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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

please support...newborn feeding

52 replies

EdlessAllenPoe · 22/12/2011 16:35

sister has baby at home.
she has expressed small amounts of colostrum but it is hard to get baby to latch for more than a few gulps. baby born 2am yesterday.

one boob has been latched successfully, other one is expressing ok,

have rented an NCT pump but they can't get anyone out over xmas - please give advice :)
skin to skin currently going on to get supply, which is helping,

baby is big!

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Original poster
EdlessAllenPoe · 23/12/2011 14:25

Mw just told her to keep going with the expressing, was hoping she'd stay and sit with her to help her feed Hmm

she got out of the door in under 15 minutes from arrival.

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4madboys · 23/12/2011 16:35

thats crap of the mw!! you are right about the sort of pinching the nipple into shape, i had to to do that a bit. sounds like baby is fine tho and your support is invaluable edless xxx

youtalkintomeunderthemiseltoe · 23/12/2011 16:53

I don't suppose baby was an assisted birth? My 1st dd was very similar to this, she was a ventouse delivery in the end it turned out that she hated having her head held, what worked for us was lying on our sides for feeds it took a lot of patience but she got there in the end.

youtalkintomeunderthemiseltoe · 23/12/2011 16:56

Edless, just wanted to add you sound lovely and your sister is doing a great job persisting.

organiccarrotcake · 23/12/2011 17:03

It's such early days and Christmas is going to make this harder, but it may be worth trying to get the baby to a cranial osteopath to help with any head trauma/bruising. I'm wondering if this is interfering with the baby being able to latch.

Very annoyed at the MW. She really should have been more help. Angry When's she due again?

What's nappy output like now?

ALotToTakeIn · 23/12/2011 17:17

OP where in the country are you?

ALotToTakeIn · 23/12/2011 21:26

I only ask as I think I may be near by and am a cranio sacral therapist so I'd you wanted to give it a try I could make it over to you.

Original poster
EdlessAllenPoe · 24/12/2011 14:19

today i am in cornwall for xmas and my mum is with jo (near winchester)

very bad night for DSIS- baby yelled for 5 hours then they gave a bottle of ebm and she slept for hours...she is very sleepy today which is bad and i think due to the lack of good feeding.

MW came round and baby had lost more weight than allowable (between10-15%) even though i know it is a bit cheeky to do that on day 4, the baby does not look alert enough to say everything is ok. it is not ok. paed recommended trying on the boob for 20 mins at a time, though baby would probs be asleep by minute 2 atm...

BFC came round to offer support (LLL lady is a superstar - coming out on xmas eve!) and got some things to shape my sisters breast better (not nipple shields exactly, sth else..), and another pump attachment so she can double-express to save time.

the plan is to keep feeding breastmilk by bottle until baby is more alert and can be asked to latch again, but not try until then as repeated failure is getting sister down, and baby tired. sister is producing lots of milk. this may be something they can manage without support and i think it would be better if they can as obviously there is alot of social stress involved in having mum/me around whilst they are both so tired.

it turns out that on that first day in hospital a MW trying to help DSIS BF pushed her baby to the boob so hard its ears were pushed forwards. poor baby already had a sore head.

cranio-specialist may be a good idea.

it gets me that even a woman who should have had every chance of successful BF - supportive family, pre-natal lessons, strong will to succeed is still in a world of trouble due to bad start at the hospital.

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organiccarrotcake · 24/12/2011 15:00

"it gets me that even a woman who should have had every chance of successful BF - supportive family, pre-natal lessons, strong will to succeed is still in a world of trouble due to bad start at the hospital."

It's outrageous, OP. Outrageous. While there are some truly excellent midwives offering fantastic nursing support, this kind of story is oh-so-common. Angry

However. Your sister still has the very best chance possible. You've got that RL support which is essential. The fact that the babe has been recognised to not be getting enough milk but a plan is in place to deal with this with EBM is excellent. If you can keep her spirits up and let her work this through I'm sure it will work out - she sounds very committed. You are brilliant :)

Keep the faith - tell her to do so as well - and send her cake Grin.

Merry Christmas - as much as can be - to you all.

hazelnutlatte · 24/12/2011 20:43

Hello
I had the exact same problems as your sister - but struggled to get help and gave up bf on day 5. I have really regretted it since and reading this post has made me feel all emotional about it again!
I really hope it all improves soon for your sister and the bf counsellor can help.

Original poster
EdlessAllenPoe · 25/12/2011 08:41

we're only on day 5 yet.. bear in mind my sister has had round the clock support from me, and now my mum since getting out of hospital... as well as her DP acting as cook, cleaner and shopper.
i have concerns for today as mum is at home now for xmas day, but we'll see how it goes.

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Original poster
EdlessAllenPoe · 25/12/2011 13:49

she has now latched the baby whilst wearing the shield-thing. oh sweet joy. early days yet though..
lattefrom what i can make out, 5 days is a long stretch to be doing this, and getting that far was an impressive feat.
MW has weighed baby and is pleased with her alertness, signed off ok.

i think i love that La Leche league lady.

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HandDivedScallopsrgreat · 25/12/2011 14:40

Edless, I had this with DS1. Refusing to latch. (forceps delivery, hypoglycaemic fit post birth all adding to the issue) Spent 2wks going round in circles in hospital. Eventually gave up and expressed for 7mnths. With DS2 was absolutely determined to make it work. BFing was initially excruciating. Led to me trying nipple shields and feeding by cup. This led to DS2 stopping latching on. NCT helpline said try a deep bath with DS2 submerged as much as possible close to my skin and get him to try and find the nipple. It worked! So that might be an option.

BFing is soo lonely when it goes wrong. All the midwives I saw were at a loss as to why it was so painful and I found BFCs very reluctant to visit. Eventually spoke to a BFC with the local hospital and she saw me at the end of a clinic at the hospital. It was a subtle tongue-tie which had been missed by 4 midwives. This took 2wks to diagnose and 2wks of me pushing to see someone and get some help. I feel for your sister.

Also totally recommend cranial osteopath. Wish I'd done it sooner with DS1.

Hope she is on the upward path now.

Original poster
EdlessAllenPoe · 26/12/2011 15:39

just saw sister - baby has been breast-fed all day, no bottles, though is going short distances between feeds. Baby looked content and alert.

she has two bottles stored of ebm ahead of time...

baby is fussing at breast a bit, but if it is the only option on the table will latch - now on both breasts.

question: if baby is latching every half hour, will it get hind milk still even if not feeding for lengthy stretches?

her boobs are getting v. sore though, have recommended her latch is checked by a BFC.

Hooray for big sister and baby! i can't help but feel that it isn't just good advice from the BFC, determination, and support....there's a good bit of luck in this. luck in that the baby is a little trooper with a big easy-to-latch mouth.

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4madboys · 26/12/2011 16:10

YAY fantastic news, little and often if good for mum and baby to encourage milk production and for comfort for baby, hopefully the fussing will ease as baby gets more used to nursing! and yes baby will still get hindmilk, she could maybe put baby back to same breast if he? feeds with a short gap and then offer the other breast after, alternate breasts every hour or os? but maybe see what tiktok says she is the expert!

so pleased it is improving!

Original poster
EdlessAllenPoe · 26/12/2011 16:28

i was wondering if expressed hind milk would be necessary..but that might depend. due to the shaky start they are doing daily weighing visits which puts added pressure on it.

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Original poster
EdlessAllenPoe · 26/12/2011 16:30

i was hoping for a tiktok reply!

you wuld think it might be enough if baby starts building time at the breast...

and in such a large baby you''d expect catch-down weight anyway (Dsis was more than 2lbs lighter at birth!)

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TruthSweet · 26/12/2011 16:52

Edless- if baby is feeding as frequently as every 30 mins then fore/hind milk pretty much disappears if milk is being consumed almost as quickly as it is being made (so is pretty much 'hind' millk).

Good article on fore/hind milk here.

4madboys · 26/12/2011 17:33

i dont think she would need to bother with expressing, letting the baby feed frequently and for as long as it wants it the best bet :) truthsweet has linked to a good article! and hopefully tiktok will be along with some advice soon :)

daily weighing sounds a bit much imo, esp at this early stage, i know there are concerns but surely as long as baby is alert, having wet, dirty nappies than once a week should be enough? and yes baby may well be catching down.

Original poster
EdlessAllenPoe · 26/12/2011 23:13

baby had a bottle of ebm before bed ...there were very few wet nappies in the first couple of days so i think concerns not misplaced even though i know eight isn't the only issue...sister a bit disappointed i think but today has been generally encouraging and she was confident when i saw her briefly..

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bakingno4 · 27/12/2011 00:32

Could it be possible that the baby has Tongue tie?! Would be worth getting thisnchecked as it can stop a baby latching on properly, myn9week old was born with it and the midwives just kept telling me that bfding takes time and baby needs to 'learn' to latch on... Took a few different people to check him and notice he had Tongue tie which was snipped at 4 weeks and he now latches on fine?!

Original poster
EdlessAllenPoe · 28/12/2011 21:44

BFC has been to check latch (LLL lady - they truly go the extra mile..)
latching not quite right on shield but no latch at all without, baby feeding one hour on one hour off!

so pretty hardcore, but baby is getting fed.

baby is showing a marked preference for one side, fussing most on the right.

with baby at the breast so much, will that be enough to keep milk in both, and supply coming strong? I'd imagine so..

it'll be a little bit before DSIS can manage a deep bath with baby to 're-birth' it due to her stitches, but that seems like that might work - thanks for story!

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Original poster
EdlessAllenPoe · 28/12/2011 21:46

tongue tie - i appreciate this can be missed, but they just said 'tongue a bit short' rather than tied...will be interesting to see if the BFC had a good look.

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Original poster
EdlessAllenPoe · 15/01/2012 21:09

ahahaha..

BFC finally seen this wednesday - tongue tie seen! snipped yesterday - lovely doctor came out and did it. Sister didn't find instant improvement, but i thought her latch looked much more effective...she also said she couldn't feel anything (which i remember as being good: a good latch you barely notice, except from the feel of let-down)

after snip baby seemed to me to feed well for 10 mis, then sleep soundly.

sister has been in a near constant state of feeding with nipple shields on (no latch without) - feeding 3/4 of the time. baby gaining weight s-l-o-w-l-y, constantly hungry, falling asleep whilst latched but still mouthing in sleep.

so: hints on what to do when baby falling asleep at the breast, and training a newly-snipped baby to latch better....

she had a bad evening last night but managed to re-latch baby without shields a few times.

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Original poster
EdlessAllenPoe · 15/01/2012 21:11

and also: is expressing necessary whilst using nipple shields - KellyMom seemed to suggest in this situation (baby not completely emptying breast) that it was...

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