paranoid second time mummy needs breastfeeding reassurance

[hoxtonchick]

i gave birth to dd in the early hours of wednesday morning. she was quite diddy, at 6lbs11oz & has lost some weight since. as i have diabetes her blood sugars were monitored for 24 hours, and she had 2 formula feeds. these were from a cup, so no nipple confusion. she's a little bit jaundiced, but only very mildly. she's taken to breastfeeding well i think, is latching on pretty easily and sucks away. oh, & after i had her i lost a lot of blood, had loads of iv fluid and am on iron tablets.

here's the paranoia bit. she spends literally hours at a time sucking. and if she isn't on the breast she's desperately rooting for more, which i always give. i don't remember ds doing this at all. she does seem satisfied, goes to sleep & has reasonably long periods awake. so, is this normal in a 3/4 day old? and the other thing is, where's my milk? i didn't get engorged at all last time, just noticed ds looked milky after a feed, but i'm sure the milk was here by this time. i need to stop her losing weight to get the midwife off our case. i honestly don't see how she could suck more to stimulate the supply, but it just hasn't arrived yet. i know it should be any time now, please can someone just tell me it'll be soon!

ps my hormones are a bit all over the place atm....

[kid]

Hi HC, glad you are both back home. I never BF my 2 so can't offer any help but just wanted to say hello!
I think my milk came in on the 4th day so maybe you will be flooded today/tonight!

(Are you going to post a pic or send one to mobile of Florence? )

[fastasleep]

It'll be soon and she'll be ok! Babies do suck a lot and milk can take a week or more to come in properly, my DS lost a lot of weight in those first few weeks, and he was fine!

big hugs it's not fair that hormones and breastfeeding worries always hit at once!! Enjoy your gorgeous DD!

[mears]

My milk never 'came in' till about 5th day. Just keep doing as you are doing. Make sure she doesn't go longer that 3 hours between feeds - sounds as though she doesn't anyway. Your milk might be a bit delayed if you are anaemic but it will come. Make sure you are eating iron rich foods as well. Citrus drinks with meals encourage iron absoprtion. Avoid tea and coffee with meals as they inhibit absorption.

Expect to feel a bit weepy over the next few days - normal response. Make sure someone is running around after you.

Chocolate is good for boosting milk you know

[mhorne]

Hi Congrats on your new arrival. Don't feel bullied by your midwife about your DD's weight, just have faith in yourself. My DS is 5wks old,and initially lost quite a bit of weight. My HV advised me to supplement his feeds with 2 x formula a day, which I did. He has regained the weight plus some, but now I am stuck between wanting to continue breastfeeding and moving to bottles. He would bf all day if he could. He suffers from reflux I find it hard to listen to his screams when I know a feed will settle him.( I do realise this can make it worse, but I get desperate.)
I have started expressing during the day and giving him a formula feed then EBM the next while I make my mind up what to do. Nightfeeding is definitely easier BFing! Any suggestions/help.

[mears]

What exactly do you mean by reflux?

[mhorne]

About an hour after every feed he starts
screaming, whilst arching his back. He is often quite often sick and does the most awful poos. There is nothing I can do to calm him until the pain subsides. I have got infant gaviscon but it doesn't work.

[mears]

Is he different with formula or EBM? Breastmilk is easier to digest and you would think there might be a difference. My friend's second DS screamed like this then she realised she had been 'over feeding', because he settled with a breast feed. With subsequent babies she restricted feeds to one breast at a time. That works if you have a good milk supply.

If I was you, I would resume breastfeeding and perhaps try feeding from one breast at a time. I don't think that fullt formula feeding is going to help symptoms at all. As you said, breastfeeding is easier during the night. To me breastfeeding becomes complicated when you have to add in expressing in order to give EBM by bottle. Gives you more hassle than you need.

I wonder if reflux and gaviscon are over diagnosed and prescribed. Babies vomit a lot, for a variety of reasons.

[mhorne]

It wasn't the vomiting that concerned me, it was the screaming in pain that made me look into reflux. You can see the pain build up with him, then it subsides for a minute or so then comes back.
It doesn't make any difference whether its breast or formula, infact slightly better with formula! I already feed him on one side only at a time. Still unsure what to do!

[mears]

I think you have to weigh out the benefits of breastfeeding. Formula improves things slightly, therefore it would be good to continue giving breastmilk for the other benefits for health. Very often the symptoms you describe subside by 12 weeks - sounds more like colic.

Have you seen this?

[hoxtonchick]

thanks so much, i will continue doing as i am, though i think dp should probably be sent out pronto to buy more chocolate....

mears, when you say 3 hours between feeds do you mean the end or the beginning? she can easily feed for an hour and a half at a time. should i wake her up after an hour & a half, or leave 3 hours from the end of the feed?

[mears]

3 hours from start of one feed to start of next feed

[hoxtonchick]

better wake her up then!

[icklelulu]

My DS ws like this for the first few weeks, feeding for about 1-1 1/2 hrs every 2-3 hrs!It does get better.I found that my DS was more tired than hungry cos he was awake more than he was asleep so was just using me for comfort!Breast milk can take upto a week to come in and babies can loose upto 10% of their birth weight in the first few days cant they?Good luck with everything Im sure it will be fine. Just remember you're doing the best for your baby!

[hoxtonchick]

i think i have milk - there's definitely white stuff coming out when i squeeze my nipples.... she is still v unsettled though. will often scream and refuse to latch on. am persevering but it's hard. am worried about her jaundice too. arrrggghhh.

[mears]

It might be that she is screaming and refusing to latch on because she doesn't want to at that time. Try just cuddling her skin-to-skin and let her look for the boob when she is ready

[hoxtonchick]

you are so sensible mears, just what i need right now! we've had a couple of good feeds now where i can hear the milk glugging down. and she did an enormous wee all over her brand new white towel . so i am slightly reassured. still waking her every 3 hours though. am really trying to calm down though, honest!

[kid]

sounds like you are doing a great job HC.
Keep up the god work

[mears]

She might not want to feed 3 hourly and since you feel that your milk has come in you could leave her to wake on her own. She might not resist you then. Sounds as though things are improving. Pees are always a good sign

[fishfinger]

well doen mears and HC

[hoxtonchick]

hooray for mumsnet support! i think i'll wake her at 10, then let her wake up naturally for the rest of the night so i might get slightly more sleep (hollow laughter). we're co-sleeping which should help my supply i think.

the only other thing worrying me is that she hasn't pooed since friday morning. and that was still meconium. the milk coming in should make a difference there shouldn't it?

[mears]

Yes, they should start to change and become more runny, green/brown initially then changing into lovely chicken korma

[hoxtonchick]

am feeling a lot better now. the midwives came this morning & were lovely. she's back up to 2.9kg & they said her jaundice really is very mild. and they don't want to come back until friday. yay. feeding going much better, she is much less cross. i am a calm zen mummy. for now.... even considering a trip to the shops.

no poo yet, but the midwives weren't in the least concerned.

[mears]

Glad you had a good visit this morning. Be prepred for an up the back poo shortly

[roosmum]

hiya hoxtonchick, glad that bf is getting better, just wanted to say that my ds (now 5mths) was born 1.45am on a wednesday, & it was sunday before he fed properly (& i really had milk). after that it was easy, tho until sun he only fed properly when a midwife was there to make him do it (we so nearly went to ff, he lost more than 10% weight). so sounds like you're doing well to me - hope you get some sleep soon too!

[hoxtonchick]

how interesting roosmum. dd was born at 3:25am, so almost identical timings to your ds. i feel less of a freak now! she's continued feeding well today, & is currently in a blissed-out milky sleep on dp!