I would put them in the fridge slightly warm - if they're too hot I notice they start to separate (but have just given them a good shake and used them, ds hasn't complained, he seems to eat anything you put near his mouth).

Carobel was prescribed by my dr because my son's reflux was so bad and I put it into the formula along with Infacol drops (he was colicky too - yay!).  The bottles were like sludge but believe me, everything stayed put!

[Miche]

Hi All,

We do the same here - bottles go into fridge luke warm. 

Luke also spits up clear fluid, sometimes an hour or so after he has had his bottle.  It's weird, but we've noticed that when he has had a good session 'finding his voice' so to speak (shrieking and laughing and making all those experimental baby noises!  ) he always seem to bring up some fluid then.  It's almost like the exertion from that creates loads of saliva in his mouth and he has to spit it out!

It's so hot here...upto 30' during the day and it's 27 in our room (where Luke still sleeps at the moment).  We've just got a fan today which we have set up in there so hopefully it will be cooler tonight.  Luke is just in a sleeveless vest, no covers at all.  we haven't swaddled him since he was about 6 weeks old - he hated it.  Sleeps with his arms above his head and his legs in a 'frogs legs' position! So cute...Bless! 

Take Care

Miche x

[shanaz]

Hi all

Miche - you lucky thing not having to swaddle your lo.  I wish it were the same with Seren, we've tried the gro-bags but she just goes nuts with her legs.  It was 30' in the bedroom yesterday and it's 28' tonight.

We just cannot get her to take a full feed.  She's 13lbs and therefore should be taking an average of 32.5 fl oz a day, I'm lucky if I can get her past 25 at the moment.  She really fusses during her feeds, she feeds for about 3 - 5 mins then comes off having taken about 3 - 4 fl oz.  It's then a battle to get anything else in her, she goes on & off over about a 20 min period, feeding for 1 min bursts.  She gags when the teat is put in her mouth, arches her back etc.  I just wonder if this will ever end, I hope she doesn't get a feeding complex.

I keep hoping this will all settle down over the next week, she's been on the Comfort formula since last Fri so....  She must puke at least 8 - 10 times after feeds, basically right through til she goes down for a nap.  Don't know if it's related to the chatting thing, she is also going great guns in this department, hasn't stopped nattering to me all day!

Hope you are all well, I'll keep soldiering on!

Shanaz

[Miche]

Hi Shanaz 

Tried to post this last night but the darn thing wouldn't go through 

Anyway, was just thinking, is Seren on 3 hr EASY and if so does she still seem to be hungry at every feed?  I know when Luke wasn't really hungry he would fuss with his bottle and not take very much.  We've got him onto 3.5 hr EASY now and he is more consistent in taking a full feed (about 7oz) although sometimes still (especially his mid morning bottle) will only take about 4oz.  We will probably try to ease him onto a 4 hr EASY over the next couple of weeks because he is starting all the fussy signs again and he can stay awake for 2 hrs at a time now (although he won't sleep longer than 45 mins-1hr most times, 1.5 if we are lucky!)

I don't know if this might help you at all getting Seren to take more at each feed.  Does she still seem generally content and is she putting on weight still?

I'm sorry that I don't have much advice re the back arching and gagging - does it seem to be part of her general fussiness with the bottle?

I know that some babies do seem to puke more than others and this gets better when solids are introduced.  I'm not suggesting that in a flippant way though because if I remember rightly, your lo has reflux doesn't she, which is obviously a separate issue in itself.

I hope things are better today and the temperature cools down as well - that can't help settling and feeding I'm sure!

And aren't they the cutest when they are chattering away and pulling all these faces 'discovering' new sounds, and then realising that it was them that produced the sound!! 

Take Care

Michele x

[shanaz]

Hi Michele

Thanks for your post, I've had problems with it too, about 2 or 3 of my messages disappeared!

I have sort of tried the 3.5 hrs EASY but I'm not sure if it's made any difference.  I also can't quite get the evening timings right on it - how do you structure your day?  I've kind of been doing a 3 1/4 EASY.  I thin it's all tied into her reflux, although it does seem to be a bit calmer today so perhaps the heat was making it worse. 

Thankfully it's a bit cooler now, bedroom is still about 27 degrees but it's much more bearable.  We want to wean her off her swaddling and put her in a gro-bag (sheets are no good as she just kicks them off) but not really sure how to go about it!

I love all of her chattings, she's sooooo funny and will hold 5 - 10 min "conversations" with me, usually when I'm trying to feed her though! 

I've got to go & do her bath etc.  It would be great if you could post your 3.5 EASY if you get a moment.

Shanaz

[Miche]

Hi Shanaz 

I have to admit that I do tend to 'wing it' when it comes to Luke's feeding as like you, I wasn't quite sure how to work the evenings.

Anyway the last couple of weeks have gone something like this:

6.30am       Wake - isn't hungry first thing

7.00am       Eat - 6-7oz
8-8.30am    Sleep  - usually 1hr, sometimes 1.5 hrs

10.30am     Eat - 4-5oz (normally fusses here)
11.30-12    Sleep - 1-1.5 hrs, we try to get him to stay asleep til 1.30pm

2.00pm      Eat - 5-7oz
3.30-4pm   Sleep - 45mins - 1.5hrs

5pm           Eat - 5-6oz (he won't normally sleep again now)
6.15pm      Bath and Wind Down

7pm           Eat - takes about 2oz, falls asleep, wakes up 20min later for 4-5oz
7.45pm       Out for the count! 

3.30-4.30am Eat - 6-70z (back to sleep until 6.30am)

HOWEVER, last night he didn't wake back up after his 7pm bottle and so I gave him a DF at 11.30 (although I don't normally do this but I knew he wouldn't last until 3.30am)- he took 5oz.  Then he woke at 5.30 and I really didn't want to start my day then so I feed him and put him back down, fully expecting him to stay awake...next thing I knew, it was 7.30am!

I knew he wouldn't be hungry then because of the 5.30am feed so instead he had his morning bottle at 8.30am (6oz), then 11.30am (5oz), 3pm (8oz), 6.30pm (8oz) and asleep in bed by 7.15pm.  I imagine he will wake as normal between 3.30-4.30am so hopefully we should be back on track tomorrow.

I don't know if that will help you at all, like I said, I do just tend to tweak each day if need be but aim for Luke's bedtime bottle about 6.30-7pm because I know that he is ready for bed by 7.30- 7.45 at the latest.

It is definately all trial and error in getting a system that suits though!

I don't know what to suggest re weaning Seren from swaddling as you're right - we were lucky that we didn't have to do that with Luke although for a time things were abit fraught because of his flailing arms and legs.  He still kicks out like crazy now when he is waking up but what I found helped with his arms was to encourage him to hold onto a small soft sheet which he snuggles his face into.  I used to just put it into his hand and he automatically grasped onto it when I was lying him down (bedtime and naps), especially if he was actually quite tired.  He would then put it up to his face when he went to rub his eyes etc and seemed to like having it there as he would hold it still against his cheek while he was going off to sleep. It even seems now as though he takes this as his cue for 'sleeptime' because when I give it to him (most times), he gets all excited, snuggles into it and starts to close his eyes.  I've also noticed during the night when he starts to stir, he will reach out for it if it has fallen from his hand and put it back upto his face and settle himself back down. 

I know it probably sounds abit scary but he dosn't cover his face with it and like i said, it is only a small, light sheet so it's not going to hamper his breathing.  My older boy also had a 'blankie' which he cuddled to sleep and used to carry around with him in the same way that other lo's attach to a special teddy or something similar.  He never needed a dummy after he was about 6 weeks old because he was able to self soothe as long as he had his blankie.  Any way I digress!!

Here's hoping things are calmer again for you tomorrow

Michele x

[shanaz]

Hi Miche

Thanks very much for that, it was really useful to see your routine, it's similar to what we do, give or take 1/2 an hour here or there!

I loved your descriptions of Luke with his sheet, it was so cute!  Me, my mum & dh all went "aaww".  I like this idea better than her dummy which she doesn't seem to take very well anymore.  She has a tendency to try & shove her entire fist into her mouth, I think she may be starting to get twinges in her gums as she's drooling a lot too - so lovely!  She kicks a lot and scratches her face which tend to keep her up. 

I was interested to see you don't do a DF - any reason why?  Seren took 5 oz last night at DF, the most she's had in one feed for quite a while now.  I may try her on a 3.5 EASY tomorrow and see how she goes.

Hope you had a good day, great to chat!

Shanaz

[Miche]

Hi Shanaz

How has today been? Did you try a 3.5 EASY?

Luke had his bedtime bottle at 6.30pm last night and slept until 5.15am!!  Fed him and he went back to sleep until 7.00am.  He wasn't asking for a bottle until about 8am though so I fed him 8.15 so our times pretty much followed the same as yesterday. Bed time bottle was 6.15pm so will wait and see how long he goes for tonight! 

The reason I don't do a DF is that TBH it didn't really make any difference to the length of time he went afterwards.  We also noticed that he tended to wake up more after having a DF.  When I stopped it for a couple of days to see just how long he would go before 'naturally' waking for a feed, he would sleep until about 1.30-2am, fed and then back down, waking about 5.30-6am.  When I gave him a dream feed at about 11pm, he would wake at 2am, 3.30am, 5am and so on.

A couple of weeks ago I reintroduced it because I figured that if he could go from 7.30pm until 3.30am, if I 'topped' him up at 11pm he should be able to go until approx 6.30-7am without needing to be fed again.  However he wouldn't sleep straight through when I did this and even though he didn't need feeding he still woke about 2.30, 4.30, 6.30 and needed to be resettled.

Without it he sleeps straight to 4.30(ish), feeds and then straight back to sleep until 6.30am (apart from the last 2 days  ).

It just seems to work best for us that way I guess.

Luke is so cute with his little 'blankie'!  It's just a small flannette sheet (moses basket size rather than cot size) so it's soft enough to be comforting but not heavy or 'woolly' which would probably be cumbersome IYKWIM.

Luke also shoves his fist into his mouth.  He hasn't quite managed to find his thumb yet and ends up either sucking his fist (which usually results in him gagging on it  ) or he sucks the first two fingers on his hand.  When he went through the stage of scratching his face we put some of his socks on his hands and pulled them up so that they reached up nearly to his elbows!  They stayed on much better than scratch mitts and he looked so funny sleeping with his hands in stripey socks above his head!

I don't know if Seren is the same but when Luke kicks during the night, he pushes himself down to the bottom of the cot and ends up kicking out against the walls, sometimes he even managed to get his feet between the bars and this definately woke him up!
I put another cot bumper around the bottom end of the cot which meant he couldn't get his feet stuck and also rolled up a blanket and put that along the bottom end of the cot so that when he reached the bottom and kicked out he wasn't hitting the hard wood but softer padding.  Although I still hear him moving around in there, it dosn't seem to disturb him as much and he dosn't wake from it now.  When I take him out to feed him I just reposition him at the 'head' end of the cot and then retrieve him from the 'bottom' end again when he wakes in the morning! 

Any way it looks like I have written another novel so I will sign off as it's coming up to the Big Brother Eviction time and I need to start swearing at the TV!  (I don't know why I'm addicted to it, they all drive me mad with exasperation!)

Hope you had a good day and a lovely evening!  Will 'chat' again soon!

Michele x

[shanaz]

Hi Miche

Sorry I haven't replied sooner but as I'm sure you know, the site has not been working too well!  Well, we have been doing the 3.5 EASY and I'm not sure if it's helping or not.  I'm also not sure whether the Comfort formula is right for her either.

For the 1st few days using the formula she really seemed to settle down, was sleeping & eating better, less spitting up etc.  Now, she is a nightmare.  She spits up all the time (at least 6 - 8 times after feeds, sometimes even during her sleep, but not at night for some reason) and it's still the clear liquid.  Since being on the 3.5 EASY we are averaging between 4 - 5 oz per feed but she is still taking 3.5 a lot, usually her 1st feed which I think is wierd as you would think she would be hungry after not eating for about 7/8 hrs.  She is sleeping very badly again, waking anywhere between 4 - 5.30am but is not consistent.  Not sure whether to feed her or not at this point as when I have in the past she usually only takes about 2 oz.  She's averaging a total of 24 - 26 fl oz a day but she went as low as 18.5 oz on Monday.  She naps very erratically, waking after 35 mins sometimes, sleeping for 2 hrs another.  We are trying to keep her in the cot but it really becomes a battle.

Today she has basically screamed all day.  I don't know if something is bothering her tummy but she is VERY windy, grumpy and sicky.  I feel like I can't leave the house because she doesn't sleep well when we're out, she wakes up after about 30 mins/when the car or pushchair stop moving and I can't get her to go back to sleep.  Because of this I feel completely house-bound and frustrated.

The reason why I'm not sure if the 3.5 hr EASY is working for us or not is that due to her short naps, she very quickly gets everything back to front.  She will wake up so early that there can be another 2 hrs til her next feed time and then she is knackered by then so doesn't feed properly or wants to go to sleep during it.  I can't tell whether she is tired or hungry and feel very confused by the whole thing.  The problem is is that she just doesn't seem to be hungry after 3 hrs either - GOD, I just don't know what to do.
 
Sorry for the rambling essay but I have had an awful day, feel like a complete failure and am totally confused.   
 
Hope your lo is doing well, he's a real cutie by the way!  i'm looking forward to when Seren can hold things in her hands properly, they're still little fists most of the time.

Take care,

Shanaz