more breastfeeding problems, really need help/support

[Piccalilli2]

Just when I thought things were improving, cracke nipples healing etc...

Dd2 is 7 days old and now feeding every hour, and last night fed for over a two hour stretch with only a 10 minute break so I could go to the loo. She seems very windy and uncomfortable, isn't settling between feeds and is pooing fairly explosively 8 or 9 times a day. She just doesn't seem happy and i'm worried i don't have enough milk for her, and i'm not sure i can cope with having her permanently attached to me. help, please...

[Stefka]

This period is so hard but it really doesn't stay like that. Do you have people around who can support you?

Do you think she might have colic? My DS had that and it was pretty awful.

I am sorry I can't offer more advice but I am sure someone who has more knowledge will be along soon. Hang in there - you are doing a brilliant thing for your wee girl.

[berolina]

This does sound normal. Those early bf days can be a shock to the system on top of the shock of birth. it will, will, will get better, and then the rewards of bf will make it all worthwhile. She knows what she is doing - building up your supply. In fact, to talk of distinct 'feeds' at certain times at this stage can be misleading. I think you are likely to be pleased at her weight gain when she is next weighed

Settle yourself on the sofa, read (for yourself or to dd1), watch TV, whatever. It might take longer than you imagine to pass, but I promise you it will pass.

[Piccalilli2]

i did wonder about colic. we're oing to try infacol today.

it's just so so hard at the moment and i feel like i'm neglecting my 2 yr old as well. Dh is being great but at the end of the day there's not a great deal he can do as i'm the one with the breasts

[skidoodle]

what do you mean by explosively? my DD used to poo about that many times a day in the first couple of weeks and it tended to be accompanied by a lot of farts but I'm not sure I would have said it was "explosive". Have you spoken to your midwife about it to set your mind at ease?

If she's doing that many poos I can imagine how you could not have enough milk. I'm no expert at all, but I think as long as there are plenty of dirty and wet nappies you don't need to be worrying that the baby isn't getting enough food.

I'm not sure about the settling thing, but in the first week or so my DD would feed for 2 hour stretches at night (never in the day) and afterwards she would be unsettled and seem to have pains in her tummy. Someone here suggested she might be comfort sucking when her tummy was full and making herself sick and it made sense, because from those night feeds it always seemed the longer she fed the worse she got. Also being awake for so long when she was so tiny made her get really cranky. It was very tough.

I solved it by giving her a soother one night, just for a few minutes. We took it out before she fell asleep but it seemed to break the cycle. She's now 5 weeks old and I've used a soother to settle her maybe 3 or 4 times altogether, so no dependency created. I'm sure lots of people will tell you to avoid using one and they might well be right, but it certainly worked for us when we had a very unhappy little baby.

I also found that once she stopped being awake all night feeding and screaming she slept a lot more during the day too and was a lot more settled even when she was awake. Calmness seemed to beget more calmness iykwim.

[Stefka]

I also had to use a dummy for a couple of weeks. I had badly cracked nipples and was really struggling to have DS on the boob as much as he wanted to be. So if he had just fed and then started to cry etc I gave him the dummy and he would go to sleep. Not ideal but it was necessary for me or I just wouldn't have been able to manage to keep BF. As soon as I was able I just took it away again and he never noticed. I think it can cause problems for some people though.

[Piccalilli2]

i don't think it's her latch, i had that checked yet again yesterday by the bfing counsellor and a midwife in both cross-cradle and underarm hold

[tiktok]

Picc, if your baby is happy as long as she us on or near the breast, then this is normal newborn behaviour, and it doesn't last

If she is unsettled when she is put down, and calms when she is held and put to the breast again, then it doesn't indicate a problem with feeding...in fact, it is, as we say here, normal.

8-9 poos a day is fine -they can come out quite fast, too.

Hope you can call a breastfeeding counsellor and get further information and a chance to talk it through.

[Astrophe]

This sounds a bit similar to what my DS - He was much older by the time I finally got some good help, so I don't know if what I did will be appropriate for such a little one. I'll say what I did, and hopefully someone much wiser will be along to say if its a good idea, or if I am completely off track.

I also worried I 'didn't have anough milk', but in actual fact I had way too much, and poor DS was getting swamped by the speed of it, and wasn't getting enough fat to settle him because he just had some of the fast milk, then gave up. So What I was advised to do (by a lovely MNer) was feed off one breast for 6b hours (as many feeds as DS wanted), then switch to other breast, and so on for several days until my milk supply settled and slowed. It worked amazingly well for me, but as I said I have no idea if this wold be the right thing for you. Certainly I sugest you don't try it until you have run it past your HV, or another MNer who knows more than me.

I'm sure you will get some good help and things will settle down. Its really hard in those realy days isn't it?

PS, your 2 year old will be ok. Maybe not perfect for him right now, but he wil be ok.

[Astrophe]

Oh speak of the devil I took so long to write that (with breakfast for the DC in between), that now the BFing gurus are here anwyay!

Disregard my waffle then please!

[tiktok]

Apostrophe - what you describe works well, but it's not appropriate for a 7 day old baby. The 'way too much milk thing' is not normally an issue just yet, and delib. feeding on one side only as you outline, is not a good idea when bf is just getting underway.....just need to put that here for the record

[Astrophe]

Good Tiktok, I was hoping someone would come and say one way or another - I certainly wouldn't want to get Picc off on the wrong foot.

I am still reeling a bit (2 years on!) from how well it worked for DS (who was about 4/5 months, NOT 7 days). Can you guess who the clever MNer was who advised me?

Picilili - listen to Tiktok, she knows stuff.

[iMum]

Normal I think, just a really difficult patch you have to get through. Feeding constantly, windy, farty, loud speedy poos., fractious if not being held by or sucking on the boob.
All very very normal.
On the other hand I think it is actually really quite unusual for a mother to truly not "have enough milk" although I may have dreamt that one up?
As for your 2 year old, try not to worry, kids adjust so quickly and usually with no major problems-and this phase will pass.

[tiktok]

: At Apostrophe

[ChairmumMiaow]

Although it must be horrible to hear this, 2 hours is nothing - at that point DS was doing 6 at night!

I posted on here at a few weeks, in much the same state, but everyone on here told me that it was normal and does get better, and gave me lots of links to/advice on how milk production works etc - understanding it helped me a lot, and gradually the feeds got shorter, and he started to sleep earlier.

He now only does about 45 minutes at 14 weeks and nods off at around 9.15 (so much better than 1am!) - it does get better.

Talk to your MW / HV about the poo and go to a breastfeeding group - even if your latch is fine its lovely to hear other people say - "oh yes, mine is/was like that"