breast feeding advice please?

[ghostspirit]

hi i have been breast feeding my 15 week old since birth.but he always seems he is always on the breast. hes feeding every 90 mins to 2 hours. i know breast milk does not run out as such but i do feel empty most of the time. once it gets to 7-8pm he will settle then wake between 11pm-12am he then seems to take a good feed where hes taking it fast and gulping. he does not seem to gulp during the day. then he wakes about every 90 mins from then on for a feed. yesterday i gave him a bit of baby rice and he seemed more content for a while. although i dont really want to be doing that till hes 6 months. i defo do not want to put him of formula. I have tried expressing with an electric pump but i dont even get an once of milk. i was hoping if i pumped a small amount of breast milk i might pruduce more milk. any suggestions?

i have not had him weighed for a while but his weight seems ok.i will get him weighed in next couple of days.

[MrsAukerman]

He's definitely too young for anything other than breastmilk or formula.
He will have felt fuller for younger but it is a bad idea for several reasons including the fact it could stop him wanting the milk he needs leading to weight loss.

Pumps are really very different to a baby and some people struggle to express but can feed their baby fine.

Overnight your op suggests you're getting 3-4 hr stretches which is fine and normal.

I honestly don't think you need to do anything. Just carry on feeding on demand.

[ghostspirit]

mrsa no not doing well in the night he wakes up like i said around midnight then again about 3am ish so that gap is average. then from 3am-ish its every 45 min ish... and yes i could never really pump. the baby rice says from 4 months. but as i said dont really want to do that...i just needed a break really hard as i feel like im not getting a break or proper sleep. then i got other children to look after as well..but i dont want to stop breast feeding either just wish the gaps were a bit longer

[ghostspirit]

oops means 45 mins to 90 mins at night time

[redcaryellowcar]

I think you are doing fine, although i agree with a pp that it's a bit too early to start baby rice, best nutrition for your baby is milk for now. I think you are probably in the midst of a growth spurt, feed as much as baby wants and make sure you are looking after yourself, eat well, get to bed early, rest as much as you can whilst baby sleeps. It feels exhausting now, but it will soon seem so much more manageable.

[ghostspirit]

i hope so red cant get rest as i have 3/4 other children to look after. fingers crossed it gets better sooner rather than later

[MrsAukerman]

Baby rice says from 4 months because packaging law is 20 years behind dept of health weaning advice.
My 8 month old has a similar sleep pattern, it's normal but exhausting. The lightest sleep is at the end of the night.
This too shall pass.

[ghostspirit]

hope so because its drving me mad

[BeautifulBatman]

He's not definitely too young for anything other than formula or bm. My friend was advised and did indeed start solids as well as bf and formula at 14 weeks because constant breastfeeding and topping up with sma gold just wasn't enough. OP speak to your hv and see what they say.

[ghostspirit]

batman seeing them on tuesday so will do

[Superworm]

It sounds normal to me

One thing I found around this age was DS become far more distractible and difficult to have longer feeds DS would come off the breast to look around and generally fart about. He then fed more at night ( reverse cycling ) to make up for it. I would give him a good feed somewhere boring facing a wall when ever I could and he reverted back after a few weeks.

[ghostspirit]

i thought as they got older it got easyer but hes been like it since birth. oh well just battle on.

[CelticPromise]

Sounds tough and normal and as if you are doing a great job. Do you co sleep? Look up safe co sleeping. Isis online is a good source of advice. Might help you get more rest.

[ghostspirit]

celtic yes we co sleep. i sometimes fall to sleep whilst hes feeding. not sure if thats bad or not. my breast are not small and unless i put my finger there or lay in a certain way my breast covers his nose.so have to be really careful...i will look that up thank you

[LiDLrichardsPistachioSack]

I agree, sounds very normal!
It's very normal as well to feel "empty", it's not at all a sign of not enough milk.
Can you feed lying down? I Coslept with mine and she pretty much helped herself all night at that age with me barely waking. If you follow the safety guidelines it's fine. Their noses are upturned so designed for feeding and breathing:) (I've got big boobs too and it was fine)

[5YearsTime]

Normal. That's when I stopped feeling 'full' and my breasts started feeling soft all of the time. Baby is totally fine. About 16-17 weeks started spacing out feeds and having shorter feeds.

[ParsleyTheLion1]

Ghostspirit, it sounds like he's using your breast to a large extent for comfort sucking rather than feeding. I used to spending hours with my DS at my boob when he was very young (every time I tried to put him down, it looked like he wanted to be back on my breast). It didn't feel normal but he is my first so I didn't know what to expect. I was utterly shattered and more or less chained to my sofa. Someone suggested I shorten the feeds dramatically and space them out because it sounded like he was just comfort sucking. And it turned out they were right.

[ghostspirit]

parsley i thought this as well. so i gave him a dummy. its helped a bit. but hes still on my breast loads..maybe its hard cheese till hes a bit older. and yes i feel drained and like i cant do anything. i cant cook/eat or anything without him crying/feeding. would just be nice to be able to eat my dinner :(

[ecosln]

You are doing great. seems quite normal to me - your baby will feed more frequently if always with you both for food and comfort. its up to you how you deal with the comfort feeds if indeed that's what they are. With DS1 I probably let him chill out latched on as i relaxed, watched TV, read etc. DD1 is different as I have too much else to get on with it so its feed and off! So maybe just enjou the long constant feeds if you cant be bothered doing anything else! I think the evenings sound really good in that you have a bit of down time for yourself.

expressing is really hard for some and please dont use that to judge if you have enough milk.

can you go to a BF group of la leche group. sometimes its good just to chat to others, be given tips etc and also to be reassured by the experts on hand.

dont feel guilty about the rice but i do think its too young. also being refined white rice its by default high sugar. you baby is much better getting all the goodness from your milk. one bit wont have done any harm. no guilt please.

Kelly Mom website and DR Jack newman might also have good tips.

I am wary about giving tips as i'm no expert just a mum and cant see you in person - go to a group if you are worried and get weighed as it might put your mind at rest. i was obsessed with weighing DS1 and that helped me alot with my confidence. DD1 has only been weighed when a newborn by MW and now she is 10 months. GP told me off at 8wk check up, i said - "well she is outgrowing her clothes"

You need to put your mind at rest. talking, sharing and getting sensible professional information is the best was to do this.

Well done for getting to 15 weeks... it hopefully will get easier. Nights are always hard

[ghostspirit]

thankyou ecosln im not really worried about his weight he has chubby cheeks and i little belly. so im sure hes getting enough, its just the way hes taking it little and often so i feel im not getting a break hopefully it will get better soon.

thankyou for suggestions of groups.but i keep well away from mother and baby type groups. i will look at the kelly site though.

my other children were formula fed they woke every 4 hours so different to breast feeding.but breast feeding is so much easyer in other ways

[ecosln]

no prob its hard as you cant see it like you can see the bottle going down. oh if you have other children maybe not so easy to chill out! apologies as that's probably all you want to do!

if you dont want to go in person sometimes la leche groups have facebook pages so you might be able to ask questions on these or a leader might be willing to talk on the phone. I really struggled with DS1 feeding and wish i had gone to LLL earlier - www.laleche.org.uk/lll-groups/find-lll-group

Kelly Mom is the breastfeeding bible. just Google "kelly mom" and your question and it should produce lots of hits. eg "kelly mom frequent feeds"

[ghostspirit]

ecosln yes i tried to breast feed my now 5 year old it did not go well and she was under weight. i was told to give her a bottle no support or advice about trying to contine breast feeding :( but does seem much better with this baby.im a bit sad that i cant seem to express and that means he will have to go on to formula once im back at work.really did not want him to

[CelticPromise]

How old will he be? Some older babies cope just fine without milk when their mothers are at work. I really would try a group for advice- some are more of a clinic type environment offering one to one support rather than a social group. You could call first and ask.

Maybe try a wrap sling? If it is being close that he really wants he might settle in it.

[ghostspirit]

celtic i have a baby carrier but i cant use it whilst cooking and part of me does not want to encourage it to much i dont want to to make a rod for my own back.

he be 9 months when i got back to work

[CelticPromise]

At nine months he will likely manage with solids while you are apart and feed like mad when you are back . Look up reverse cycling.

I don't believe the rod for your own back stuff, I don't believe you can spoil a baby. I didn't really use a sling with my LO but I know many mamas who did and found them really helpful. I have heard the wrap ones or wide based ones are more comfy for mother and baby.

[avocadotoast]

My sister's partner (of all people) was telling me that with all three of his kids his ex started to find breastfeeding really difficult around 16 weeks and that she felt sort of "empty". I think it's completely normal.