Newborn questions

legallyginger

So Jack has started to randomly scream in his sleep. I'm not sure what I should be doing, or if I need to do anything. He will be sleeping soundly, start to fuss/grunt a little, and then break out into a shrieking cry. But by the time I'm up he's already calmed down and gone back to sleep. It's usually no longer than 30 seconds. He'll go like that for an hour or two, just randomly screaming every 10-15 minutes or so but then sleeping soundly in between. It's making it hard to sleep when he sleeps.

Normal? Does it mean he's hungry and I should wake him to eat? I'm so lost.

legallyginger

Thanks FBW! I'm still getting over my FTM paranoia where I jump at every noise he makes. I'm also way too worried that I'm starving him, so every noise he makes I assume he's hungry.

nblondheim

How soon can you take lo in a pool?

ProudMommy030614

nblondheim said:

How soon can you take lo in a pool?

I took both of my older boys in the pool as soon as the circs and belly button was healed. Ds1 was born in July and we live in FL he lives in the pool. I just didn't get their heads wet.

Pankers

Our pediatrician told us rubbing alcohol, but LOs fell off after 10 days.

legallyginger

@bjd316 Jack's didn't fall off until I think day 17 or so. We put alcohol on it in the hospital but then nothing at home.

I'm kinda glad it stayed on longer because once it did fall off there was no blood or goop, just a cute little belly button.

BethRN1987

Sloans fell off at 6 days BUT she was under a warmer when we got re admitted to the hospital and that dried it out.

BTBergstrom

Ours just fell off this morning!! I was like what the heck is that in your sleeper then I figured it out. Now we have a cute bb and are going to do a full bath this weekend!!

LaurenAsh23

Our nurse in the hospital said both of her kids stayed on a full month!

jennybean80

Rubbing alcohol used to be recommended, but more recent studies show it doesn't help the stump fall off faster. It can actually dry out the skin around it and cause microscopic skin tears, which increases risk of infection.

Just clean around it with a damp q-tip then dry with a second q-tip. It should fall off by 3 weeks and not smell stinky. If it starts to smell bad, see your pedi as it could be infected.

nblondheim

Our little B has one. Pedi didn't seem concerned and we are just keeping an eye on it.

klp830

ntdane said:

klp830 said:

ntdane said:

@klp830‌, DS1 had a tongue-tie that we had clipped and I just found out this week that one of the twins is tongue-tied as well. The LC I saw talked about how a lot of doctors, even ENT's, still don't fully believe in tongue-ties or that they are an issue, especially if it is a minor one. I would ask the LC if they can recommend a doctor to work with to resolve the problem. I think a second opinion would be a good idea.

Thank you! I am going to call tomorrow to see who they recommend and who takes our insurance. After your Ds1 had it clipped, did the latching and feeding get a lot better.?

Yes! We were nursing within minutes of the clip. It was really fast and easy. It took a couple of days for him to adjust to the new movement but we then went on to nurse for over a year.

Yay, that gives me hope!

LaurenAsh23

Lo has just really started spitting up in the last week or so. She's happy/not phased by it when it happens. Just looking for any insight into it. Tonight she didn't do it until she woke up from her nap (so 2 hours after eating). And now she's hungry...I just feel like it's perpetuating the cycle. Any moms with some insight? Thinking of burping every 5 minutes now instead of when she pulls off to switch. Also wondering if she's overeating!?

BethRN1987

LaurenAsh23 said:

Lo has just really started spitting up in the last week or so. She's happy/not phased by it when it happens. Just looking for any insight into it. Tonight she didn't do it until she woke up from her nap (so 2 hours after eating). And now she's hungry...I just feel like it's perpetuating the cycle. Any moms with some insight? Thinking of burping every 5 minutes now instead of when she pulls off to switch. Also wondering if she's overeating!?

We were having spit up with each feed about 2-3 times after each feed. I'm trying the playtex bottle today and so far no spit up.

jennybean80

Audrey is another happy puker. The muscle that connects the stomach and esophagus is still immature so it doesn't always keep what's in the tummy in! Generally they grow out of it, and it's not a cause for worry unless they seem distressed.

mrsdahamm

LaurenAsh23 said:

Lo has just really started spitting up in the last week or so. She's happy/not phased by it when it happens. Just looking for any insight into it. Tonight she didn't do it until she woke up from her nap (so 2 hours after eating). And now she's hungry...I just feel like it's perpetuating the cycle. Any moms with some insight? Thinking of burping every 5 minutes now instead of when she pulls off to switch. Also wondering if she's overeating!?

@LaurenAsh23‌ my (bf) lo does this too, sometimes right after eating and sometimes a long time after. Like yours he's unphased and still eats well so I'm choosing not to worry.

BethRN1987

Anyone not using a slow flow nipple? With the slow flow she doesn't eat as much I think because she gets tired

VineyardMel

Blonderedhead781 said:

legallyginger said:

Thanks FBW! I'm still getting over my FTM paranoia where I jump at every noise he makes. I'm also way too worried that I'm starving him, so every noise he makes I assume he's hungry.

@legallyginger‌ I totally get this as a fellow FTM and even got fussed at for it by the pediatrician! I'm stocking up on books (happiest baby, baby wise and healthy sleep habits happy child) now so we can start getting a schedule down.

@Blonderedhead781‌ FWIW, BabyWise has been linked to failure to thrive and is widely considered to be bad news. I recommend The Baby Whisperer instead for getting a routine going.

coreyeliz

legallyginger said:

Any STMs have success with long term combination feeding? I can't mentally handle EBF, our little guy likes to take his sweet time nursing and feeling chained to the spot where I nurse is starting to drive me insane. I'm worried about killing my supply. He doesn't seem to have an issue with confusion so far, he's had at least a bottle a day since birth.

Any tips or suggestions? What kind of nursing/pumping/formula schedule did you keep?

This. I'm wondering this too. LO is just a slow and constant eater and im not sure how long I can keep up doing EBF. As a FTM, I feel so lost when it comes to these things.

legallyginger

@coreyliz its beeen a few days for me and it seems to be working out well now. I found a few times during the day where I know I can always nurse (for me its the last feed of the night and one of his cluster feeds before bed) and the rest of the time he gets formula.

If I get too engorged at other points I've been either nursing him a little from each side before his bottle to relieve the pressure or pumping a tiny bit and then adding it to his bottle.

I've been more or less winging it because there's not a lot of guidance, but I've been a lot less stressed about feeding since we started.

theluckiest9

I have a question about waking babies. Our LO has been sleeping in longer stretches at night. She's almost 2 weeks old. I honestly don't want to wake her if she's sleeping well (last night she did a 4hr stretch, was awake for a couple of hrs and has been sleeping for a little over 5hrs now).

Should I wake her to feed throughout the night? I'm combination feeding so most of the time at night I'll breastfeed. She may get an occasional bottle. My boobs are def full right now and I'm contemplating waking her since it's been about 7 hrs since she's eaten.

Sooo never wake a sleeping baby or get her up?

coreyeliz

@legallyginger - Thanks! You're so right. I can't seem to find much guidance anywhere on how to do combo bf ff feeding. I feel like all the lactation consultants don't want to answer these questions for me because they're so EBF focused.

Pankers

@theluckiest9‌, I would say it depends on your baby. Eva was late pre-term and small so we have been told no longer than 3.5 hours in the day and 4.5 hours at night. I assume this will change once she gets some more weight on as she is only 5lbs at the moment.

I have a question on distended bellies. After LO has eaten, her stomach is HUGE and looks really distended. She is bf with formula supplements to make up for my crappy supply. I fed her for about 20 minutes at 4am and gave her about 0.5oz of formula. She slept for 4 hours before I had to wake her for her next feed. She only fed for about 10 minutes and her stomach was huge again. She also pukes if she eats too much formula/too fast. Anyone else notice a distended stomach and does it affect how much you feed your LO?

sebullows

@theluckiest9‌ now I'm no pediatrician, but I've read that once they've gained back their birth weight, and gaining like they should be, you don't have to wake them in the night. But you should wake them in the day. That's what I've been doing. I wish Levi would sleep for 7 hours!

sebullows

I have a question about diaper changing boys. Do you apply ointment/cream (such as butt paste) at every change, even if they don't poop? I give LO a quick wipe down if it's just urine, but I don't apply anything unless he's pooped. Is it a matter of personal preference or will that wet diaper give him a rash eventually?

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legallyginger

bandteacher said:

sebullows said:

I have a question about diaper changing boys. Do you apply ointment/cream (such as butt paste) at every change, even if they don't poop? I give LO a quick wipe down if it's just urine, but I don't apply anything unless he's pooped. Is it a matter of personal preference or will that wet diaper give him a rash eventually?

We only use cream if there's pink skin.

Same. I've only been applying vaseline or butt paste if his skin looks irritated.

theluckiest9

@sebullows we took her to the doc the other day for an umbilical cord issue and she has surpassed her birth weight (8#14oz at birth, lost 13 oz, we started supplementing a week ago per doc and now she's up to 9#2oz). I'll ask the pediatrician about it at our 2 week checkup on Tuesday.

@tallash thanks for the input. My boobs were screaming this morning. We ended up waking her after 5.5hrs of sleeping bc they hurt. She ate for half an hr and started drifting off too much to keep going. I think I'm going to go pump now bc I still feel engorged. The sleep was nice though.

Zombielove126

Maizey will wake up ferociously hungry during the night, rooting, putting her fist in her mouth and everything so I know it's hunger and not something else. Anyways, I give her bottles of expressed breast milk during she night because if I try to breast feed her she just passes out. I will leave her screaming for food and by the time I get back upstairs with the warmed up bottle she's passed out. Does anybody else have this problem? Do I wake her or let her sleep? I usually wake her up because I don't want the milk to go to waste but when I do this she doesn't seem to eat as much.

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jennybean80

TallAsh said:

bjd316 said:

Thank you for all of the answers about the cord still being on! I feel better knowing others have gone this long as well.

Has anyone flown with a newborn? My MIL is trying to convince my husband to go to Florida with them and is offering to pay for our entire trip. I am not sure how old they should be before flying though and if so how much of a pain it would be to get her stroller, car seat, and all that there as well.

Go. Fly when she's new. It's a thousand times easier.

You can gate check the stroller so you don't get charged for it.

This! We flew with DS1 at about 8 weeks corrected for a funeral and he did awesome. For take-off/landing either feed baby or give a paci to help equalize her ears.

BethRN1987

What age do you start the bumbo seat things?

AshleyO925

Piper's umbilical cord fell off yesterday at 7 days old.  Now her belly button still sticks out almost like a donut. It isn't red or swollen or anything and there still seems to be a tiny bit of scabbing there.  Is this normal?

jennybean80

AshleyO925 said:

Piper's umbilical cord fell off yesterday at 7 days old.  Now her belly button still sticks out almost like a donut. It isn't red or swollen or anything and there still seems to be a tiny bit of scabbing there.  Is this normal?

Yep! It'll fall out soon. Plus babies usually have outies until the get bigger and put on some subcutaneous fat. Just wait it out!!

nblondheim

@BethRN1987‌
We took ours it and tried them around 2 months but completely supervised. They weren't in them long and have only been used twice just for something different.

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BethRN1987

Sloan actually had an innie belly button- I will have to take a pic of it when she wakes up. It's cute

BethRN1987

Question about bottle nipples. I'm very frustrated! The slow flow is to much work for her- she won't take as much and falls asleep during feeds but the next flow she has milk stippling down her chin the entire feed. What one is the lesser evil?

sebullows

AshleyO925 said:

Piper's umbilical cord fell off yesterday at 7 days old.  Now her belly button still sticks out almost like a donut. It isn't red or swollen or anything and there still seems to be a tiny bit of scabbing there.  Is this normal?

They took Levi's cord off in the NICU to place his catheter. Instead of a cord stump he had a giant donut like you said, but was filled with a bloody scab. Once it fell off there was all kinds of lovely stuff under there, and it did not smell good! His "donut" is almost completely flat now

pepperedmoth

TallAsh said:

Jenstwins said:

AshleyO925 said:

Piper's umbilical cord fell off yesterday at 7 days old.  Now her belly button still sticks out almost like a donut. It isn't red or swollen or anything and there still seems to be a tiny bit of scabbing there.  Is this normal?

Yep! It'll fall out soon. Plus babies usually have outies until the get bigger and put on some subcutaneous fat. Just wait it out!!

Good to know! Both of my bigs had "pretty" belly buttons (as pretty as one can be)... This kid's looks like an anteater snout or something. seriously! Look at that sucker!!

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I was scrolling through this thread just skimming and when I saw that I thought, "who the hell posted a picture of their NIPPLE?"

Then I read the post.

Yup, impressive belly button!