Still hungry after breasfeeding

[DrewsGirl]

My son was pemature so was in special care for his first 10 days. We knew he wouldnt be able to come home until he could feed properly, i knew i wanted to breastfeed but he wasnt strong enough and just fell asleep as soon as i got him on so DH and i agreed i would express my milk for him to take in a bottle and worry about breastfeeding once we were all at home and settled in.

He is now 8 weeks old and although i have tried everyday he has only just started breasfeeding properly these last few days, this is a huge relief as i was worried i would only ever be able to express and may give up sooner than if he was feeding direct from me.

I am breastfeeding him every other feed at the moment and giving him a bottle every other feed but the problem i have is that after he is done on my breasts he is still hungry and i have to give him some from a bottle to, after i have fed him i can get another 3/4 ozs out by expressing so i know he isnt finishing because no more is coming so i dont know why he doesnt fill himself up before stopping ... any advice?

Congratulations on your DS and for bfing so far and in such difficult circumstances.

I'm not trained but could it be that he finds it easier to take the milk from a bottle and too much like hard work to suck.

If you do want to move him over to just bfing have you got some good support like a local bfing counsellor?

Hi well i can tell you my story which is that like your son, mine was in special care and did not latch on until he was 4 weeks old. We also fed him EBM via bottle in order for him to come home. My DS also appeared hungry after breast feeds and wanted a top up. I think this was because bottle feeding was easier for him and he didn't want to work once the milk flow slowed down. So I stopped offering bottles completely and fed very often for a few weeks! He is now 12 weeks old and has had no bottles for 8 weeks (I am scared to introduce the odd one now!) I have no idea if this is helpful or if this was the right thing to do but it worked for us. Either way, best of luck you are doing a fab job x

Ineedsomesleep - Ther is a local breasfeeding group but i didnt think to contact them as he is breastfeeding fine except he isnt filling himself, maybe i should see what they think ...

lots33 - Nice to know im not the only once forced to express and then struggling to stop :( I think i will try not offering a bottle, he will usually settle down but within half hour is crying to be fed again. I will just try latching him back on again and see how we go.

After he's come off the second breast, could you try offering the first again? You might get another letdown and the faster flow of milk would get him interested again.

I think if I were you I would try spending a couple of days in bed together with lots of skin to skin contact and just try to to feed him at every opportunity.

What kind of bottles are you using? I initially used the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature ones but was concerned they seemed a bit too easy, and ds might prefer them to the breast. I switched to the Breastflow bottles which are harder work for the baby to get the milk out and a bit more like the action needed for breastfeeding.

Moon - I have just fed him for 45minutes, on left then right, left again then right again before he dozed off. I have now put him down but he woke up immediatly, i am going to work through the moaning rather than giving a bottle :)

It is tommee tippee closer to nature that i am using, he is on teat one and i think they are too slow for him as he sucks so hard the teat sucks up inside itself, i dont want to go up one incase it puts him off my breast again.

Just wanted to say good luck and well done for sticking with it! It sounds like you should try to stop using bottles at all for a while like the other poster because it is not as if he can't physically latch on and drink. So if he is hungry he will do it and it will just take him a little while to realize he needs to stick at it for longer!

Ok so today i have given no bottles just breast, he fed for 45 mins then fell asleep, half an hour later he wants feeding again. fed him for another half an hour then he fell asleep, less than an hour later he wants feeding again.

is this normal as i dont think i can cope with this. when i was expressing he was going 3/4hrs in the day, 5/6hrs in the nights.

Drew, it could just be that he is used to having his tummy really full from the bottles, bf babies do tend to stop before they are overstuffed.

It is early days and just because he has been like that today doesn't mean he will be like that forever.

Try to forget the housework. Have a takeaway for tea. Just feed him when he wants feeding, the more you feed the more he will get used to it and the more you will produce. Just try to relax and go with the flow

The local bfing group does sound like a good idea, its worth going along even if you don't neet help. Just getting out of the house for a coffee and a chat can help and you might make some friends if you keep going.

I'd also ring either a local bfing counsellor or one of the bfing helplines if I were you. Think you need someone who has experience of feeding preterm babies.

Hope your day gets better.

It sounds normal for my DS2, who is 5 weeks. He goes longer at night though, you may find your DS still goes longer at night. It is harder than with the bottles, I expressed a lot with DS1 for one reason or another and he definitely went longer between feeds. I am hoping that it levels out a bit, I am sure it does. Good luck! Oh, and my house is a state at the moment!