Very very hungry baby?

[poochielove]

...and the feeding saga continues.

We got to a stage if Teddy waking every 4 hours for a feed which was AMAZING as he was only going 2 hours at a time. Then i had one night of him sleeping 6 hours straight and the next for 5 hours which i was amazed at and thought we were getting somewhere. But it seems not. The past 2 days he will sleep from 12am-3am and the be up feeding every hour after that. He is also munching his hand afterwards like hes starving (this is a new thing) and he only stops feeding when he falls asleep on the boob...otherwise its a mammoth session. My nipples are killing me!

I know this may be a growth spurt, but last night i noticed his soft spot was quite sucken which i believe is a sign of dehydration (this improved after booby feed even though he had just had one). I tried giving him some cooled boiled water which he was just not interested in. I am worrying i am not making enough milk. I eat and drink plenty to keep my supply up but he never seems satisfied at the moment.

I have tried feeding him formula top ups but despite my best efforts in burping him he always brings it all back up and screams for the boob i have tried the following formula - SMA Gold and Aptimal First milk. My mums just gone to asda to buy the Aptimal hungry baby milk to see if that makes a difference.

Why is he so starving??!

 

[mrs_tommo22]

Permamant spurt by the sounds of it poochie! Look i know zilch about breastfedding but i have seen ladies who say let them feed for as long as possible as it will build your supply up according to teddy - feeding formula wont help on the long term. Only your booby feeding as long as will!

As a formula mum i was feeding very short and often as well, as like a bf mum i had to feed on demand whether it was hungry baby milk or normalk baby milk. Just keep going with it - hes so little he will keep having spurts for a while until he settles down!

 

[kiwiswife]

Sounds like he is trying to increase your milk supply to suit his growing requirements which while tiring for both of you. You describe his fontanelle as being depressed, how depressed is it? The reason I ask is because with both of my children their fontanelles were always slightly depressed. How long have you been monitioring how his fontanelle looks and feels. How is his waterworks? His bowel movements? Is his urine dark yellow and foul smelling? Have the amount of nappies you normally go through decreasing? Is his mouth dry/sticky. If you think he is dehydrated I would keep him on your breast, you constantly make milk, he will begetting something.
AS with formula, 'supplementing' (replacing your bm) this will undermine your supply, -I would envision this- he has 1/4 oz formula, that is 1/4 oz less milk your breasts will be stimulated to produce-even if he vomits the formula back up, it is the sucking that stimulates your letdown hormones, -he sucked on a bottle, so your breasts could not be informed to make that 1/4 oz, and dear Ted vomited that milk.
You sound really frustrated, I hope you either take your son to a breast-feeding supportive health professional, to help with managing your feeding, speak to people at la leche league who can give you informed support and encouragement.
Unfortunately formula is easy to see as a 'solution' especially when you are super tired,and your baby is unsettled,and support from those around you can be uninformed. Such supporters need to realize that their well-meaning support regarding formula will undermine your breastfeeding which you and your dear baby have tried so hard and well to achieve. Sounds like dear Ted really loves his b/f relationship with you- very clever wee sweetie. Bless your mother wanting to help with formula, perhaps you could suggest she could go to a book shop and pick up a book on breastfeeding for you.
Dehydration is very serious as you mention, I would keep him feeding on your breast and if he still seems dehydrated after a time take him to hospital- giving him formula and the subsequent vomiting may well make him more dehydrated, finding another brand is a gamble. If feeding him is very painful, you could take some paracetamol to help with your nip pain.
You mention sore nipples, I found both of my peeps get slack with their attachment at times, you need to be vigilant for this, one breastfeed with a poor attachment can leave your poor nips very sore for a number of days. What I would do is 'air' my nips(no bra) as much as I could in between feeds, and apply a product which is basically shep fat, to help them heal and continue feeding (-Could your mom pop to the pharmacy for you). Believe it or not feeding for hours on end should not make your nips sore! Honest!
Finally You are doing so wonderfully, caring for your lovely baby, I really hope you both find the right support you both deserve

I don't have a chance to proof read this, so I apologize if it's dis-jointed, I have a little sick boob-a-holic boob-monster of my own to attend, but I can assure you they are survivable and breastfeeding gets easier

 

[poochielove]

Sounds like he is trying to increase your milk supply to suit his growing requirements which while tiring for both of you. You describe his fontanelle as being depressed, how depressed is it? The reason I ask is because with both of my children their fontanelles were always slightly depressed. How long have you been monitioring how his fontanelle looks and feels. How is his waterworks? His bowel movements? Is his urine dark yellow and foul smelling? Have the amount of nappies you normally go through decreasing? Is his mouth dry/sticky. If you think he is dehydrated I would keep him on your breast, you constantly make milk, he will begetting something.
AS with formula, 'supplementing' (replacing your bm) this will undermine your supply, -I would envision this- he has 1/4 oz formula, that is 1/4 oz less milk your breasts will be stimulated to produce-even if he vomits the formula back up, it is the sucking that stimulates your letdown hormones, -he sucked on a bottle, so your breasts could not be informed to make that 1/4 oz, and dear Ted vomited that milk.
You sound really frustrated, I hope you either take your son to a breast-feeding supportive health professional, to help with managing your feeding, speak to people at la leche league who can give you informed support and encouragement.
Unfortunately formula is easy to see as a 'solution' especially when you are super tired,and your baby is unsettled,and support from those around you can be uninformed. Such supporters need to realize that their well-meaning support regarding formula will undermine your breastfeeding which you and your dear baby have tried so hard and well to achieve. Sounds like dear Ted really loves his b/f relationship with you- very clever wee sweetie. Bless your mother wanting to help with formula, perhaps you could suggest she could go to a book shop and pick up a book on breastfeeding for you.
Dehydration is very serious as you mention, I would keep him feeding on your breast and if he still seems dehydrated after a time take him to hospital- giving him formula and the subsequent vomiting may well make him more dehydrated, finding another brand is a gamble. If feeding him is very painful, you could take some paracetamol to help with your nip pain.
You mention sore nipples, I found both of my peeps get slack with their attachment at times, you need to be vigilant for this, one breastfeed with a poor attachment can leave your poor nips very sore for a number of days. What I would do is 'air' my nips(no bra) as much as I could in between feeds, and apply a product which is basically shep fat, to help them heal and continue feeding (-Could your mom pop to the pharmacy for you). Believe it or not feeding for hours on end should not make your nips sore! Honest!
Finally You are doing so wonderfully, caring for your lovely baby, I really hope you both find the right support you both deserve

I don't have a chance to proof read this, so I apologize if it's dis-jointed, I have a little sick boob-a-holic boob-monster of my own to attend, but I can assure you they are survivable and breastfeeding gets easier

Thanks for the reply...just a quick response as its almost baby bath time.

If it is Teddy building up my supply then i will certainly go with it, i just was worried that he was not getting enough milk.

I have only noticed he soft spot sunken this once and am now keeping tabs on it and havent noticed it to be bad again. He did have a bit of the runs the other day so it may be that?!

As for formula i have been expressing after giving it to him as to keep my milk coming in. The solution i wanted was to get him to sleep a few hours longer so i could have a clearer head and be less tired.

 

[Urchin]

When I read your post my first thought was growth spurt but my second was teething. Sometimes they feed more and chew their hands if they are teething, which can be mistaken for extra hunger.
Try not to top up with formula too much cos if he needs to get your supply up it'll interfere with it.

I sympathise about the sleeping BTW, at that age (and still now usually) Riley usually wakes every 2 hours! nightmare!

 

[Grace'sMummy]

Hi

Not sure about the sunken head thing but my LO had that when she had a slight cold recently, so maybe he is a little run down with a bug or something? The runny nappies might point to that too?

I really sympathise with you about constant feeding. It's really hard but it will get easier. He's just doing what he needs to do and get your boobs producing enough grub for him as he grows.

Can you take to your bed for a little while? Lay down and feed him, you can doze and relax. It really saved me in the early days and now when we have a hard day or night of it, I just pop her next to me in bed and let her get on with it!

Hope that helps a bit

 

[poochielove]

When I read your post my first thought was growth spurt but my second was teething. Sometimes they feed more and chew their hands if they are teething, which can be mistaken for extra hunger.
Try not to top up with formula too much cos if he needs to get your supply up it'll interfere with it.

I sympathise about the sleeping BTW, at that age (and still now usually) Riley usually wakes every 2 hours! nightmare!

My mum said teething and i laughed because i thought it was waaay too early. He has also has the whole red cheek thing going on!

 

[kiwiswife]

It's great you have been doing pumping. Teeth! Have you had a wee look at his gummies! DS 'cut' his first at the start of his 3rdmonth. Extra runny poo's will certainly make him want more milk and that certainly could affect the appearance of his fontanelle, as he will be losing more fluids than usual. A 'bed in' day can be great for your supply if you can manage it. I forgot to mention earlier if you are worried about his health remember to focuson more obvious things too, being cranky/alert (is better than!)him being listless, putting on weight- even a little, colour in his complexion, crying/grizzling versus high-pitch screaming, yada yada.
Well done mama

 

[lea m]

When I read your post my first thought was growth spurt but my second was teething. Sometimes they feed more and chew their hands if they are teething, which can be mistaken for extra hunger.
Try not to top up with formula too much cos if he needs to get your supply up it'll interfere with it.

I sympathise about the sleeping BTW, at that age (and still now usually) Riley usually wakes every 2 hours! nightmare!

My mum said teething and i laughed because i thought it was waaay too early. He has also has the whole red cheek thing going on!

I thought Lola-Mae was too young too! But she is teething! She probably wont get a tooth for a few months but shes definitely teething!
Dribbling, red cheeks, occasional slightly raised temp, shoving her hands in her mouth, chewing instead of sucking her dummie!

 

[jills10uk]

sounds like teething to me - mine does the same hand chewing thing and on and off red cheek, he has been doing it for about 8 weeks or so now, no sign of a tooth yet but definately is teething. have you tried him with a dummy if he is comfort sucking?

 

[poochielove]

sounds like teething to me - mine does the same hand chewing thing and on and off red cheek, he has been doing it for about 8 weeks or so now, no sign of a tooth yet but definately is teething. have you tried him with a dummy if he is comfort sucking?

Yep! All i can say is thank fook for dummies!

 

[charlotte_]

When I read your post my first thought was growth spurt but my second was teething. Sometimes they feed more and chew their hands if they are teething, which can be mistaken for extra hunger.
Try not to top up with formula too much cos if he needs to get your supply up it'll interfere with it.

I sympathise about the sleeping BTW, at that age (and still now usually) Riley usually wakes every 2 hours! nightmare!

My mum said teething and i laughed because i thought it was waaay too early. He has also has the whole red cheek thing going on!

I thought Lola-Mae was too young too! But she is teething! She probably wont get a tooth for a few months but shes definitely teething!
Dribbling, red cheeks, occasional slightly raised temp, shoving her hands in her mouth, chewing instead of sucking her dummie!

and zach!

 

[ninjawomble]

When I read your post my first thought was growth spurt but my second was teething. Sometimes they feed more and chew their hands if they are teething, which can be mistaken for extra hunger.
Try not to top up with formula too much cos if he needs to get your supply up it'll interfere with it.

I sympathise about the sleeping BTW, at that age (and still now usually) Riley usually wakes every 2 hours! nightmare!

My mum said teething and i laughed because i thought it was waaay too early. He has also has the whole red cheek thing going on!

Hun Islas exactly the same, chewing her hand and red cheeks...I thought she was way too young but shes going for it!
If it wernt for the dummy Id crack up!

 

[xmcnickyx]

My MIL sooo doesn't believe that babies as young as Molly can be teething! I thought I as maing it up until you all said the same thing!

Knowing what Lola-Mae is up to always helps me know that Molly is normal