Is it worth continuing trying to breastfeed?

[Vespar7]

Hi,

DS1 is 3 days old today and I was told by my midwife that I need to start topping him up with formula because he isn't satisfied after feeding and he is quite jaundiced. I am really disappointed because with with DD1 this was basically the beginning of the end. She wasn't latching well so we would try breastfeeding, then giving a bottle and then pumping. I did this for 6 weeks and stopped because I was going crazy and wasn't enjoying my new baby anymore. I felt really awful about not being able to breastfeed for months afterward. This time I am trying to be less emotional about the whole thing. At the moment I am breastfeeding for about 40 minutes and then giving a bottle. The midwife said not to bother with pumping because DD1 is 21 months and it would be too much. Has anyone been in similar circumstances and succeeded in breastfeeding? Or should I just give up breastfeeding and save myself the effort? I would be really grateful to hear from others! Thanks

I would see another midwife and try to find a breastfeeding counsellor, her advice sounds very odd. Why do you need formula, can't you breastfeed more often? Is your milk in yet? Has someone checked the latch is ok?

If you don't want to breastfeed, then stop. But if you do, then 3 days in seems very premature to be talking about topping up with formula.

Just carry on feeding feeding feeding?! I don't always trust midwives with this stuff, I would see your GP instead. Surely breastfeeding more and more will boost your supply & satisfy baby?

I don't have any firsthand advice but I found hiring a private LC for my breastfeeding problems a massive help. I know through my job (nanny and doula) and my personal experience with breastfeeding that midwives and GPs often give bad advice since breastfeeding isn't their speciality. If breastfeeding is something you really have your heart set on the I think a private LC would be a great choice.

I've successfully exclusively Expressed for my now 6 month old DD. I had a 13 month old DS when she was born. I exclusively expressed for him to.

It can be done, I think, depending on the volumes you can express. I was doing about 1.4 litres a day on 4 expresses. Winding down now as she is nearly 7 months and introducing a bot of formula. If you are going to try, I think you need,:

Good electric double pump - I like ameda lactaline;
Hands free bra
Good dishwasher to pit the bottles through ore sterilising. From 5 months, I've just used the dishwasher
Playpen for the toddler.
Feeding pillow - put the baby on that and feed with the bottle whilst expressing. This is particularly useful in the middle of the night.

I know the advice is to do night expresses etc. I gave them up when DD about 12 weeks old with no ill effects.

I do agree that the general,advice you have received is weird though so hopefully you can go down the traditional breastfeeding route. Have you had your DC assessed for tongue tie?

Thanks for the replies. I don't think my milk has come in yet. I am abroad and only left hospital this morning. I tried pumping at the hospital but hardly got anything. Is it possible that I just don't have enough milk? DS seems to latch well and all the staff have been happy with that. The midwife is a breastfeeding specialist and at the beginning of her visit she was totally against topping up (which the hospital also recommended) but by the end she was totally in favour of it. If I knew that I would definitely be able to breastfeed in the end I would just get on with it but I kind of feel like I will be more upset if I put all this effort in and end up giving up anyway. Does that make sense? I'm feeling very hormonal at the moment so I guess I shouldn't make any rash decisions.

What reasons did she give for topping up? Has your baby lost more than 10% of birthweight?

At 3 days and if your milk hasn't come in yet your baby will just be getting a few ml of colostrum at a time, and will probably want to feed on and off almost constantly.

Congratulations on your new baby! I have a 20 month old and a 2 month old so am in a similar position to you. My feeding situation has some similarities to yours but with poor weight gain being the issue, rather than the baby not seeming satisfied. What has caused the midwife to think the baby isn't satisfied, and did she say why you should top up rather than feed more? I think you need some more breastfeeding support although going out and about to groups 3 days after giving birth is something I certainly wasn't up to. Why not try one of the breastfeeding telephone helplines for some more advice? It seems very early for top ups to be suggested - my milk wasn't even in properly at 3 days.

Ds was jaundiced at birth & it took around 10 days for it to disappear. I was told to put Ds in indirect sunlight (eg next the a window with curtains drawn open) & I was told to bf at much as possible. Those two things help rid the body of bilburin (sp?) In the bloodstream.

I think your mw is talking shit & sounds as though she has poor knowledge of breastfeeding /how bfing is beneficial if a baby is jaundiced.

Do not top up with formula if you wish to get breastfeeding off to a good start. Top ups will only be counter productive & reduce your supply - bfing works on a supply & demand basis.

Your milk may not have come in properly yet either which could explain why your baby is a bit fussy after feeds. Keep on feeding & your milk will come through. After a couple of months when bfing is established, your baby will start to go longer between feeds.

Make sure you're drinking at least 4 litres of water a day Eat three decent meals a day too. Both are vital for establishing a supply, as well as letting baby feed long enough on one breast, before offering the other if they want. That will ensure your baby gets to the calorie rich hind milk.

Look on Facebook for bfing support - Kelly.com bfing support page (&on their website), dispelling bfing myths & beautiful bfing, are all excellent fb pages with advice on a global scale.

Congrats on the birth of your baby.

And to answer your question, yes, it is worth it to carry on bfing. Your breast milk will flush the jaundice from your baby's system. Good luck.x

Drinking litres of water isn't essential for breastfeeding, just drink to your thirst. Similarly, eat when you are hungry, and eating well will make you feel better, but it won't impact on breastfeeding.

I have recently been in a similar situation except it all started going wrong at day 8 for us. I saw a private lactation consultant, however for us the only feasible outcome was to formula feed. Unless I continued with 2 hourly bf sessions, taking supplements, expressing and topping up which even then she felt was not likely to work with my issues. A very hard, sad and painful decision but my child needed feeding and to gain weight.

Has your baby been checked for a tongue tie?

And in my humble opinion it is only worth continuing if it is not affecting your mental health. For me with my first (same situation) it affected me greatly as I could not leave the house (I did the whole feeding, expressing topping up and it still did not work)

Water was essential for me. During the early days I couldn't get through a bf without drinking a pint of water. If I hadn't had enough water to drink I noticed my baby wasn't satisfied after a bf.

My milk came through on days 4 & 5 respectively, with each of my babies. They were both jaundiced, but I went on to bf for over a year with both. I think, it's only day 3, your mw is being just a wee bit melodramatic tbh.

Yes, of course it is a good idea to drink water if you are thirsty, but there is no set amount of water that you need to drink and no reason it would affect breastfeeding.

I've successfully breastfed 3 babies, one very preterm, and I've never drunk anything like 4 litres of water a day. OP it sounds like there is no obvious reason to be thinking of topping up, let alone giving up. The jaundice levels are presumably not worrying or they'd have you back in hospital. I'd just let the baby feed as much as he likes. The 'doesn't seem satisfied' is a weird comment at this stage - newborns feed constantly, that is normal. Your milk will cone in soon, and supply is demand led. So let him demand:). Good luck.

Hi I had issues with breastfeeding my baby at daddy 3. She had lost 11% bodyweight and was very jaundiced. On day 3 we were admitted to hospital for her to have phototherapy for the jaundice. I pumped but only got 5mils. To this day I cannot get any milk out through pumping after successfully breastfeeding her until now (she is 16 months), I am still breastfeeding her and did so exclusively until starting weaning at 6 months.

Her jaundice lasted till 8 weeks when the April Sun washed it out of her. I never supplemented, just fed fed fed. Her latch for the first month was terrible and painful, I ended up bleeding quite a lot and using nipple shields for a couple of weeks from when she was 1 week old. Not good, avoid if you can, but without them I'd have been unable to feed through the pain.

As long as there are plenty of wees and poos (check kellymom for how many poos to expect), and baby starts gaining weight again soon (it's normal to drop weight at first), is alert when awake etc, I'd crack on. So glad I did, the jaundice too is normal as long as baby is otherwise well. They called it breastfeeding jaundice.

My confidence grew and grew once her weight started piling on again, and especially when at 3 months she was a little fatty, all down to me! If latching is an issue, both get naked for skin to son, lie her when calm asleep or awake on your chest like that (no clothes either of you), she will surprise you by shuffling herself down to your nipple and latching on. This is how I got my baby to latch on best, but she was a dodgy latcher on and off for a good 4 months.

Call la leche league for help if needed. I saw a lactation consultant too who was fab but costly. She built up my confidence though which was what I needed. Sounds like your silly Midwife has dashed yours! Good luck xx

Yes agree, on what basis id the MW deciding he 'doesn't seem satisfied'??

How is his output? Are his nappies wet at all? What colour is his poo?

So just to add to my previous message, the pumping thing is a total red herring, and it is normal for. Newborns to never be satisfied. They feed ALL the time. Seriously. Can be for hours on end (well it was for me anyway) x

Ps you will know when your milk has come in. Sounds like it hasn't yet, which woukd explain things.

Ok, you win ffs, drink as much as you feel you need BUT don't want til you're thirsty, by that time your body will already be dehydrated. I gave birth to two huge babies (on 91st & 98th centiles for weight) so I guess my body craved & needed more nourishment to feed them. They're now v tall for their ages.

DS has not lost too much weight so far but that could be because they gave him water yesterday and formula today. The midwife said it would be too much for me to breastfeed basically every hour and that it would stress me out too much and that would affect my milk supply. I have now had the same advice from the hospital and the midwife so I am really doubting my ability to breastfeed. Basically if I top up with formula is that the beginning of the end? I told myself I wouldn't feel guilty if I stopped this time but I feel like there is something wrong with me that I can't produce enough milk.

Please phone LLL and get some advice. This is not the end. DS lost 12% of his weight and was jaundiced but I carried on and am still feeding at 16 months.

To say he is 'not satisfied' is disgusting and the mw should know better.

OP I could have written your post 9 months ago! Please don't give up (unless you want to that is!). I was given the same (poor IMO) advice but another midwife told me to keep going and I did. The problem I have now is that she won't take a bottle anymore (expressed milk) and is EBF and now eating. Don't let this get you down, day 3 is so soon and I second using kellymom.com, fab support and advice.

Good luck and congrats on your new baby