Breastfeeding. Struggling new mum.

[MrsJay2016]

Sleep is overrated with a breastfeeding newborn 😧3 hours last night. Less than two hours last night.
any advice for me? We're on day three now. She does great during the day and her latch is great. Milk hasn't come in yet. Night time is when we have the issues. She won't settle and won't stop feeding. She'll feed all night straight through if I let her and will get really angry and frustrated because there's no more colostrum there for her and then she just ends up crying and doesn't settle. Midwifes say it's normal? (Still in hospital until this afternoon). Had to give her formula twice last night which she wolfed down just so I could get such a small amount of sleep. She was born via emergency c section on Halloween morning.

I'm determined to breastfeed still just really struggling at night and feel like I'm doing everything wrong.

When she has had a good feed on one boob but then gets frustrated do you swap to the other boob ?
Also, are you drinking plenty ? I used to have a glass of water every time I fed mine, plus cups of tea whenever.
Make sure you are eating well too, remember that you need to nourish her. And anything like orange juice and curry might upset her tummy.

And don’t forget to wind her. Tummy ache makes them feed more in a frustrated way.

Cream cakes, high fat dairy lots of carbs. You need these to help with your milk which should be in by day 3.
First few weeks are difficult, my newborn cluster fed for 14 hours straight one night. They do this to increase your supply. Babies are only tiny but they know what they are doing. The fact she has a great latch is so important so well done both of you.

You aren't doing anything wrong either! When your milk comes in things will change again.

Get home, stuff your face, get in front of the tv with drinks, food etc, relax a little. It will feel better.

It'll get a lot easier in some ways when your milk comes in OP. It could happen any time. You'll go from your normal self with the colostrum "problem" to page 3 model struggling not to drown your baby
Have your cabbage leaves and breast pads handy and read up on how to deal with engorgement, it can make feeding hard, don't be tempted to let baby nipple feed!
New socks make excellent pads during feeding, the silly paper ones didn't work for me, nor did the cloth.
My DD3 was really easy to start, then we struggled for a bit and it got so painful I'd cry and be almost scared to feed, then suddenly it was really easy. I then remembered my first two were much the same, I guess it's another thing you forget... I don't want to put you off just let you know it's normal and try to stop you suffering/let you know there's light at the end of the tunnel xxx

Yea drinking and eating lots and switch boobs regularly

Also wind her regularly

Your milk might take longer to come in if you had a section. My first child (vb) came in day 3, my second (cs) came in day 6 (extreme end tbh)!
Ask your midwife if there's anything else you can do or take to help it on its way, but the constant suckling will really help.

Lots of snacks and water.
Have you tried feeding her laying down? It may be difficult laying on your side with your scar but if you can you will be able to close your eyes whilst baby is feeding.
Congratulations on the new arrival xx

The first few weeks are so hard.
Week three is horrific, but I think it gets better after that.
I am just past three months with my second child. She is still waking a couple of times a night but it is manageable.
I combi fed with my first because he wouldn't latch. I wouldn't hesitate to do that again if necessary.

Same as some of the pp.

• drink loads of water / fluids
• eat a rich diet including lots of full fat dairy and iron rich food - porridge with cream and toast with butter was what I had. Oats are supposed to help with supply. Chickpeas used to make my production increase
• take multivitamin
• read up on how to feed laying down safely (c shape round the baby) and get some rest

Don't punish yourself for giving formula x

Echoing other posters saying it will be better once your milk is in. I had an elective section and my milk came in 3.5 days after DD was born. That was when it started to come in anyway, was probably about four days post section when it was in, in. She'll be working on getting your supply in. Sounds like you've got a healthy baby if she's doing that much feeding

Sounds like you're doing everything right. It gets easier over time.

Honestly, it sounds completely normal. You aren't doing anything wrong. She's cluster feeding at night and is trying to get your milk to come in. Once it does things will get a lot better.
Try to let her feed as much as you can - with number 2 I just shoved my boob in his mouth every time he whimpered and it really did help. Don't get caught up in the timing of feeds. It's totally fine to give formula if you are at your wits end and need a break. (Totally fine to give it anyway, but when trying to establish breastfeeding is what I mean. It won't hurt or lessen the chances of breastfeeding). I gave my son some on night 2 as I literally couldn't take any more.
Things are generally better at home, especially if there are other people there to help out.
So stay in your PJs, park yourself in front of the TV or in bed, eat nutritious food and plenty of it, keep yourself really well hydrated, and cuddle and feed your baby. Skin to skin helps too.
Night time is always worst, but I promise you that it gets better, and easier.

Some really good replies here.
Just to add - if your nipples get awfully sore (you've got lanolin right?) Then you could try nipple shields and there's no shame in giving a bit of formula to give yourself a break but if you do try pumping too so youre still stimulating production. My milk didn't come in for 8 days after a fairly normal birth - in retrospect it was probably because we were still in hospital and they were putting enormous amounts of stress on me and then it was a hard slog for 10 weeks. Hoping it won't be like that again but in my experience you can happily interchange between breastfed and formula to get there in the end without the dreaded 'nipple confusion'. Being home will help.
Good luck and loves! Well done to you both - you're amazing! Xx

Just to add - take care of your nipples! Apply lansinoh after every feed until you get used to it to minimise damage. Its easier to prevent than fix once damaged.

Make sure baby is having wet / dirty nappies but especially wet and make sure the head bit (can't remember the name) is not showing signs of dehydration.

Just an additional bit from my personal experience. I have DMER (Google it for more info) its basically a drop in feel good hormones when I breastfeed (the let down bit). So instead of feeling all bonded and lovely I feel sick and depressed for about 30 seconds - 2 minutes. No health care professional that I spoke to had heard of it and its only from breastfeeding support that I came across it. Doesnt stop you as long as you power on through in mild cases (although no shame if you dont). Can be misdiagnosed as PND but will only happen at point of let down. I found not eating well or being dehydrated made it worse

It can take longer for your milk to come in after a section.

I strongly recommend getting home as soon as you can; being in your home environment where you are more comfortable will help your body produce the prolactin which triggers lactation. Eat well, drink plenty, rest as much as you can.

The formula guzzling is a bit of a misnomer; babies have a swallow reflex- if you put liquid in their mouths they will swallow it (very sensible reflex to stop fluid entering the lungs). It's one of the reasons FF babies tend to be more sicky and weigh more- they can't stop eating when full if there's a bottle dribbling milk into their mouths.

I'm not saying don't use formula. Be aware that your baby may not be guzzling because they're starving. It's also normal for bf to drop a little weight in the first few days; they're normally back on track by 2 weeks.

Bf can be hard but it's completely doable for most people.

This is so normal. Your determination is fab, sounds like you’re doing a great job. You’re right in the thick of it, but it will get easier, quickly. Hang in there, and if you decide to move to combination feeding/formula feeding there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

How are you doing OP?