Well, Emma is now five weeks old, and its been tough going!
If you follow me on twitter (@MsSBurns) you will have seen my tweets about her lack of weight gain (she is still below birth weight) and the fact that she doesn’t seem to want to ever sleep – which I am sure is contributing to the slow weight gain..
It’s hard to know what to do for the best… I’d love a looking glass to tell me if giving formula would help make her a more settled baby. I was also tweeting briefly with another mum who has a toddler and a newborn who, like me, is struggling with a non napping baby and managing the needs of a toddler. I wrote some weeks ago about how it feels like we are just surviving (with a lot of help from family!) and it still feels like that. Emma is growing, but just not gaining weight and so I will see the health visitor tomorrow and have been advised to book an appointment with the GP to get her checked out. Does anyone else have experience of slow weight gain in a breastfed baby?
I suppose I am fortunate that Daniel is really happy self entertaining, he has his toys readily accessible so he is able to play with those as I sit and feed Emma (which at times is all I feel I do!) I am however acutely aware that I am not spending as much time on the floor with him, showing him how to play with his toys and helping him with jigsaws and his shapr sorter. There are many activities I want to do with him to help him learn about colour and shape, but I just don’t seem to have the time to either prepare an activity the night before or actually sit with him to do an activity. I am trying to make the most of the rare nap times that Emma has during the day….
It was nice when, one day last week I managed to settle Emma in her Moses basket and spent some time with Daniel doing some mess free painting, an idea borowed from the They Grow So Quick blog by the lovely Emma.
Daniel enjoyed it, and even spent some time using his crayons afterwards – it’s the first time really he has shown interest in mark making.
I really enjoyed the half hour of time alone with Daniel before Emma woke, and I have some colour activities in mind that I want to do with him over the next few weeks, plus loads of other play and sensory based activities… however I am not sure how many I will manage with my non napping baby in tow!
Life as a happy wife and mum 
Hi lovely. I don’t know if you’ll remember but Alex lost a big chunk of weight as a newborn and was slow to start putting it back on, I ended up stopping breastfeeding him and I wish I hadn’t, even on formula he still gained weight slowly, fed erratically and he has also always been a terrible sleeper during the day only napping on me(even now he has only napped in his cot a few times). It is very difficult not knowing what to do for the best and I have no wise words but remember that formula won’t necessarily solve everything and it does get easier eventually.
Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, Daniel will be just fine, I’m glad he enjoyed the water painting(thank you for linking to my blog) xx
I think she is just a slow gainer, I’m not overly stressed about it, just frustrated!
and thanks for the painting idea! Daniel loves it xx
I read a post that I thought I’d share with you, because it might be something you (and/or your baby’s pediatrician) have overlooked: http://secretlifeofsharks.com/2014/02/04/shark-life-lesson-always-check-for-a-tongue-tie-and-weigh-your-baby-every-week/
I think that you are doing a stellar job and this tricky time will pass. Dad x
You’ll soon get used to juggling entertaining them both! Wont be long before they can both do the same thing! 🙂 X x
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