Coffee Catchup Invercargill 30th July with Dorothy

OHbaby! Coffee Catchup - Invercargill 30h July. Feel free to ask questions and Dorothy will reply when she can.

Thanks!

HI Jacqueline
Here are two charts for you to use as a guideline
Option_One_Three_Meals_a_Day_5-8mth_Invercargill.pdfOption_Two_Three_Meals_a_Day_5-8mths-Invercargill.pdf

Hi Dorothy,
Could you please suggest the best way to encourage good sleeping patterns with a sleep/feed schedule for a 6-12 week bracket. (not expecting then to sleep though but keen to find a schedule that will work that then drops out a middle of the night feed) - baby is formula fed (not sure if that makes any difference to you :) also in terms of volume, I am pretty much demand feeding but aiming for 3-4 hourly and currently average 120-130 ml what volumes & frequency would you be expecting at 6-7 weeks. Thank you ;)

HI Jacqueline

S26 Gold Newborn is 65% Whey and S26 Newborn is 60 % whey. The gold has a higher percentage of Alphalactalbumin (2.3g/L) and a lowered amount of Beta protein making the whey protein composition close to breast milk composition. The gold product also has Omega 3 from plant sources and added Lutein for eye and brain development.

Nutricia Karicare and Heinz Nurture stage 1 gold products have 60% whey, whereas stage two products have 40%whey and 60% casein. Stage 1 products being higher in whey are easier to digest and there is nothing wrong with staying on this product through to 12 months.

I was unable to get the composition of the cow and gate to make a comparison for you but hope this helps.   
Dorothy

hi m hun xxxxxxxxxxxx

HI
The way to encourage good sleeping patterns with a baby is to teach them to self settle and to resettle when they wake so that over time they will go to bed fall asleep on their own and if they wake wether during their nap time or overtime that they know how to go back to sleep. The difference between adults and babies is that when adults wake overnight we know how to get back to sleep - babies need to be taught to do this.

ONce they have learnt to do this then you will find that some babies will have longer naps than others and some will sleep longer overnight as well.

Whenever you go to the baby overnight to feed before feeding, I always try and resettle.   I will not not feed a baby overnight however I do ensure that I am feeding a hungry baby and not a baby that just needed some reassurance to find their sleep.

Every baby is different and formulas are also different so my rule of thumb is if the baby is emptying the bottle I always put a little more in so that they have the opportunity of drinking it if they want.   You are feeding every 3 to 4 hourly so I am guessing your baby is up for 45 minutes to an hour and then sleeping for the remainder of the time frame between feeding.    When your baby wakes they do need to be offered food so as long as you are offering the bottle within 5 minutes of waking then you are doing the right thing. As your baby grows they can wait longer for food so around 6 months they can wait for up to 30 minutes depending on the baby.

HI Jane
As you are going back to work it is important that you teach or baby to self settle and resettle without the breast.    You can still do all this lovely nurturing but do it within boundaries.   Boobs are food, and arms are comfort.   My suggestion is that you breastfeed him before he goes to bed, then put him in his sleeping bag and then you have options. Either pop him in his cot and see what he does or just engulf him in your arms and let him settle in your arms. Yes, he will cry/grizzle etc but this is an important step for a baby to find their sleep. It is not about leaving him alone to do it on his own, or to leave him for hours but just stepping back and giving him the right to find his own sleep as an individual.   I have attached my 0 to 12 weeks settling notes so you can see how it works. Will also attach the over 12 weeks so you can follow through at your pace.

As you baby is older when you go back to work as long as he is on a balanced diet I wouldnt worry about making sure he can drink from a bottle, however I would be offering a sippy cup with formula with each meal so he will eventually learn to drink from the cup and take formula.    I tend to use the NUK first feeder and you control it not the baby.   

Currently if you are going out you can gauge how long you are going to be and if he is on a routine then you would automatically have a couple of hours where you don't need to feed so lets look at a routine to see how this works

Wakes, breakfast, boob, play boob, then nap
Nap will be a good 1 1/2 hours then wakes

Food, offer milk in sippy cup
Plays

Boob, Nap

So in the middle of the day you have a good 3 hours to pop out without having the need to offer boob or bottle.   If you cant make it back for the boob before the afternoon nap, then offer warm milk in an evenflo bottle and put the baby in the same position as if breastfeeding. This can be done in arms, or on the sofa or bed with a pillow under their head to raise it to the breastfeeding position.Routine.docx