Settling & Night Feeds

Re keeping meals and b/f in the hour. It is done for three purposes.

1. To teach baby that Mum is not and open smorgasboard all day long at 6 months and older.

2. They get better amount and quality of milk to satisfy them and help sleep longer fomr you with bigger and fewer feeds.

3. Having grazing all day long - ie leaving time between solids and b/f milk feeds can cause unsettledness and unrest due to having trouble constantly digesting food.... (as they got into toddler stage that all changes as they have morning and afternoon tea etc)



ANYWAY I have probably overloaded you now so will SHUT UP!!! LOL!

Lets know how you get on.

Yeah I actually googled mothercraft after you had mentioned it earlier Kelpa, I was a bit disheartened to see that there was only the one in Waikato, and even moreso that it was at a hospital! (Major fear of hospitals here, only went to one to have a baby & when I was suffering an anaphylactic attack from my severe allergies). Showed Mum & she told me I was being silly & that Lucas was not in dire need of help enough to travel that far or go to something like that & that the problem with his eating and settling at night can be solved with strict routine. BUT will definitely be incorporating all those tips you have given me from Mothercraft experience. We generally do eat solids before breastfeeds and top him up with breastmilk around half an hour after his feed. Most the time after he has put up a huge fight with solids, he just isn't interested in the breast & would rather go off and play!

So new year and all that, gonna make lots of changes and try out several routines until i find one that works. I mean we have a routine as such, just obviously needs adjusting!

He likes vanilla custard ....and the strawberry and banana one, and the pureed jars of 'parsnip, carrots, kumara' ...and he LOVES his wiggly cheesy breadsticks and being giving little blocks of colby cheese to hold & eat. Marmite sandwhichs don't seem to be going down so well with him lately, and the minute i introduce chunky solids it all goes out the window! He can eat it perfectly fine, he takes around 6 spoonfuls and then will clamp his mouth shut. Rather frustrating! Maybe I should try give him his own spoon to hold, when are they capable of self feeding?

I find Plunket not very helpful ...When I need them the most they are never there and my nurse is quite aware of the troubles we have had with introducing solids ...has been this way ever since 5 months...on/off them every week! Now we don't see her again till one year and i have no idea if he is putting on weight or losing it, because even his breastfeeds seem to be lessening!

Thank you all for your advice, im writing up a new routine as we speak and will spend the next few days/weeks TRYING to put it in place and adjusting it where need be!

Oh and good news, he was in bed and asleep at 8.30 pm tonight guys - touch wood!!!

Edited by Mum2Lucas