Increasing Breast Milk Quality

[melliebobs]

Quick background. Dd is 8wk been breastfed gained weight brilliantly for the first 3-4 wk. Had problems with feeding she was fussy and crying all day for no reason. Was told trapped wind deal with it. Then colic and now reflux and were on gaviscon.

So went to get weighed and In 2 wk only put on four ounce. Asked to come back the following week and shed only put on an ounce n a half. Soul destroying considering how much she does eat! I wouldnt have been concerned if she was content and happy however shes anything but! We have days of anything up to 10 hrs constants screaming with NO sleep and that cant be good for her! Also looking at her she isnt all chubby like a new baby. When she was getting weighed hou could see all her ribs :-(

So Gp has referred us to the paediatrician. I
really don't want to be told to put her on formula and so wondering if there is anything I can do to increase the quality of the milk she's getting. As supply really isn't an issue.

Why do you think your quality of milk is poor?

I think it may be something like poor milk transfer

Have you had her latch checked?

Reflux is horrid - I speak from personal experience with DS

Until he was on ranitidine and domperidone he was a miserable, grumpy baby

Breast milk is the best thing for a reflux baby as it is so easy to digest

Can you get a HV OR local Breastfeeding counsellor come to observe a feed?

Does she have plenty of wet and dirtying nappies?

She is gaining - is she following her percentile? She isn't losing weight is she?

Don't worry about the quality of your breastmilk unless you're drinking caffeine or alcohol close to feeds. Breast milk is the best thing for your baby. It might take a while for her to catch up on the weight she's lost with the reflux. I've been there too and know how soul destroying it can be to breast feed for ages just to watch baby puke it all back up, but just keep on persevering and by the time the paediatrician has the reflux under control then you'll have a big enough milk supply for another couple of babies!

What are her poos like? Are they yellowish and thin (may be anything from green tinged to mustard/korma coloured)?

Has the possibility of an allergy/intolerance to something been considered? The most common is dairy, soya or may be something else (if indeed it is an allergy or intolerance). Don't cut anything out of your diet though until you have discussed it with the Paed/GP/HV.

You can't change the basic make up of BM as it's the same the world over however there may be flavour traces of foods the mother eats (garlic and vanilla quite easily come through and babies love them [on the whole!]) or traces of food protein (e.g. cow's milk protein, soy protein or other traces - most babies are not sensitive to these proteins though) but you can slightly change the type of fat in the BM but not the amount by changing the mother's diet.

Have you tried one of the breastfeeding helplines (details on the MN bfing pages)?

I dont quite get these centile charts whicj i guess is no bad thing cos dont want to obsess about them. But she was on the 50th to start amd was following it but really tapered off and on the chart she's on the line of the next one down. Plenty of wet nappies but only 1 dirty a day now cos the gaviscon is bunging her up. Her latch is fine i only know because I was beginning to doubt myself n that I was doing something wrong so It was checked recently. It doesn't help she's being sick either. I just want to see this paediatrician and tell them I'm doing everything in my power possible. So just wondered if there was any kind of superfood out there that might help!

A sicky baby will lose weight

The reflux needs to be brought under control with meds and a paed can do that

Several questions come to mind here.

You say that supply isn't an issue, what do you mean by this?
How often do you feed her?
Is she being weighed on the same scales each time?
Are you saying that she's now on the 25th percentile as a drop within two percentile lines is supposed to be ok but you do say that she seems upset?
You say that the latch was checked, by whom?

I'm saying supply isn't an issue as I'm really leaky. Between feeds my boobs are massive n rock hard again and I'm still able to express and get a decent amount for dh to give her a bottle if I'm knackered and struggling.

%23 of feeds varies but 8/9 minimum. With a big cluster in an evening. For between 30-45 mins. Sometimes longer but im beginning to think that its so the milk soothes the reflux. Breast feeding service thats commissioned by the pct round here have checked latch

Weight is checked and taken by the same person on the same scales No nappy. I've had varying responses. HV was really concerned n made an immediate apt with gp. Gp was concerned to a point n did the referral but hoping it will sort itself out. Practice nurses that did her jabs said bf babies gain in steps

But Yerr. She generally seems really unsettled. I know babies cry but she screams. Hours n hours no consoling her and she doesn't sleep until she's worn herself out and she's VERY hard to settle in general. This I'm putting down to the reflux n just keep telling myself she's poorly and in pain. But it's horrible to hear and I feel I've completely missed her being a new born

It's just so soul destroying. I'm not going to give up. Just want to do everything possible to make a difference

My DD has reflux - gaviscon made it worse. It constipated her so she was always in pain either because she was bunged up or in pain from acid.

Like a previous poster said it didn't get better til she was on ranitidine and doperidone. She's been taking that for approx 2mths and finally in the last few weeks I have my daughter back. I feel I missed the first 4mths of her. I also had feelings that milk was to blame. It wasn't!

Get a bit tough with your GP. Whilst waiting got a referal can he speak to paed? Ours did and we got the doperidone added. It has saved our sanity!

Also try White noise- hairdryer, vacuum, extractor fan hood etc!9

Try cutting dairy. My dd3 had a milk protien intollerance, I cut dairy completely (check all labels) and she was much improved within days, if I accidentally had dairy she was ill for a few days afterwards. She's nearly 2 now and growing out of it but the first year was hard. She was born on the 50th centile and dropped to below the 9th, she was only gaining 1/2 an oz a week until I cut dairy, afterwards when the vommiting and runs had stopped she was gaining 4+oz a week and is now a normal size.

lagoonhaze referral to peadiatrics was made on Thursday to get the ball rolling. But I know what you mean. She's either in pain with the reflux or uncomfortable with a sore belly. The gp said if she's sorted by the apt (which I doubt) they'll at least be able to give her sommet stronger.

Kinda don't want to go cutting out food groups just yet until I've been told to suggest it. But been making a log of feeds, duration and how much vom there is.

Ah well at least I now know there ain't some ridiculously expensive food that could help but can only be got from a health food shop and costs an arm and a leg to buy

Thanks for your advice guys

Oh weve gone through white noise! Rain, white noise, hair dryers, train travel, planes, rotary fans just don't do it for her!!! The car works but the price of petrol ATM I just can't afford it!

You poor thing. Can you borrow a swing? May help replicate the motion of a car.

Borrow- don't buy- it didn't work for us! Worth a try.

Also a good sling helped as she needed to be carried all the time!

Being upright has helped at least keep her calm. Went to a sling meet n tried a Close and a Karri Me. My moby got dispatched fri so itching for it to turn up!

I know she's getting the hind milk. At the start of the feed I let the fast flowing stuff run into a muslin then start. And at the end my boob feels reeeally soft n well drained iyswim and the colour of the milk round her mush is a different colour. Less like watered down milk and more white/yellow n thicker also the bf people told me when she slows down n her chin starts to flutter rather than constantly chomp that's when she's getting it

It sounds like you are doing everything you can. It does get easier. Try and get some time to yourself even if it's just a walk to the local shop to get a magazine. Your partner will cope! You will come back a bit more refreshed ready to start again.

When you said about the flutter I thought gosh that makes sense! Breastfeeding is hard work but even harder when you have a reflux baby but no guarntees formula would make it easier!

Definitely consider the dairy intolerance. It might be the solution to your issues, and if not, nothing's been lost except a couple of weeks for you without cheese :) (I know, a fate worse than death...well, would be for me).

milliebobs it must be so hard for you right now! You are doing an excellent job so give yourself a pat on the back sometimes too!
Some babies are just grizzly and they cry a lot for no apparent reason. Fussiness typically starts around week 4 and peaks between weeks 6 and 8 then it starts to get better. Some babies just cry and cry and they're inconsolable and not only at night. If they're not hungry or wet or tired then chances are that there isn't a particular reason why they cry. It's useful to think of the fussiness like a developmental stage rather than something that needs to be addressed. Sure she may have reflux and this may be part of the reason why she's grizzly but more often than not medication just does not make any difference and if it appears to make a difference chances are that the problem would have resolved itself without it. Plus you get the possible constipation and other side effects.
It is important to check latch and your supply. If you're confident that latch and supply are fine and milk transfer is also good, the mere fact that she's gaining weight slower than previously is not a reason for concern. She is still gaining and probably just finding her own line. In this context the fussiness can be totally unrelated to the fact that she'a not gaining as quickly as the first few weeks. As I said the fussiness is probably just a developmental stage.
A lot of ebf babies are not chubby but just look healthy especially if they're quite long.
I wish you all the best.

it sounds to me you're doing a great job.
:)

i think as long as she's gaining weight, it doesn't matter the speed- better indicators are if she seems happy in herself and the pooing/weeing thing.

I'm sure it's all just because of the reflux.

are you feeding her on her cue?

oh, yes, my DD has never looked chubby, either. :)

When you say on cue do you mean whenever she asks? Cos if so Yerr I do

yes, that's what I meant.

good. :)

I can't see anything wrong with what you're doing. :)

Well guess I'll just have to plod on as I am n see what the paediatrician has to say. Dreading taking her to be weighed and got to go every week now. Fantastic !

that's the thing, though, you don't have to take her every week.

have you spoken to a BF counsellor or a peer supporter (a group that you can drop into)?

If you don't think that what they're saying is accurate, you can ignore it.
You've got to trust your own instincts, and if you doubt them, then find other people IRL to talk to about it.

like they've said above, the medicine might not do anything anyway, and you're just worrying more because you're being made to feel inadequate.

Honestly, you're doing great. Get someone IRL to talk to, join a BF group, and stop worrying about weight!
(if it weren't for the reflux, you wouldn't have worried, would you? the reflux is nothing that you could do anything about - think of it as indigestion but in a baby)