Coffee Catchup 29th August with Dorothy Waide

OHbaby! Coffee Catchup - Auckland 29th August. Feel free to ask questions and Dorothy will reply when she can.

Hi Dorothy,
I have a quick question. What should I do if the engulf hold and cupping doesn't work? What would your next step be - is there anything else I could do or should I just let her cry in my arms for up to an hour (6 month old often only sleeps 30 mins)?
Thanks,
Sophie

Edited by Snuggly - 20 August 2013 at 9:47am

Hi Dorothy, Many thanks for your talk yesterday.
Sorry but I am still confused as to what to do for my son Jack 4months. He feeds every 2.5 hours (on the dot) throughout the day. I can't seem to stretch it out. He is awake for 1-1.5hours max then sleeps are 40-60min long only. He self settles well during the day, mind you, we are often out and about so the car/pram does it etc.
Normal day routine:
Wakes happy/talking 7am, feeds 7.30, 10, 12.30, 3, 5.30, 6.30, 7.30, then wakes once between 2-4am or twice 1am then 5am. Sometimes he does up to 5 days only waking once then does a few days waking twice.
When he woke at 1am last night, I tried settling strategy, dummy and cupping but no luck and fed him after 20min.
I also have a 23 month old son so days can be hectic!
Many thanks
Melissa

Hi Dorothy,

Thanks for your helpful tips yesterday. My baby is the 10 week old in the pink striped onesie, we came to talk to you at the end.

My question is about settling to sleep and also self-settling when she wakes up from a nap. Often it has taken me up to 3 hours to put her down at night. I hold/jiggle her so she is either asleep or almost asleep and put her into her bassinette. She appears to be in a deep sleep but then within 3-10 minutes I can hear something (stomach contents) come up into her mouth and she does a few swallows (she is a reflux baby). This immediately wakes her up (does not upset her, just wakes her up) and she then starts looking around for a few minutes, then will eventually start crying rather than going back to sleep. The only way I have found to settle her without picking her up again (and repeating this process over and over again for up to 3 hours) is to put the hairdryer on for 4 or 5 minutes, which helps her back to sleep. I have tried shushing, rubbing chest etc rather than picking her up, but this has only worked once or twice. I must add, propping up the bassinette/mattress did not stop the reflux waking her.

Also as I mentioned yesterday, she wakes up from naps after 30-45 minutes and appears WIDE awake and won't go back to sleep. She wakes up and looks around happily for around 5 minutes, then cries rather than going back to sleep. You mentioned helping to settle her back to sleep by turning her on her side and cupping, I tried this and it just seemed to wake her up more and annoy her! To be honest I had never heard of cupping before, I gave it a go yesterday and today, but it feels awkward and I'm not sure I'm doing it right, and it's hard to do when she is swaddled. Any tips on how to do this correctly would be appreciated!

Sorry for the long message.

Kind regards,
Hannah

Edited by foxyhan - 20 August 2013 at 8:23pm

Hi Dorothy,
Thank you so much for your talk on Monday, I came away with lots of useful tips.
My son Jamie is 8 weeks old, he has reflux which we were using gaviscon and losec to help with after he started loosing weight. The gaviscon made him constipated so we have taken him off that. Yesterday he was weighed at Plunket again and has lost another 250gms in 8 days. Because he has stopped vomiting Plunket believe that the loss is due to my milk supply. They have asked me to increase my calorie intake, go back on dairy and start topping Jamie up with formula. I have since taken Jamie to the doctor who gave Jamie the once over and can't find anything medically wrong. Jamie is currently breast fed on both sides, for around 10 to 15 minutes each side, he is a comfort sucker so I have to remove him when I am convinced he is just playing. As soon as I remove him though he starts crying, is squirmy and tries to find my breast again, this can continue for up to 30 minutes after feed. Once he is settled I try to get him off to sleep as he has normally been up for an hour by now but he just lies in bed (or my arms) wide awake for an hour or so and then he wakes again in an hour for another feed.
I keep hearing that if a baby sleeps well he will feed well and visa versa so maybe there is something wrong with my milk supply. What do you think?
Cheers,
Trish

Edited by Guest_71787 - 23 August 2013 at 6:17pm

Hi Dorothy

Many thanks for the event on Monday, very useful! I have a quick question...not sure how quick and easy the answer is though;

17 week, 7.3kg(ish)son, swaddled with one arm out for all naps/sleeps and in a sleeping bag, solely b/f (although he does look like he wants to start solids, watches me eat, takes medicine from a spoon). his routine is (if it all goes perfectly!):

7am - Up, feed, play, nappy, feed
9am - Nap (slightly earlier if he was up before 7am)
10am/10.20am - Up, feed, play, nappy, feed
12 noon - Nap
2pm - Up, feed, play, nappy, feed
4pm - Nap
4.45/5.15pm - Up, feed, bath, feed (more typically
6.30pm - Bed
10pm - Feed
Overnight he tends to wake at 5am(ish) and grizzle but settles back to sleep (usually)

My question is the afternoon nap is starting to get harder and harder to get him to go down for and whereas he used to be able to sleep for 1hr+ he now just does 45mins, is this ok? He is definately tired, but I don't believe he's overtired and now he's occassionally starting to wake up early at his lunchtime sleep e.g. after 1 hour. I struggle to resettle unless I put him in the buggy.

How long should I try and re-settle for? If i use the cupping technique you showed (I started today), how long should i do it for and what should I do when I leave the room and he starts crying again? I really want to have a 'proper' way to re-settle without having to resort to taking him in the buggy.

Many thanks
Kate

HI Rachael
It is actually normal for a baby to move around in their cot.   I am on the understanding that if you are using the safeTsleep correctly that he can actually roll onto his side and then back onto his back.   I have not used the SafeTSleep as such but have visited Miriam who designed it so I would suggest calling their office and say that I suggested doing this and have a chat with them.

NOw I am also assuming (which I shouldn't) that the safety sleep you are talking about is the SafeTSleep - let me know if this is not correct.

And thank you so much for coming along on Monday.

Regards Dorothy

Hi Dorothy, I know I have missed the 48hour question window (I didn't have a question to ask before!) so understand if this goes unanswered..
I have been trying out your technique of solids before breastmilk and then a breastmilk topup again before sleep times with my average weight 6 3/4mth son. It seems to have been working well for solids consumption, getting him from 45 min day naps into 2-3 sleep cycle sleeps, and helping settle him before bed times... however I am worried that the milk feeds are now quicker and more patchy and am worried that my breasts feel emptier.
What do you think about this - am I effectively weaning now?? Am I following your advice correctly? Thanks Dorothy!

Hi Mel
I would recommend doing my 'snow' angel swaddle as this allows him to suck his thumb through the muslin swaddle. The swaddle avoids the startled reflex waking him - if this is not an issue then I would just continue to do what you are doing. I allow babies to have their hands if that is what they want and tend to use sleeping bags if not using the above swaddle.

With regard to your 16 month is this for naps and night time or just night time. At 16 months it is important to clean their teeth before going to bed so I would let her have her bottle, then sleeping bag clean teeth and if need be then hold her in your arms and allow her to settle without any intervention from you. Once she is asleep then transfer as normal. I am assuming that she is in arms drinking her bottle.
Dorothy

Hi May
This is what I would suggest as he is 8 months old and it is important he has solids before milk

0630 Wakes, change nappy
7.00am Breakfast - cereal mixed with milk. Offer finger food such as toast, muffin, bagel. Also offer milk in a       
                                Sippy cup - you control this I like the NUk first feeder
                                OFfer breast feed once he leaves the highchair


930. Breast feed plus formula (if he is drinking 180mls of formula he is not really taking much breast so at this feed it might be ideal to just offer formula and give him what he whats.

10.00 to 11.30 nap (I would wake him at this time)

12.00 Lunch offer vegetables with a good carb i.e kumara, sweet potato, yam or potato Offer finger food ideally these will be the foods that you have made the puree with this is important so he learns texture taste and smell.
Again offer some milk in sippy cup or option is to offer water in sippy cup
Offer breast milk once he leaves the high chair

2.30pm Offer milk (again if he is drinking 180mls of formula I do wonder how much breast he is drinking)

3.00pm Nap ( I would wake him at 4.30pm)

5.00pm Dinner offer vegetables with either rice as the carb or a different carb from lunchtime. Plus veggies ideally will be different.   Offer finger food. Offer milk in Sippy cup.   Offer breast milk once he leaves the high chair.

Evening routine bath, milk and bed for the night

Bed 7.00pm for the night

I am not sure how big your baby is but he seems to be eating and sleeping well. I wouldnt stress about his milk intake as he is still drinking a lot of milk. I am not sure why you are bathing in the afternoon. I tend to bath in the evening as when he is a toddler this is when you would bath him. I also tend to bath daily as it is good to freshen up their body. IT takes longer to undress, dry and dress than it does to bath.

The only way you would increase his solid intake is to cut back on his milk intake but I would not suggest doing this.   

WIth his solids as long as the base is a carb then it should be fine. I hope this helps I have also attached my notes on solids and vegetables

[FILE=uploads/45521/Dorothys_Vegetables_copyOHBabyaug.pdf]Dorothys_Vegetables_copyOHBabyaug.pdf[/FILE][FILE=uploads/45521/Introd_Solids_OHBaby_Aug.pdf]Introd_Solids_OHBaby_Aug.pdf[/FILE]