Am I making DS ill by breastfeeding? No idea what I'm doing now

[Alex83]

Hi

I've had a really tough 48 hours and am feeling so upset and tearful and not sure what to do now.

DS is 8 days old and I'd thought breastfeeding was going well- he seems to feed well (10-12 times every 24 hours), is having lots of wet and dirty nappies (yellowy brown poo) seems satisfied and full after feeds.

When he was weighed a few days ago they said he'd gone down from 8lb 14oz to 8lb (10% loss) but the midwife didn't seem urgently concerned at that stage.

Then yesterday we were admitted to hospital so he could have treatment for jaundice and the doctors there said he probably wasn't eating enough and I felt really pressurised to top up with formula so they could see what he was getting, which he hated and it made him be sick. So I tried expressing for him and was only getting 20-25ml each side which I know isn't enough for him. I've started giving him 10 minutes on each side at each feed today so at least he's getting both quantities but now his poo has become dark green this evening. I have no idea what I'm doing!

I'm now so upset, am I making DS ill by breastfeeding him and just not making enough milk? Should I start topping up with formula or stop breastfeeding altogether? It's really knocked my confidence, he seemed to be doing so well and I thought we were doing alright. Any advice would be great as I feel really lost.

It seems the hospital were fussing about amounts, not you :-)

Seriously? They told you you weren't expressing enough milk and extrapolated from that that you weren't producing enough for your baby?!

I'll bet my bottom dollar that the MW's going to thoroughly rubbish that on her next visit, if she's worth her salt. Expressing just is tricky, and babies are far more efficient than even the best breast pump. I struggled to get more than about 4oz in a long session with an electric pump- and my baby is mahoosive .

Green poo is pretty normal; I've heard it can be from having a bit too much foremilk in a feed- maybe if you were swapping boobs too much?

(waves at nottalotta )

Sorry for the slow response, DS was on one of his '4 hours off' so I was sleeping.

Yes they told me to express for the same amount of time DS would usually feed for so they could see how much he was getting in an average feed and then top up the volume with formula. Good to know that isn't a good measure, I'm so relieved as the expressing amount was so little! So good to hear that other people couldn't express much volume but successfully breastfed babies anyway.

Thanks for the info on the green poo, yes hopefully it was the formula or the new feeding pattern and it'll be back to normal tomorrow.

I had similar stress when I had my LO in January. She was too tired to latch on for long the first couple of days. The midwives told me to express into a syringe the first night every three hours and then pump the next night every 2 hours. And that was not in-between trying to feed her directly. I was so exhausted the second night trying to keep up with it all that I just sat in room crying with a crying baby. Luckily another midwife came in, swaddled LO, told me I was doing fine and offered to take her to the desk for a couple of hours so I could sleep. She was a life saver. LO picked up feeding the next day and 11 weeks later is completely romping on. It sounds like you are doing great to me. I think the doctors forget how tiring it is to feed and express for a newborn at the same time. And be kind to yourself, lots of fluids and calories for you, especially chocolate! Seriously, your body needs energy to give baby energy.

*was in-between trying to feed her directly

I had a CS as well and it took 10 days for my milk to come in properly, with a corresponding largish loss of weight and I totally understand your concern.

I was advised to allow her to feed as often and as long as she liked, and to pump 5 minutes a side twice each side after each feed (so 20 minutes total - not sure I'm making much sense there) and attempt to feed that to her too. She refused all bottles but we did use a "lactaid" which was basically a fine tube through the teat of a bottle and placed along my nipple so she was sucking on breast and getting the bottle top-up at the same time (it was really awkward to hold but it helped).

I rang La Leche and they talked about breast compression to assist as well, but mostly reminded me to relax, allow my body and my baby to get in synch and trust that it will come right. And don't forget to drink and eat enough for yourself and the extra drain you are experiencing right now.

But well done on sticking it out under difficult circumstances!

My baby dropped from 6lb 11oz down to 6lb and I was devastated - this was the hormones, pain etc. It's completely normal and my HV wasn't even worried. Just increase feeds like you are doing.

Don't get pressurised into topping up with formula as this can have an impact on milk supply- express like you are and top up with that if necessary!!!

Lots of great advice here which I don't particularly have anything helpful to add to but just wanted to say I'm in exactly the same boat. Ds2 is 9 days old and had lost 12% of his birth weight at day 3 and was still 11.5% down at day 5. The midwives have been really supportive but the doctors just have to have standard responses to things I.e. topping up/expressing etc. All of which is stressful and all of which you can refuse. I've been trying to do some skin to skin with baby whilst my toddler comes into bed to watch something on the laptop or does some colouring but I do have a relatively calm toddler! The one other thing worth knowing is that the WHO growth charts don't even have the first two weeks on for breastfed babies because weight loss is so normal. I think doctors just like to cover their backs in case the worst happens. I'm still taking nearly an hour a time to feed DS2 but I'm hoping it will speed up soon. Good luck :)

Oh meant to say, you can get cups for your breasts to catch any milk from the other breast whilst feeding- this can be saved to top up at the end of the day.

You will be producing enough milk so please don't worry about that!! If you want to persevere with expressing, I would highly recommend an electric pump- takes the stress out of expressing completely!! It will be slow at first but everyday you do it, it will improve.

Have some and good luck!!!

I BF DS and had very little advice from midwife etc, so consequently was actually able to kind of find a style myself. I just used to feed for as long as he wanted on each side, only thing I can remember being advised to do was to stroke his cheek if he looked like falling asleep.

I distinctly remember that there were a couple of times at the start where his weight went down or stayed static and I was told this was normal. DS also had jaundice too but that sorted itself with getting plenty of light.

I never managed to express. Tried but just never got the hang of it and the little I did manage DS refused to take the bottle (he hated dummies too).

Being made to feel anxious won't help. At no point was I ever told to top up with formula. Have a word with La Leche maybe, they seem good.

From what I learned 14 weeks ago from a specialist is 25 ml each breast is quite good in three hour period at 9 days old. Good luck X

A baby (with a good latch) is far more efficient at getting milk from the breast than a pump.

This happened with both of mine. I gave formula because I couldn't handle them being hooked up to machines so young and was desperate to get out of hospital. They were given it from birth and I was told to top up every feed.

However I found comb feeding very difficult and emotionally hard that I couldn't satisfy them both myself. So they both ended up on formula.

Having said that though, I was one high dependency for 24 hours after both mine so didn't get skin to skin until then and I was nil by mouth for 3 days so when I've been looking for answers I'm sure that's to blame so agree with what has been said about good nutrition and keeping yourself hydrated.

Op please don't be disappointed if he hasn't gained or only gained a small amount. I was absolutely sobbing when this happened to me. I was feeding ALL the time and just couldn't understand it. They like lo to have gained any loss back by three weeks but a helpful hv said this really applied to ff babies and it can take a bit longer if bf.

Also, look at the baby, not just the scale. Looking back on photos I can see my boy looked skinny, but he also looked healthy. He has a lovely complexion and was very happy and active.

My lb only gained 40g in week 3-4, but packed it on the following week. I was advised to get him weighed twice a week. I didn't.

(waves back at stubborn!)

How are things going today op? There's some good advice on here but I'm going to disagree with a bit if it -sorry! My ds had jaundice and concerns about his weight and we were advised to feed every 2 hours, so I would be reluctant to leave a 9 day old with jaundice for 2, four hour stretches. Could you perhaps offer an extra feed here? Also don't worry about dehydration causing a dip in supply, it won't, just drink to your thirst . Hope weighing goes well tomorrow,I remember how incredibly stressful it it.

Hi everyone

Thank you so much for all the replies and advice, it has been so so helpful at a very difficult time and I've been reading and re-reading it to make sure I'm taking on board all the advice.

DS seems to be ok today, he's currently asleep in his baby swing in the sunshine for his jaundice. He has fed today at 02:45, 06:00, 07:30, 10:30, 12:00 and seems very content in between. Am feeling very nervous about him being weighed tomorrow but just trying to stay relaxed and feed him whenever he wants. If the weighing doesn't go well tomorrow then I'll probably start waking him more for feeds etc but trying to stay relaxed at the moment and let him lead it.

My boobs have been really sore and hard/full since yesterday afternoon so hopefully this is a sign my milk might be coming in more?

Glad things are going well, OP.

Keep an eye on sore, hard boobs, though - you don't want to end up with mastitis.

Are they (one or both) sore with hard area(s) all the time? If so, take a look on the kellymom site on blocked ducts and mastitis. I used to get blocked ducts quite often, and usually unblocked them either in the bath or using hot cloths. It turned into mastitis the first time because I didn't really know what was happening, but it was easy enough to resolve with paracetamol, hot cloths, and lots of feeding.

But if they're soft all over directly after a feed, and not sore, then it's likely to settle down after a while as your boobs adapt to making the amount of milk your baby wants to drink.

Thanks geeka I'll definitely keep an eye on this then

OP I wish I'd seen this earlier: they tried to do this to me. DS was readmitted with jaundice (born at 38 weeks so quite common). There was lots of talk of a feeding plan and shitloads of pressure to express, but in reality I was doing fine, as was DS. He just needed to go under lights for a bit.

I hope everything's okay now. It took about 6 months before DS got rid of his yellow hue, but I BFed him until he was nearly 3 years old. Good luck with your little one.

PS DS was a boob monster and fed 24/7 - might be worth trying to learn to feed him in a sling so you can have your hands free?

It's normal to lose that much when breastfeeding. The most important thing to look at is pees and poos. Put baby on boob as often as he wants for as long as you want. Oh and your 20-25mls per pump is normal for breastfeeding at this stage. Do not assume you need as much breastmilk as you would need in mls of formula as its not the case.

I can't believe the hospital told you to express for the same time as a feed and use that as a measure of what your baby would be getting!! You've had lots of good advice on here - "Look at the baby, not the scales" is a good point. Good luck - you've done brilliantly so far.

Yoko that's so encouraging to hear, thank you. I haven't done any formula top ups or expressing since we got home, I'm just persevering with the breastfeeding at least until he's weighed tomorrow. If he's lost weight again I'll have to think again maybe.

Thank you itslikerain and laquila it's encouraging to hear that that's normal for this stage in breastfeeding. It really knocked my confidence not being able to express much but this thread has really encouraged me to keep going.

OP I'm about to have DS2 and, if I find myself in the same position as with DS1, I might make sure I'm not around/at home for the incessant weigh-ins. I too found them really worrying, and I think there's too much emphasis on gaining weight quickly, and BF babies are compared unfavourably with FF babies (who have a head start!).

yoko that's exactly how I feel, I was so pleased with how it was all going before they weighed him and all the signs were good but after weighing it just all felt like a disaster. He's being weighed tomorrow (by HV) and again on Friday (by midwife) which I'm feeling very anxious about. If they start going down the route of special eating plans etc I know I'll just cave in and go over to formula.

My little one lost a little bit of weight in the beginning too, and I wasn't able to express much in the start either, I think it's quite normal. Please don't panic, keep feeding and see how it goes, remember a baby tummy is teeny. Join a BF group on FB for example for support, there's lots of ones for various towns and cities around the country. Do your best and it will most likely be good enough :)