Anxious about 2 week old breastfeeding

[sebsmama]

My daughter is 15 days old and ebf. She weighed 3.77 at birth, went down to 3.3 at day 3 and back to 3.74 at day 9. However from day 9 to day 13 she only went up to 3.77 which is hardly a gain at all.

She is so sleepy i am worried my supply is too low. I have to wake her for her feeds, except for a few hours in the evening from about 8 till midnight, where she feeds more or less constantly. She had been waking every two and a half hours or so at night to feed, but last night she went 5 hours. When i woke and realised, i woke her and rwally struggled to keep her awake. She always falls asleep and i dont feel like she gets enough before she drops off.

When she is awake she us very alert and content. She does plenty of wet nappies and poos, and her poo is yellow. Most nappies are dirty.

We are in bed skin to skin now, but its been about 3 hours again and she is showing no sign of waking to feed.

Does it sound ike thre is a problem?
Thanks

[tiktok]

:( sebsmama , sorry you are feeling so low about this.

You are understandably concerned, and yes, it does sound that your baby could do with feeding more often. However, she sounds healthy, and perky for much of the time :)

How many times does she feed in the daytime? Is she being offered both sides (at least) each time?

[ICompletelyKnowAboutGuineaPigs]

Well the signs that she's getting enough seem to be there ... wet & dirty nappies, happy & alert. She hasn't lost any weight but I can understand your concern about her frequency of feeds.

When she is feeding is she sucking and swallowing or just sucking? The way to tell is to watch her chin when she feeds - when she's latched on she should open her mouth, have a pause (while she swallows the milk) then close her mouth again to suck. As a general rule if she's swallowing then you know she is getting milk when she feeds. If she's just sucking it might indicate she's not getting very much. But, your DD could just be an efficient feeder, my DS was.

Is there a BFing support group locally that you could attend so someone could observe a feed? It's so much easier to give solid advice with a mum/baby in front of you.

Also, prolactin levels are higher at night so if your DD is feeding a lot at night then this will be stimulating your supply. It sounds like you are feeding on demand and that she's happy and content. I'd be tempted to get someone to watch you feed to put your mind at rest but otherwise just follow her lead.

[sebsmama]

She feeds several times a day. I feed on demand ish. I am not cobfident enough to let her go more than about 3 hours in the day without a feed, so if she hasnt woken, I will wake her. The latch seems good (she is my second dc and I fed DS for a year, so theoretically I shouls know what Im doing!). Sometimes I can tell she is having a realky goood, noisy feed, others I am not so sure.

I offer both sides. I believe i am meant to ensure she finishes the first breast completely, so i try and do this, although its hard to tell, as there always seems to be some left. She doesnt feed for more than a few minutes beore i need to wake her.

There are breastfeeding groups, although none i can fet to until next thursday.

Thanks for your messages. Do you think i should try and wake her more? Hv said i could feed on demand, but she doesnt demand much!

[worldgonecrazy]

I was also worried and asked "how do I feed on demand when she won't demand". We got through it, and the support group really helped. Take it one day at a time. Don't panic too much about weight - a baby poo is quite a bit percentage of their weight so weighing just before/after a poo can affect figures, as can dodgy scales.

There will always be milk in your breasts because they don't "fill/empty" like a bottle, but continually make milk.

Have you tried stroking the palms of her hand or the soles of her feet to keep her awake a few minutes longer if she starts drifting off?

[tiktok]

No, it's not true that the first side needs to be finished completely - BIG MYTH! There will always be milk remaining. Guide to swapping sides is the baby - when she shows she is 'done' on side one, she can be swapped over.

I think with a baby as young as this who seems to be gaining a tad slowly, waking for feeds is entirely reasonable.

It sounds to me that this is an issue that will resolve itself, even so - seems to make sense to continue with your 'watchful waking' until you're happy all is well, for the moment. It does not sound as if she is in need of any further intervention, from what you say here :)

[sebsmama]

I have tried that, worldgonecrazy, sometimes it works. Or i sit her up and burp her, blow on her face etc. sometimes she just will not wake! Is your dc feeding wrll now?

I do get a bit obsessed with weight which i know i shouldnt but there isnt any other measure of how shes doing....

[sebsmama]

Thanks tiktok. That is reassuring. There is so much mixed info about. I will keep waking her. She must be sick of the sight of me!

[BigPigLittlePig]

I second what tiktok said - only discovered this week that you can't empty a breast (dd is 12 weeks old) . Is your lo at all jaundiced? My dd was very similar to yours at the beginning, it took weeks for her to start gaining properly as she was so sleepy. Her jaundice took a few weeks to disappear, and I had no idea how sleepy it was making her until she woke up, iyswim.

Have you tried changing her nappy part way through her feed? Feeding her in just her nappy?

[worldgonecrazy]

sebsmama mine is a happy and bouncing 3 year old. We breasfed to 15 months, and I was at work full time from 14 weeks (quite proud of myself for that - bit of a not-so-stealthy boast but also a bit of letting you know that it can be done and it does get easier).

The thing that really helped me was the breastfeeding support groups and meeting other mums in the same situation.

But there's nothing like that milk-drunken half smile that babies do to get you through the bad bits.

And I never ever ever believed any of the mums who told me it does get easier after 6-9 weeks either, but they were telling the truth.

[tiktok]

"I do get a bit obsessed with weight which i know i shouldnt but there isnt any other measure of how shes doing...."

Not true - or only partly :)

It's because weight can be measured that it assumes (over) importance.

Nappies ie 'output' is a good indicator of intake sufficiency. Overall health and responsiveness is also an indicator. But you can't measure urine and poo (not easily...counting nappies is not all that accurate but accuracy is not needed). You can't measure overall health and responsiveness - you can just observe and judge it.

Your baby sounds fine, to be honest.

[sebsmama]

Thank you all. No, she is not jaundiced, the hv and mw were checking for that. Just sleepy. I feel much better and am so glad I posted. You lot are fab. I remember from ds that it really does get easier after 6 weeks, but i had the opposite problem with him,he never stopped feeding and was always demanding! So DD just is so different.

So, i will take the advice to keep an eye and wake her pethaps a bit more than she would like. I will also get to a support group if I can. And will relax, a little.

Thanks again for all your replies, and myth debunking (tiktok). by the way, WGC, that deserves a stealth boast, impressive!