I'm new to this - problems with bf a 5 day old

[Gatorade]

Help!

After a somewhat traumatic emergency c-section I had thought I was getting on ok with bf my new (and first) little one, however things have started to go downhill and I am worried about what I am doing wrong.

A bit of background:

• I came home from hospital yesterday
• The midwives in the hospital were happy with her latch (as was/am I with the look of the latch on the left but the right is very ropey). We seem to be getting on with quite a few different feeding holds
• For the first 2 days she seemed to suck well and I woke up on morning 3 with considerably larger hard breasts and therefore assumed my milk was coming in

And now everything seems to have gone wrong (cue lots of tears)

• My breasts are massive and my nipples are larger than my 6lb babies mouth, she is really really struggling to get the breast into her mouth

• When latching on she wedges her tongue against the top of her mouth and I can't get my nipple between her tongue and the roof of her mouth anymore

• She screams when I try to feed her, but will sometimes gently suck on the end of the boob for comfort for hours at a time (I guess I shouldn't let her do this)

• If I do manage to get her latched on she doesn't seem to be sucking as hard any more and I don't think she is swallowing any milk (I can't hear her swallowing)

• She has only had one wet nappy in the past 24 hours (only a little bit wet, I had put cotton wool inside to assess wetness) and she is passing quite a lot of urate crystals

• Her mouth and lips seem really dry

My poor little baby is completely dehydrated and it is all my fault and I can't work out how to fix it, I know crying isn't going to help but not sure what to do...please help if you can

Yes, I did get onto exclusive breastfeeding, although my supply isn't great, so at 10 weeks we've just been put back on top ups of expressed/formula to help the little chap grow a bit. It sounds as though my problems came for a different reason to yours since I was expressing a pitiful 5-10 mls on a good day in hospital!

So glad you're on the road back to health & happiness - it's all a bit stressful isn't it?

Oh - and re the stay in hospital - once I'd got past the hormonal 'I'm a terrible mother' ridiculousness, it was actually a real relief to know that someone else was in charge for the night and that all I had to do was sleep until either a midwife woke me up or the baby did - in which case I just pressed a button to summon a midwife with all the equipment.

So glad that they have called down expert help from maternity and got you a pump. To increase your supply pumping often is the key as the hormones that control milk production decrease if you do not feed at least every 3 hours.

If your DD is not able to feed from you often enough or for long enough then you will need to pump to keep up the hormones, this will mean waking a lot, but it will be worth it to increase your supply.

Ideally you need to pump every 2.5-3 hours, as more than 8 feeds/pumps per 24 hours has been shown in research to prevent decline of prolactin before the next feed. Also try to empty both breasts each time as this will lead to faster milk production.

Prolactin levels are naturally higher at night (they follow your body's circadian rhythm) so it will be more effective if you feed then pump frequently through the night.

I would suggest that you try, if not too exhausted, to empty both breasts using the pump after feeding DD every 2.5-3 hours. That way even if she is topped up by formula your supply will be increasing and then for the next feed she could have the expressed breastmilk as a top up from a cup/spoon or syringe before the formula so that eventually you won't need the formula at all.

As she gets bigger she will hopefully find the latching on easier too and you will find she will feed from you for longer.

Hope tonight goes well x

Also forgot to say, if you are not expressing directly after feeding DD then expressing in the bath or putting warm flannels on your breast before pumping can help with let down, as well as pumping near your DD or whilst looking at a picture of her.

Have they supported you to get the pumping rhythm right too? Short quick pumps at first until milk starts to appear at the nipple, then longer, slower pumping in a regular rhythm (electric pumps can still be set to different rates so that you can find a rhythm that works for you).

So glad things are improving!

DD was also jaundiced after birth and had to spend three days under the lights, but she came back for bf and it all worked out fine in the end, so hang in there!

Thank you again for all of the support, things seem to be improving here. My DD is much more alert and her sodium levels have fallen, she even managed what i feel was a great feed about an hour ago on the breast.

The expressing is going ok, although the pump doesn't seem to be able to produce much, maybe 10 to 20 ml a go, which is less than the 25ml I managed to get in my first manic 1 hour hand pump session. I'm not too worried though as it may just be because DD is actually managing to take something from my breasts now, relief!

Redkites - thanks for the link, I'm going to take a look this evening

Silversmith - I think I'm still feeling the 'terrible mother' thoughts, if is awful when you feel you can't do such a natural thing that a mother should be able to do . Luckily the staff have been great and put up with my tears!

Zhen - thanks for that, I'm following your advise religiously and making sure I express at least every 3 hours, I think I need to look at the rhythm thing though

Boooboostoo - it's good to hear you had a good outcome

Glad she is improving and that she is feeding from the breast, with regard to the rhythm when she is feeding try to remember the pace that she sucks at then mimick that with the pump for the best results. Don't worry about how much you get from pumping, babies are far more efficient than any pump so she will be getting more. Hope you have a good night.

How are you now Gatorade?