HV says formula,I want to bf.

[LimeFlower]

Where to start...

DS is 5 weeks old.I intended to breastfeed him,unfortunately things didn't go smoothly.

Health visitor said he wasn't latching properly,got dehydrated and wasn't putting the weight on quickly enough according to centiles in his red book.
Yes,latching was a problem as everytime i tried to put him to breast he was going bonkers-if he didn't manage to find nipple quickly his hands were flying everywhere,head bashing,body wriggling and screaming in frustration.At this point I just used to shove the boob into his wide open mouth-he was taking big mouthful of breast and sucking.
He had a trapped wind problem-screaming for hours in the evening,not burping after feeding.Last week he was given reflux medicine-things got much better on the wind front since then.

2 weeks ago I had a mastitis and got some antibiotics to clear it and ibuprofen.DS not to keen to latch on sore breast so HV has called and said to top him up with formula(due to his dehydration and slow weight gain)-which I duly did.DS has gulped 2oz in seconds then promptly vomited-i suppose this was due to the speed of his consumption and no burping.Started to take the bottle away a couple of times and try to burp him.No luck,more vomiting.

I'm attending the bf clinic later today because I'm desperate to not to give up with bf.So-last night DS had no formula at all and spent most of the time hanging off my boobs-on average about an hour every time.

I don't want to get into war with HV but I don't want DS to be fed formula either.Of course DS is the most important here and if I have to top him up with formula to give him adequate nutrition I'll do it.

How do I know whether my milk is good enough for him regarding to quality and quantity?

Dirty nappies-is it always 10 of them?DS had 6 yesterday-50/50 poop/pee.Anything to worry about re quantity(not enough?)?

Thanks for any help.

limeflower great news that your MIL can watch him whilst you get some sleep. Breakout the ear plugs so nothing disturbs you. Regarding the sling, it is probably safer to have your baby in a sling, so if you were to slip, you would have both hands free to break the fall rather than potentially drop your baby.

I had a week where DS didnt put on any weight. He was clearly happy and thriving and HV told me not to worry. DS started off on the 98th centile at birth, but is happily tracking along the 50th now.

Good luck in getting the support you need to bf. where in the country are you?

Update:

saw the bf clinic lady yesterday,DS put some weight on over the weekend.Clearly he wasn't getting enough from me so mixed feed then for us.Lovely lady,lots of support,no judging and no guilt trips at all.Considered carefully what's best for both of us.

It was an absolute nightmare,he wasn't getting ANY sleep during the day and waking up several times at night(and so was I).Poor DS was starving.

Now he's getting both boobs and if he's still looking for food then some formula.And off for a nap,what a relief for all of us at home.

It's possible that my milk supply has decreased after mastitis but it's still possible that it will come back.

Thanks for all your kind words,help and support

Hope things go well for you, lieflower and glad you had a good session at the clinic :)

Lime flower I mean.....:) Was not accusing you of telling porkies :)

Your milk supply will come back if the demand is there. Some women have been helped by eating stuff like porridge/oats and taking fenugreek.

Well done for getting through this and good luck for the future.

I have been here. I am so sorry you are going through it too. My GP ordered me to stop bf in the end because there just wasn't any milk coming through. Looking back, I think it was because I wasnt eating and drinking enough. I completely lost my appetite and just forgot. I know that sounds silly but I was in a daze. I think if someone had been there to bring food to me and make me eat I would have perhaps faired better. Are you eating? It is so hard when you have a tearful baby glued to your boob I know but perhaps you could get hubby to make you a pack up so that you can just grab the food as and when. My hubby did this for me in the end. He made me a packed lunch so that I could sit in the house! Sounds crazy I know but I needed it! However, even though formula led to the colic getting worse and we ended up on colief, it was the right thing for my GP to advise. My baby dropped two centiles in weight and I was close to being driven mad. Once we switched, even though she never drank as much milk as she was 'supposed' to according to the guidelines. She did, at least, gain weight. (although she was still under her birth centile and her weight gain did stop again when she was 4 months.) I agonised over giving up bf. If I am honest, I still feel guilty and she is nearly one! I am so jealous of women that were able to do it with no issues and I already have a plan of how I am going to bf successfully next time. However, I still know that I did the right thing giving her formula. The doctor told me that I may have some discomfort in my boobs once I gave up bf. She told me that as the milk dissipates they would become rock hard and painful. However, my boobs never did. Nothing happened. This was because there was nothing in there in the first place! Have a good think about what you want to do. If you do decide to switch to formula the gaviscon for babies in the bottle made a huge difference to my niece's reflux. I promise, what ever you decide, it will get easier xx