Some general breastfeeding questions

[Zimm]

Hi all,

My DD is 16 days old. We had a rough start as she wasn't feeding and we were re-admitted for 3 days to try and establish feeding. Now we are home and trying to 100% EBF but I am also offering formula top ups to be on the safe side. I have some questions though:

How long should she feed for, if she is feeding every 3.5 hours? Sometimes she'll go for 30 mins, others it's a struggle to make 10. At what point has she had enough and I don't need to offer formula?

If she'll go 4 hours at night without a feed is it ok to let her? I've been waking her but it's torture for us both as she won't eat, she half latches on, I scream in pain, then she won't settle etc. It seems better to let her wake herself?

How long can o store expressed breast milk in the fridge? Also can I keep adding what I collect over the day to the same bootle or should I use a separate bootle for each 'harvest". If I use half a bootle up I assume I can leave the rest in the fridge to use later - even though the bootle will have been opened and is therefore no longer sterile?

Should I pump a couple of times a day to keep my supply up. as we are using formula top ups?

How many nappies of each type should I see each day? What's the normal range?

Many many thanks in advance for any help - v confused first time mum!!!

3.5 hours seems a bit of a big gap for a two week old baby between feeds, my LO fed every 2 hours during the day at that age. As for the length of feeds, totally depends on the baby and why they feed. They can do short feeds to just get the watery fore-milk which would come down first to quench thirst and then have a longer full feed when they are hungry. One boob may be letting milk down faster than the other or you may have a better latch at some times so feed faster. Also baby may feed slower when sleepy.

4 hours at night is fine, lucky you to get 4 hours sleep between feeds! Definitely wait for her to wake herself. EBF shouldn't be done to a schedule, the baby knows when they are hungry and believe me will let you know. They will not feed anytime if not hungry.

The best way of ensuring you have a good milk supply is to breastfeed all day and not use formula. If your baby is feeding ok now why do you need to use formula at all? 8 nappy changes of wet nappies and runny yellowy coloured poop probably normal, smells vinegary is fine and check she is taking enough food by weighing her.

Zimm - I think it will help to speak to someone in real life about all of this. For example, simply switching to bf only at this stage may not be an option if you are giving a lot of formula....you may need to wind down the formula as you 'wind up' the breastfeeding.

3.5 hours is not normally frequently enough for a breastfed baby of 16 days - frequency is more important than actual time on the breast per feed.

Too many questions really in your post - a lot of answers depend on a lot of other things. Can you call a bf helpline, and speak to your midwife?

Hope things work out.

My LO is 10 days old now. He feeds roughly every 3-4 hours for anywhere between 20 and 60 minutes. He goes about 5 hours at night. However, our feeding is entirely baby-led. I feed him as soon as he looks hungry, for as long as he will stay latched. If he falls asleep or comes off, I will give him a couple of minutes and see if he will reattach. If not, we stop, if he will, we carry on until he won't take any more, the midwife suggested this to make sure he was taking hind milk, giving him a break rather than stopping completely seems to get a lot more milk down him, when he would be happy just to stop and have a shorter gap between feeds. Last thing at night, and in the morning, he will feed for a much longer time, which I assume is what makes up for him going longer at night. During those periods he will "empty" one breast, take a 10 minute break, then go onto the other, for 3-4 feeds in a row.

None of my children fed two hourly. 3 to 3.5 hours seems fine to me. As long as she is gaining weight and content between feeds obviously.

Breast milk in fridge - 24 hours max? You can freeze it too. Def use to maintain supply if planning on dropping formula feeds. If you have been doing this maybe you could think about starting to drop formula now - would give you less to do!

Good luck and keep at it. First few weeks are the hardest...

Of course some babies do feed as infrequently as 3.5 hourly at 16 days - it's unusual, though.

In a baby who's thriving and being fed responsively, it's not an issue.

The OP's baby was not thriving and not feeding well. It's also certain that feeding 3.5 hourly will not be anything like often enough to restore a breastmilk supply.

Expressed breastmilk can stay in the fridge for several days - see www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk for clear, referenced, up to date info.

Zimm

COngratulations on putting so much effort
You are wonderfull!!

DO you have rl help? or any questions not answered already by the posts above?

I have to say it is shocking that after beign readmitted you still have unanswered questions . You are doing brillitantly in the face of poor hpc support.

Please come back if you need more info and can't get it in rl

Thanks all - my DD is actually doing well now - the midwife signed us off and everyone confirms she is a well and active baby. She is certainly responsive. However now we have been signed over to the health visitor I wanted some reassurance that her feeding is normal. As it turns out today she had fed on and off all day!!

I mainly worry she is not getting enough as you cannot measure breast feeds - formula is much more reassuring in that respect! I don't think I have supply problems - seems plenty there.

It is reassuring to hear others have similar patterns - I have thought about ringing a brest feeding counseller but I am still very angry with the NCT for not preparing us for any of the problems we have had, they made out that breast feeding would just happen!

don't worry about your dd not getting enough. You are happy with supply so as long as you offer frequently she will take as much as she needs. Bf babies do vary alot in how long they want to feed for. It is a comfort to them also so while she is so tiny try and just go with it if you can

My friend is ff and constantly worried that her baby has taken a few ounces less here or there etc. Just because you can make it up in regular quantities doesn't mean they need it in regular quantities! Imo bf stops me having to worry about this. Offer boob, baby happy, wet nappies...all good! (after a few weeks ebf babies poo can become irregular...going a week with out a poo isn't uncommon. Its because bm is so uber efficient it's virtually all used up...sorry if you know this. I didn't and it freaked me out at first!)