SandstarQueen

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Latest post on 04 October 2012 - 21:52

Hi ladies hope someone can provide me with an answer for my query. We are due to leave Dubai next week but my LO who is 1 month does not have a residenc visa. Is there anyway that we can still leave? TIA.

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SandstarQueen

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 30 September 2012 - 20:22

Its really hard to say, because women have such variation in regards to breastfeeding and pumping. I bought a manual pump and found it next to useless but I have a slower letdown and don't respond well to any pump. I then bought a Medela swing and it was useful at times but in retrospect I would have bought a secondhand double pump, even though I rarely pumped anyway, because it would have been such a time saver and when you have a baby your time becomes a precious thing. It might turn out that you have a great letdown for the pump (basically letdown is when your breasts get the message that they need to give up the goods and your milk is ejected, before letdown you might get a small amount of milk dripping out into the pump but of you letdown properly then suddenly it comes out very quickly). I guess I would suggest that you maybe hold off on the pump purchase, so many things change after the birth. Its generally best not to give EBM by bottle until breastfeeding is well established (first 6 weeks or so) as it can be confusing for a newborn learning how to suckle vs feeding from a bottle. There are cases though when a baby is having such a hard time feeding that they are not taking enough and in order to keep up weight gain and stimulate supply a mum needs to pump, a hospital grade pump can often be rented for this purpose depending on where you are giving birth. As far as nightfeeding and when out and about, its personal choice but I know that a lot of mums-to-be feel very shy and nervous about breastfeeding in public and then find, once they actually have the baby, they disconnect somewhat from their breasts, and really just see them as tools to feed their baby, losing a lot of self consciousness in the process, I know it was like that for me although in the ned my baby was too easily distracted and i often popped into shop changing rooms etc in order to get him to feed. I think most societies are fairly accepting of breastfeeding publicly, and doing so also helps normalise public breastfeeding, making it so much easier for other mums to EBF without feeling like they have to shut themselves away. so its a great thing to do if you feel comfortable. I also personally found it far easier to nightfeed directly than to go to the effort to pump a bottle, but again that will depend on a lot of factors including how easy it is for you to pump, whether you are sleeping with your baby in your room (I kept my baby right beside my bed so all I had to do was lean over and pick him up, change his nappy on my lap and pop him straight back into his bed), in which case you probably will wake up anyway, and how easily you and your baby fall back to sleep after a feed. Sorry if thats more confusing than helpful, pumps are expensive but probably every breastfeeding mother would find it useful to either borrow one (you can buy your own new tubing and end attachments fairly cheaply) or buy one but just how useful will vary so much depending on each mother. You don't need to buy a bottle warmer, the easiest way to heat EBM is to put it in a bottle and then put that bottle in a bowl of hot water, swirling it from time to time to make sure its heated evenly. You can actually give it at room temp or even straight from the fridge but you might like to keep a thermos of hot water in your room at night as its useful not only for bottle warming but also for nappy changes if you are avoiding using wipes at the newborn stage. Some babies only want to take one breast per feed, others like to drain both, it will take a while to figure out what your baby needs and its best to offer both and see what your baby has to say about it. If it turns out one breast is enough then you can certainly pump from the other, otherwise you can pump leftovers at the end of each feed and stockpile them for when you need to to give a bottle. Generally your baby is better at getting the milk out than the pump, so you may not be able to pump enough for a feed in one sitting. It actually very unlikely that you will not be capable of making enough milk, but it is common to have latching issues (your baby sucks but not quite as effectively as they could, so they don't get enough milk out, or they do get enough milk, but it hurts your nipples in the process). I think you can be proactive about this by finding a well qualified LC (look for one that has the letters IBCLC, it means they are board certified and have clocked up a required number of hours of experience etc) before your baby is born, signing up for a lactation class (good to do this with either your husband or your mother/support person so that they can help you post birth by reminding you of things and providing encouragement. Major health organisations recommend feeding on-cue, which means watching your baby for signs of hunger/wanting to nurse and feeding them then, rather than deciding when their feds will be based on a clock. Some newborns can be a bit sleepy though, especially if you end up needing a medicated birth, or they have a bit of jaundice. So offering them the breast 8-10 times in a 24 hour period is a good way to help ensure they are getting enough to eat. Some key points to remember about breastfeeding are that the best way to build supply is to breastfeed exclusively, any formula you give will have a negative impact on your supply as your baby will be less hungry and will spend less time sucking on you, in return your body will assume they need less milk. Most new mums actually make more milk than their baby needs, and then over time, as they feed to demand, their body figures out the right amount to make. initially as your breasts become overfull they can feel hard and heavy before a ffed, even really uncomfortable at times but after the first 8-12 weeks things tend to settle down and they start to feel soft again, and if (like me) you are a tummy sleeper you can happily do so again some mums freak out that the softness means they don't have enough milk and some babies react to the often slower letdown that results by preferring the bottle, if they have been getting both, this is known as nipple preference, and can happen at any stage although a lot of babies are quite happy to take either. Other things I wish I'd known is that some women feel a tingly feeling when they letdown, but many others (like me) feel nothing at all, and that's quite normal, some women leak even squirt, many others (like me) never need use breastpads, and that's quite normal, some babies feed every 3 hours, other prefer to take frequent small snacks, and thats quite normal. Some women can pump a lot, others (like me) can pump for an hour and only get 10mL, and thats quite normal, pumping is not a good indicator of how much your baby is getting directly. Wet nappies and weight gain are the only ways to really tell. My baby gained a higher than average amount, and yet because I didn't know these things, I was anxious about my supply so its really good to do your research/do a class and get hands on help from a trained LC, who can physically show you how to do things and help dispell the many myths and wives tales that breastfeeding mums are faced with. I never formula-fed, but I would think you don't need to cart formula back home with you, chance are you won't need it at all and although some babies seem to suffer digestive upset temporarily when switching formulas there is no reason why switching brands should be harmful. An excellent website for any mother who wishes to breastfeed is http://kellymom.com/category/pregnancy/bf-prep/ there is pretty much no question you could have that hasn't been answered there, from breastfeeding safe medications to pumping and storing breastmilk to dealing with nursing strikes and supply issues. Its all really well researched and indexed. for tips on pumping and storing milk; http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/pumping_decrease/ http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/milkstorage/milkstorage/ HTH, breastfeeding was tough for me at the start, and there were times I really wanted to give up, I doubted my supply, dealt with painful nipples, engorgement, a nursing strike and even an abscess and yet ultimately it was such a positive experience overall, I'm so glad I had the support of friends, family an EW to get me through it and I wish the same for you. Hi Kiwiswipers I wish I had seen your message earlier. My LO is a month and for the first two weeks was exclusively breast fed and was putting on weight but family decided as he was not sleeping for longer than an hour or two and was only feeding for a little while before falling asleep that he was being straved and because like you I didn't need breast pads it was decided I didn't have enough milk and I was pressured into supplimenting his feeds with formula (can't tell you how that felt). Anyway family departed last week and I have been cutting out his formula feeds as I have noticced he is getting confused with the nipple and bottle and spoke to the Pead yesterday who said baby is now just over 4kg and seems fine and that it shouldn't be a problem. Today is the first day that he is EBF again and my question is that he is only feeding for about 30mins before going to sleep and then waking up again, he does this a few times and then lets go of the nipple himself.Does this mean he is done? Also I have noticed that he crys and wriggles around when he is dirtying his nappy and will then howl even when i am changing him. Is this normal? Pead checked him yesterday and he doesn't have nappy rash, but could there be another reason? I would really appreciate any advice. TIA

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SandstarQueen

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 30 September 2012 - 13:36

Who told you that? Can't remember who we spoke to but were directed to the website where the following was written which is why we didn't book a seat for LO. Children in car seats (6-36 months)* Children between 6-36 months may travel on board in car seats as long as a separate seat is purchased for the child. During takeoff and landing, however, the child must be held and restrained by the parent until the aircraft has reached cruising altitude. In hindsight shouldn't have believed them as they managed to book my LO on a flight 4 days after my and DH leave Dubai !!

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SandstarQueen

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EW NEWBIE

Latest post on 29 September 2012 - 22:31

Hi, not sure about the size of your products, but you can use your car seat on board if it is labelled suitable for use on an aircraft and you have purchased a child seat for your infant or if there is an empty seat available beside you. If not it must fit in the hatrack. That said I brought my maxi cosi infant capsule (which is not labelled for aircraft use) on board in a quinny zapp frame and used it on many flights when there were vacant seats available. Also my car seat and pram frame fitted into the hatrack so it wasn't a problem if there was no extra seat. If your pram does not fit in a hatrack, you will probably have to check it in, as there is very limited cupboard space for storage onboard, and you'd be surprised how many strollers we get at the doors. You can wrap the base at the airport (in the plastic wrapping station) and send it with your luggage. You might want to think about sending all your items and carrying your little one in an ergo (or similar) type of carrier. I found this was a fab way to travel, and a great way to get my LO to sleep, it was easy to pass through immigration without waking them up, Hope this helps. 1month olds are a dream to travel with, so please try not to stress about it. You'll have plenty of time to panic when he/she is up and running ;) Good luck Thanks for the reply flydiver. We were thinking of using the car seat but were told LO has to be 6 months and over :(

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