Breastfeeding my baby - worried she is not getting enough

[angelfairy]

Hi Girlies,

My little one is 3 weeks old today and I have been breastfeeding her since she was born. Last tues the HV came to see me a day early as my LO was crying all the time and not sleeping. Turns out she was suffering from Colic and has been as good as gold since we started using infacol.

HV advised me to start giving LO a formula bottle at night so that I could have a break and becuase she had only put on 100g from the last week instead of 150g which is what they like.

Since giving my LO a bottle at night though, I feel she isn't taking as much from my breast. She only feeds every 3 1/2 to 4 hours and even then she falls asleep after 5 mins and it takes me nearly an hour to get her to have the recommended 30 mins of feeding. Also she has started sleeping through from 12.30am to 5.30am is this normal at her age?

Am I just stressing for no reason, should I be demand feeding my LO instead of waking her up.

Would really appreciate any advice from you.

Thanks a million

AngelFairy Xxx

 

[budge]

geesh!!!! it burns my ass when i hear of HV telling mothers to give bottles of formula at night!!!!

This in my opinion is the worse thing to advise. It buggers up your milk supply no end.

the way it works is that bubba feeds from you and takes what she needs and your brain is sent a signal to tell it how much milk to produce for your baby. Giving baby a formula feed will make baby feed less thus making your brain tell your body to produce LESS milk. What is your HV messing about at!

There is also no recommended feeding time for breastfed babies. Often they will feed for a few minutes if its just the thirst quneching fore milk they take.

Right

What i recommend is this.

If you do want to continue breast feeding then id take away the bottle at night. This will make you LO want more milk from you and for about 24 hours you may have to feed her VERY frequently. But keep at it. She is upping the milk supply to suit her needs.
Once shes done this baby should settle down and feed less frequently.
Don't time your feeds. Just go with what baby does. If she falls alseep at the breast try tweaking her feet or stroking her cheepk to stir her. If this doesn't wake her try changing her nappy and if this wakes her up try her on the other breast repeating what ive just said.
The main key to breast feeding is feeding baby for as often and ans long as she demands. Shes still quite young so id expect her to still be feeding frequnently.

If baby is sleeping long at night then its ok. So long as she is alert in the day for short periods and feeding well its normal. All babies are different.
I personally never wake a baby to feed unless im going out or something and want to top baby up before a car journey.

Hope my novel has helped you.

sorry for the rant about the health visitor i can't help it.

Good luck

 

[TipsyDipsy]

I was going to write a novel myself but the above poster has written everything correctly.
I'd just like to agree and say she is 100% correct.
This country stinks for give BF advice. Even the professionals don't seem to know what they are talking about.
Also the weight charts the MW use are designed for FF babies (because most in UK are FF) and formula fed babies put on more weight because formula uses full fat milk (and has been linked to weight problems in infants). BF babies are not as heavy or chubby as FF naturally.
I was lucky to have been able to go to my mother when I was scared my daughter wasn't getting enough milk and she basically told me everything the poster said.

I know this part is a bit off topic but I think its equally good advice if you are planning on carrying on BF.
My mother also said that after about 12 weeks your milk supply will taper down to babies needs and that causes a lot of women to think their milk is drying up and to panic and put them on bottle. My mother herself was given the wonderful advice by an equally stupid mw when I was 12 weeks old and she was young and believed her so stopped bf me. After having my sister and brother and carrying on she realised that her milk wasn't depleting at all but in fact just adjusting to what baby needs.
At the moment your baby is establishing BF and is on the breast a lot so your body will be making enough for 2-3 babies (as long as you solely BF) but your production of milk will go down in a few weeks and you will stop leaking and feeling full all the time but it is perfectly natural.
In fact that is when the space between feeds space out and it all starts becoming much much easier.

Ah well seems I wrote a novel too after all Sorry for waffling on just education and what to expect while BF is so poor in the medical profession.

Thanks to my mums advice and support I went on to BF without any problems for 2 years but I honestly think that left to the advice of the medical profession I would have given up long before that.

 

[cassi]

budge took the words right out of my mouth.

call it a couple of days on the sofa, or even better feeding lying down in bed, she will soon get your supply back up and realise the only place she is going to get fed is from the boob.

stupid bloody HV's!!!

 

[angelfairy]

thank you so much girls. Budge I'm worried that she is still not getting enough as she sleeps most of the day and night - about 19 hours out of 24 and rarely I have to wake her up for a feed during the day - she can go 4 hours without wanting one.

Am so confused and its worrying me sick as I don't want her to go without and lose weight.

Should I be feeding her from one boob only during each feed or should I be switching boobs mid way?

Will try her without the bottle tonight and see how it goes.

Thanks

Xxx

 

[Hypnorm]

I hate HVs and the NHS.
Please note if they are taking the readings from the weight chart out of the red book, the scale in there is for bottle fed babies, not breastfed - breastfed babies are often slower at gaining weight.
Unless they have changed and developed two books then as long as she is putting on some weight and not losing it then i would worry.

I stopped going to the Hv to get ewan weighed and just said to my self that as long as he was feeding and happy then i would leave it at that.

I think there is too much pressure to get babies weighed weekly and all it does it stress the mum.

I also agree with budge - using bottles at the moment will stuff up your milk production, its ok when they are about 3 months as your milk is well established but 3 weeks is not right!

Good luck.

 

[budge]

thank you so much girls. Budge I'm worried that she is still not getting enough as she sleeps most of the day and night - about 19 hours out of 24 and rarely I have to wake her up for a feed during the day - she can go 4 hours without wanting one.

Am so confused and its worrying me sick as I don't want her to go without and lose weight.

Should I be feeding her from one boob only during each feed or should I be switching boobs mid way?

Will try her without the bottle tonight and see how it goes.

Thanks


Xxx

angel fairy your baby is still very young and they do sleep a lot. So long as she is alert for short periods throughout the day and shes gaining weight shes fine.
The fact that she is sleeping as she is is a credit to you. She is a contented WELL FED baby please stop worrying about her getting enough milk as this can affect your milk supply. RELAX and trust your body - your breasts are made for nourishing your baby.

 

[budge]

thank you so much girls. Budge I'm worried that she is still not getting enough as she sleeps most of the day and night - about 19 hours out of 24 and rarely I have to wake her up for a feed during the day - she can go 4 hours without wanting one.

Am so confused and its worrying me sick as I don't want her to go without and lose weight.

Should I be feeding her from one boob only during each feed or should I be switching boobs mid way?

Will try her without the bottle tonight and see how it goes.

Thanks

Xxx

angel fairy this is what i do
I pop baby onto the breast i FINISHED on last time (although if you forget its not that importnant which) and let baby suckle until they 'drop' off or fall asleep. I wind baby. If baby wakes up i pop her onto the other breast and let her suckle till SHE has had enough.
If after the first breast she stays asleep and refused the second breast i let her sleep but i expect her to wake up in less than an hour to have the other breast.

It is highly important you let them suckle for as long as they want otherwise they may not get the filling milk whick contains the calories and nutrition.

 

[TipsyDipsy]

I agree I remember reading somewhere that there is pre-milk and mid-milk. The pre-milk is watery and is designed to be a drink (that is why you don't need to give them water) then your milk will changed and become thicker and is the more useful food.
Isn't the body an amazing thing it seems to have everything worked out.

 

[Lyndsey]

Well I am shocked about what the HV has suggested!!! .... obviously budge has a wealth of experience on this subject and I think she should be listened to!! I have never breastfed as this is my first baby but I Have done lots of research into it and the information I have gathered is exactly as budge has said... if you want to BF then thats what you should do and you should never mix BF and formula!! If you want to give a botttle at night to give you a rest then can't you use expressed milk???

I saw my HV for a preliminary meeting last week and we touched on this topic... she said that I shouldn't even think about bottle feeding even expressed milk for the first 6 weeks...... as for the weight issue as long as your baby is happy and is sleeping and feeding I wouldn't worry too much these centile charts are based on Norm values and lets face it we are not all the same.... and like someone else has posted they are based on babies weight gain that are on formula..

Good lUck hun

 

[angelfairy]

Thank you for all your advice girls

Budge you have been an angel

I didn't give her a bottle at all last night, just boobie and she fed really well each time, though it was 3 or 4 times. My boobies feel really drained and empty - I've not felt this for a while.

Am seeing HV again tomorrow so will see what other nuggets of advice she has to offer and if my LO has put on a good amount of weight.

Thanks again

Xxx

 

[budge]

you're very welcome angelfairy.
Don't hesitate to ask for any more advice.

 

[TipsyDipsy]

Ah thats great hunny.
The fact that your breasts are empty now will cause your body to produce more and keep your supply up.

 

[TipsyDipsy]

Ah thats great hunny.
The fact that your breasts are empty now will cause your body to produce more and keep your supply up.

 

[angelfairy]

Hi Girlies,

Have an update on the breastfeeding problems I have been having. I went to see my doctor today who is a wonderful pro breastfeeding mother of 2. She examined my breasts and said that not only am I suffering from mild mastitis but I also have thrush of the breasts! Delightful. So both myself and my beautiful baby girl are now on medication.

So thats why I was having sharp shooting pains in my breasts up to an hour after feeding and was feeling pain everytime she latched on.

My doctor put me in touch with a fabulous organisation called La Leche League International and a counsellor actually came out to my house and stayed with me to make sure I was feeding correctly.

My little girl had also put on 9oz for the week at the last weigh in

Xxx

 

[Xena]

When I was bf-ing Lydia, the HV also advised me to give her a bottle at night. I ignored her advice for 2 months and then decided to give it a go. It was the worst decision - my milk dwindled a lot after that.