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Infant feeding

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

Baby has a sore throat and won't breast feed. I'm pumping like mad but struggling to produce enough - please help.

3 replies

Chocolocolate · 04/02/2012 17:58

My baby is now 10 weeks old.

The first 6 weeks of breastfeeding were horrible (thank you for the encouragement when I posted on here) but we finally got there and things were going well until this week.

On Wednesday night/Thursday morning dd just stopped feeding. She'd take a bit, then scream and scream. The most horrible scream I've ever heard. Then she completely refused and would only take a bit when she was starving. She just screamed and screamed and would only sleep for an hour at a time as she was so hungry.

We took her to the GP who examined her and said that she had a very red, sore-looking throat. He advised that we give her calpol, keep trying to feed and come back as he needed to keep an eye on her as he was worried about dehydration.

Even after Calpol dd wouldn't feed so I was expressing to keep my supply up. I could get about 5 ounces from once breast and 4 from the other.

When DD had gone 12 hours without a proper feed we thought we'd try to give her some of the expressed milk in a bottle - as the sucking required for a bottle is less vigorous. DD took the whole feed.

The GP suggested to keep trying with the breast but also ensure she gets the milk by giving it in a bottle.

Anyway, it's started being really difficult to get a decent amount when expressing - I'm really worried it's drying up. I struggle to make three ounces from both breasts together at three hours. My stored supply has now been used up.

I've tried pumping more often, but it doesn't seem to be helping.

What can I do to increase my supply? DD is still screaming on the breast. Should I be giving formula too?

Please help.

OP posts:
RedKites · 04/02/2012 18:51

3oz every three hours sounds really good to me- think Kellymom says 25oz over 24 hours is average. Did the GP check her ears? I've heard of ear infections making it sore to feed. Could you give one of the [[http://www.mumsnet.com/babies/breastfeeding#Breastfeeding_helplines breastfeeding hel

RedKites · 04/02/2012 18:52

Sorry, posted too soon.

Could you give one of the helplines a call? Think they're all open at the moment.

NicolaSeal · 05/02/2012 13:17

Hi there. I am in a similar situation (have just posted on another thread about this). We were feeding fine for about 15 weeks, then she started getting fussy at each feed, and now she just screams at my boobs! I left her for about 6 hours once thinking she wasn't hungry but then, when we did a test and gave her expressed from a bottle, she gulped it down. I've been feeding via a bottle now for about 5 days and I am hoping that she comes back to me soon. I keep offering the breast to her, but she gets so distressed. I'm going to take her back to the GP next week to check again for any kind of infection.

Regarding expressing, I try to do this every 2 to 3 hours when possible to keep my supply going and to make as much as possible to feed her. I hired a hospital grade double pump and find this is much more efficient than my single one. However, I can't quite keep up with her demand so she has to have a couple of formulas too. I was told that the amount you are able to express is unlikely to be an indication of how much milk you are producing. It seems that a baby is much more efficient at drawing milk, so you shouldn't take this as a sign that your milk is going.

I saw a private lactation consultant yesterday morning and she told me that I'm doing the right thing. To keep offering her the breast, take each day at a time and see this as a temporary situation. There are lots of useful tips on the 'kellymom' website about how to re-introduce the breast to a fussy baby.

Let me know how you get on. I now how heartbreaking it is xx

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