Three unrelated questions: baby nails, co-sleeping, and green poo

chocoroom

Good morning ladies! I hope your Wednesday is going well so far!

I have three questions:

1. DS has dirt under his nails. I checked Target and Babies R Us and didn't find any baby nail brushes, so I bought an adult one. It just seems too stiff and abrasive for his tiny fingers. How do you clean under your LO's nails?

2. As a naive FTM, I swore up and down I'd never co-sleep. Fast-forward to now and literally the only way DS will sleep is on my chest. I've tried putting him down sleepy but awake (he will not be soothed by pats and soothing words, he just wants to be picked up) and I've tried putting him down in a deep sleep (he wakes up within 15 minutes crying). I know you can't spoil a newborn, but at what point is it becoming a habit? DS is 6 weeks as of this past Monday. I just don't know what is a phase that will pass naturally or what is something that requires work on my end. I'd love to have DS sleeping in his crib by the time I go to work at 12 weeks but I'm not sure how to do it! Has anyone successfully weaned a LO off of co-sleeping?

3. DS had bright green poop yesterday for the first time. I'm not sure if I should be concerned or not. He has recently started spacing out his feedings a bit more so I'm wondering if he's taking in only foremilk until my supply regulates. How long would you go before trying to change your diet or taking other measures?

Thank you for reading this novel and for any help!

sebullows

@chocoroom‌ are you ebf or supplementing? My LO is ff and all of his poops are bright green. First I looked it up on the poop detector on the similac website (GREAT TOOL!) and green poop indicates solid foods. His pedi confirmed this and said it was bc of all the iron in his formula (he's on gentle). If he's ebf maybe you're just eating more foods with iron?

Eta- dr also said he's more concerned about the consistency than the color. If it's too loose or too firm, then I might be concerned.

chocoroom

@sebullows, that's probably an important piece of information I'm EBF right now. That's really interesting that iron causes green poop! I wonder if I have been eating more iron lately.

luvmybundle

I would answer your questions but those are almost the exact same as mine lol! My lo nails are so sharp but I'm afraid to file them so I keep mittens on her until I get brave enough. She will claw my boobs to shreds if she's not wearing anything.
She also not only cosleeps but she sleeps on my chest! As soon as I put her in the crib she wakes up and cries. I'm thinking it's something we should be able to stop in the future but I just keep reminding myself that she's little and just wants to be near me.
I'm also ebf and her poops are all yellow and seedy. I try to feed her long enough to make sure she gets hind milk. Does your lo empty your breasts at each feed?

chocoroom

I only feed on one side per session. He used to go 20 minutes per session, but lately it's been more like 10-15. I don't know if he's becoming more efficient as he gets older, but he doesn't get hungry any earlier than usual. I don't think he's emptying my breast right now, but it might be because I have more than he needs since he's spacing his feedings out a bit more? This past night, for example, he went 4 hours, 15 minute feed, and another 4 hours which is a HUGE change from eating every 2-3 hours as he has been. I was definitely feeling more engorged this morning.

SurpriseAt39

1. Soft wash cloth. The 'baby' kind. They are usually super soft.
Or. Trim his nails.

2. I had to laugh at your question "Has anyone successfully weaned a LO off of co-sleeping?" I'd be surprised if everyone who ever co-slept was still doing it into adulthood.
....
But yes, I occasionally co-slept with all my kids. Usually if they were sick, cold, gassy, lonely, i was tired and BFed them in bed, etc.
I had no issues getting them to sleep in their own cribs when those issues were resolved.
At this point, I do what has to be done for LO and I to get the rest we need.

3. Green poop happens in a EBFed baby.
Mine get it occasionally. One green poop is likely just too much fore milk and I wouldn't worry in the slightest. Even 2 or 3 poops, I still wouldn't worry. But, having said that, my LO poops at least 12 times a day, so 3 poops could be an hour or two or three. Other babies poop once or twice a day.
If MINE pooped green for 2 days consecutively, I might be concerned. Buuuut, I'd factor in consistency, frequency, and LO's demeanour as well. If he's cranky and pooping green for 2 days, I'd probably call the doc.
If he's acting normal, I'd probably give it another day.

There are so many variables to consider.

** I'm also not a person to call the doctor about little things like poop.
And I've never adjusted my diet to 'see' if something bothers LO. ***except when we realized DD had psoriasis that was aggravated by citrus I was consuming.

Good luck!!

matitice

1. What about a baby hair brush? Those bristles are super soft & would probably get the pesky dirt under your LO's nails without harming him.

3. The co-sleeping just takes time & persistence. What I found that eventually worked for us (around 5 weeks) was the first block of sleep I co-slept just to keep my sanity. Then after our first MOTN feed I put him in the bassinet. I made sure to change his diaper before the feed so he was nice & milk drunk drowsy when I laid him down that he didn't even notice he was in the bassinet. It started as just 2 hour chunks that he slept in there but now at 7 weeks he sleeps in the bassinet all night. I'm starting this week to transition to the crib but it's the same situation as when I started with the bassinet. We're at about 2 hours a night. I'm hoping that by week 9 he'll be a full time crib sleeper.

3. My LO is ebf as well & when his poop is green it just means he's getting to much foremilk. I feed 1 breast per session but if he doesn't eat at least 15 minutes then I wait a bit (like 15-20 minutes) & try to offer him that same breast again to get a full feeding & get that rich hindmilk in him. Now that I've tried this method his dirty diapers are always mustard yellow.

SassyFlats

My EBF baby always poops green. I asked the pedi and she wasn't concerned, but I'm pretty sure it's because I take iron supplements per my OB (history of anemia). Nobody is worried about her green poo, so neither am I.

teaforthree

I don't know about #1 or #3, but as for the cosleeping, I can relate.  It was something I swore I'd never ever do, but she just wouldn't go down in her PnP in the beginning, and still does not prefer it.  We ended up buying one of those basket type things that goes in between us in our bed, so at least she's somewhat secure (I'd gladly hold her all night, but our bed is high and I'm afraid I'd drop her in my sleep and she go tumbling to the ground *shudder*).  So, at this point we're putting her in her PnP for her first stretch of sleep at night (when she's already asleep), and then when she gets up in the MOTN we put her in our bed because it's too hard to get her back in the PnP if she's awake.  I guess my advice to you is to try putting the baby in the bassinet or crib for one stretch of sleep per night, and gradually up the amount until they can go all night?