newborn feeding question please help

[Pilki]

Hiya

Gave birth yesterday to DD and am having a nightmare with feeding,
She breastfed once well and then suffered for the first day with really bad mucas and was bringing a lot of mucas up so only had two more feeds and both were forced on her and only lasted minutes,

I BF her this morning at half nine and was discharged at midday. She hadnt been fed since half nine this morning and just wouldnt latch on and the midwife on the phone was really unhelpful. So I got some SMA and fed her that at about eight o clock.

It said to make 90mls and she only had about 35mls and not Im petrifed that Im crap and not feeding her properly.

It doesnt help that my hormones are everywhere and I cant seem to breastfeed. I have the midwife coming tomorrow but should I formula feed again tonight and should it be in 4 hourly intervals. and should she be having more ??

hope it all makes sense. if anybody has any help at all it would be such a help.

I can't really advise as I exclusively formula fed my dd but you may get more advice if you post on the breast/bottle feeding threads under the 'feed the world' topic on here.

good luck

thank you x

Don't worry if she's not appearing to have much - my dd only fed for 5 mins at a time at first. If you only gave birth yesterday your milk probably hasn't "come in" yet so she's just getting colostrum for now. Her stomach is the size of a marble so it doesn't take much to fill her up. I wouldn't formula feed in the meantime because you need her to suck to help stimulate your own production of milk. When the midwife comes tomorrow get her to check dd is latching on well and just keep at it! It's so hard at first, I was in hospital for a week and kept getting the midwives to help me bf at least 3 times a day at first but it's well worth persevering. Good luck.

Pilki - don't panic. You are doing really well to be asking for help rather than sitting in a corner worrying!

Breast feeding can be hard to get going for any number of reasons BUT the key thing is to keep at it.

Undressing your baby down to her nappy and lying her on your naked skin next to your breast. Let her snuggle up, stroke her back and cuddle. When she is relaxed try and get her into a feeding position and tempt her with your nipple - tickle her lips with it and see what happens!

It is early days to be having big feeds - latching on every 2 hours over night may well get things going but she will only ned little snacks at the moment.

Keep going if you can - and try to avoid the bottle at this very early stage.

most newborns don't feed for a day or so!

BF can be hard going at the start and it can feel like it's not going right.
don't forget her tummy is only as big as an egg cup!

have you a midwife you can ring or a breast feeding helpline?

lying skin to skin is a good way as is a warm bath together if you feel you can manage

and CONGRATULATIONS

And pilki - you have my undying admiration for remembering where the computer is only 24 hours of giving birth!!!

I'm going to google our bf support service now, you can ring the 24 hour helpline and just ask them.

My personal experience is that midwives are great for pregnancy and birth, but not many are as well informed as you'd expect when it comes to breastfeeding.

I found a lot of midwives have bottle fed their own children and just don't get how different breastfeeding is.