June 23, 2005

Help Me, Help Me!

Okay, this is my first plea for pregnancy-related advice. Sorry, I'm afraid this does not bode well for my blog remaining even a tiny bit funny or interesting after the arrival of the Tadpole (who is officially a fetus today!). But I don't know anyone with kids, so I need some help.

1. What's the best stretch mark cream? Do any of them really work?

2. I plan to breastfeed, but the King wants to feed the baby too, so I'm thinking I could pump and let him bottlefeed occasionally. Will this totally freak out the Tadpole so that he or she will hate me and never want to breastfeed again? I've heard of some bottles that say their nipples prevent confusion--do they work, and which are the best?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

From what I hear it doesn’t really matter because if you’re going to get stretch marks you’re going to get them. Does this mean I haven’t been slathering my belly with creams and lotions? Hell no I rub something on there everyday and no stretch marks yet. In the beginning I was just using my regular old lotion now I’ve moved on to Oils of Aloha Kukui Nut Message Oil. Truth be told my Hubby has done some stuff with the owners of the company and they gave me the stuff ages ago but I only started using it recently. I put it on in the shower when I’m still wet so a little goes a long way. It has a nice feeling and is not too greasy. My hubby actually gets less processed oil from them for use in his traditional Hawaiian wood crafts but for years I’ve used the oil both refined (store brought) and unrefined as lotion or in my hair before I go surfing as a conditioner. The Hubby actually just had lunch with the company owners this week and he mentioned that I’d been using the oil on my belly to prevent stretch marks and the owner was trilled b/c they’re currently working on coming up with a product just for that. In addition to their own lotions and stuff they also sell kukui nut oil to some major cosmetic companies, and Native Hawaiians have been using it for millennium so it's good. You can pick up the stuff at Longs Drugs, I wouldn’t be surprised if K-Mart or WalMart carries it, and possibly even the PX.

Can’t really comment on number 2 but it think the breast/bottle confusion occurs more frequently if you start in with a bottle soon after birth. So what I’m planning on doing is breast feed exclusively for a bit, pump, find a bottle/nipple baby likes, and let the Hubby have a go. Beside I think the break from having to do all baby feeding will be well worth it.

-Anne

Anonymous said...

delurking -
I don't know about the stretch marks, I have too many, so all of the stuff I used didn't work.
As for the King bottle feeding, I always left the room when hubby bottle fed our daughter. I didn't buy any special nipples, but I suppose there are some out there. We needed her to take a bottle after I went back to work, and the above is what was suggested and it worked. She still nursed when I was able, but took the bottle when I wasn't around. Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

1. Hahahaha. Nope. I don't recommend my method of avoiding stretch marks either, because it really isn't good to deliver the baby prior to when stretch marks typically appear.

2. Best tip I got on this: look for nipples that most closely match yours.

Personally, I don't buy into the nipple confusion theory- T was bottle fed for a few days before I was allowed to even try breastfeeding, and bottle fed most of his first month. He's never had a problem going back and forth. I've also heard that having a pacifier to suck on helps avoid nipple confusion. I didn't want T to have one but they gave him one and it turned out okay (he hasn't used it since he was 3 months old).

One step further- Medela Pump In Style rocks, unless you really want a handheld pump.

Oh, and for you and Anne- once you get to the 7 month point, Kapiolani's Infant Care classes are actually pretty good. Much more helpful than any book I read. (And I read almost all of them, I think!)