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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Help! I want to breast feed, but I'm prescribed formula... Feeling torn

79 replies

MissEJ · 08/07/2014 06:03

Hi, sorry for the long message but I'm so lost and upset.
My baby is one week old today. She was born at 37+1 weighing 6lb 10.5oz by c section as when I was contracting, her heart rate dropped.
When she was born she latched on straight away, fed for 90 mins and I thought all was well. After that, her blood sugar was a little low so she was topped up with formula by the nurses for 2 days in hospital. After that we were breast only, til her weigh in at day 5 which showed she had dropped 11.5% weight.
I was told by the paediatrician I must feed every 4 hours from feed start time, not finish time. To start on the boob, try to feed for 30 mins, but if she's not feeding, then basically force bottle feed 60ml of formula. But, the formula fills her up, so I'm waking her to take breast first, she's not hungry, so not latching, then she's given more formula and this sends her back to sleep again. I've bought a hand pump so that my boobs keep milking and I'm giving her the pumped milk. But she's getting really used to bottles and I'm worried she's not latching anymore. I feel so torn, I want to bond and properly breastfeed, but I'm so worried she'll lose weight again... She has gained since the force feeding formula began, but it's not the way I wanted it to be....
Does anyone have any advice?

OP posts:
crikeybadger · 10/07/2014 11:46

Can you hand express some MissEJ?
Go easy on the nipple cream...yes, it can be useful, but put too much and it cause your baby to slip off the nipple. Smile
Let us know how you get on.

NickyEds · 10/07/2014 12:02

Oh yes and about the pump- are ALL of the components completely dry after sterilizing? The suction on mine (lansinoh double electric) reduced if there was any condensation inside it.

middlings · 10/07/2014 12:09

MissEJ where are you? I have a perfectly working Medela Swing that I'm not using. DD2 is down to two feeds a day and I'm not expressing anymore. If you're in London (I'm SE) let me know and I'll see if I can get it to you.

Original poster
MissEJ · 10/07/2014 19:21

She had 30ml

OP posts:
bakingtins · 10/07/2014 20:31

hi EJ I just wanted to encourage you to hang in there. I was in a very similar place a month ago with a 37 weeker who was

Original poster
MissEJ · 10/07/2014 22:34

Thanks for your story, it gives me hope.
I was in tescos today and she wanted fed, and when I took her to the cafe, did a good 30 min feed non stop, then the same when I got home. It has given me hope. Also, my boob squirted today, poor dd got it in the face, but it also gave me hope that supply is increasing. I'm expressing now so OH can feed her while I nap. It's slow going, but it have the double pump now, I'm just hoping it does the trick!

OP posts:
crikeybadger · 11/07/2014 11:41

Well done, that sounds encouraging.....you'll be breastfeeding hanging upside down out of a tree before you know it! Grin

tiktok · 11/07/2014 13:00

MissE, you are doing GREAT :)

middlings · 11/07/2014 13:48

That sounds wonderful. You're doing brilliantly :-). Well done!

couldbeanyone · 11/07/2014 14:45

Brilliant sounds positive, hope the breastfeeding clinic today helps you too.

cookiefiend · 11/07/2014 15:19

You sound so much like me- very similar story.

Firstly with your mendela swing is the white valve in the top pushed in properly? If so is it ripped or damaged? There is a spare one in pack- that happened to me and I thought pump was broken. Also are both ends of the tubing pushed I in firmly?

It is hard to breastfeed when you are worried about feeding and with midwifes interfering. Mine kept losing weight and I had to top her up until about six months- though most people get rid of top ups after a matter of weeks. Just make sure you express any time you top her up. After several months I never got more than 50mls, but most times 10-20mls each side. Some people don't get much, but the important thing is that by expressing you send a message to your body that it needs to make more. I used the bottle that came with the swing and my dd is still bf at almost ten months- she did not get confused and always preferred bf. so do not worry.

Original poster
MissEJ · 11/07/2014 19:18

I was at the bf clinic. It gave me hope as some babies were screaming fir 2 hours non-stop. I felt sorry for the mummies but it gave me hope that we're not at that stage.
I've been told to breastfeed 30mins, then give her the expressed milk from the last feed, then formula til she wants no more while lying on her side so it's not gushing down her throat and she controls the amount.
Then pump for 15mins on my double pump. Then repeat every 3 hours. Once I'm done bf my dd I go straight to pumping while OH gives her the expressed milk and formula, it's making me feel less like a feeding machine. I was spending hours at the pump to no great effect.
So, we'll see how she does. Her weight was up 10g from yesterday. Apparently her weight needs to be back to birth weight by day 14 or we're admitted to hospital.... Well, that's a stressful thing to tell me!! We only have 4 days :@(
I worry more about the weigh ins than ANYTHING else. Like it's a measure of a good mummy. I know it's silly, but they put such a massive emphasis on it.

OP posts:
NickyEds · 11/07/2014 19:36

It is not the measure of a good Mummy. It is however vital that a newborn starts to gain weight-that's why they put such an emphasis on it. It sounds like you've made a proper plan for feeding now which sounds good. I know it's really hard when all you seem to do is feed and having to express and ff aswell is incredibly drainingSad.
My DS still wasn't gaining weight at 14 days and there was a discussion about re admitting him but they do look at other factors- for us the main ones were that we were to give the f top ups after every feed, Ds's jaundice was starting to clear and we got a referal to have his Tt snipped. Did you ever get her checked for Tongue tie op??
Keep at it. This really is hard but it sounds like you're doing really wellSmile

Original poster
MissEJ · 12/07/2014 06:18

Hi NickyEds. She has been checked for tongue tie, and was given the all clear. She has a strong latch, she just keeps snoozing while on the boob.
Weigh in again today with MW. We shall see....

OP posts:
NickyEds · 12/07/2014 06:36

Good Luck for today

ClairesTravellingCircus · 12/07/2014 07:21

Hi MissEj

Have only just found your thread and wanted to wish you the best if luck today x

bakingtins · 12/07/2014 21:31

It sounds like you have a good plan in place, and I wanted to reassure you that whilst it is hard and stressful at the time (I was in tears several times at weigh-ins when they were insisting on weighing her every 2 days, and I'm a tough third time mum) it won't last forever and you can sort it out and go on to have a happy BF relationship.
Whilst I'm not suggesting you shouldn't listen to the concerns of the medical professionals, you don't have to do anything. It really annoys me how patronising they can be - this is your baby, and what you do is listen to their advice, weigh up the options and decide what is best. I felt like they were threatening me with going back into hospital to make me comply, and that they'd have been happier if I'd given up BF and switched to force feeding formula just to make her gain weight. Try to find people who will help you to find BF friendly solutions to BF problems and who give you confidence that you can iron out these initial problems.
DD didn't get back to birthweight until nearly 3 weeks BTW, main problem was in week 2, by the end of that week she was gaining but not up to birthweight and we were doing the expressing etc - agree with nickseds that the readmission is not hard and fast, they need to look at the whole picture.

crikeybadger · 13/07/2014 15:41

The threat of readmittance must add to the stress MissE, I feel for you. whilst most babies are back to birth weight, there are some that do take a bit longer and all is fine, but it is good to keep an eye on things.

If she keeps snoozing on the boob, try breast compressions to keep her going. If you google Dr Jack Newman, he has a good video clip of this in action.

How far of birth weight is she now?

Hope the weigh was good todaySmile

NAR4 · 13/07/2014 15:58

Your doing brilliantly.

Breastfed babies can't feed too much. You are obviously giving dc everything they need and it sounds as if you are both enjoying it now.

Well done.Smile

NAR4 · 13/07/2014 16:02

As others have said, ignore the whole weigh in thing. It is a horribly stressful thing for the midwife to do to you. If your dd is happy, alert and has plenty of wet nappies, there is very unlikely to be any problem with the amount she is getting, regardless of her weight.

HalleLouja · 13/07/2014 16:11

I used to have to strip my premmie baby to his nappy if he fell asleep on boob. That used to wake him up enough to increase the length of the feed.

spiderlight · 13/07/2014 16:12

I was told to gently tickle or blow on DS's feet to keep him awake for a bit longer while he was feeding. It worked for me - he went from a jaundiced lazy feeder on the 6th percentile to an 91st percentile enormobaby within a remarkably short time. Jaundice can make them a bit sleepier, but they need to feed more to clear it so they can wake up more to feed more, if you see what I mean! Once he stopped looking like Homer Simpson he started feeding like a champ and we never looked back. Good luck! Try not to stress too much and let this cloud over the magic of these early days.

crikeybadger · 16/07/2014 12:06

How are things going MissE?

Original poster
MissEJ · 16/07/2014 18:34

Hi
We are doing much better. My LO finally got back to her birth weight today! I have a double pump and have gone from pumping 7ml to 160ml in 15 mins, so I can express and my hubby will feed her so I can snooze.
I'm slightly paranoid about removing formula from her diet completely in case her weight drops again...
Also, regarding the length of a feed, she'll feed for 20mins up to an hour, is this normal? She's 15 days old.

OP posts:
ClairesTravellingCircus · 16/07/2014 19:07

Absolutely normal. They all vary a lot in lenght of feeds (and so much else!)

Lovely to hear your update. You can try and reduce FF top ups slowly one by one if it makes you feel better.

Best of luck!