Hi guys, proud father of a beautiful 2 month old daughter here. She was born premature at 34 weeks but starting to put on weight nicely now. Some quick q's:

1.) Mom is kinda worried since her breast milk is still low even after taking many supplements including papaya soup/ fenugreek etc. Does Haliba work better? And does the McD thing work as well? She loves McD.

2.) As like above, my daughter also cries a lot when we put her down in her crib. Surprisingly she sleeps really well in her playpen. Which is located downstairs and no air-con. We wonder if perhaps she doesn't sleep due to her crib having a coconut husk mattress (too hard?) or maybe too cold from the air con (24 degrees with slow fan). Thoughts?

3.) Any of you use pacifiers? Since she's been getting more and more fussy with sleep we have resorted to it even though I initially didn't want to use it and make her dependent on it. Surprisingly she hasn't taken to it and spits it out midway anyway.

4.) In a continuation to sleeping patterns, my daughter also makes a fuss when being put down for the night. When we carry her she sleeps nicely, otherwise she kicks up with lots of crying and waving of arms. While cute, it doesn't do wonders for my eyebags. Is this purely a call for attention only? Do you guys let your baby sleep in pitch darkness or with a night lamp? I just only learned about not having eye contact.

That's all for now, will think of more when I get to it. Thanks everyone and all the sifus here who shared their experiences! Being parents isn't easy but so so so worth it!

PS: If not mistaken I calculated the feed to be about 200ml/kg/day. Meaning at 3kg plus now she will be taking roughly 3 ounces and a bit. We are worried she is overfed since we also have trouble burping sometimes and she hiccups quite often after feeds (even after burping).

This post has been edited by CloudDave: Nov 10 2016, 01:57 PM

Hey there!

First of all thanks so much Panda sifu for the enlightening tips and advice. I've tried some of them and definitely works. Glad to report that she's a very happy baby now.

Moving on from that, I am now looking around for ways to improve the BM production with the wifey. Each time she expresses it's only about 1oz and maximum 1.5oz for both sides. Is this considered very little? This is considering she already takes all the needed supplements. Not sure if this is already a given or if she can still increase.

My little one latches on for direct feeding once in the morning and once at night. Is that enough? Otherwise we supplement with the bottle to reach the needed amount. My wifey pumps about 3 times a day as well. Really envy those who fill out whole fridges with EBM.

That's right! I will continue to supplement her with bottle while allowing my wife time to increase BF. It's definitely not easy to be a woman, even if they take maternity leave the lack of sleep etc. will really get to them. I can't imagine how those who work and BF can do it. Mad respect!

With the sleeping patterns, I found that wrapping them up like popiah really does the trick. She seems so cosy now and less wiggling of arms and legs. Also, less distractions before bedtime is also important. When we see her settle down we turn the lights off as well. However, there's a new development.

Even though she has been burped quite a few times (and rather noisy too for someone so small) she still manages to squirt some milk from her mouth or nose during her sleep. She also rather often chokes on her own saliva. Is there any way to remedy this? Because of SIDS we now have to constantly check on her whenever she gurgles. Could it be due to overfeeding?

Thanks! Cheers!

No no, very interesting stuff. Makes me happy to learn so much as a new father hehehe. About you mentioning babies sleeping on their backs, this is another thing I want to ask. Her head isn't exactly as round yet and tends to be a bit flat on the sides. Because of this, when she sleeps her head is to the side instead of facing upwards. Would this be the reason why? Also, we tried using a pillow with an indentation in the middle to support her head and neck to face upwards. However, many people say that using pillows is dangerous. How how?