I?m a first time mum and I?m worried that my 4 day old EBF baby isn?t getting enough to eat. Apologies that this is so long, I wanted to make sure that I gave all the relevant information.
He was born on Saturday after a 40 hour labour and it was an instrumental delivery as his heart rate was dipping on each contraction. We were given IV antibiotics because my waters broke early. I had a local anaesthetic for the delivery but no other pain relief (I had diamorphine earlier on but it had worn off by then as given more than 12 hours before delivery).
On day 1 he wouldn?t feed so I ended up giving him hand-expressed colostrum from a syringe.
On day 2 I struggled to get him to take anything. He wouldn?t open his mouth and if I did manage to get a nipple in he didn?t seem to realise that he had to suck. He ended up feeding every 5-6 hours for about 20 minutes each time.
Day 3 (yesterday) I woke him 3 hours after each feed and he seemed to get the hang of it, feeding each time and each feed got easier. He even asked for a couple of feeds after only 2.5 hours (and he had an extra one after about an hour which I don?t count as it was only for about 5 mins). My milk came in but as the day went on he went from feeding for about 20 mins to feeding for only about 10 mins each feed. I offered him more each time but he wasn?t interested or only took a couple of sucks before falling asleep.
Day 4 (today) he?s had one good 20 minute feed and one for only 10 mins. At the end of the 20 min feed I could see that he had managed to get the thicker milk that comes later (is this the let down?) but I couldn?t see any after the 10 minute feed. I offered him more each time but he wouldn?t take it.
It doesn?t feel like he could possibly be getting enough milk but I don?t know what else to do. I have some formula in the cupboard and I?m tempted to give him a bottle just so I know that he?s getting something but my instinct is that once I do this he won?t take the breast again as it?s been such a battle so far.
We only get 2-3 wet nappies a day but plenty of dirty ones ? poo is greeny yellow in the nappy but bright yellow on the cotton wool when I wipe him iyswim so he is getting something.
Any suggestions/ advice? He was a small baby so I don?t want him losing too much weight when he?s weighed at his 5 day check tomorrow. He's due another feed in an hour.
Thanks
Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.
Infant feeding
Am I starving my ebf 4 day old baby?
WutheringTights · 26/12/2012 06:57
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
This reply has been deleted
Message withdrawn at poster's request.
Don’t want to miss threads like this?
Weekly
Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!
Log in to update your newsletter preferences.
You've subscribed!
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.