day 3/4 low blood sugar = formula...back to bf?

[MoonFaceMamaaaaargh]

DSIL had her ds2 by elcs on tuesday.

She wanted to bf (ds1 was ff, sounds to me like nipple confusion following bottle in hosp, though think he was refluxy etc anyway so no doubt difficult to feed in general iyswim)

With ds2 she has bf for 24hrs. Then low blood sugar was diagnosed and so bottles of ff given.

I'm unsure if her milk has come in or if she has attempted to bf since.

I have suggested to her (by text) that if she still want to bf or mixed feed this would be possible, but of course if she is happy with formula that is great.

I've only just heard about the feeding problems and am off to see them later.

if she is interested in getting back bf, how should i suggest she begins? Baby moon and expressing? If she does want to i would try and get a bfc to speak to her asap, but just want to be able to give her an indication of what might be involved.

Thank you in advance for your help. If she says she's not interested i'll post asap so as not to waste your time.

[Mampig]

I'd say you are completely right with baby moon, expressing and lots of putting baby to boob. Also biological nurturing ??? Not experienced enough and someone expert will be along soon but that should get you started! Tell her congrats from us! Hope it works out how she wants!

[MoonFaceMamaaaaargh]

thanks mampig, will look up biological nurturing...haven't done it myself. Thanks for your warm wishes.

[Cosmosis]

Bear in mind she might find positioning hard after a cs, it can cause discomfort on the wound, and picking up and putting down the baby will be difficult too. I would definitely suggest babymoon, she?ll be wanting plenty of rest after the cs anyway, so in bed/ sofa cuddles with baby will be perfect.

Congrats to her and to auntie Moonface :)

[tiktok]

Obv you need to be gentle and tactful, but I'd be really suspicious of a maternity unit that gave formula on day 2 - low blood sugar is a real issue (though often over-diagnosed) but the way to handle it in a mother who wants to bf is to hand express colostrum (if the baby is unable to latch well) and to keep mum and baby skin to skin so no opportunity to bf is lost :(

Having said that the way back to full bf is just as you say, but she may not need to express - if the baby is able to feed effectively, then expressing just complicates things.

Hope things work out for her.

[MoonFaceMamaaaaargh]

thanks cos, yes i had wondered about positioning.

Thanks tiktok. Apparently blood sugar was one when first measured so can understand it was a real worry but i would have thought there were other things to try before ff.

Anyway i've heard back from her now and no mention of bf so i'll drop it. Just wanted her to know know it was an option and guess i've done that now.

[EMS23]

it's really interesting you say that tiktok...
My failure to establish BF started with my low birth weight DD having low blood sugar and I was told I had no choice but to allow the hospital to tube feed her Infatrini, which they did for 2 days. I did express the few drops of colostrum I was able to and that was given to my DD also.
She wasn't able to feed effectively when on day 3 I was "allowed" to try to BF her and by day 6 it was all over us as she was losing lots of weight and I was mentally too weak to make a good decision about what to do.

Sorry for the thread hijack.

[EMS23]

oh and they also took her away from me constantly as I "wasn't coping and needed to rest" apparently. So no chance for skin to skin etc..

[BuntyCollocks]

Sorry for thread hijack in advance ...

Tiktok, can I ask you for more info re low blood sugar and formula being given? I had emcs and less than 12 hours after ds was born, I was advised he had to have formula due to low blood sugar. It was around three and they wouldn't let up until it was four. I insisted on cup feeds, but was this absolutely necessary, or could they have given us longer to get more colostrum into him (still bf now at nearly 7 months but have had chronic issues with low supply and now wondering if this, too, could have been contributing factor).

[tiktok]

Low blood sugar is hypoglycaemia and there are a good number of links about it here: www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/bfhelp-hypoglycemia.html.

Generally speaking - and I stress I'm not commenting on any individual story here, really, as there may have been more going on - babies who have low blood sugar don't need formula unless things have got bad. Low blood sugar is a transient condition that needs to be monitored and assessed, but often time and extra breastfeeding/breastmilk are sufficient.

There are some maternity units which have a policy of checking babies who have no actual symptoms of low blood sugar but who are deemed to be at risk 'cos of pre-term, low birthweight and so on. Not all authorities agree with this checking - especially as there is a wide range of what's considered to be normal, and not all testing is accurate. So you might 'treat' a baby with formula, who would be fine in a few hours when he'd had more colostrum. Or you might treat a baby who would be considered to be fine anyway, in another maternity unit with a higher threshold for treatment.

Low blood sugar can be physiological - ie it is 'meant' to happen, as a temporary response on the baby's part to physical conditions that will pass. The problem is that because untreated, longer-lasting hypoglycaemia is bad news, mothers (and midwives and doctors) get worried. The literature shows that in many cases, just keeping mothers and babies together so they can get bf going, with some support and practical guuidance if necessary, plus hand expression of colostrum, is just fine and resolves the issue (if there is one) very quickly.

[MoonFaceMamaaaaargh]

Have been round and she would like to have a go at bf again. Hasn't done anything about it yet...was talking about pumping and giving ebm but I suggested just seeing if baby would latch on...not waiting till he was hungry but just treating it as a snuggley practice.

Will print out some appropriate stuff from Kellymom and drop it off along with a lecky pump in case she decides to go down that route.

Turns out it was SIL's decision to go straight to formula as she was really worried. The lo was feeding well till then though so hopefully he'll pick up where he left off.

Thank you to everyone that has contributed before...Any further advice gratefully received.

EMS and bunty I'm really sorry to hear about the rubbish times you both had.EMS it sounds like you were treated very badly.
Bunty apparently they wanted DNephews blood sugar to get up to threeish and then they were happy...they clearly all have very different standards.

[MoonFaceMamaaaaargh]

Tiktok...looking on Kellymom there is a method for weaning from suppliments...do you think she would need to do something like this at this stage? Or is it possible to just put lo to breast as much as poss would she need to offer occasional top ups? She does not think her milk has come in properly yet if that makes any difference...though is starting to feel fuller.

[tiktok]

Day 3-4 is usually fine just to start bf - see what midwife says. If baby is bf well, prob just drop the supps, but she does need to check.

[MoonFaceMamaaaaargh]

thanks tiktok.