Hunger

Hungry, hungry hungry. Baby and me.

E can't get enough to eat. She was sleeping well and coping with eating too much, for a while. But for the last few days: oh dear.

The problems are thus:
1) E is starving, so drinks milk too fast. Even slow teats don't slow her down.

I have bought to date 6 Avent, 5 Tommee Tippee, 2 NUK bottles, 8 Avent teats and 6 NUK teats, as well as 2 replacement sterilisers (gifted steriliser smelt odd)

Avent starter kit: £12
Avent replacement teats: £12
Tommee Tippee starter kit: £12
Avent Microwave steriliser: £10
NUK bottles: £10
NUK teats: £12
Tommee Tippee bottles: £9
Asda steriliser: £12
Avent teats: £4
Avent bottles: £7
Total cost: £100

At first the slow flow Avent or Tommee Tippee were too slow for E's tiny mouth, so we tried fast flow (should've tried in between but daddy was shopping). Fast flow too fast, tried NUK bottles. Brilliant, for a while, so we got NUK teats for Avent bottles. 2 weeks of greatness. E grew, the NUK were too gushy for a stronger sucker. We retried Tommee Tippee and hurrah! Slow flow perfect, more bottles bought, and a steriliser they fitted in as they are non standard size. Good for another 2 weeks, then the sucking defeated them. 10 minute feeds: too fast. Buildup of wind, sore tummy, more food demanded for sore tummy, sickness or crying follows.

I am now a bit demented. Avent slow flow are the current attempt to slow down/avoid wind. The Tommee Tippee make it impossible to feed sitting up, which is a suggested way to avoid wind. Avent work better. We started with them and much expense later are back with them.

And then there's the milk. We had an unsuccessful foray into Hipp Organic milk, which made E sick. £6.97 wasted on formula. We remain back with Aptamil, I need to seek advice on hungry baby or comfort milk.

I think the hunger is false and a mistaken attempt by E to alleviate stomach pain.

Sleep a problem, progressing from happily sleeping in cot rather than bouncy chair to not going to sleep anywhere that isn't a parent. I am exhausted. Gina Ford did not work, her advice on formula is very limited.

I need to stop eating and lose the post baby weight I'm gaining.

Boo to hunger, whatever the cause.

Greedy girls

All is going well, mostly. We had a few sleepless nights where missy wouldn't settle to sleep on her back, culminating in two nights of her in her bouncy chair all night and then one successful night in her cot after she went to sleep in her bouncer first.

Tonight we did the latter to much success until she awakened to an explosive poo (most of them arrive with an audible pop) and got all confused by the ongoing "there is action in my tummy, I must be hungry" which heightens the "am awake, must eat" thought process.

According to my scales, E is now 7.5lb. As they are correct to half a pound, this isn't that accurate, but she must be over 7lb and so is gaining weight well.

She is rather greedy however, my logic is that her sucking needs/ability, awareness and sleep requirements are that of her age - 5 weeks - but her tummy and digestive systems are that of her adjusted age of one week. So she wants to eat more than she can cope with. Two or three nights of vomiting a feed after bedtime means I have had to consult the health visitor and also get Gina Ford's new edition of her tome. Interestingly, E has almost moved herself towards Ms Ford's ideal routine, but I am a bit unsure as to amounts so I shall start properly following her routine tomorrow.

That won't work as soon as I can't get up at 7am.

I do sympathise with E's hunger, I am suffering from the same thing. I cannot satisfy my hunger and I am rapidly gaining weight. I stand at 1 stone above my prepregnancy weight (and I was but a few pounds above it shortly after E was born), and nearly 2 stones above my ideal size. Most depressingly I am only a little more than a stone less than my heaviest ever. So weightwatchers for me, which I have ostensibly being doing for a month but haven't actually and have gained half a stone in that month. Oops. I intend to eat a lot of soup and less cake. And just be hungry I guess. Drink water. Eat bananas.

Food today. Next time: clothing.