latching issues

[BevG]

i think alyssa is dehydrated. she seems to only be able to latch a certain way which is a bit bad and pulls half my nipple wrong. she falls asleep on the boob quite fast and is nigh on impossible to wake up unless i unlatch her and wind her. as a result it seems shes not getting enough milk despite going on both boobs and being on there for an hour sometimes. i try to keep her awake and massage boob while shes on it too. i do try and get the least painful/best possible latch but if she gets a drink i can live with a lil pain

 

[ISH]

I remember Vincent being the same, he was quite lethargic for the first couple of weeks, then he got a ravenous appetite!

 

[BevG]

thats good. i kinda assume that if shes starving she wouldnt be so happy and chilled. that and she would be a lot more eager to latch or even get a bit angry if it wasnt fast enough. as it is sometimes i have to wake her for feeding and sometimes she wakes and roots herself. its so hard to know whats going on in there isnt it. shes quite a sleepy baby at the min as it is so when she feeds its a fight to keep her awake for more than 10 mins into a feed. as long as shes still sucking i leave her there tho and i do try and get her to take something from each breast if i can. im thinking that maybe i should express after each feed to try and get all the milk poss and feed her that as well whenever i can get her to take it lol

 

[ISH]

Oh yes, if you want to boost milk supply definitely express

 

[Sleepy sue]

Hun I stress about milk supply everyday, It's so difficult when you can't tell what they are getting. Your LO sounds very contented though. Are you using a bf pillow to help with positioning or just a normal pillow. I swear by one also I use lansinoh cream after every feed to prevent pain. Xx

 

[Mrs. KM]

Wss^ i had the same tired issues and nothing worked to keep her awake. She never took in enough milk so my supply really dropped. Now taking fenugreek to try to increase it. If she is getting enough wet diapers and is gaining weight she should be ok. Another sign of dehydration is uric acid crystals (orangey red) spots in the nappie. The best advice I was given for latching is to not hold the back of the baby's head, just the nape of their neck. They need to be able to pull away if they are choking. When she opens her mouth wide, shove her on and aim your nipple at the back of the roof of her mouth.

 

[Nic36]

I have the exact same problem... My little one always falls asleep on the breast. I've had to resort to topping up with formula asi knw she isnt getting enough from me alone. . Feel guilty about it, but mst important thing is that she gets the nourishment she needs. X

 

[BevG]

shes got orangey spots in urine and low output so i know shes getting dehydrated, were gonna get some formula to top up with just so shes got some energy and is getting hydrated while we work out our latching and hopefully getting her eating will make her hungrier so she wakes more n eats as i think its cos shes not get enough energy that shes sleepy. shes freakishly quiet and has been since birth, hardly ever cries or fusses and just seems to want to sleep more than even eating

 

[l_maclean]

G has a really bad latch so I nipple shields, they are a bit footery to get used to but she couldn't latch properly without them. Maybe worth a try. Xxx

 

[BevG]

aye i bought some yesterday so will try them later too

 

[pinkyprincess]

My midwife gave us a record sheet because Tyler had jaundice but we carried it on as it was so useful. Had

Date. Time. Feed (bf/ff). Duration(for bf). Oz. (then nappies) wet. Poo.

Really helped us keep track of what was happening when.

Also can't stress enough to get lanisonah! Really helped give some slippage for me to stop nipple chafing!

 

[BevG]

yeah im chronicling the feeds n nappies in a diary now, got her to drink 2oz of cooled boiled water n 3oz of aptamil. ive managed to express 1oz of milk and i got my sheilds sterilised ready for next feed. and i got some lanisoh too pinky lol

 

[pinkyprincess]

The NHS try and tell you that bfing is free! Is it hell? I've spent a small fortune on bottles, pumps, bras, clothes, shields etc!

 

[BevG]

yeah and the worry is immense, like im not teary enough without worrying about my lo waking less and eating too little. she was starting to be farily comatose but never cried or got upset so she seems content. shes a lil livelier now shes got some actual food in her and im gonna try the sheilds for the next feed in a few mins.

its hard to tell when shes hungry tho cos she only calmly roots when shes awake and shes a real heavy sleeper.

 

[BevG]

well Lyssa seems to have taken some energy from the aptimil feed yesterday. she pooped even if it was just a lil and a bit watery. it was still brown so her system is still obviously catching up to the experience of eating. shes been much livelier last night and even tried to pee on daddy when he was changing her before bed resulting in an outfit change for her lol. i was asleep in bed so it was so funny to hear about when her and daddy came to bed. she went down at 4 after having a 30 min or so feed between the 2 boobies and she was disturbing at 8am but id got up at quater to anyway. shes not wet yet today but she had nearly 3oz of aptimil again for breakfast and ive managed to express an oz and a half for topping her up with later on. shes sprawled out in her moses now with her arms thrown back looking so content its hard to believe that yesterday i was in tears with worry cos all she wanted to do was sleep and not wake up. think the top ups are helping a lot with her energy levels.

 

[Mrs. KM]

Glad to hear she is doing well! Dont worry too much about her poos. Our lo only poops every 3 or 4 days. She's not constipated... Its just normal for some babies to not need to go too often. Don't you love it when they sleep with their arms all up!? So cute!

 

[BevG]

yeah its awesome. shes so cute im in awe. my boobs are real sore tho lol, i hope i can get thru this bit and still give her boobie milk, its so hard to know she isnt getting enough and it hurts a lot lol

 

[Mrs. KM]

No kidding, but it sounds like your milk is in so that is good! We are pretty much doing half bf half ff. As long as she is getting some breastmilk, I am happy