Weaning

Kiki has being showing all the signs of weaning, so we have started to introduce food. 

 She never seems full and satisfied after a feed, even on hungry baby milk or BL BF. Is irritable and constantly chews her hands and anything else she can grab. Sleep is becoming erratic, both day and night (which she usually slept through). She watches everyone eating and tries to grab food. 

Up until recently I didn't even really know what weaning was, let alone the difference between traditional and baby led weaning (BLW). After hours of reading articles, reports, blogs, forums, etc. I decided that traditional weaning was the way forward. I guess through my unnatural worry my baby will choke. I say unnatural as I know enough to know that is unlikely even with BLW. 

We have decided to follow the Cow & Gate five step weaning plan and Kiki is loving her first tastes. Well mainly!

Breastfeeding (postnatal thoughts)

Following on from my Breastfeeding (antenatal thoughts), what, how, and why did I do following my baby being born?

I breastfed. Yep, that's right. I could and I did. So far, successfully. 

In the hospital I was told to wake her and feed her every hour. She would only feed for five minutes, then sleep again. The staff were concerned she wasn't feeding long enough or not latched on correctly, they checked, she was. When I was discharged (20 hours after her birth), there was a gap on approx. 3 hours between feeds, which she slept through. After waking her, she fed about 20 minutes before falling back asleep.

I continued to wake her every hour, but was exhausted myself, often falling asleep whilst feeding her. Not good! We incrased the gaps between feeds, although still had to wake her! 

As we've gone on she will let me know when she's ready. She is skilled at emptying a breast quickly! It can be painfully full, but within 5 minutes of starting a feeding, it's dry and baby is contently full and asleep. 

I have fed her wherever we are when she needs feeding and have never received any negative comments. There are a lot of places that have feeding rooms now, although I have never used one. 

During our trip to London for the Olympics, I fed her in the Olympic Staduim. I felt quite self conscious at first, but your dignity soon goes after the first leak! When she was about 6 weeks, we were feeding in a cafe, she let go, and the milk kept coming, straight over the table! I was so embarassed, I wanted to hide, but I couldn't, so on we went, with mumbled apologies.

As I was still having therapy, I restarted my appointments four weeks after her birth. At that point I couldn't express, she just wasn't leaving enough behind. To be honest, she's now 13 weeks and I still cannot express a lot unless she misses a feed so it defeats the object. 

Anyway, so no boob and no expressed milk. I did the unthinkable, I left a bottle of formula for her! Oh no! Terrible mummy. She wont take a bottle. She'll get nipple confusion. She wont go back to breast...

Utter crap! She took the formula and the bottle no problem, and went back to breast with no issues. She now has formula one or two feeds a week and she is fine switching between both.

Breastfeeding (antenatal thoughts)

Just in case you don't know by now, Breast is Best.

So what happens when you can't breastfeed, or actually just don't want to? You become the scum of the Earth.

Throughout my pregnancy I was constantly told about how breast feeding is best for both, mum and baby. At every appointment I went to I received more leaflets on it. Now whilst I was pregnant and not in the best of (mental) health I was really struggling with everything. One of my major issues (and I'm fairly certain I'm not alone in this) is that EVERYTHING I can or don't do is a reflection of sh*t I am, an excuse to beat myself up and generally set the negative emotions and thoughts flowing, until I feel so crap that life isn't worth living.

My pregnancy (physically) was straight forward, despite the ongoing drama that can be the NHS. OK, so it wasn't the Disney 'life is wonderful, all glowing' experience, but no major issues either. I hoped that I would be able to breastfeed, I did not think otherwise. But then, what if I can't? I mean some women produce no milk, can't get baby to latch on, don't like it, and a million and one other reasons why they might not or cannot breast feed. This made me quite panicky, given my mental health and my uncertainty about being a mother, things obviously escalated quite quickly. It's the only thing I can do (personally) as a mother, so what if I can't? Obviously I'm right if thinking she'd be better elsewhere....

In the final months of my pregnancy I was admitted to The Mount. I had spoken about my fears with the staff there, who gave me lots of positive words. The phrase that stuck with me was 'There's a reason we have a milk kitchen'. And it helped, to an extent, but I decided I didn't want to think or talk about it. 

My Health Visitor came to meet me and her first question (not the only person to do so, I hasten to add) was, 'Are you going to breastfeed?'. I burst in to tears!

HiPP Baby Club & Competition

A quick Google of baby clubs or pregnacy sites will bring up an ever increasing list of helpful websites, offers, discounts, etc. I'm an advocate of moneysavingexpert.com and used the site to see what people thought about the websites before I joined up.

I joined up with quite a few and have to say I have been disappointed with some. 

A new contender to these sites is the Baby Club. It is run by HiPP Organic. 

What does it offer I hear you cry! 

As a member, you can enjoy all this for FREE

• Personalised baby calendar
• Exclusive offers and competitions
• Regular baby development emails
• FREE 1st year record book
• Expert advice at every stage
• A-Z of pregnancy & baby health
• Chat to other mums and health experts in the HiPP Chat forum
• FREE HiPP Organic samples and money off coupons

For me, I have been rather relient on the internet for pregangcy information. As it's my first baby I have also enjoyed reading the weekly updates about baby's development by following your baby's growth on your very own personal development page. Some women (and fathers too) read everything they can possible digest. I haven't read any books as there is more than enough information in the weekly emails for me, but I do like being able to log on to the site and ask questions. And believe me there are a lot of random questions that have cropped up! You can ask a midwife, a health visitor, a nutritionist, HiPP's Customer Service manager directly or ask on the forums if it is less specific. A lot of the ladies on the forums are going through the same as you, have been, or are trying to negoitate another way around it. They are a great support and a laugh too.

There are lots of helpful hints and tips, what to buy lists, what to pack for hospital, what to eat and what to avoid information. The foods guide for pregnancy can be printed out to keep handy, especially when those cravings kick in. The recipes for pregnant mums is a nice touch.

The Getting ready for your arrival section is going to be very useful for me in the coming weeks, as it includes:

A free birth plan 

What really happens during labour?

Where to give birth

What to put in your hospital bag 

Postnatal support

There are lots of charts and tools for the new mum, and those a good few months in. HiPP offer a free HiPP Organic weaning starter pack (when baby reaches 17 weeks old) plus exclusive offers for joining. 

The HiPP Baby Club is open to those living in the UK and pregnant and/or have a child under 12 months of age. Once registered, Baby Club is available for you to use up to and including your child's 5th birthday.

You can join the HiPP Baby Club here.

And find out all about HiPP Organic here, including competitions, updates, etc.

In conjunction with HiPP I am pleased to offer a new competition. One winner will receive a goody bag of HiPP Organic Baby Food containing:

A selection of jars (3)

Creamy Porridge (1)

Fruit Pots (1 box of 4)

Fruit Pouches (2)