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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

HV says 3 week old baby feeding too much and should have dummy!

16 replies

eddm · 25/06/2004 12:07

My sister has a 3-week old ds who has put on almost 2lbs since birth. He lost an ounce in the first week so he's really going some! At first she thought he was making up for not being very interested and a bit jaundiced in the few days after being born. Now her health visitor has told her the baby is 'putting on too much weight' (?? didn't think this was possible for a breastfed babe) and she should give him a dummy so he spaces his feeds out more. He is feeding every hour for up to half an hour and cluster feeding in the evening (up to four hours with only time off being nappy change) so she could really do with a break; what do MNers think? I've given her the NCT and La Leche League helpline numbers.

OP posts:

twiglett · 25/06/2004 12:09

message withdrawn

Bagpuss30 · 25/06/2004 12:10

HV needs her head read . I think your sister should carry on as she is doing.

Ghosty · 25/06/2004 12:13

eddm ...
I think your sister's HV IS wrong about your nephew 'putting on too much weight' ... I believe this is impossible with a breastfed baby ... maybe someone with more knowledge than me might disagree but IMO she is talking rubbish ...
HOWEVER ... if your sister is very tired and the baby is constantly feeding then perhaps a dummy might give her a bit of a break. We introduced a dummy at 3 weeks with DD as she was constantly attached to me. She would have her feed, and then would 'flutter' suck - so it wasn't real feeding - which told me that she had had enough milk and just wanted to suck. She really settled with the dummy after a feed and it made NO difference with her weight gain, she still put on lots and lots.
HTH ....
G xx

twiglett · 25/06/2004 12:30

message withdrawn

GeorginaA · 25/06/2004 12:58

I'd say go for the dummy if she wants the feeds spaced out a little so she gets a bit of a break, but if she's happy with the status quo then her ds is likely to start spacing them out on his own eventually. Agree with what other people have said in that he's unlikely to be overfeeding.

tiktok · 25/06/2004 13:06

HV is talking pants.....dummy is an option if your sis wants to use it, as it seems bf is going just fine.

MrsDoolittle · 25/06/2004 13:09

The HV should get lost - they don't know anything about breast feeding. I heard that from a bf guru only the other day!!!
I was there 7 weeks ago, feeding, feeding and feeding. Sounds like baby is taking comfort, I know mine was. In a few weeks your sister will know whats what but for now I would encourage her not to worry, her baby only wants to be with her. After all, what else does it know? I wouldn't like to fob it off with a dummy.

aloha · 25/06/2004 13:09

HOw does your sis feel about the non-stop feeding? My ds would have stayed attached to me 24/7 so a dummy was FANTASTIC! But don't do it because of the overfeeding thing. I'm sure that's rubbish.

flea · 25/06/2004 13:10

overfeeding maybe the wrong word : but if you get a sucky baby like my first who doesn't flutter suck when there full but just keeps eating then they can put on a lot of weight quickly.. I didn't think my baby got too big but boy did I get tired of the following - feed for 2 hours, break for 1 hour and set off again : including up to 5 hours connected constantly during the evening. I gave a dummy by week 3 also and then my baby only started looking for fodd when she was hungry as opposed to when she was feeling "sucky".. She also put on 24oz in her first 8 days which was a bit overwhelming when I brought her to get weighed.

MrsDoolittle · 25/06/2004 13:12

twiglett, my dd was not even close to feeding 3 hourly at three weeks. Mine sounds very similar to this one. She's going four now at 10 weeks but she's got there herself

poppyseed · 25/06/2004 13:13

What rubbish. Take a huge pinch of salt with that and I hope that she continues with what she's doing!!

SofiaAmes · 25/06/2004 21:52

My ds gained 1 pound per weeks for the first few months. (never even went below his birth weight) He fed every 2 hours day and night for the first 6 months. AND he had a dummy from day one. He is now a totally average weight 3.5 year old. If your sis needs a break, she should see if a dummy will help her, but there is no such thing as a 3 week old bfed baby gaining too much weight. Or, since the baby seems to be having no trouble feeding, why doesn't she try expressing a little and let her dh do a night time feed occasionally so she can get a little extra sleep.

Original poster

eddm · 25/06/2004 22:17

Thanks everyone. Passed on your messages to sister who found them very helpful. She's reassured that everyone thinks the HV was talking pants about 'putting on too much weight' (my reaction too but thought I'd check with you lot just in case). Still trying to make up her mind about the dummy; as several people have said, she could do with a rest from the endless feeding (and yes, she is getting sore nipples) but really doesn't want to use a dummy a. because she just doesn't like them and b. because she doesn't want milk production going all wrong and c. because she doesn't want poor baby to be denied food if he is genuinely hungry. Good idea about using a dummy after the feed though, Ghosty, she might try that. My nephew sounds just like my ds to be honest; ds was constantly attached to me in the early weeks and fed endlessly in the evenings (and put on huge amounts of weight, about 1lb a week for first couple of months IIRC).
By the way, she just got her degree results today (handed in dissertation on the Monday, went into labour Thursday!) and she got a 2:1 . Not bad when she had so much to distract her!

OP posts:

Original poster

eddm · 25/06/2004 22:52

bump... sorry about this but so excited about clever sister combining baby with degree I WANT TO SHOW OFF A BIT.

OP posts:

tiktok · 26/06/2004 08:47

And why shouldn't you, eddm??? I think that's a fantastic achievement

Ghosty · 26/06/2004 08:49

eddm ... CONGRATULATIONS TO YOUR SIS!!!!!! Wow, 2:1!! !!

In answer to your a, b and c ....
a) I was the biggest dummy snob in the world before I had children ... absolutely hated them! But after 4 weeks of a screaming DS I was desperate for anything ... so tried a dummy, which he wouldn't take so turned to Gina Ford instead !
I was sad when I gave DD a dummy for the first time and that she loved it ... but I got over it pretty quickly when I saw that she was happier and less likely to chunder as she was too full!
b) The dummy had NO detrimental effect on my BM production as I was very careful to read DD's signs ... ie, if she was crying and she had just been fed, then I popped the dummy in ... if she was crying and it was an hour or so since the END of the last feed then I would offer a feed first.
c) Babies aren't stupid ... they soon work out where the food is coming from, if they are hungry the dummy won't pacify them. Well, in DD's case if I was to give her the dummy when she was hungry it might buy me 5 minutes or so but she will always spit it out and throw a wobbly if she's hungry.

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