Volume of EBM

[presence]

Hi,

Please can someone advise me what to do. DS over 6 weeks, born at 33+2, have been expressing and trying on breast since. Will several times a day do great bf but crys for more constantly and will not go back on, so given top up and will take full amount.

At present taking 90 mls of ebm every 3-4 hours. Weight 6.5lb.

Is this too much?

I'm getting a bit fed up and lots of tears as was hoping would reject top ups and do longer on breast by now. I don't want to stop after coming this far but caught in cycle of timing expressing with feeds, getting full and having to express.

Was beginning to wonder if i had done some damage to boobs by over expressing?

Was thinking should i just start to solely bf at 40 weels gest equivalent and see? but worried about weight dropping as have worked so hard to get here.

Would really appreciate some advice - thanks.

[LIZS]

Have you seen a bfc ? They should be able to observe , give advice on the latch and , if needs be , how to wean off the top ups as that could affect his/you ability to bfeed longer term. Is there a babycafe operating near by or call one of the helplines.

tbh 3-4 hourly seems too infrequent for such lo but I'm sure others are better palced ot advise. Supply doesn't sound like an issue but your confidence may well be. Good luck.

[presence]

I saw the nct bf counsellor - she watched him bf and said he was feeding well but advised to cont top ups as infront of her he did 40 mins and the cried and cried until topped up.

Do you think i should reduce ebm so he trys more freq?

[tiktok]

presence, it would be really helpful for you I think if you called one of the helplines to speak to someone about this - you need a lot of support and it's brill you have sustained bf after a difficult start.

I am not clear what's happening - is your baby bf, and then taking a 90 ml ebm top up every 3-4 hours?

This suggests to me he is not taking much direct at the breast at all, and only looks as if he is doing so.

Fixing the bf to make it more effective would be the first thing I would think of, but as I say, speaking to someone is good.

[presence]

yes - he is taking almost 80-90mls 3-4 hrly, usually 3hours.

He does posset more after effective bf but no where near that volume.

I've spoken to hv, nct and friends - who ekse should i try?

I am really starting to feel stuck in a rut amd alone. Mever imagined it would be like this.

[Naetha]

You cannot overfeed a baby that age, so when you give him the bottle try him with say 120ml ebm - he will stop when he's full. It shouldn't be wasted either as you can put it back in the fridge and add it to the next feed if you want. (Well that's what I do - only for EBM though, never formula).

My DS was taking about 120ml EBM every 3 hours at that age, and at 10 weeks is now taking 150-180ml every 3-4 hours, although he is a greedy beggar! Sometimes though, especially on an evening he will take up to 240ml between say 6 and 7:30, although this has only been in the last couple of weeks.

HTH