Cutting down

[Kate1985]

Hi all,
I have been bfing my daughter now for 11 weeks. Problem is she is unsettled and the time and not putting on enough weight. She's was 6'9 born and now only 8'11 at 11 weeks old. I have decided that it's time to stop beating myself up about it. I can't have weight as an issue because she has spina bifida and hydrocephalus I can't go through anymore issues. However I do not want to completely finish our bfing journey because I rly enjoy the time we have bonding. So I will feed her first thing in the morning and in the evening. My question is if there's ever a time that we have a hospital appointment or she has a procedure and just needs settling, will I be able to pop her on the boob to comfort her? Because my milk will still be there? X

 

[BunnyN]

Have you considered offering the breast 1st for all her feeds and then topping up with formula? If you still feed morning and night there whould still be some milk in between but you might find it isnt a lot.

 

[Blueclass]

I bf but top up with formula. I express and give say 20mls of that then say 40 mls formula I also put her on the breast. This way I have a rough idea how much she is having. Hope you can sort it out xx

 

[BunnyN]

If you feel formula is a better answer for you that is fair some babies have a hard time with BF for one reason or another and sometimes changing to formula helps certain problems. Dont forget some babies just gain weight slowly too. I have a couple of friends who changed to formula and weight gain never improved. Our case was a bit different. DD gained very poorly. It actually took her 6 weeks to get back to her birth weight. It was really worrying at the time but in the end I decided to stick with BFing. In her case I could tell the root of the issue was digestive issues with and I wasnt convinced formula was going to help with that. As it turned out she had a cows milk allergy and reacted to the dairy in my diet. When I stopped eating dairy things improved. Although she dropped several percentiles on charts she was otherwise healthy and her development never suffered.

 

[Kate1985]

Thanks ladies. I decided to not bf and top up because it was taking ages so a feed would end up last an hour an a half by the time I was bfing and topping up and my poor 3 year old just wasn't getting a look in with me. If she was my first I would just carry on and bf all day if I had too! That's why I want to carry on morning and evenings so I can still have my special time wit Isla and my boy can hVe my attention a bit more in the day now. Also we have so hospital appointments that I wouldn't have time to do both regularly. I am desperate to make morning and evenin feeds work but also be able to offer it to her in the day if it's jut the two of
Us or if she distressed. Do you think this can work? Xx

 

[Kate1985]

Plus if the weight problem is due to a medical issue I would rather kno that so we can get it sorted rather than hv saying it could potentially be a bfing issue x

 

[BunnyN]

DS took ages with feeds and it was a latch problem. We eventually got his tongue clipped which improved matters although feeding was never perfect. I sympathise with how fustrating it can be and how much work it is. I certainly had days I would have liked to use formula but it wasnt an option because he had cows milk allergy like his sister.

I really hope the morning and night feeds work out for you. I have known several mums who cut back to morning and evening feeds with older LOs and it worked fine. I'm not sure if supply is more of an issue earlier on but it seems like it certainly could work. I hope you get more advice from someone who has done it themselves.