Cluster feeding, green poos, oversupply?

[BettyandDon]

I have a 2.5 week old. She is 98% percentile and was 10 days late (does she need to feed more?) and she is very hungry.

My supply struggles to keep up with her evening cluster feeding - from about 4/5pm till well it was midnight last night. During the course of yesterdays cluster, I had to use 2 bottles of formula as I honestly felt like I had no milk to give her and didnt have any expressed as she used all her feeds in the morning and I had nothing left to express. She fed almost constantly yesterday, morning and early afternoon apart from a 2 hour nap in the sling.

I know the advice is not to supplement but at the time, what on earth do you do if you have no milk and they are hungry ? You can hardly stick on a DVD and hope they forget they are hungry? Am I doing something wrong.

We have tried rocking her to sleep etc to see if its not hunger but I'm certain it's hunger as she calms immediately as she's on the boob although her sucking is not that efficient all the time.

I have also noticed that her poos are becoming more greenish/brown when they used to be yellow/orange and have read that this is a sign of too much foremilk. My left boob produces a lot of milk - this morning whilst she was asleep, I hand expressed 4OZ in 10 mins. I never use a pump, just hand express. I was soaked through 3 layers of clothes when I woke up. I fed her at 430am but from the other boob (25 mins then she crashed), so this boob had 7 hours of no action.

My plan is to feed each side for as long as possible (anyone know a good time - my MW said 20 mins +), but the flow is so strong on the left boob that she seems to fill up on foremilk and not get to the gold top. Does anyone know if the constant feeding is linked to just the foremilk. If I resolve this should I get longer between feeds ?

I have a toddler and it is so hard to manage both with constant feeding. I didnt BF my toddler (no latch ever!) so I have no quarms with formula but I really want to BF to help get my weight off and to make it easier in a few months, but I hate the feeling of not knowing if my baby is hungry and not being able to satisfy her.

I have had the latch checked my MW's and I think it is ok.

Sorry so long, just rambling. I am thinking of going to a BF cafe on Monday, but i honestly don't know how I will get out of the house and get a bus with a constantly feeding baby!

Hi BettyandDon, I'm not a breastfeeding expert, but I have breastfed my 91st%ile baby for nearly 10 weeks now so I will help with what I can.

1. "Supply struggling to keep up"

When your baby cluster feeds she is basically telling your boobs to make more milk, it's like she is putting in her order for the next few days, if your boobs don't receive the full order they wont make the right amount of milk the next day. That's why it's important not to top up with formula (and I'm not anti formula, my son does have a bottle now he's past 6 weeks), your boobs wont ever get the message.

2."felt like I had no milk to give her"
Boobs are great, they never run out of milk. Some women don't produce enough for their baby but this a tiny tiny small percentage and you're baby would be losing weight if this was the case for you. Has she been weighed?

3."she calms immediately as she's on the boob"
She might just be suckling for comfort then in that case. She is still very new after all and did spend 9 months squashed inside your belly hanging upside down in a noisy environment. It must be a bit weird being on the outside!

4."poos are becoming more greenish/brown...too much foremilk"
Some greenish/brown nappies are normal for some babies, don't be worried. Also the foremilk/hindmilk thing isn't as clear cut as it sounds in the first instance. There is some foremilk and some hindmilk in each feed. Tiktok knows more about i t and has a great thread here

5."My plan is to feed each side for as long as possible"
Follow the lead of your baby, she will come off the boob when it's time to switch her. Offer her the other bob although she might not always/ever take it.

Hang in there, feeding will be much easier soon I'm sure. If you want to go out could you feed in the sling? You're doing a fab job!

Was just about to post this on another thread which is about the same thing. Thus article really helped me out.

www.lactationconsultant.info/osscolic.html

I thoroughly second whats been said above, you are making enough milk and you don't need to supplement. Your body is making enough milk and this cluster feeding is normal as your baby lets your body know what she needs. Let her lead the way and feed on demand, I know it may seem very hard and tiring right now, and you might be worried, but it will get easier.

Your baby isn't sucking for comfort, she is building your supply up and taking in the rich milk. I uses to get frustrated because I wanted some time to myself to for DD to hurry up but remember that it will pass so try to relax.

Green poo could be because you have a fast flow. Look up Biological Nursing where you position baby as though she is sitting up on your lap to feed. This position slows the flow of milk down and is easier on their tummies. It helps reduce wind also.

There is new research that foremilk and hind milk are not separate in the way we thought it was, your baby will be getting both with every feed.

Good luck and congratulations

Thanks ladies! I have been getting yellow poos so I am relaxing a bit more about that at least. Off to read the articles...