Can you explain breastfeeding? Im really not getting it right!

[Helenemjay]

Ive come to the decision that im a complete idiot regarding breastfeeding my dd, she is 8 weeks old and exclusivley breastfed but, im going wrong somewhere, she is having greeny poo's and i svery windy which i know is a sign of too much formilk, but i keep her on the same side as long as possible! If im honest i dont get the breast switching thing - If you have fed baby until she falls asleep then she wakes up 20 minutes later do you resume feeding on the side you just finished on or do you go to the other side? - im so confused

If she won't take EBM from a bottle he could try giving it to her from a little cup - some babies prefer to lap it up like a cat rather than take it from a bottle.

I've noticed that my baby gets green poo when I'm not well. She did when I had mastitis and did this weekend when I had a rotten cold. ie think she gets bit of either my infection of my antibodies. Not sure, just my theory.

Thats a good point tinker! although i cant tell if i feel like hell because i have something or because im just soooo knackered! i could try dd cup feeding i never thought of that!and yes moondog im sure my dp COULD do with a good ol' kick up the arse!

I totally agree with you that feeling tired and finding things difficult doesn't mean you aren't coping. You sound as though you are coping very well . I'd think it very wierd if someone with a tiny baby didn't have a messy house

Thankyou mrsdarcy! my poor house really is suffering if im honest and my dining room looks like the laundrette! lol, it does annoy me but id rather have time with my kids then an immaculate house!

Quite right too helenemjay! Cleaning comes second and is certainly not something you should be doing when you can have much more snuggly cuddly fun feeding your dd.
It will becoome second nature soon. good for you for persevering.
FWIW, I do tend to feed ds from one side, returning to the same side if it turns out to be a snack. But then sometimes he has two sides - depends on him, whether he still seems hungry when he unlatches, whether the milk is still coming, how long he fed for etc. Very haphazard here, particularly as hormonal destruction of brain cells means I usually can't remember which side I fed from last unless there's been a big gap between feeds (hmmm - I wish) and one is definitely heavier than the other.

Sorry Helenemjay, didn't realise you had 2 more LOs so I suppose napping is out of the question.. FWIW my ds is 7mths and I still can't get it together with cleaning, shopping, etc.. Very hard for me as I am used to having a clean house, but you soon learn what is really important. And if dp thinks you aren't coping then why doesn't he clean the house if it's that important to him? Why is everything your responsibility? Quite right WigWamBam, when you have a baby, you're in it together, you don't cope or not cope alone. I was lucky in the sense that I had dp's full support with BF, so you are doing really well to keep on without that

i'm totally with you H my dd is 3 months and for a while i thought i had it with bf, i felt sorted, then all of a sudden she's pulling off very windy, crying with it, sometimes without even feeding 2mins, i'm lucky if we get 10mins before the zzzzzzzz show there face, she sleeps for about 10mins wakes crying latchs back on feeds near on 10mins then sleeps again with a couple of windy moments in between. I must say though i love the thought that she is feed by me with nothing but natural stuff. Keep at it as before you know it, it will all be over. Oh and the poos dd went from poo poo poo to a whole week with out then let lose!! (maybe thats where all the wind is coming from!)your no idiot your a mum lacking in sleep like most of us

helen, on green poos, ds is almost 6mo, excl bf, and his poos range from deep mustardy yellow to yellowy-green to pure green - the pure green ones tend to be in the evenings and occasionally nights (anyone know why that might be?) - he's healthy, happy, has been gaining weight not very rapidly but steadily and surely, and all is fine (wish he was a better sleeper though ). I'm not sure it's got a lot to do with foremilk tbh.

Can't believe that your babe is already this old fit!!

Hiya I agree with what you've been told so far by everyone. It's very difficult those first few months and just when you're in the swing of it a growth spurt can really make it hard again but by the time you get to 5 mths it'll be wonderful and so natural and easy.

I don't swop sides during a feed either, haven't with any of my four. I swop from feed to feed normally by giving my boobs a bit of a weigh to see which one is fuller lmao. If you can't remember a good tip is to get a sticker or safety pin and put it on the side that you last fed from, that way you'll know which boob is next ;).

Tashxx

Surely you would have less time to clean if you switch to bottles, due to the sterilising etc. Snap on the dining room/laundry situation - our dining table is now the downstairs changing table for dd too .

Seriously, I have now been breastfeeding dd for nearly 5 months and it does get easier. I very rarely swop sides during a feed, just use alternate sides each feed. DD also got bright green poo for a while (looked like mushy peas ), but went back to mustard again.

Skimmed thru the thread Helenemjay, & just wanted to add a suggestion... if your MIL is such an obsessive cleaner couldn't she come over & clean the place from top to bottom every once in a while??
Sounds like you're doing a great job - keep going

My DD never switched sides during a feed, she would latch on have a feed for about 10 minutes and latch herself off again sometimes to sleep sometimes not (she's still a complete madam). She never cried for food and I would have to offer her a boob every 3 hours which she would take. She put on plenty of weight though and have loads of poos and wees so I wasn't worried.

Would echo the relatives! Wish they would just shut up and let you get on with it sometimes. I am the only woman in my family to breastfeed so have had to put up with all the comments of:

"but you don't KNOW how much they are getting"
"my husband wouldn't like me BFing"
"bottlefeeding is so much easier"
"I don't feel like a proper Gran if I can't feed the baby"

honestly drove me mad, the best one was from my Mum who was obsessed that I was somehow depriving DD by giving her breastmilk and she would starve to death or something. First week of her life DD lost weight (as they all do) then she went from 6lbs to 9lbs in 2 weeks, DM said "you had better watch you will be getting told off (from who) if she puts on too much weight"!! Talk about not winning.

You are doing fantastic job, I think we all get the wobbles sometimes with BFing, mine was around 8 weeks too. Put the housework to one side (this was hard for me too as I'm a neat freak) but you learn to say sod it and spend the time with your darling baby.

What I generally do is...

Feed on one side until he fusses. Wind him. Offer the same side again until he fusses. Wind him. If he still wants more, I offer the other side.

Next time I feed, I start of the side I didn't start on last time regardless which side he last had.

I don't quite get it sometimes too! Not sure about the green poos, but my baby has loads of wind. And painful wind. It's just in his make-up.

does this description of a feed help

I know moondog
We'll be celebrating his half birthday on Friday!

Helen, re green poos: I had problems breastfeeding both times (did manage it in the end for 9 months each with LOTS of support). Both dd had green poos occasionally. The infant feeding unit at the hospital (where I spent loads of time) said that green poos, especially if they're bit stringy/sparse can be a symptom of the baby not latching on properly so she only sucks the thin foremilk which is much more sugary, not the full creamy stuff. Poor latching/feeding often happens when we're at a low ebb and this is often in the evenings and at night.

Ok, been reading the thread and really wantto breastffed next time(was unable to on last baby) what happens if you dont change breast, ie you emoty one breast but not the other) do you get one really sore boob but not the other?

jellyjelly - I see you are getting some good suggestions on reading on another thread. Good idea

Your specific question: it's fine to use one breast only and for the baby to feel he/she has had enough (though you won't empty it - breasts don't totally empty) and then the other breast remains 'untouched' until later; it's also fine for the baby to feel he/she needs to have a 'turn' on each side. Always best to follow what the baby seems to be 'asking' for. An unused breast may be a little uncomfortable at first, but not usually 'sore', and the body does adapt to whatever preference your baby seems to have. One sided/two sided....it's not a big deal

Hiya girls! THANKYOU so much for all your help, thanks mears for the description of a feed, i like the 'flutter suck' description - describes it very well! Im ashamed to say i was painfully close to getting some cow and gate last night (dp bought some weeks ago) dd had me feeding her continously from 7am yesterday morning with no break, as soon as i put her down she yelled, dp has had to go away with work so he left last night at 9pm and dd slept from 10pm until 1am and that was it! - she kept me up all night long! by 5am i was a sobbing wreck and was desperatley wanting to give her a bottle, i cant describe how dissapointed i would be in myself if i did, but i cant face another night like that, dp is away until thurs/fri and im knackered already i cant understand whats happening, is my milk not filling her? she is stuffing herself continously, if she nods off and 'looses' the nipple she wakes up straight away and howls her head off until i quickly stuff it back in, i got her one of those funny shaped 'nuk' dummies, but she just squawks with it balanced in her mouth, it doesnt even slow her down!!! - she just wants boob! help

Oh poor you - I know how it feels to be that exhausted. While dp is away is there anyone you can call on to help with school runs or to take ds2 for a few hours so you can get some sleep in the day? Also, make sure you get some ready meals in & eat properly yourself, so you have a bit of energy... cos with 3 to look after it is easy to forget about yourself.

I think you are doing a fab job perservering with bfing - let's hope yesterday & last night was an unsettled blip.

I know our HV suggested Infacol before feeding to try & get wind up - not sure what other opinions on it are, but it might help with burping, as maybe windy pain is waking her up?

Good luck

have you tried a routine Helen? your dd doesn't need continual feeding really - if you continually feed her her little digestion will be going all day and she'll be getting tired. She really only needs one good feed (30-45mins on one breast) every 3 hours...She's probably tired which is why she's crying...

When she's on the boob keep her feeding by rubbing her little palm, once she's finished a feed then keep her up for a little while til she gets grumpy (usually 45 mins for my 8week old boy) and then into bed for a nap of 1.5 hours...in the night I feed and he goes straight back to bed...Making sure he naps was hard at first to get him off to sleep but now he's pretty good - did take a while though...

Oh god tedebear, i would do ANYTHING to get dd into a routine! Im so sure she cant possibly be needing so much feeding, unless im just producing water like milk! but she is rooting all the time she's not attached, my mum held her this morning and she was frantically kicking her arms and legs and rooting like she hadnt beedn fed in a week! Yesterday she fed so much she didnt sleep a wink from 7am until about 5pm and then that was only for about half an hour before she woke up yelling her head off again! - i have been pourong gripe water into her on the idea she may have wind/tummy aches, but she is no better im really truly getting to the end of my tether! i know if i persist it will get easier and i soo want to feed her myself for as long as possible, but im loosing it i think!

Well they do say that babies need suckling time - quite a bit each day - thats why when they eventually find their hands they suck their thumbs...I've given my son a dummy but only in his bedroom to help him send himself off to sleep - I know they aren't popular but he's just finding his fingers now so am slowly using it less...

My son is very very windy too - burping evey 5 mins sometimes but we get there..