Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Infant feeding

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

How to know when to give up?

13 replies

pigsunited · 30/09/2014 18:48

DS is 5 weeks old and EBF. However, it has not been easy. We found out he had posterior tongue tie which was divided two weeks ago. Unfortunately, his feeding has not improved since then. He is still unable to maintain a deep latch, and swallows a lot of air during feeds. He often cries and pulls off, or fusses while feeding. To make things even worse, I have oversupply, or at least a forceful letdown.

On top of this, he is quite an unsettled baby the rest of the time too. I guess this is caused by wind or reflux, which all relates back to the feeding. I went to the GP today, who was not particularly worried as his weight gain is fine. He suggested feeding upright. I tried today, but I couldn't get in a comfortable position, and it was difficult to get a good latch.

All of this is getting me down. I would like to go out more, but as he is always crying it is difficult to be in public places, or even to socialise at home. Everyone else's babies seem so much more relaxed and settled.

He does seem to like sucking on my finger and it calms him down, so I wondered about giving him a dummy, but then I worry it will interfere with bf since it is not properly established yet. I also don't know whether it is worth trying different remedies eg. infacol or colief, but which one would I try, as I'd have to try them for a week or so before seeing any effect? It all just seems like a shot in the dark.

I do wonder if all of these problems would be solved by just putting him on bottles. I don't really want to do that, as I would be really sad to give up bf. But then I wonder if I am being selfish? Basically how do you know when enough is enough and bottles are the better solution?

OP posts:
EmbarrassedPossessed · 30/09/2014 19:35

The commonly given advice is never to decide to stop breastfeeding on bad day.

You could also consider maybe mixed feeding if you feel it would help him settle. That way he would still get some of the benefits of breastmilk. There is a small risk that this could lead to 100% formula feeding, but at 5 weeks your supply is probably robust enough to cope with the adjustment of say one feed a day being formula. Or you could express for one feed a day, to see if that makes a difference.

Are you sure he isn't tongue tied or lip tied? Some of the symptoms seem to suggest he could be.

stargirl1701 · 30/09/2014 19:43

OP, I was you last week. DD2 turned 6 weeks on Sunday and I am feeling better already. She seems to now spend time awake that isn't feeding. It's like she woke up to the world.

I planned to get to 8 weeks and review. Maybe set a time limit?

stargirl1701 · 30/09/2014 19:54

Oversupply help:

www.llli.org/faq/oversupply.html

EmbarrassedPossessed · 30/09/2014 19:55

Sorry, completely missed the bit about the posterior tongue tie, oops.

Elllimam · 30/09/2014 20:00

If you are thinking of giving up breast feeding it might be worth giving the dummy a try. It has really helped us, I introduced it about 6 weeks. I think a lot of the time my son was just wanting something to suck and getting annoyed about the milk coming out. It's also good for when he's too het up to latch on the boob, it calms him enough to latch on xx

HappyAsASandboy · 30/09/2014 20:02

I would suggest trying a dummy. I introduced them at 10 days with my twins, as they just wanted to suck all day (and threw up the milk if they suckled on me as they didn't new the milk, just the sucking!). It didn't interfere with their latch and I fed them for years.

You could try infacol or dentinox colic drops if you want to. I found infacol useless with both of mine, but dentinox (given after the feed and only if wind seemed to be an issue) worked wonders on DS. He would produce a huge burp within seconds of swallowing it and then pass out! It didn't do anything for DD though.

As others have said, try not to make this decision on a bad day (or during the night). You really might be very close to a big improvement as your DS gets a bit bigger and your supply settles down. I found a big improvement at 6 weeks, 12 weeks and again at 4 months.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do. Don't feel guilty if you do switch to formula - you are a human and can only make the best decisions you can, with the information you have at the time. But it is worth trying to wait until a calm moment to make the decision!

stargirl1701 · 30/09/2014 20:02

Silent reflux info:

www.reflux.org.au/what-is-silent-reflux/

Cheesilycheerful · 30/09/2014 20:24

Infacol worked wonders for my ebf 7 week old. Started at about 3 weeks. Means he can do massive orangey burps and is much less windy. Bought the coleif at the same time but not used it as infacol so good. You don't lose anything by trying it!

Fingers crossed...Cake

Cheesilycheerful · 30/09/2014 20:26

Forgot to say infacol worked within first 24 hours too...

pigsunited · 01/10/2014 00:11

Thank you for all the suggestions. I'm feeling a bit better after some sleep and a calming down a bit. I think a dummy would really make all the difference, but I've been too scared to introduce one so far, but I think perhaps things have got tonthat stage where I just need to do it. I'll see what they say at the bf support group tomorrow and will probably introduce if if all looks ok. I'll try infacol for a week too. Setting a time limit is a good idea, l think I'll give him another 10 days and then introduce a bottle in the evenings if there is no improvement.

OP posts:
EmbarrassedPossessed · 01/10/2014 00:53

We had a dummy for a little while, it was a useful tool for a particular situation. You don't have to have one for ever. In fact, my DS accepted the dummy for a few weeks and then wouldn't have it any more. At that point though we also didn't feel we needed it, so it worked out fine.

Elllimam · 01/10/2014 03:21

I found the mam dummies quite good, they seem to be the lightest xx

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread