when does breast feeding get easier??

[joorla]

hi
my dd is 8 wks old - at the moment i'm combining breast and bottle feeding. solely breast feeding during the night and giving her 2/3 bottles (120 ml) plus breast feeding during the day.
I want to switch back to solely breast feeding (which i did in the first 5 weeks) but this morning i breastfed her at 7.30, 9.30, 10.30 and 11.30 and she was still crying and rooting for more so I caved in and gave her a bottle. Similar happened this afternoon. This is why I started to give her bottles in the first place because she always seemed so hungry and had started to feed for 30/40 mins at a time and be ready for more an hour later.
I dont even know if she is actually taking milk as she seems to suck for a few mins and then sit there with her eyes closed doing gentle sucking motions, so not sure if she is just going on there for comfort.
any advice would be really welcome - I dont want to give up breast feeding but am getting to the end of my tether and feel ready to cry cos I really dont want to give up but I also dont want to be tied to the house either.
When will the feeding get less.

[tutu100]

hi, It's possible that your body needs to produce more milk for your child to breastfeed exclusively. In order for this to happen they do feed really frequently to make your body produce more milk. This normally takes a few days to settle down. I'm afraid that you may have to put up with very frequent feeding for a few days if you want to go back to breastfeeding exclusively.

[tutu100]

Sorry forgot to add when I breastfed my son his feeds would often take anything up to an 1hr and then sometimes he would want another feed an hour later. This does settle down. By the time he was 4 months old (which may seem a long way off at the moment!) feeds often only took 10 mins. So it does get easier. Well done you are doing great so far by the sounds of it. Have you got a good Health Visitor you could ask for advice?

[SoupDragon]

Yes, you'll need to build your supply back up so she will need feeding more regularly - there's no way round that.

[joorla]

ok, so what your saying is that my body needs to produce more milk and by feeding every hour this is going to increase the amount and that after a coupld of days when my milk has increased she will feed less frequently??

[SoupDragon]

Basically yes. Although I don't know how long it takes to build supply back up.

Breastfeeding is pure supply and demand - the mjoore the baby feeds/sucks, the more milk is produced. Your body thinks "oooh, she's feeding a lot - best make some more" and then everything settles down. It's the same as hen they have a growth spurt.

[tutu100]

yes that's the theory. But this also happens when they go through growth spurts, they feed nore frequently then to increase supply. But honestly if you stick with it feeds do get less frequent and also they get a lot shorter. I found it quite helpful to express enough milk so that my partner could give 1 feed a day which meant I could get a slightly longer sleep. Do you have a breast pump?

[lemonaid]

About 10 weeks it started to get a lot easier for me, by 12 weeks it was better again and by 14 weeks I felt as though I really knew what I was doing.

It's unfortunate that when you start giving bottles you start on a vicious circle that will reduce your supply. The stages where they feed really frequently for a while are "designed" to increase your supply. If you stick with it your supply increases and the feeds gradually get shorter and space out; if you start supplementing with formula then your supply never increases and will probably start to decrease.

I spent a lot of the 5-8 week period in tears because DS seemed to be permanently feeding (40-minute feeds with only an hour or so between them), and I would probably have supplemented with formula if he'd have taken it. As it was (and fortunately), he wouldn't so I had no choice but to stick with exclusive bf, which did settle down and became very easy.

If you want to get back to exclusive breastfeeding you can, but you need to make a definite decision to cut back on the bottles and work with your DD to get your supply up, and as you've been supplementing for three weeks now you are going to have to nurse her very frequently to build up your supply.

I am not an expert (although one will probably be along soon) but I'd suggest in your situation cutting out one of those 2-3 bottles every couple of days, so that in a week to a week and a half you've dropped them altogether. But at the same time you will have to bf her very frequently. It won't last forever, though -- take it one day at a time and in a few weeks you will be out of the woods and she won't need to feed quite so often or for quite so long.

[GetInTheBackOfTheVan]

I agree with lemonaid!
My LO is 15 weeks now! It was really hard until about week 10 and she was still feeding quite frequently night & day until about 3 weeks ago and now she suddendly is going much longer and having larger less frequent feeds. But she was small and prem so shes had catching upto do so it might be less long!
Expressing is great though! Keeps up your supply and lets you see how much milk comes out and how quickly so you can reassure yourself that your LO is getting enough!

[joorla]

yes I've got a manual breast pump I've used it a couple of times but it does seem to take quite a while to get 10 ml out.
I'm going to persevere till the end of this week and see how things progress.
I just cant bear to see her upset and crying for food when I know if I give her a bottle of formula she's happy.

[SoupDragon]

When you feed her, do you offer her both breasts?

[SoupDragon]

"she seems to suck for a few mins and then sit there with her eyes closed doing gentle sucking motions,"

Can you hear her swallowing? With DD, I can hear sucking at the very start, then she gulps frantically at the initial let down and then settles into a regular suck-swallow rhythm. This tails off to more sucks per swallow until she ends up just sucking. When it gets to this point I take her off and see if she's interested in the other side.

Or do you think she's fallen asleep rather than finished a feed? Do you wake her up and get her started again?

[amijee]

Jooria - you are doing really well and it's ok to be fed up and want to cry sometimes. My ds is nearly 10 weeks old and is a very frequent feeder but VERY slowly things seem to be improving ( or I know what i am doing and reading his cues better) It doesn't mean you are tied to the hse. I still go out nearly every day and am used to feeding anywhere! A good tip is to go to a shopping centre with either a mothercare or starbucks if you want to feel cmfortable - they are both boob friendly!

I have felt like giving up most weeks since he was born and i'm still doing it! I agree with the comments about supply - once your milk supply is established again, it will settle down...and expressing helps but don't do it until you feel able - because otherwise you will be doing nothing but feeding and expressing and get no break!

[amijee]

Jooria - you are doing really well and it's ok to be fed up and want to cry sometimes. My ds is nearly 10 weeks old and is a very frequent feeder but VERY slowly things seem to be improving ( or I know what i am doing and reading his cues better) It doesn't mean you are tied to the hse. I still go out nearly every day and am used to feeding anywhere! A good tip is to go to a shopping centre with either a mothercare or starbucks if you want to feel cmfortable - they are both boob friendly!

I have felt like giving up most weeks since he was born and i'm still doing it! I agree with the comments about supply - once your milk supply is established again, it will settle down...and expressing helps but don't do it until you feel able - because otherwise you will be doing nothing but feeding and expressing and get no break!

[joorla]

soupdragon - when I feed her I offer her 1 breast per feed - my midwife told me to do it this way.
When she initially starts feeding I can hear her swallowing but this only lasts for a few minutes and then the remainder of the time she seems to be fall asleep with the sucking motion going on but not swallowing anything. I try to wake her and occasionally she has another couple of sucks where I can hear swallowing but then drifts off again, I then unlatch her myself.

[tutu100]

my midwife suggested only offering one breast per feed but in the end I always offered my son both, try offering both breasts at each feed and see what happens but remember to always start with the breast that you finished on last time. My health visitor reccommended I got these milk collection cups to collect the milk that is released when your let down reflex goes. I bought chicco ones from boots. You use one on the breast that you feed from 2nd. You can store any milk you collect for up to 24hrs in the fridge. Then you can either use it to top up a feed, or freeze it for later. This way you wouldn't have to express with a pump.

[SoupDragon]

I'm no trained expert but offer her both each time and if you still don't think she's had a good feed after the second one, offer her the first again! Either she'll want it or she won't take it at all. You can't over feed a breastfed baby. You do need to make sure she's had a good go on the first one before taking her off though. If she's falling asleep and then has another go at feeding then wake her up as many times as it takes. You really need TikTok to advise here.

"Remember to always start with the breast that you finished on last time" Absolutely. But if you can't remember and you can't tell with a squeeze, then it won't matter for that feed. You'll remember most of the time.

Good luck

[themoon666]

I always used to remind myself which breast was used last by tying a little pink ribbon around my bra strap on that side.

Gosh, it seems so long ago now, but reading this thread brought back lovely memories.

Joorla... you are doing so well.. keep it up. Loads of excellent advice on here, which I second.

[prince]

They have changed the recommendations about bf so many times its untrue. the reason behind the one breast is that there was a query when babies had green loose stools that somne were only getting the foremilk not the hindmilk, (which is thicker) but I started to offer both breasts again as I didn't think it was such a problem. The feeding closer together definitely boosts supply and can sometimes take up to 2 -3 days but keep at it, it works in the end! Keep up the good work, any breast is better than none.

[madchad]

Poor you, is there anyone to take the baby for you so you can rest between feeds?

I dealt with this at your stage by supplementing at night with expressed breast milk (BTW, I use the Medela mini electric-fab)
She then slept through from 10-7.
My 3.5 month old is now feeding for 10-20 mins max at 7,11,2.30, 5, all "-ish". She does then have a feeding frenzy from 7 til about 10 after her bath when she may feed on and off. Boty b sides, sometimes back to the first one. Helps to drink lots of water and eat properly too, if you can.
You can do it!

[mamamaaargh]

I agree with offering both breasts - sometimes my ds seemed to lose interest in feeding on one side, but would begin again on the other side. That's what we were taught by the lactation consultant in our bf class.

As the baby settles into bf, their sucking becomes more efficient, as does your body at producing milk, so feeds are much more productive (quicker and less frequent). If you're really set on bf you may have to bear this recent cycle for a few more weeks until everything settles down. Is there anyone who can help you out with the baby - you must be exhausted...

You could contact La Leche League (you can google them) for more advice.

[tiktok]

Aaaarghh.....it is crazy to advise mothers to only offer one side per feed. This stupid advice in itself has probably been enough to cause the supply problems you experienced, joorla. It is a total misunderstanding of the research, and any midwife (god help us) who is peddling this advice needs to have some re-training. Yes, I feel strongly about this

There are no rules about 'one side or two sides' except follow the baby's lead. Most - yes, most - babies in the early weeks will have more than one side per feed, and this can be important to build up and maintain a good milk supply, because both breasts need frequent stimulation to get the whole show on the road.

Deliberately halving this stimulation can lead to supply problems. Babies should always be offered the second side - some may show clearly they don't need it, and that's fine. Once breastfeeding is established, it's not so crucial.

So joorla, feed both sides per feed while you are working on building up your supply, and if you ever see that midwife again, then you know what to do ;)

[tiktok]

Just to clarify: when there are clear over-supply problems (baby miserable and screaming, mother uncomfortable with extra milk, baby gaining weight like the clappers) which usually show themselves after a few weeks, then one-sided feeding is a way to reduce the supply.

But deliberately doing something known to reduce the supply is not something you start off doing.

[joorla]

hi

i expressed about 7pm last night and i just about got 50 ml off both breasts. I then breast fed again at 10.30, 3.30 she then had a bit of a feeding frenzy between 6 - 8. I then gave her 90 ml of formula as absolutley knackered!!
My breasts feel completely empty (who am I to tell though) and have a crying baby. If I latch her on this does soothe her but I really dont think there's any milk there/cant hear her swallowing.
Any idea how long i should wait now before breast feeding again if they feel like they're empty?

[tiktok]

joorla, it is hard to build up a supply, and you are doing well to feed and express the way you are doing.

There will be times when you feel you need to give formula, because switching the full supply on again is not an instantaneous thing.

Play it by ear as you are doing, responding to what your baby seems to want, and always offering both sides before you offer formula (was there a reason why you gave the formula this morning instead of the ebm you got when you expressed last night?)

Good luck in pressing on