New to breastfeeding - help please

[worriedmum100]

DS2 is 4 days old. I couldn't feed DS1 as he refused to latch so the fact that DS2 is keen has taken me a bit by surprise and we're trying to find our way. I just wanted to ask whether what I'm doing seems ok? A complicating factor is that I had a c section with some issues re getting him out and sewing me up so I'm very very sore and immobile at night in particular.

DS seems to root every 2 hours or so. I offer him both breasts ( seems easier on the left for some reason) and then he'll feed on and off for around an hour. However it's hard to tell b when he's done and I think he's finished and then he screams for more. He falls asleep quite a lot on the breast but tickling his ribs seems to work. I'm just concerned about the tine factor as I have a 4 year old to look after and get to school, feed etc. It's ok while DP is here but he goes back to work soon. Not sure how manageable it will be then?

In the night DP has been giving small amounts (about an oz at a time) from a bottle of either formula or expressed colostrum (milk came in yesterday). I plan to pump some milk for bottle use at night and see how we get on but I'm fairly relaxed about the odd bit of formula. From around 5am I feed him myself and then throughout the day.

Does this sound like an ok regime for now? My boobs are a bit leaky and feel very full this morning even after feeding DS on and off between 5-7am.

We're getting dirty and wet nappies but the poo has been a bit on the loose side last couple of nappies but think this might just be the formula?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Whatever gets them fed is fine. The only issue you may find is that if you're not pumping or feeding directly at around 2-4am your prolactin levels may not be sufficient to bf long-term. Prolactin is the hormone than promotes lactation.

Loose poo is more of a bf issue than ff. How loose is it?

It's still early days and he'll probably feed faster as time goes by.
You can remove some clothes so he doesn't fall asleep so easily, but he's probably feeling comfortable in your arms. :)
Don't worry about his poo. It can be very runny when breastfeeding, although it's usually light in colour and not smelly.

You will settle in a routine that can fit in his feeding and taking care of the other ds. It may need some adjustments, but it's possible.

Bf poo can be more like yellow water than anything else. As for working round the 4yo, I ended up basically feeding them up and breakfast (maybe five minute feed at the table) then school run then feed. And I used to offer before afternoon school run too so that she wouldn't be starving at the wrong moment. Or just feed en route if I had to.

Congrats OP

Sounds like a good start to feeding and I agree with PP's about pop colour and looseness being normal.

The top ups are ok if you feel they are helping you. However, they will no doubt affect your supply unless you pump at the same time as the top ups - I got in a pickle with top ups of my expressed milk, as at the time it gave me break but then my boobs would become full so I'd end up expressing anyway to comfort (or not expressing and getting a blocked duct).

As such, top ups can be more of a faff, and not necessarily required if baby is feeding ok from you.

Feeding cues are your friend (see pic) don't just rely on time in between feeds (only to monitor that it hasn't been too long of a gap).

I've also attached a pic of your babies stomach size - this is useful to help you see how little baby need as a top up to fill up.

If baby is pooping and having plenty of wet nappies throughout the day, your feeding pattern is perfect.

Congratulations, and well done on getting this far. These first few weeks of feeding can be very intense, and it feels like they're on the breast 24/7, but if you can stick it out it will settle down before long. If you can avoid the top-ups and just feed directly from the breast, you're less likely to run into supply issues down the line (and can avoid faffing around with bottles in the middle of the night).
Very frequent feeding is absolutely normal at this age, as is falling asleep on the breast.
I found a stretchy wrap brilliant for leaving my hands free when I needed to get things done, might be handy when your older child needs your attention?

Thanks do much everyone.

The top ups are because I simply can't move into a position where I can feed him once I've lain down in beD. I can only really feed comfortably while sitting up so once I'm in bed is very difficult to sit up again without help anD it's not really feasible to do this all through the night when I also need rest to recover from the surgery. I was trying to find a balance but will def keep it under review as I start to feel more mobile.

Good tips on handling the school run thank you!

The poo was dark ,a bit smelly and watery a bit like a mix of meconium and water with some whitish lumps in. The latest nappy was sporting the yellow cottage cheesy look!

He is a very snuggly baby and I'm pretty sure that dome if the sucking is for comfort so if he's fed for a long time and has fallen asleep but screams when I lift him off me I give him to DP and he settles quite quickly with no more rooting.

Someone has leant me a caraboo sling? haven't examined it closely but will have a look today.

Sorry meant to ask. Should my boobs feel noticeably more "empty" after a feed. Sorry if that's a stupid question!

Congratulations and as others have said well done for getting this far. My baby is now 7 weeks old and I experienced many of the things you mentioned (including having a 4 year old!).

Rooting every 2 hours is completely normal and my ds does this even now. But a great tip my wonderful HV gave me was that if he seemed to be on the breast for a long time and was comfort sucking, then squeezing it gently towards the nipple would flood his mouth with more milk. So if he was only comfort sucking then the extra milk would remind him that he was full.

There is nothing wrong at all with topping up feeds of this works for you, I combination fed my daughter as I didn't ever feel I was producing enough. However it did mean I could never feed her exclusively with breast, as no one had explained that the night time feeds especially are the ones which boost your supply. Again my HV explained that this was why my ds was feeding so often during the evenings!

Sorry meant to ask. Should my boobs feel noticeably more "empty" after a feed. Sorry if that's a stupid question!

Not stupid. Yes in the early days but after about six weeks you rarely feel full or empty ime. Not until they sleep through for the first time, anyway!

I've just fed him for and hour and a half. He seemed satisfied and now asleep. Have also just pumped nearly 6oz! I hope that's ok.

He will get more effective at ducking and your milk will flow more easily.
This is why women should do very little else after the birth. :)
Get support for the rest and take your time with the baby.

If your boobs aren't getting fully engorged you may not notice a difference after feeding. I suspect you will when he starts going longer between feeds. It has only been 4 days.

Hope you are having a day that makes you feel less worried, worriedmum :)

Your baby sounds lovely and normal. He wants to be close to you and he gets that by feeding frequently. Sometimes he will want to sleep close to you too. Normal :)

Some of what you are doing sounds as if it could be making life and breastfeeding harder. Is there an opportunity for you to have a really good face to face with a midwife? Talk about whether you need to express or not; if your baby needs formula or not; what to expect in the next days and weeks.

I do think that will be a good chance to sort out good info from not so good info.

I would say that breastfeeding changes very quickly in the first few weeks, so I wouldn't worry about whether you can manage once dp is back at work just yet.

Good luck with your healing! Maybe one feed in the night dp could help you up and give you the baby and get you positioned, so you're still stimulating the right hormones. It won't always be a two person job!

DP has taken DS out for a few hours so we're having a lovely snuggly feed on the sofa while I watch crap tv.

I think I will try and master the sling as that should help with the control freakery of leaving everything else to wait /not get done. I'm sure we can find a balance to make sure I don't get so stressed I give up completely. I think I have to try and take account of my own personality and what I know of myself if that makes sense. probably just need to grow in confidence a bit re feeding outside my own home where I can completely strip off

The nights will no doubt get better but Im conscious of not doing anything to rip my stiches or make me ill to the point where I'd be no good to the baby or other little boy.

He's nodded off after 10 mins on one boob.... He certainly looks "drunk on milk". No amount of prodding is waking him up!

Re the stitches, I'm not sure if there's something particular around the complications you mention. But you will start to feel more mobile very quickly after a CS (mine was a crash section, though no particular complications). I presume you are taking pain killers? A good tip I read was to tie a dressing gown cord or something to the bottom of the bed so you could pull yourself up. However it wasn't long before my inherently lazy self mastered side lying feeding. Could that work for you? It can be hard when they are very little though.

Oh and I was told there was no way I'd rip my stitches out. Although they did look a bit horrified when I asked when I could be mucking out my stables again .

My section was complicated as they had to extend my previous section incision by quite a long way as DS2 was much further descended than DS1 was by the time we went for the EMCS. It took a long time to get him out with lots of significant tugging and then they struggled to control the bleeding afterwards. I was in theatre a lot longer than I was for DS1 anyway and feel considerably more "injured" than I did with DS1. Getting upright from lying down is particularly difficult as is sitting crunched up for long periods etc. I've got basic paracetamol and ibuprofen but can't take anything stronger due to breast feeding. I know it will get easier but I think I'm look ok ng at a longer recovery than last time.

How do you get up from lying down? Do you get on your side, lift your bum and use your arms to help?

Mostly quite inelegantly! I'm much more sore on right side so lie on my left then roll onto my back and get DP to.help hoik me up onto cushions. If I try and get on all fours I get a bit stuck!