lo just doesn't seem very happy

[alfiemama]

My lo just doesn't seem very happy at the moment.

She is 9 days old, and has gone from 3 hours in between feeds to every 20 mins.
She will feed for about 20-30 mins go sleepy but then refuse anymore, I have tried nappy changing etc and offering again but shes not interested, so I put her in moses basket where she looks to be going to sleep but then 5 mins later she is knoring at her hands, rooting, arms flailing and if I leave her, she starts crying. So I put her back on the side (to try and give her the fatty stuff) and it all begins again.

I think also she is very windy, hence the flailing arms and feel she may be getting relieve from the wind with the sucking.

The breast feeding checked latched in hosp and said its good but wonder if we have become lazy

Do you think, growth spurt or maybe wind, I was thinking of trying infacol.
But always thought bf babes shouldn't be windy. Her nappies are greeny mustard but explosive and lots of poos throughout day.

Any help appreciated

:(

This is not the weekend for loads of visitors :(

You need peace, quiet, lots of time snuggled up with the baby.

Visitors tend to all want 'a turn' holding the baby and this can either stress a baby out or else make the baby 'switch off' to reduce stimulation....neither state helpful to happy bf :(

Snap, MoonUnit :)

thanks tiktok, from birth 11oz, she said only lost 2oz and could be a difference with hosp scales and hers. I think she was trying to make me feel better.

The switching makes more sense to me, but will they not just get full of the foremilk? She feeds well of this lol

I know, wish I could but there coming from a long way a way and have set off. I will just have to wap my boob out every 5 mins

Sorry, alfiemama - she's lost 11 oz from birth or 2 oz from birth,or 2 oz from the last time she was weighed?

Please, please don't worry about foremilk and hindmilk - there is so much misunderstanding about it. You don't switch when the baby is in full suck. You switch when she stops sucking 'well'. Babies need volume to gain weight, and the foremilk and hindmilk sort themselves out without any timing or engineering. To increase a baby's intake of calories, increase her intake of milk....there's a good blog post I read the other day:

analyticalarmadillo.blogspot.com/2010/07/foremilkhindmilk-and-lot-of-confusion.html

I will try the switching, as to be honest did this in hosp and she was fine, she didnt put weight on but was under the 10% ratio.

Ive got bogged down with foremilk/hindmilk too much I think

brill will have a look, 11oz from birth, 2oz from when we left hospital

fantastic article, explains it really well

OK - so she's still losing weight?

That's a concern, but I agree with your midwife, it could easily be explained by different scales and different ways of weighing (some HCPs are very sloppy about doing this accurately).

Weighing again on Tues after a weekend-plus of lots and lots and lots of bf makes sense.

yes, I read that too recently alfiemamma- loads of other great stuff on it too.

Sounds like the block feeding might have causing the weight probs.

Sure you can get back on track now you know how to sort it.

Good luck.

Thanks crikeybadger.

Tiktok, I have just tried switch feeding her and it worked really well, when she got bored or a bit lapse at sucking I switched sides, and she seems really content and full.

I definitely think this is the way to go, and not the block feeding, as I think she just lost interest and couldn't be bothered with the drip drip.

Thanks again everyone, really appreciate all your help.

Heres to Tuesday, I will keep you posted, wish me luck lol

Great stuff alfiemamma

Hope you get some rest over the weekend even though you've got visitors and fingers crossed for Tuesday.

Aw thanks crikeybadger

Mw shocked me and turned up today, they had got confused over days, thought blumming ell, going to have a day less now of mammoth feeding sessions.

Anyhoo she weighed her and she has put on nearly an 1oz a day now up to just shy of 7.14.

Tiktok, thanks, all down to the switching, it worked a treat. Once I got out of the foremilk/hind milk mindset, it became less stressful.

Thanks to everyone who has helped and supported me.

Please for you, alfiemama :) :)

You might wonder why you had to get the suggestion to do this very simple thing from a talkboard - your midwife's suggestions were i) do nothing ii) express ii) top up with formula and that was on top of the poor advice to delib. feed on one side only :( :(

Hope you will tell your midwife what you did :)

I did tiktok. I explained about switching and she said as long as she gets the hind milk. I said switching after about 10-15mins as she gets bored and then back again. She said well obv working.

I agree though they need to update their advice and maybe knowledge. To say to someone you need to empty the breast, is just wrong and confusing.

Sorry about typing/spelling, feeding now lol

Yipeee alfiemamma - great stuff

Thanks crikeybadger, I'm so chuffed

There does seem to be a lot of poor advice given by HCPs doesn't there. The sort of advice that could very easily sabotage somebody's breastfeeding attempts. (unless you knew about MN of course)

I wonder if a lack of funding = no training and those mws who trained in the 70s are unwittingly handing out outdated information.

Well done alfiemama!

This kind of thing goes to show a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous - HCPs knowing just enough about BF to give out some advice, but not enough to actually give good advice

Thanks MoonnitAlpha.
Little one seems so much more content now, obviously getting more of the good stuff.

Ok now to the next problem ha ha ha

Because I have been given misleading info by mw's thought I would check here again, hope thats ok.

Mw told me if expressing, I shouldn't give the bottle at night as this is when you produce the good milk.

My problem now is Millie will feed for about 5/10 Min's and fall asleep and refuses to take any more even if I try to wake her. But she will then wake up about 20 Min's later for more milk. This has now resulted in a very tired mummy.
I have to be able to function ok during the day, as I have a toddler and a special needs child's, I know, we all need sleep though lol.

Can I maybe express and give a bottle at night without it affecting bf?

Midwife has got it a bit wrong - again. But only a bit :)

There is no difference in the quality of milk day or night. In the very early days, the hormone prolactin (milk making hormone) reaches a higher level at night, and this stimulates production (not quality). Night feeds are important to make sure you make enough milk - long gaps at night are not good especially in the early days.

So it could be your midwife is (rightly) concerned that if you give a bottle, even of expressed, at night, you are extending the gaps between feeds and this would not be a good thing.

Your baby is only 2 weeks old, and her feeding pattern (take 5-10 mins then nap for 20 mins then wake again) is normal for a young baby. It is easier to try to accommodate this by (safe) co-sleeping, than to give a bottle, which i) has to be prepared which takes time, and bottle and pump have to be cleaned, the milk stored, and you have to express ii) does not guarentee she will stay asleep longer iii) could extend the gaps between feeds and impact on your supply.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Tiktok, had a feeling it didn't sound right. Your explanation makes much more sense.
What about just one little night per week just to catch up.

I'm really not keen on co sleeping, had awful sleep issues with ds1 up to him being 2 years old.

Alfiemama - I think you can co-sleep in the early days without it causing sleep problems later. When they're really little they can't form bad sleep habits anyway! I am semi-cosleeping with my ds. He starts off in his cot at bedtime then I bring him into bed with me later so I can doze as he feeds. It's worked really well for me, as I still feel like I'm getting enough sleep even when he feeds every 2 hours in the night! He's coming up to 4 months now though and we're thinking about moving him into his own room soon.