My baby girl is 5.5 weeks old now and I'm not sure what to do. . . I'll try to keep a long story short, but I was determined to exclusively breastfeed my baby this time and it hasn't gone that well. I breastfed my first child for 10 months (no issues besides thrush on and off for a few months), but my second didn't take to it and after a few weeks we resorted to formula feeding. This time around my baby girl did great learning to nurse at the hospital and was mainly breastfed for the first three weeks (with the exception of 1-2 oz of formula a day to help her jaundice levels). By her two week appointment, though, she was 11 oz less than her birth weight and 7 oz less at 3 weeks. My doctor determined she wasn't getting enough to eat to work on getting my supply up. Well, I tried and kept feeding her, but also started supplementing with bottles to ensure she would get enough. She regained her birth weight plus 4 oz by 4 weeks old. :)
I found that I was supplementing after many of her feedings and it was getting really draining and time consuming. I decided I just didn't have the time to focus on feeding her so long (hoping if I let her nurse 30 min on a side she would eventually eat enough) and often with two other kids and the house to take care of. On top of all of this I work from home 15-20 hours a week. I started giving her a bottle every-other feeding so my body would have time to produce more milk. It worked well at first, but now I'm finding the need to feed her another 2 oz of formula after some of the nursing feedings. Sometimes she still seems hungry even after the 2 oz and it's getting so frustrating not knowing if she is barely getting anything from nursing. I also feel like I'm getting an infection or something because I'm still sensitive and have some shooting pain especially after I feed her. I'm worried my supply is just going to dry up altogether. In a way I'm tempted to strictly pump and give her bottles to ensure she's getting enough. She only wakes up twice a night and eats every 2-4 hours during the day depending on her naps. When she gets a bottle I give her 4 oz, which usually is good, but sometimes she only drinks 2 or 3.
I really wish it was easier to breastfeed her and would like her to get more breastmilk, but I'm not sure what it's worth. I figured there might be some in CafeMom that have had experience with this or some advice for me. :)
Well, you have created a bad never ending cycle for yourself. Bottles kill supply. And skipping a feeding will not produce more milk, it will diminish your supply. The only way to EBF, is to EBF. Throw away all the bottles and formula. You're still going to have to build your supply up, but you're not going to accomplish that by supplementing with formula and skipping feedings at the breast. Also, 4 oz at a time is WAY too much for a 5 week old baby. 2 oz. would be a normal feeding. 4 oz feeding will stretch her stomach. Do you have a breast pump?
I agree with a pp, but would also add that Fenugreek may help increase your supply. Do you work from home on your computer? I was able to work from home letting DD feed while I typed. Good luck with whatever you choose.
I just don't understand because even when she was exclusively breastfeeding I wasn't producing enough. I know that giving bottles won't get my supply up, but I don't mind doing both at this point. I just thought as my body got used to making enough for every other feeding that I could try nursing her more often. I thought they were suppose to eat 1/2 their body weight in ounces? She's probably about 8.5 lbs. I guess that's not true then? I feel so clueless. : /
Yes, I do work mainly from my laptop. I often feed her while I work, at least what I can do with one free hand. :)
How many diapers a day are you seeing? Keep in mind a stool and wet or a full diaper counts as two.
Has your baby been checked for tongue tie lip tie or palate issues?
How is latch?
Do you have a record of birth weight lowest weight and other weights?
Are you using the same scale every time? Same time of day? No clothing just a diaper?
What do stools look like?
Any eczema?
The more formula and bottles you give the less you make. Breastfeeding is all about supply and demand. If your getting a minimum of 6-8 diapers a day your supply is fine. If stools are not yellowish and seedy you may have either a allergy issue or baby may be getting too much foremilk. If you can find an lc in your area they can walk you through this.
Quoting ConnersMom03:I just don't understand because even when she was exclusively breastfeeding I wasn't producing enough. I know that giving bottles won't get my supply up, but I don't mind doing both at this point. I just thought as my body got used to making enough for every other feeding that I could try nursing her more often. I thought they were suppose to eat 1/2 their body weight in ounces? She's probably about 8.5 lbs. I guess that's not true then? I feel so clueless. : /
Quoting ConnersMom03:Yes, I do work mainly from my laptop. I often feed her while I work, at least what I can do with one free hand. :)
How do you KNOW you weren't producing enough? Weight gain is not the way to tell. Diapers are the way to tell. If she was having at least 6 wet and/or dirty diapers in a 24 hour period, then she was getting enough and you were producing enough. As for the highlighted part, that is backwards thinking. Basically, what you're doing there is diminishing your supply, just so that your can build it back up again. ??? Doesn't make any sense. And I have never heard of a rule "eat half their weight in oz." Maybe that's for FF babies??
Quoting ConnersMom03:I just don't understand because even when she was exclusively breastfeeding I wasn't producing enough. I know that giving bottles won't get my supply up, but I don't mind doing both at this point. I just thought as my body got used to making enough for every other feeding that I could try nursing her more often. I thought they were suppose to eat 1/2 their body weight in ounces? She's probably about 8.5 lbs. I guess that's not true then? I feel so clueless. : /
Every single ounce of formula you give is one less ounce your body makes.
Her weight gain of 4 ounces between week 2 & 3 was absolutely perfect. You look for a gain of 4 ounces a week from the lowest weight around one week old. Birth weight means nothing. Depending on that initial loss (bigger babies lose more, iv in labor inflates weight, c sections even more so, etc) it could take a month to get back to birth weight.
Your big misstep was ever supplementing to begin with when baby was gaining perfectly.
If you want to quit, quit. No shame there.
But this is sooooo easily fixable. Toss the bottles and just nurse! Will baby be pissed? Absolutely. Well baby starve? No way.
I might be able to shed some light on your problem.
First of all bf is the best thing when it come to treatin jaundice so that's a little weir suggestion to ff but u know..:what's done is done. I had a hard time in the beginning cuz my baby was so small. I was encouraged to bf every 2 hours 24/7. Dunno if that's possible for you. It also helps with your supply.
It took a good maybe 8 weeks til we were finally down to 20 minutes. In the beginning it took nearly an hour to feed him.
Things u can try to increase your supply is fenugreek or mother's milk. ( the first is a capsule, the latter a tea). It works wonders for most ppl.
If u have a pump you can also try to express milk after and between feedings. It promotes a good supply and it makes so that u can bottle feed with breastmilk instead of formula every once in a while so u can get a bit of a break or let your SO help. I did and it was a great relief for me. Remember that pumping is NOT a good measurement of how much milk you have. You will never get a pump as effective at getting milk out as a baby.
Don't worry so muh about how much she's getting each feeding. It'll differ depending on if she's hungry or just wants the comfort. The important thing is also that she gains, less how mch she gains. My ds has always been small, he's growing great at HIS rate but according to the average curve he's still small. Remember that the curve at your doctor's office is made for ff babies, not breastfeed babies! Breastfeed babies will often have a slower weight gain in the beginning.
I did "marathon feedings" when I had a little more time. Meaning like I'd take a Saturday for example and just nurse as much as possible. That send to work for my little man.
Booby pain can have a few different reasons.
- dehydration. Make sure you stay all hydrated. I drank minimum 1 gallon/day in the beginning
- thrush. It can show as a white film on your baby's tounge. Usually it doesn't show on you but can case nIpple pain.
- poor latch. Is your nipple turning white? In that case it might be poor latching. It's not dangerous by any means but can be Painful.
- any other reason I don't know (after all I'm not a doc, just a regular mommy)
I'm not sure if the pain is in your boob or nipple. If it's the nipple u can also try to put lanolin on. That usually helps. I used lanolin like it was going out of style the first 3-4 months.
I'm by no mean an expert but I am a fellow mommy, breastfeeding 6 months and still going strong :)
Does your baby have great-grandparents?
Cow Milk?
- ConnersMom03
on Jul. 2, 2012 at 12:20 AM