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Offline Annalisayasuma

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Questions on activity and diaper change
« on: July 28, 2007, 19:08:12 pm »
Hi,

First time poster here and brand new mother of a 6 day old baby girl.  I recently received the BW but I admittedly not had the time/energy to read through the book in whole.  My husband has been reading it to me and trying to read parts on his own in the mean time.

So for my question - we are trying out the EASY routine but were curious about the A portion.  Our baby was 6lbs 13oz at birth and after the first hellish 3-4 days she seems to be on a 'routine' right now.  After a nap, she always wakes up with a dirty diaper.  So we change her first to wake her, then feed her 30-50 mins, then when she looks like she's drunk, we swaddle then put her to sleep again.  Notice the lack of A at the end of this routine.   Sometimes she'll go poop/peep mid feed so we'll change her diaper between breasts but we never change her after feeding since this might wake her up.  Are we doing something wrong that we should be correcting now?

Also, I can't seem to find what a dream feed is in the BW book.  It mentions a dream feed at the end after a cluster feed but doesn't explain what this dream feed is.  I am curious how to do a dream feed especially if she has a dirty diaper. 

This is an awesome message board and I'm happy to have found it!  Thanks for any help in advance.

Annalisa


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Offline Jonahs Mom

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Re: Questions on activity and diaper change
« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2007, 19:16:05 pm »
She is gorgeous! And welcome!!

For now, A time really is limited. Yes, it is usually just a diaper change. If you can hold off on the change until just before she goes to sleep, that is great. The key is to try and NOT let her fall asleep while feeding, as this becomes the 'signal' to fall asleep, and as she gets older, the concern is that she will rely on it to fall asleep and not know how to do it on her own. So you just want to break that up, even if it is a 2 minute diaper change.
If you can't wait to change her, just burp her and lay her on the floor and try and get some eye contact before she goes to sleep. In a few weeks, you'll notice that she has some time to spare before dozing off, but right now, she is still tired from her 'journey'.  ;) :D

A dreamfeed is a feed that you sneak in while the baby is literally sleeping, just before you go to bed. Like the cluster feed, it is to up the calories now, so she sleeps longer at night, and you do too! With the cluster feed, it is before the baby goes to sleep, but the dreamfeed is where you pick the baby out of bed and nurse (or some keep in the crib and give a bottle). Dreamfeeds aren't recommended for awhile yet, I *think*6-8 weeks old, but you may want to double check on that. Some don't need it, others are bothered by it, and some - like my ds - were fine taking it.

Hope that helps!

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Offline NiknLily

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Re: Questions on activity and diaper change
« Reply #2 on: July 28, 2007, 19:29:15 pm »
Hi

What a beautiful little girl, congratulations. 

I was going to say exactly the same as PP.  I used to do nappy change after her feed just so that was her A time.  You can definitely do the dream feed from 4weeks as there is a sample routine for 4weeks in BWSAYP book.  I always did the DF from the start, DD always fed well at this feed but she also always woke up before the df as I always had to change her nappy at this time.  However unlike during the day and at bed time when you don't want them to associate a feed with falling asleep, if your DD does wake for DF it is fine to let her fall asleep during it, in much the same way you wouldn't wake them if they fall asleep at 3am during a feed.  Just be sure to do it in a darkened room with no major interaction so she doesn't start to think this is another time to play with mummy.
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Offline Annalisayasuma

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Re: Questions on activity and diaper change
« Reply #3 on: July 28, 2007, 19:50:22 pm »
Ok so even though my baby (Taylor is her name) is only <1 week old I should stop feeding until she's drunk?  I'm still in the transition phase I guess where I'm not always sure if she's had enough to feed so I'll 'top off' with a bottle/formula if she is still fussy.  Like this morning - I breast fed for about 40 minutes, swaddled her and laid her down.  She never quite went to sleep and 'woke up' about 20 mins later.  I gave her the bottle, she drank about 1oz, then went to sleep fine.

So, from what I understand this is setting her up to understand that feeding is the cue to sleep?  I should be feeding->changing (A)->putting her to sleep.  I've tried the shh/pat but it doesn't seem to work too well.  What can I do to help her fall asleep then after a feeding and diaper change?  Is a pacifier ok at this age? 

So confused but trying my best to learn quickly!

Thanks for the responses everyone - I'm shocked and how quick the replies were :)
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Offline Jonahs Mom

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Re: Questions on activity and diaper change
« Reply #4 on: July 28, 2007, 20:10:43 pm »
A pacifier is fine at any age - it is just personal preference. I used one from 1 day old as newborns are natural suckers. Literally. Some don't take them though.
If you feel like you may not have enough milk for her, you can check. After she has fed, squeeze your nipple like - uh, pardon the description - milking a cow. If there is still milk, it is either that she isn't settling herself and milk is a comfort for her even if she is full, or else she is having difficulty nursing. I don't think that is the problem though.
Try the pacifier first - that is just my opinion though.
For shh/pat, you can try it while burping her, as in, hold her against your chest, over your shoulder. When you hear her calm, lay her down, but still shh and continue to pat while she is laying down. I used to do it for about 2-3 minutes after I knew ds was asleep, and I got quieter and patted less frequently as the time went on.

Don't worry about learning as fast as you can - they move onto a new problem and make you forget it just when you figure it out! LOL.  :)
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Offline Annalisayasuma

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Re: Questions on activity and diaper change
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2007, 00:42:45 am »
One more thing - my girl always wakes up from a nap with a dirty diaper.  Is it ok to change the diaper before the feeding or should I wait until afterwards to count towards the 'A' time in EASY?  I definitely do not want to associate eating with sleeping!  :o
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Offline Jonahs Mom

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Re: Questions on activity and diaper change
« Reply #6 on: July 29, 2007, 00:54:13 am »
You can change it of course. Especially at night, it was the first thing I did, since in the middle of the night, it is okay if they fall asleep after eating.
Anyway, in the day, just change it (this won't go on forever with the poops) and after the feed, just do the eye contact thing suggested or a rattle for a minute.
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Offline Annalisayasuma

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Re: Questions on activity and diaper change
« Reply #7 on: July 29, 2007, 02:48:13 am »
Thanks!
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Offline NiknLily

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Re: Questions on activity and diaper change
« Reply #8 on: July 29, 2007, 18:53:45 pm »
Just want to add that with regard to her taking more from the bottle, she very well could be using the bottle as comfort and aslo consider that at this age its easier to accept whats being put in your mouth than turn away from it, so if that is the case a paci will be just what she needs as it would suggest she just needs more suckling time.

To try to keep her awake if her natural tendancy is to start to doze while feeding you can tickle her ear just run your finger along it or gently squeeze her hand and talk to her anything to keep her from dropping off to sleep.
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