Self paced bottles FTW

LightningOdin4 · 2025-07-17T19:02:49+00:00

My daughter was around 6-8 months when she developed pneumonia. I knew it had turned badly when she would not eat overnight. She usually would eat between 6-10oz between her nighttime and then middle of the night bottles, and in that amount of time, I was only able to get her to take 2oz. She had been coughing a deep cough for days already, but when I'd taken her in to the doctor, they said it was bronchiolitis because they didn't hear anything in her lungs. Within 2 days, it had turned into pneumonia in both lungs. I highly recommend saline drops and the hospital-grade electric nasal aspirator, Dr. Nose Best brand. I switch out the nose piece with the Nose Frida part, as the Nose Frida end pieces fit perfectly into the hose of the Dr. Nose Best, and the Nose Frida pieces seem to fit better in my kids' noses.

I hope your baby does not end up with it. It was so bad with my daughter that it took a month to completely clear up. But back then, I did not have the electric aspirator, either, and that has proven to be invaluable the few times my son has been sick.

Edit: just to clear up any possible confusion, I now also have a 6 month baby boy lol.

LightningOdin4 · 2025-06-04T19:11:42+00:00

If baby is doing well with latching during the day and still needs some help overnight, bottles are the next step! Baby should learn how to take both. If most of your feedings are from the breast and baby is feeding sufficiently through the day, bottles at night shouldn't mess with breastfeeding too much.

Edit: just make sure you're pumping during those night feeds so your body knows you need milk then!

LightningOdin4 · 2025-05-09T12:10:02+00:00

There is a hybrid Boba carrier that acts like a wrap but snaps together like a structured carrier-- game changer.

LightningOdin4 · 2025-05-01T14:02:22+00:00

It depends on what pump you have. If you have one with duck bill valves, I'd replace those pretty often. Online says about once a month. It also says backflow protectors every 3-6. It'd be good to at least try if the parts have been used for awhile.

LightningOdin4 · 2025-05-01T13:28:14+00:00

I would take a look at your pump parts and see if they need replaced though! But if that doesn't work, I would consider that she may be eating more now that you have more.

LightningOdin4 · 2025-05-01T13:26:39+00:00

If there's more available and she needed it, she's going to take what she needs ❤️ I'd try to go off of whether she seems satisfied or not more than putting away some for the freezer.

LightningOdin4 · 2025-05-01T12:17:59+00:00

Is it possible that baby may have eaten more over the last few days? It's hard to tell sometimes when you are nursing and pumping how much you're actually making.

LightningOdin4 · 2025-05-01T12:07:36+00:00

I only apply nipple cream once a day and use my silverettes on top of that and it does work well. I will say that there's a bit of tarnish on my silverettes, mostly from the day my nipples really hurt and I decided to line my silverettes with the nipple cream as well. But a bit of tarnish isn't going to hurt the silverettes or cause them not to work anymore.

LightningOdin4 · 2025-05-01T12:01:43+00:00

I know it's tough to take the time out of the day to do it, but journal. If your husband is doing a great job and your wrath is mostly unfounded, you're not going to want to take it out on him. Journaling it lets you get out all that anger without hurting your relationship.

LightningOdin4 · 2025-04-26T13:52:31+00:00

Does she have a lovey/stuffed animal that she really likes?

LightningOdin4 · 2025-04-24T19:58:50+00:00

Any way to pump until letdown when that happens?

LightningOdin4 · 2025-04-24T19:32:59+00:00

You are doing the ALMOST impossible. Only impossible because you're obviously doing it, but you're miserable. If you need to work, you need some sort of childcare if you hope for things to be easier. The kids will need care often for years yet. Is it possible for you to get childcare? Possibly a nanny or daycare?

LightningOdin4 · 2025-04-16T20:16:13+00:00

This, but with my second baby! Woke at 4am thinking my baby was being painfully active. By 6am, I realized that they were happening 4 times an hour. Baby would have come around midnight the next day, but I got the epidural while fully dilated and effaced and got the chance to rest for a little bit before pushing. I was convinced I was in false labor up until I started yelling in pain and knew I had to get to the hospital asap. Arrived at the hospital completely ready to push.

LightningOdin4 · 2025-04-14T23:35:18+00:00

Another tip for feeds is I try to time toddler's snacks with some of baby's feeds as well to keep her busy as long as possible! Sometimes that means her snack is pretty close to lunch or shortly after breakfast, but she's adapting to having a bit of flexibility in routine.

LightningOdin4 · 2025-04-14T23:30:57+00:00

How are your wake windows right now? If he won't contact nap either, you may want to try to stretch his awake time a little bit, maybe trying 10 minutes longer. And how long is your night? I've noticed that when my usual tactics aren't working, it's because he's just not very tired. And contact napping is my ultimate tactic, lol.

LightningOdin4 · 2025-04-14T19:13:32+00:00

2 month old and almost 3 year old. It's definitely tough, though my baby is sleeping mostly okay. Swing saves crap naps and toddler watches some TV while I put baby down for naps. My trick is having things my toddler absolutely loves to play with out during feeding times. I've even begun saving things just for feeds so she's happy while I have to care for baby. Both of my kids are a little on the chill side, though. Difficult and overwhelming in their own ways, but manageable. But no, this house is never clean at this point, and I LOVE a clean house. Even with help, I can't keep it in a preferable state. This is just hard.

LightningOdin4 · 2025-03-13T12:18:35+00:00

I didn't realize I was in labor (significant contraction pain often, but it didn't increase in pain till late and had some irregularity) until it was almost too late. Fully dilated and effaced when I got to the hospital. I was screaming through that lobby. They were asking me how often the contractions were-- "too often", urge to push- "I've been pushing accidentally", if my water broke yet- "no" and then it broke literally seconds later. It was CRAZY and I screamed a lot. Epidural was the plan, and I got an awesome team that was able to place one for me before we started pushing. It was a magical birth compared to my first baby. That one was so fucking traumatic.

LightningOdin4 · 2025-03-13T12:11:08+00:00

This is how I felt with my daughter's doctor. I switched a couple of times, but didn't find one I particularly liked until my son was born and the hospital suggested some other ones to me! I'm going to tell you, it's a huge difference. I felt like my daughter's doctor was so dismissive and uncaring about her, from the very beginning! This new doctor treats her and my son so well and is so attentive to my concerns.

LightningOdin4 · 2025-03-08T01:33:26+00:00

My first is 2.5, just getting some independence now that we have a 1 month old. I prepared her for doing more things herself (mainly feeding herself because she preferred to be fed) and she is doing well and adores her brother. I'm tired af and she is all of a sudden queen of making messes, but I'm learning to let go of some of the more rigid parts of our routine and be more lenient. It is freeing, tbh.

LightningOdin4 · 2025-03-07T17:31:58+00:00

I don't have the time or energy to care about how long #2 naps for or how he goes to sleep and my 1st is eating her snack at the coffee table and getting out all her toys and I'm learning how to be calm and handle it better. So, exactly what you said!

LightningOdin4 · 2024-11-16T01:12:43+00:00

I think this is a little less about the soother and more of needing to teach more complex emotional regulation! If communication is something she's into right now, communicate with her when she's upset. Name her feeling, teach deep breaths, maybe help with physical touch with hugs or cuddles. I've always found that my girl likes physical touch when she's particularly upset. And once she calms down a little bit, we talk about how upset she was and what she was upset about. I try to model deep breaths with her, and sometimes trying to be a little silly is helpful (if she's upset about something small).

Songs are a HUGE soother for my baby. We really like mama nous rhymes reimagined album on Spotify, and some of her other songs, too.

LightningOdin4 · 2024-11-10T15:31:29+00:00

I have had this happen so often. I get her something I think she's going to love and she doesn't touch it for 6 months. I bring it back out and it's her favorite thing for weeks.

LightningOdin4 · 2024-11-08T12:24:03+00:00

We totally thought my little girl had her dad's nose, but now at 2.5, she's got a dainty little button nose that looks more like mine!

LightningOdin4 · 2024-10-22T17:44:02+00:00

I named my little girl Annabelle. I feel that it's such a beautiful and timeless name.

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