Confused and worried i have been doing it all wrong

[F1rstT1meMummy]

Ok so I have gone and got myself totally confused and worried and wondered if u could help?

My dd is eight weeks old and ebf. When we first had antenatal I was told to nurse on one side for up to an hour, if the baby had enough fine, if over an hour they wanted more then swap. This is what I have been doing.

I'm also feeding on demand. However she has not been gaining weight along the line (ie she is but not as they would like). She feeds every hour and a half.

The hv asked if I fed until she flutters - I wasn't sure so have bee doing this and feeds now take twice as long BUT she goes three ish hours now (I had to wake her yest morning as it was over 4).

My worry is does this count as block feeding and will my supply fall? If this is not what your meant to do - what do I do?!! She needs to flutter to get the calorie rich milk?

I initially didn't expect to be able to bf, now I've done it I am petrified of it going wrong - I would really appreciate your advice.

Thanks

it all sounds as if you are doing fine to me - she is gaining weight then?

I breastfed for a long time but do not know what fluttering is.

Your supply will not fall, you are still feeding really often.

Well I have always swapped my babies to the second side after roughly 10-15 minutes. If they want to take that second side then great, if not then I don't stress.

You have effectively been block feeding, but please don't worry about it. You have had poor advice, but you haven't harmed your baby.

If you are concerned about supply then you could switch feed for a couple of days to give it a boost.

Yes I also don't really know what the HV means by fluttering. If she means doing quick sucking again to achieve a second letdown then that is just as easily achieved by swapping sides and can make feeding quicker and less tiring for the baby.

I think the 'fluttering' is when they've finished feeding, are half asleep and the sucks are so light they aren't actually getting milk out any more - when you feel the fluttery sucks it means they've finished.

I've always swapped DD to the other side when she comes off the first side herself, although she doesn't always take the second side.

Ok, take a deep breath. You have been doing great to get through the tough bit, this is just fine tuning :)

The best thing to do is to put the baby to one side, let her feed until she comes off naturally, then immediately offer the other side. Don't look at the clock. In fact, get rid of your clock for a while!

The slow weight gain may or may not be anything to do with the way you've been feeding but you've done your best with the advice you've been given so try to forget about that for now. Likewise sometimes HCPs aren't too clued up no normal growth and it sadly wouldn't be unheard of for a mum to be worried unnecessarily by a health visitor's uninformed ideas. But I'm not a qualified breast feeding counsellor and we have no reason so far to thing that's the case from what you've said.

If she has slow weight gain then concentrate on offering both sides at every feed. Sometimes a baby will want 3 or 4 or more sides at a feed and that's fine too, it stimulates milk production best that way. Follow her lead just like you have been but swap sides more often and it's highly likely that everything will sort itself out.

I was given similar advice in the early days as well as "make sure DD drains the breast" , DD became very stressed with this and I found it worked for us to switch breasts each time DD came off, so sometimes I may have fed from each breast 4/5 times in one go. (Obviously this was just our experience and I wouldn't want to go against medical advice but it may be worth getting a second opinion). DD gained weight at an excellent rate so this clearly worked for us - Good luck

Forget the clock - just feed until your baby comes off (or falls asleep) then offer the second side. Giving a number of minutes is no good, because one baby might take 20 minutes to finish a side, while another baby takes 5, another takes 40. As others have said you can swap back and forward every time she finishes one side until she refuses anymore.

Thanks Ladies - since feeding more I have noticed some bits in her poo, like seeds so I am guessing this is a good thing.

she is now also going longer between feeds and I am swapping sides more.

Now I just need to crack and get to the bottom of what is making her constantly sick.

Yes, the seeds are good/normal/a good sign everything's well.

Sickyness can be quite normal - but is it bothering her? If not, and you can cope with the washing, it's probably best to let it run its course, as it will, as long as it's not affecting her milk intake and it's not projectile vomiting.