Am I enough?

[scgd]

I have a friend who is ff her dd. I am bf my 11 wk old ds, who at 11w is 2 wks older. Basically when I see my friend giving her baby bottles of 7oz I can't help but wonder how or if my ds is getting enough milk as there is NO WAY that amount of milk comes out of me at each feed. My ds sucks for up to 45 mins at a time I don't want him to have to work hard for his feeds if he's not getting enough I know people say you never run out but am I enough for him?

Simple answer - yes :)

If your little one is happy, alert, plenty of wet and dirty nappies, is feeding well etc, then there really is no need for you to worry. Formula fed babies tend to take more as they drink more lazily, and don't have to work for the milk, so want more.

You're doing great, keep it up, and don't doubt yourself.

Its hard to believe but yes, you are enough!

You might think there is no way you are producing that much milk, but babies are very very cleverly designed to get what they need. I worried this about all 3 of mine and they all did just fine- trust in nature! If he seems contented enough and, as sirboob says, lots of wet nappies, you are doing great

yes yes yes
what she said :)
In fact you are better than enough - you can never be too much and assuming you feed on demand, are almost certinaly never going to be too little

I remember thinking that but then my friend pointed out that her DD only drank 4 such bottles in a 24 hour period, whereas my DD was BFing maybe 7-8 times. I doubt she drank 7oz in one go, but the amounts over 24 hours were probably similar.

BF babies do have to work harder for their feeds, but thats fine for healthy babies.

thank you all for your quick replies i'm feeling much more reassured :) am feeding on demand and he can go anywhere from 2 hrs to 3 and 3 quarter hours between feeds and ds has PLENTY of wet nappies and is happy and content after a feed, but he only stays that way for about half an hour before he starts moaning. not neccessarily seeming hungry (he would stay on the breast 24/7 if i let him!) he is a very demanding baby in terms of my attention and moans when its not on him, then becomes quite grumpy but i guess that is another story.....

not only are you enough, but you are better.

btw the behavior you describe sounds normal. He's just tiny and vulnerable and wants to be with his mum.

Don't forget all the extra undigestible stuff in formula - like the iron is not very easily absorbed so there is much more in there than they will actually use, whereas in your bm it's all perfectly bio-available (think that's the word!) for your baby, so less waste.

My (ex-bf) dc only pooed every 10 days or so!

BF babies consume the same amount of milk over 24hrs (minus growth spurts) from 6 weeks to 6 months. Your body adjusts the fat content as your baby ages to give them extra calories.

FF can't be adapted, so when they need more calories, they actually need to consume more milk.

DD has been on EBM since 4 months (now 8 months) during they day and she's never consumed more than 4 oz in one sitting.

Your baby's constant needing attention is hard work but within normal range. tbh they need full attention regardless of what they're doing, so if he just needs feeding at least you can MN at the same time

I think you constantly worry about if your baby is getting enough when you breastfeed. I expressed with my first as I went back to work, I could get 6oz in 10 mins (I know expressing isn't always a good indicator of how much milk your baby is getting) and he would have an 8oz bottle when I wasn't around but that was at 6-9 months. Even though he gained weight so fast (was above 98th centile) and regularly went 3 hrs between feeds and had plenty of nappies I constantly worried if he was getting enough milk, common sense seems to go out of the window!

DS2 is now 8 weeks old and although is a very contented baby he is gaining much slower than DS1 and I do worry someone is going to tell me I need to give him something more! He only feeds from one side, whereas DS1 always had both at each feed, and he cluster feeds in the evening but then often will go 5-8hrs at night until next feeds (also different to DS1). I just think as mothers it doesn't matter what we do we worry and it's particularly highlighted with bfing as many women don't do it. My mum ff us and has no experience to support me and I know no other bfing mothers in rl :(

DS1 was a very demanding baby, couldn't be out of my sight without screaming and was very colicy from 3-8pm so I held him almost contantly at that time until he was 12 weeks. As others have said it's normal if exhausting, they are used going everywhere with you when you were pregnant!

scgd - you were worried that bfing is too much hard work for your ds. In fact that hard work is actually good for him as it helps develop lung function and provides some of the protection against asthma see here for study on lung function found babies bf for 4 months having a larger lung capacity than those who were ffed.

I echo all those that have said he just wants to be with his mum. He loves you so much he just wants to spend most of the day with part of you in his mouth . Key phrase - this to will pass.

A friend of mine is formula feeding and her ds drinks big bottles, but he only feeds every 4 hours in the day and sleeps 7 to 7 at night. My ds is the same age and breastfed, and he feeds every 2-3 hours in the day and once or twice in the night. So I'm guessing he takes less more often and a ffed baby just has bigger, less frequent feeds.

Yes, you're enough - and you give him comfort, reassurance and skin-to-skin contact too.

Bf also develops the chewing muscles he needs to eat solids.

On-demand is the best way: one study looked at how much demand fed exclusively bf babies between (I think) 2 and 6 months took in one feed, and it ranged from 0ml to 250ml IIRC.

They do get faster with time too.

Sounds like you're doing a great job. :)