Just need a little support

[Jayjay027]

Hi ladies
My beautiful daughter is now 3 days old and I'm breastfeeding her. She is a very good little girl and feeds every 4-6hrs. During her feeds, she will empty both breasts but then I'll need to top her up with 2 or 3oz of formula as she's still hungry.
I keep hearing that new baby's bf constantly, but this just isn't the case with my DD and I feel like I'm doing something wrong even though the community mw never said anything.
Also, she bruised my nips before she knew how to latch properly and they are so painful! They are ok once she gets going but during they and the initial latch are agony they are also cracked. I've been using lansinoh and shields but ooouuuccchhh xx

Tapatalking from my blackberry!

 

[Princess81]

Persevere hun, and just act on the messages you get from baby. Let her stay attached until she let's go by herself. I remember the initial pain, my nipples were bleeding!! It does go though and you will become a pro in no time. Make sure you eat, drink and rest plenty, lots of skin to skin contact with baby. When she has a growth spurt she'll be attached to you constantly keep at it hun xxx

 

[BevG]

my lg was the same hun and i combi feed because of it, if id known then what i know now id have woken her up every 2-3 hours and fed her so i could exclusively bf instead of topping up lol. i tried to ebf but cos she slept so much it was hard to keep her awake long enough to feed properly, sounds like you have sussed it good tho as i left it til 7 days and she was very very sleepy and a bit dehydrated by then. its not uncommon for them to be quite sleepy at first and lucky you that she sleeps so long, it might be why shes so hungry when she does feed. i deffo wouldnt leave her longer than 4 hours in the daytime at most tho as that seems too long between feeds for a newborn and it wont help your milk supply to go so long between, the more often she feeds off you the better and little and often are better than the long gaps. would you try feeding every 3 hours to see if that means she dosent need the topup or are you happy with things the way they are? did you ask the mw or just tell her what your doing as i know some are a bit reluctant to advise sometimes if they think it may offend and some are really offensive lol


well done you regardless as it is painful at first, i had to take painkillers just to make it bearable at first lol. your doing brill hun

 

[TORino]

6 hours between feeds for a newborn is too long I think, I'd feed her more often than that. I was told no longer than 3 hrs in the day and 4 at night in the beginning. Wake her if you have to, change her nappy or tickle her feet.

Well done, you are doing very well x

 

[Jayjay027]

The mw at the hospital told me not to wake her, and that she wouldn't sleep if she was hungry, that she'd wake up and tell me she's hungry. But I had read in books that they should feed more often, so I woke her up yesterday after 4hrs (during the day) and tried to feed her, but she wasn't interested in it at all
The community mw is back on sunday, I'm gonna have to have a word with her about it, I don't want to starve her x

Tapatalking from my blackberry!

 

[toscacat]

Congratulations. The reason your little one isn't always breast feeding is because of the top ups which is why she will sleep for 4-6hours as she is getting all the milk she needs. Does she look a little bit yellow? If so ask the midwife to check her bilirubin levels as it may also be why she is a little sleepy. It is very common for newborns to get jaundiced (the yellow tinge to her skin) if she has so don't worry if she has.

If you are combination feeding you are doing a fab job if you would like to exclusively breastfeed then to encourage more milk you should stop topping her up (unless you have been told to because of her weight) and she will soon start to feed more frequently as it is a supply and demand thing. The more Lo feeds the more milk your body produces if that makes sense?

 

[Jayjay027]

Congratulations. The reason your little one isn't always breast feeding is because of the top ups which is why she will sleep for 4-6hours as she is getting all the milk she needs. Does she look a little bit yellow? If so ask the midwife to check her bilirubin levels as it may also be why she is a little sleepy. It is very common for newborns to get jaundiced (the yellow tinge to her skin) if she has so don't worry if she has.

If you are combination feeding you are doing a fab job if you would like to exclusively breastfeed then to encourage more milk you should stop topping her up (unless you have been told to because of her weight) and she will soon start to feed more frequently as it is a supply and demand thing. The more Lo feeds the more milk your body produces if that makes sense?

Oh thank u! This has made me feel so much better!
I'm perfectly happy to keep up combination feeding so will just keep doing what I'm doing.
Thank u so much! X

Tapatalking from my blackberry!

 

[saralou5]

I'm breastfeeding as well and the first 4-5 days were the hardest. I don't combo feed but I think at the rate my little chunk is growing I might need to soon! Haha!
My nips were ridiculously painful as well, they cracked and bled and feeding was agony. I dreaded it. But it's so much easier already! I paste on the Lansinoh after every feed!! You just have to push through it, it gets easier . We were told to wake him up every 3 hours for a feed but I said no, if he's hungry he'll let me know and he does . Just push past the painful nipples and keep doing what you're doing, sounds like you're doing brilliantly .

 

[BevG]

just be aware my lo wasnt feeding well and was sleeping longer and longer between feeds so i had to top up, since you already are topping up i reckon you lo will be fine and is obviously just satisfied lol. i was so worried when my lo got harder and harder to keep awake / wake up but once i started giving formula she was fine and moved to feeding every 3 or 4 hours

 

[toscacat]

No worries. Sounds like you have it under control if you plan to combi feed x

 

[Jayjay027]

Thanks so much everyone. Really appreciate it xxxxxx

Tapatalking from my blackberry!

 

[BevG]

thats great hun, glad your happy and your doing so well its hard at first so im sure everyone is happy to help x

 

[Em91]

it does get easier after the first couple of weeks, I'm having to top O up because she was losing to much weight but still offering her breast at every feed, it's only just stopped being absolute agony. lanoish
(sp?) has been a lifesaver

 

[jojo_2012]

You're doing great!

I have heard hand expressing a tiiiiiny bit before a feed can help if the initial latch hurts. The baby trying to get your let down reflex to kick in can make it a bit sorer for the 1st few minutes and this should help it so your nipples have a chance to heal.

I don't know much about combo feeding but keep pushing with the breast and let baby suck as much as you can before going for the formula even if it means switching breasts a few times would be my advice, it'll let your body know baby still wants more.

Keep it up!

 

[littlemiss83]

She wont starve hun. As others have said, babies are intelligent enough to wake when they are hungry. I would express at these times just to keep your supply going. Also not sure about combination feeding!? Might be making things slightly more difficult for your supply. And causing LO to sleep longer which in turn means your not using your supply.

 

[Jayjay027]

Spoke to the mw about it today and she said I'm doing great. She said baby is happy and healthy and gaining weight and is a good colour etc, so whatever I'm doing is working was very reassuring to hear tbh.
She said a lot of women combination feed and as long as me and baby are happy then I'm doing fine.
So I'll just keep doing what I'm doing thank u ladies x

Tapatalking from my blackberry!

 

[Kirsty.Y.84]

That's good that she is gaining weight, that's the main thing that they will look for to know that baby is getting enough.
Sounds like you are doing great. Just keep at it, I had a horrendous first 2 weeks, as Finn wouldn't latch, so I had to express every feed. Then when he started latching, OMG the pain! It was horrific, but it does get better. Although that doesn't help you now, because the pain is awful, but in a few weeks you will have forgotten all about it!
I would definitely recommend topping up, I did that at night times at first, and it did help. I felt like I didn't have enough milk for him as he still seemed hungry, but he put on loads of weight and has gone from 6lb 7 to 12lb in 10 weeks!

It does get easier, I promise! And it's the best thing in the world looking down and seeing your LO looking up at you feeding and content.

xx

 

[Lolly85x]

Just do what you are doing jayjay! Sounds fab!
I gave up bf on Friday gave him a bottle, as he was starving. And havnt been able to combi feed like I initially planned. My sis had an accident and has been in hospital since Saturday morning. And I'm so gutted to say it was easier to give him a bottle as iv been stressed.
So keep up the good work!!xxx