11 week old ds struggling at the breast.

[ReallyFuckingFedUp]

We've had a problem with large at birth ds falling on the centile chart (while gaining weight). BUt he has until this week never given me any indication that there wasn't enough for him. Always satiated after feeds. Calm relaxed. Past couple days however he's been fidgety and crying at the breast while I am trying to feed. Stressing and refusing to latch properly.

At the moment my other children and I are really under the weather and he may also be starting to feel ill. Or maybe I'm not producing enough to feeling sick?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[EverythingIsTicketyBoo]

Could you go back to skin to skin, and try little and often until he gets back into his routine? Also make sure you drink loads of water too, it'll help you feel better and help your supply.

I hope you all feel better very soon and your little one doesn't come down with it.

[ReallyFuckingFedUp]

everythingisticketyboo thanks for your reply, I can't really go back to skin to skin as just finding time to feed is a struggle and I have to put DS down frequently during feeds so it isn't practical (I have a 3 and 2 year old). But that would make sense if I didn't have all the distractions! I will start doubling my water intake though as I'm probaly not eating as much as I normally do which would lower my liquid intake too.

[EverythingIsTicketyBoo]

Ah, it's not hard with other children to look after too. I would definitely increase your drinks, it will help your supply.

I'm sure someone with better advice will be along :)

[urkidding]

Bottle feed and be happy. A dishwasher is fine for sterilising bottles, let dad deal with that, prepare babies bottles, and feed baby at night and have a good rest. The baby is probably hungry.

Look after yourself and stop worrying. A happy mum makes a happy baby.

Don't believe all the crap you read about intelligence etc. Middle-class mums breastfeed more and generally are more pro-active in their childrens education, that is why their children do well. I have never seen statistics so mis-used! I had two girls, both bottle-fed, who were far more immune to allergies than the breastfeeding mob, they went to grammar schools and top universities.

I was made to feel bad at a vulnerable time by the moronic breastfeeding mob.

[Forgettable]

Get stuffedd youarekidding

[TwistedThinking]

Could be getting distracted if there's a lot of stuff going on in the room, could you try a feeding shawl to keep his attention?
I've also heard you can be prescribed domperidone that can increase milk supply (an anti sickness drug but with that side effect).

[EverythingIsTicketyBoo]

Urkidding, please do us a favour and ftfo, there's a dear.

[EverythingIsTicketyBoo]

fedup I remembered that fenugreek is good for supply, and the advice to use a shawl to shield him from distraction is also a good one.

I also remembered some advice from my early feeding days, was to switch feed to increase supply. So each time he gets distracted, pop him on the other side and feed some more, it's all supply and demand!! I will pop back if I remember anything else :)

[urkidding]

Well , let's be logical. I suggest you try baby with a ready made bottle of milk. If the poor darling gulps it down, he is hungry. If he refuses it, he is sick.

You will know what the cause is. Then you can decide what further action to take. But do not believe that one bottle is going to put him off breastmik - yet another stupid myth. I know a mum with a heavy baby who breast-fed and supplemented with formula. He is a strapping 6ft something at Cambridge now, so she must have done something right!!

[spottydolphin]

hi OP, your illness shouldn't affect your milk supply. nor should what you eat/drink unless you're very malnourished!

i found with all of my babies that around that age they got easily distractible and did fidget a lot at the breast.
or like you say, he might just be coming down with something- fidgety and crying could indicate that something is making him uncomfortable... sore throat? painful ear?

i certainly wouldn't assume a supply issue unless there are other indications

[ReallyFuckingFedUp]

Urkidding. It's not crap, it's science. I would have assumed your initial post was meant kindly (although seriously) misguided if you hadn't chosen to call breastfeeders a moronic mob.

Twistedthinking, I've actually tried domperidone in the past, and it was a nightmare to get it prescribed. Doctors are really reluctant to prescribe because it isn't actually for bf.. I found one of the gps at my surgery to do it ... but only because his wife was a midwife and he rung her to ask if I was right! We've moved since then and not sure I can face it again! But will keep it as a last ditch effort

The cloth is a pretty good idea though and I will give it a try, there is a LOT of distraction at my house!

[spottydolphin]

a baby drinking a bottle doesn't indicate that he is hungry because mum isn't producing enough milk

most babies will down a bottle if offered because it's easy to drink and hard to stop the flow. doesn't mean anything

[spottydolphin]

and urkidding formula feeding is fine if that's what you want to do. but the OP doesn't want to formula feed, she wants help with breastfeeding, so telling her to just give a bottle isn't really helpful is it?

[ReallyFuckingFedUp]

urkidding giving you the benefit of the doubt, it is entirely unhelpful to come on to a thread about bf and say, "try formula".

If someone who was FF said they were having problems with their baby I would be flamed to a crisp (and rightfully so) for popping up and saying "you should really be breastfeeding".

[ReallyFuckingFedUp]

Urkidding, as I said I have 3 children already. The first 2 were partly formula fed. Mix feeding is not a good idea, it affects your supply and it's a pain in the arse (I had to do it). Worst of both worlds ime. This baby has had a couple days of weirdness, my first two unfortunately vomited after every bottle. Ask me again why I am choosing to bf.

[ReallyFuckingFedUp]

Spotty, my daughter has complained of sore throat so it is possible he has one as well. He's not been messing about with ears (although I don't know if they rub their ears this young or not with ear infection? )

[feekerry]

Could he be teething? Ds is 14 weeks and def showing signs. Dd had her first tooth at 11 weeks so def poss. Sometimes i find putting him on the other side better. Maybe one side is hurting more? Could try a bit of calpol before and see if he feeds better?
I don't think illness affects supply... Well didn't in my case. I was hospitalized with starvation basically (hg) and still managed to feed dd!!x