Am I starving my ebf 4 day old baby?

[WutheringTights]

I?m a first time mum and I?m worried that my 4 day old EBF baby isn?t getting enough to eat. Apologies that this is so long, I wanted to make sure that I gave all the relevant information.

He was born on Saturday after a 40 hour labour and it was an instrumental delivery as his heart rate was dipping on each contraction. We were given IV antibiotics because my waters broke early. I had a local anaesthetic for the delivery but no other pain relief (I had diamorphine earlier on but it had worn off by then as given more than 12 hours before delivery).

On day 1 he wouldn?t feed so I ended up giving him hand-expressed colostrum from a syringe.

On day 2 I struggled to get him to take anything. He wouldn?t open his mouth and if I did manage to get a nipple in he didn?t seem to realise that he had to suck. He ended up feeding every 5-6 hours for about 20 minutes each time.

Day 3 (yesterday) I woke him 3 hours after each feed and he seemed to get the hang of it, feeding each time and each feed got easier. He even asked for a couple of feeds after only 2.5 hours (and he had an extra one after about an hour which I don?t count as it was only for about 5 mins). My milk came in but as the day went on he went from feeding for about 20 mins to feeding for only about 10 mins each feed. I offered him more each time but he wasn?t interested or only took a couple of sucks before falling asleep.

Day 4 (today) he?s had one good 20 minute feed and one for only 10 mins. At the end of the 20 min feed I could see that he had managed to get the thicker milk that comes later (is this the let down?) but I couldn?t see any after the 10 minute feed. I offered him more each time but he wouldn?t take it.

It doesn?t feel like he could possibly be getting enough milk but I don?t know what else to do. I have some formula in the cupboard and I?m tempted to give him a bottle just so I know that he?s getting something but my instinct is that once I do this he won?t take the breast again as it?s been such a battle so far.

We only get 2-3 wet nappies a day but plenty of dirty ones ? poo is greeny yellow in the nappy but bright yellow on the cotton wool when I wipe him iyswim so he is getting something.

Any suggestions/ advice? He was a small baby so I don?t want him losing too much weight when he?s weighed at his 5 day check tomorrow. He's due another feed in an hour.

Thanks

[armedtotheteeth]

Hahaha less than 1% is amazing!!!! Just shows how wrong the first midwife was to want you to give him formula!

Great news but a shame you had to come on mumsnet for encouragement and reassurance rather than get it from your midwife.

[luanmahi]

I haven't read whole thread either but please don't stress. We struggled with bf at first for a variety of reasons and I was topping up with formula until my milk came in. I then had thrush which meant I was in pain and had to feed baby with expressed milk from a bottle. It was 7 weeks before I was feeding exclusively breastmilk and a further 3 weeks before the thrush was sorted and she was totally on the breast. I worried that my baby wouldn't be able to latch or would become too accustomed to formula or my milk supply would be all over the place. In actual fact both my body and baby adapted fine to everything. They're bright little things and soon learn the difference between bottles and breast. I carried on expressing so my husband could share feeding and it's never caused either of us a problem

[AnitaBlake]

Wow 1% is amazing, well done you and your boobs!

[shouldIbecrossaboutthis]

haven read entire thread as it's late and I'm off to bed, but thought I would quickly share.

My DS was 8lb 14oz born and put on 5lb by 5 day check. He only ever fed for 12 minutes every 3 hours. If I 'forced' him to have more, he just puked it up! He is now 12 weeks nearly as has slept 11pm-10am since 6 weeks and now only feeds for about 7/8 minutes.

He was born on the 75th and is now on the 91st HTH

[a11yJ]

feeding 8-12 times a day, having plenty of wet and dirty nappies! feed for around 20 mins and your perfect! if you are worried express and give a small amount from a small cup not bottle so he laps it, and do plenty skin to skin and keep him with you constant

[snowtunesgirl]

Less than 1% is amazing! Well done OP!

My experience was much like what geekette said. After a few weeks any discomfort just disappeared. If however, you are still getting pain, then do get your latch checked out by someone. I found upon latching on, counting slowly to ten was a good judgement. If by ten, it was still painful, I would unlatch by putting my little finger in the corner of DD's mouth and then re-latch until it felt ok.

[geekette]

ram booby in open mouth
but that is exactly what is needed.

expect extremely sore boobs. lansinoh is your friend but I found Vaseline (rub off before feed! ) also works.

give the soreness about 10 days to reduce to some initial toe curling. and after a few weeks, you won't know what all the fuss was about

as others have said, enjoy this phase. it is extremely short! painful but short.

[Skiffen]

Woooooooop! That's amazing! Well done!

[WutheringTights]

Well a different midwife came today. When the first one came and I told her that we had some formula in just in case she was very keen for me to give him a bottle, so perhaps she's just not keen on breastfeeding. A different midwife came today for the five day check. She was much better and it turns out that he's lost less than 1% of his birth weight, so I'm obviously doing something right. I'm just so glad I didn't crack and give him a bottle of formula after that first midwife visit.

[mrslaughan]

He may not need to feed longer than 10min if you have a lot of milk - he may get all he needs. The best judge are his nappy's - that they are wet? When you get him up for a feed? Is he pooing? If this is the case heis getting enough milk and he will take more and more as he becomes more alert.
If he is falling asleep on the job as others have said strip him off, rub his ears ( stimulates the Chinese acupressure points) and I even have been know to use a cool flannel around the face and neck - felt properly mean, but was suggested to get them well.

[StuntNun]

Use Lanisoh religiously after every feed, Wuthering, it will get you through the long feeds of the first couple of weeks.

[WutheringTights]

Thanks for all the links and advice. Have been looking at the sites.

He started getting the hang of it shortly after I first posted which is a relief and just had a mammoth half hour feed only 1.5 hours after the last one (hooray!). I think he must have been a bit dehydrated which might have made him more sleepy. Hopefully it will get easier now.

So far, I've been so worried about just getting fluid into him that I've just been ramming a nipple in as soon as he opens his mouth and getting on with it. It now looks like I need to work on my latch - he's getting some food and I can manage but it is sore. Something else for me to work on but now I know that I can at least get liquid into him I can relax a bit and maybe give the LLL helpline a go tomorrow.

Thanks again.

[dorapeppageorgenoddy]

Congratulations on your new baby, what you are describing sounds very normal - enjoy lots of cuddles, whack the heating up and snuggle your newborn under a dressing gown as skin to skin is so good for both of you - at this stage try and offer your breast every couple of hrs - you are both learning what to do so it is normal for it all to feel a bit odd and not knowing if they have had enough - but you have to trust the oldest method of feeding -

Your babies tummy is the size of a 50p so they may not sit and feed for long, I had friends who used to 'feed' for hrs others 'fed' for 5 mins each side, my babies both oy ever fed for about 15 mins max. But at newborn stage only ever 5 mins-

What helped me was writing feeds down in a book; (gave the control freak in me something to do) so 10.42, (left) 5 mins...

Then you can see a pattern and hopefully feel better -

This link is full of good advice kellymom

Enjoy the cuddles it's a wonderful time

[aufaniae]

It soujnds like you're doing a great job!

I agree with AmandinePoulain. If you have concerns he's not getting enough, the best thing to do is to strip off (you and him!) go to bed and just hang out there for a couple of days. Take some Christmas chocolates / books / mumsnet / dvds / your partner / whatever, and just hang out in bed with your baby. Lots of skin to skin. Sod the cleaning / visitors / whatever you have planned, this is impportant!

Let him feed on demand when he's awake.

Look at the websites La Leche League www.laleche.org and //www.kellymom.com to find out how often you should be waking him to offer, and for other advice and support.

la Leche League have a helpline too, they can talk to yoiu about establishiing BFing on the phone.

One last thing, and this could be important. HVs are not BFing experts. they have a lot of experience supporting new mums of course, but sadly some are not up to date on the latest BFing evidence-based advice, and can give outdated advice sometimes. Same goes for GPs. If any HV suggested formula top-ups to me (which they may do if weight has dropped) I'd check with some experts (I'd start by calling LLL or a BFing counsellor) before going down that route.

[Shardlake]

Congratulations Wuthering! Sounds like you're doing great - my DD was a reluctant feeder as well for the first couple of weeks - from the sounds of it you are managing to feed a lot more frequently than I did in the first few days, and everything turned out ok for us. Hope it all goes well at the check up tomorrow and you get some good support and reassurance. I remember my midwife saying bright yellow poo was a really good sign.

[AnitaBlake]

Did you know that pampers and huggies nappies both have a wetness indicator? It was a lifeline to me in the early days. My DD2 is seven weeks I, and a sleeper from the start, like yours. Very small babies have reserves to help them through the very early days ( hence post partum weightloss), and you should count every feed, even the five minute one ;) actually IMHO you shouldn't count any feeds, first gimme mums are encouraged to tie themselves up in knots counting nappies and boobs and goodness only knows what else.

Feed baby on demand, but do as you have been and offer often, to remind him milk is available. Babies are designed to fall asleep while feeding. What works best for me is to feed one side, then change the nappy, then offer the other side.

The poo is a good indicator that the milk is going through. Just keep offering, and don't worry too much about weightloss, every baby is different, concentrate on lots of skin to skin instead

[MrsPennyapple]

Sounds like you're doing great! Don't worry about setting a regular time between feeds at this stage, just feed, feed, feed. Agree with the others about leaving the formula for now. At this stage, every feed sends information back to your boobs about how much milk you need to produce. Adding formula into the mix is more likely to inhibit your supply, as you'll be skipping breastfeeds.

[lightrain]

All sounds normal to me. I'd agree with pp, get into bed with you both naked (well, your top halves!) and have lots of skin to skin to help stimulate him to feed. Get midwife to weigh him today, and you can see where you are but don't panic, his tummy is tiny and he's learning how to feed, and your milk has only just come in.

[elvislives2012]

Go to bed with him. I did it and it really worked. Also, if he has lost weight tomorrow remember that it's common and won't necessarily mean u need to give him FF. My DD lost 10.7% at day 5 but regained it really quickly.
It's hard not knowing if they're getting enough but after he's finished, look at him and if he's not acting hungry he probably isn't.
BFing is the hardest thing I've ever done but 9 weeks down the line we are still going and no formula in sight. Good luck!