My Little Girl!

[mats01_99]

Hi all, some of you may remember me from questions over the last 12 months, starting with Quest to Conceive, onto choosing baby names and more. Well, now the fun begins! My wife gave birth to a beautiful little girl last Tuesday and they came home on Friday. What I wanted to ask people was their accounts of their first weeks with a new baby in the house. At the minute she is settling better of a night. She is being breastfed maybe every 3-4 hours and then sleeps well in between feeds. However during the day after feeds it seems harder to settle her, it appears that if she's awake then she's upset, it has been very rare other than about 30 mins yesterday when she's awake and content. Is this the norm?

[smudge]

I'm sure there'll be a few new Mum's & Dad's along to help you, but in the meantine:

"Congratulations to Mr & Mrs Mats
&
Welcome to the world baby Mats".

What did you name your little daughter?

[mats01_99]

Thank You Smudge, we named her Caoimhe (Celtic for Beautiful), this is pronounced Queeva, this sounds unusual I know to people in the UK as my family are already having problems with it!, however my wife is Irish and we live over in Dublin so it is fairly common!

[cliffsdoll]

try these suggestions

wrapping her up in one her sheets including her arms, its called swaddling and it makes babies feel secure,

is she getting enough milk? if its your first child it can be daunting breast feeding and getting the p[opsition right, if she's not latched on she wont be getting enough and will be hungry, check with midwife and make sure she's putting on weight.

another tip when you comfort her try and keep her upright with her head slightly over your shoulder, if its wind it will ease it if you do this while you gently pat her bacl.

then they's the obvious wet or dirty nappy

is it too hot/cold for her?

and above all dont be afraid to talk to health visitor if you're worried about anything.

congratulatons on your bundle of joy

[pinkflamingo]

congratulation, and OMG I adore the name you have chosen.A

All babies have some awake time, just be thankful it's not a night lol.

Maybe she has wind try laying her on her tummy across your knee and rubbing her back, that used to do the trick with my children.

All the best

[OBonio]

Hard work is my account of the first few weeks with baby OBonio. It's all worth it though and you do forget the bad things! There were times when I wandered if we'd done the right thing, if I was going to be a good dad etc etc. It all comes good in the end though! Just keep at it.

As for her being upset, is she getting burped well? This can be a cause of major discomfort for the little one. We found Infacol was a god send (it can be given from birth) and also Gripe Water later on (after 4 weeks I think).

Other than that, just enjoy it! They grow up very quick! Mark my words!

[Sparkles3]

Congratulations, what a special time.

Winding, nappy and still being hungry are possibilities, but if it only tends to be during the day, it seems unlikely that you are doing things differently just then. Lots of good suggestions to try though from other ABers. My daughter loved being cradled and rocked on my knees.

Babies don't all sleep all the time - the more alert they are the quicker they learn (so the health visitor told me) - although with my second I was very keen that she would put a bit more effort to the sleeping!! However, it may be that she IS tired, some babies have a cry before they go off to sleep (my second did - hence the rocking). My daughter rarely slept during the day in the first couple of weeks, didn't do too bad at night though. If your daughter is sleeping well at night, then that's a good thing, relish that! The Graco electronic chairs are very good if you want to help her get to sleep as well. Expensive - but IMO worth the money!!

Some babies like attention and cuddles when awake, others like to lay on a mat on the floor and kick - your little one is still very little and you are still all getting used to each other. Take lots of time to get to know her and enjoy her - as O'Bonio says, the time flies past so quickly. Another thought is I think some babies like to have noise around them - a common mistake can be to creep around all the time. Many babies sleep beautifully to the 'white noise' of hoovers, tumble dryers, washing machines etc.

From my experience, some days will be better than others, you'll think you've got it sussed and then she'll be more unsettled again - but cherish your little daughter - congrats again.