need sum help

[hayes]

Hi ladies, had my gorgeous son last weds so he is 9 day's old now. I have been breast feeding fir all this time but im finding it very hard in me emotional I find he wants to b on my boob all the time and obviously hubby cant help me so I'm very tired n had a cry earlier. he list weight n wasn't putting it on so have had to express n then syringe feed him 10ML the last few days. Thankfully he has now put on weight but they want me to continue expressing n I'm tempted to get hubby to give hum sum in a bottle. um also thinking of formula soon as want hubby to b apart of it all n I'm so exhausted bot getting much sleep. Any advice on what to do wud b appreciated, midwives just want me to bf all the time n it's making me feel sad n guilty like I'm failing if I go to formula.

thanks for reading this.

Michelle.x

 

[purpleslurple]

My advice would be to keep going with the breast feeding - at exactly the same time as you I felt like giving up. LO hadn't gained much weight and I felt like he was feeding all the time which meant I wasn't getting any sleep. My nipples were sore and I was really fed up. We bought an electric breast pump and I started expressing a couple of ounces for DH to give him at around midnight so I could get a few hours sleep.

I was so near to giving up but we persevered and now at 6 weeks it's amazing! The most wonderful thing I've done. Try and give it another week and you will see a difference - I don't think midwives etc. are honest about how hard it is in the beginning but it does get easier. Good luck!

 

[BevG]

keep going, dont feel bad if you give a bit of formula, it took us 7 weeks to crack bf properly but its so worth it.

 

[hayes]

So wud u lovely ladies suggest I express so hubby can help out more, I'm getting so tired n down with it all.

Michelle.x

 

[purpleslurple]

I expressed from about 2 weeks - just enough for 1 feed and LO hasn't had any nipple confusion. It makes such a difference being able to go to bed in the spare room knowing that my husband will do the next feed and change.

At 6 weeks we decided to make that 1 feed formula as LO now wants 6oz and it was taking a number of attempts to express that much and some days I didn't have time. He has been having that 1 formula feed for 4 days now and no problems!!

If you really want to BF don't give up - either express or give a formula feed to give you a break - you will feel better!

 

[hayes]

Expressed today as had lo weighed n he hadn't put much on again n hubby has just given him it and my god he's Wolfed it down!! Think I will defo b expressing n will give formula for a night feed he obviously wants more than I can give.

Michelle.x

 

[purpleslurple]

Don't feel guilty. Keep offering the boob but give him some formula too - you're doing great!

 

[hayes]

Thanks I do feel a bit guilty but I have to do ways best for him. I've breastfed today but since lunchtime he's been on/off my boob so I've just given him a bottle of expressed n he's downed it n settled down so I think I will defo have to combie feed.

Michelle.x

 

[flisstebbs]

I'm a combination feeder and its the way forward I tell you!
It seems that no one really gives you advice on how to combi feed successfully I found (except here ). I had to start giving LO a bottle at night around 10 days as my supply never really got off the ground due to long labour. I'm now doing 50:50 and its great, still get the closeness and lovely bits of bf, and at night its easy not to have to worry about making up bottles, but I can go out a bit, have a glass of wine at weekends, and generally have a little more me time. I do applaud the exclusive bf mummies out there, and I think if supply had been better I would have carried on, but I made myself totally miserable doing the feeding on demand, expressing 6x a day, nursing bed days etc before a lactation consultant actually admitted I had a problem with supply.

No one tells you how emotional you can feel about wanting to bf, but my LO is now nearly 11 weeks and its much easier to be very rational about it, so much harder at 9 days pp. Good luck hon and remember, happy mummy, happy baby.

If you're really keen to continue though, try fenugreek tablets, they do boost your supply a bit. I'm taking domperidone prescribed by my gp which has also worked wonders.

 

[BevG]

the first 6-8 weeks theyre constantly feeding to up your supply, during this time tho its important to bf as much as possible and hold off on the formula if you can it really dosent hurt to give the odd bottle or top up after bf feeds if theyre upset and your sanity is threatened as its more important that your healthy and sane really. it dosent hurt at all its only when you start giving more bottles than bf cos you cant face it or lo starts losing weight/refusing boob that theres a problem. they feed so much to up the supply and so if you do resort to formula a lot then your supply wont be built up as much as it could but baby can up your supply at any poit, not just the first 6 weeks lol. it can be hard but it can be done, its never too late to wean off formula if you want to ebf but likewise theres absolutely nothing wrong in combi feeding and using both in whatever way suits you. wether you express or just give formula as the bottles really dosent matter as long as it works for you

 

[Blueflower]

Hi! I don't have any advice but just wanted to see if you'd had the baby and you have, congratulations! I remember you got pregnant the month after we both had our lap and dyes so I thought you must have given birth now! Hope it wasn't too traumatic and you get some help with the feeding problem.
Lots of love!

 

[Sophie_P]

Hi Michelle, my little girl is 5 days old and I have been combination feeding, I have solely breastfed her since Friday but she wouldn't settle as my milk hadn't come through. We gave her 3oz of cow & gate yesterday & she slept for for 4 hours
Ill still express to get some goodness still from me but I'm gonna quit beating myself up. Just want you to know your not alone.

 

[hayes]

Thanks Sophie I had to give up expressing as it wasn't really working g fir me and he's on formula full time now and I am so much happier. I don't feel guilty I know that he is getting what he needs and is putting on weight which is great. It's all about what works fir you u n ur Lo for me this is best.

Superpower I had my lo nearly 4wks ago, but I never for get my struggle to get him n he makes the journey worth it. I think about u and the other lttc ladies all the time and often pop back to see how you r all getting on.

Michelle.x

 

[hayes]

Lol that was ment to say blueflower not superpower!!!

Michelle.x

 

[Blueflower]

Superpower, ha ha! What's your little boy like? It must be amazing that he's finally here. Who does he look like?

 

[hayes]

He's amazing hun, I can't stop staring at him!! He's gorgeous n changes every day, more like me than hubby at the mo. I still can nit believe he's here n that I have a son I thank my lucky stars every day for him. How r u getting on??

Michelle.x

 

[Blueflower]

Oh that's so lovely! You must must have to pinch yourself that your dream finally came true!

We're not doing so well unfortunately, IUI didn't work (it was only a 13% chance anyway but we wanted to give it a try) and we were hoping to move onto IVF soon but I might have to get another lap and dye to check this fluid that's recently appeared in my right fallopian tube and might have to get it removed. There's a waiting list of several months, then recovery time so we probably won't be able to have IVF until the autumn!

I really don't want to get the tube removed because it will decrease our chances of conceiving naturally to 2½% but if I don't get it done then it could stop an embryo implanting so we'd have no chance.

I'm in a bit of a daze at the moment and its horrible to think that we can't try again for ages but DH has been amazing which makes such a difference.

I'll stop writing disappointing things on a thread about feeding babies now!!

Lots of love to you and your little boy. x x x

 

[hayes]

I'm so sorry to hear that hun, but don't ever give up hope my little man is proof that miracles do happen n they really r worth the long hard rd we have to walk to get there. I will keep an eye out in the lyric for how things r going.

Big hugs to you.

Michelle.x