A few questions from a newbie @ BF

[CARNAT22]

Hi all,

I am expressing as baby has very slight tongue tie and latch issues. I am totally happy with my decision to express - granted it now means sterilising bottles etc BUT all that matters to me is baby is getting my milk.

In the early days I had to top up with a few formula feeds, again I have no regrets, baby was hungry and distressed and at this point I didn't even have a breast pump

I am now 100% expressing and have been for past 3 days, so I hope I am OK to post in this section?

James is a very hungry baby and takes aprox 4fl oz every 4 hours (it can be 3oz every 3 hours!)

Today we had a bit of a broken feed. He had about 2.5fl oz at 9.30am and then another 1.5fl oz at 11.30.

He is currently fast asleep but I am wondering do I time his next feed from the 9.30 feed or the 11.30?

He normally wakes up when he is hungry??

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[beckyboo1]

Bit difficult to say but at such a young age I didn't time between feeds, just fed when he's hungry.

So if he wakes and wants milk I'd give it to him

 

[beckyboo1]

Oh meant to ask- are you getting support for his latching so that you can eventually feed him yourself?

And we'll done for expressing- takes a lot of determination xx

 

[CARNAT22]

Oh meant to ask- are you getting support for his latching so that you can eventually feed him yourself?

And we'll done for expressing- takes a lot of determination xx

Breast feeding co-ordinator due back tomorrow but it's been a week since I last saw her.

I try every now and then with bub and it's not happening, so I am ploughing on with expressing.

I was in such pain in the first few days [James was feeding from both breasts, but not very effciently] that expressing was kind of a relief!

He is a very hungry little man and already 70g up from birthweight - this was on Monday!! So I am keen not to overfeed him.

He is still asleep so I'll leave him to awaken and we'll take it from there.

Another quick Question though - as I express feed do I still need to take extra calories as if I was feeding from breast? I assume the answer is yes but just want to double check

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[Hope81]

The answer is yes to the calories and as about the timing with the next feed I just fed Amelie every time she woke and cried, that's was usually every 3 h but if it happened at 2h then 2 h it is.

So I don't waste any boob milk if she was waking earlier and I was feeding earlier than 3 h then I would put in the bottle 30 ml less than she usually drinks and if she wants more then I would add more.

 

[CARNAT22]

I do that Hope. I'll get 4fl oz out but give it to him 2fl oz, then another 1 then the final 1 if he is still showing signs of being hungry - which he normally is!

We've rarely had any waste

xxxxxxx

 

[cosmicgirl]

I feed on demand hun, I'd wait til he wakes if you're happy with that? x

 

[Nurse 26]

well done hun, sounds like your doing fab, i would say just feed on demand.

i know a few ladies on here have had some success with nipple shields when having problems with latching, maybe ask teh breastfeeding lady about that

 

[Rhino Horn]

Not sure if it applies to expressing but we are told down here that you cannot overfeed a breastfed baby. So if he wants feeding every 2 spurs then go for it. And ad long ad he's putting weight on the don't worry about waking for a feed.

Bethan is feeding approx every 90 mins(!) And is now up to the 91st percentile on the weight chart. All through the boob. The bonus is that she sleeps 8 hours at night.

You're doing so well to be ezpressing and the fact he's putting on loads of weight is fab. Just keep doing what you're doing and trust your instincts. You're clearly doing it right as he sounds like he's thriving!

 

[Karate Kid]

You are doing an amazing job hun. C had Tounge tie so I expressed for the first seven weeks, I know how hard it is.

Is his tie getting snipped?

I second the fact that nipple shields help, it took two weeks of using shields after C's tie was snipped for him to latch on.

Xx

 

[Karate Kid]

Oh and I fed on demand, as long as you are getting wet and dirty nappies James is getting enough xx

 

[CARNAT22]

We're getting alot of wet and dirty nappies!!

I think we've already gone through 2 packs

James is a fan of the "dirty protest"

I am tending to let him sleep (no longer than 4 hours as he has slight jaundice so I was advised by MW to make sure I wake him every 4 hours!) I then change him and feed him.

We're getting there but I know we're a long way away from any kind of routine.

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[Rowesb]

if there is milk left from one EBM feed you can store it and keep it for the next feed hun, you don't need to discard it, so I would offer what was left and go onto the next, LO is only little yet and will soon fall into a routine, weight charts are based on formula feeding so I would try and feed on demand, especially if he is a little jaundiced

 

[willowwisp]

We occasionally get the broken feed thing too.

I feed every three hours during the day or sooner if LO shows signs of being hungry, at night I now let him sleep until he wakes me. We take 1-1.5oz per hour roughly, so when I have a broken feed and I try and work out how much time he needs between feeds, if he takes 2.5oz then I'll try again in 2 hours to give him a 'full' feed. However we were 5 weeks early, I think that makes a difference as we had to be ultra careful about making sure he was eating every 3. Had H been on time and a bit heavier then I probably would have left him till he asked for more.

 

[Kellybean]

Hey nat, well done you are doing so well.

I have to express at the moment as I am over producing I get hard boobs and they leek all the time and cause a lot of pain. I had a pump as I wanted to feed and express, I'm a shy public bf! But wanted all to be my own milk, I if struggled expressing then formula but with my new found problem I have to express even if it hurts....well it hurts, but not as much as when Massan latches on sometimes...he is way too eager. It is getting easier though. I was blessed, Massan latched on first time and have had no problems feeding him, it's just I'm in milk overflow

Also I feed on demand, about every 2-3 house and he seems to be incredibly hungry at 9pm and I feed for a very very long time until he is full and he sleeps until 2 am...bliss! Then long feed at 2 and awake at 6! We only had 3 nights of constant crying and complete distress from me as I didn't know what to do, and my boobs were creating pools (tmi buy I had help on the 3rd day from midwife as I called her out) but now we already have a sleep pattern...how long will it last...I'm waiting for an all mightier soon.

I love just knowing he is having enough food, do I totally understand why you are happy as long as he is

Can't believe we are finally mummies