A few breastfeeding questions...

[cockermum85]

Hi, I have a few things I've been wondering about with breastfeeding and wondered if any of you could ahead some light on it for me.

DD is 18 days and I have had some difficulty bfing her. Long story short she has a v. Lazy latch but will suck with a shield. At day 6 she had severe jaundice and no wet nappies for 2 days. The midwife suggested I express and top her up with ebm and it was all going well. Jaundice cleared, loads of nappy activity and weight gain.

So I want to wean her off top ups and reduce my expressing (I was doing it 5-6 times a day) as DH is back at work and it's too much. But DD isn't too keen on the idea. She'll happily feed from me, but she'll munch for 3 mins and sleep so I take her off then she wants back on 2 mins later. So this is where I want to top her up, but that's not going to break the cycle. She just doesn't seem to be able to settle.

As I type she's fed 4.35-4.45, 5-5.15, 5.25-5.30, 5.35-5.40, 5.50-5.55. Is this normal? If it'll take an hour and a half then that's fine, but I just worry she's not satisfied feeding from me.

Also, she get hiccups and wind A LOT! Is this normal? She gets really upset by it and with the wind she curls her legs in a ball and goes red til she trumps. MW and GP say it's normal but I had seeing her cry out.

And help would be appreciated.

The hiccups are normal, the apparent wind is normal. The feeding needs looking at, to make it comfortable and relaxed, and shield-free and to let you BF without expressing...you need to have someone who knows what they are talking about to observe you feeding and to listen to all the details of what has been happening.

A breastfeeding counsellor, a BF specialist midwife could do this.

Is your baby gaining weight now?

I agree you need someone to observe you feeding to get proper advise. Had anyone checked her for tongue tie do you know?

Sounds like you're in cluster feeding territory! If her latch has been checked and she's gaining, try and ride it out, perfectly normal behaviour for her age. It's really tough going though!

Tongue tie was checked by a good few people at the hospital. DD is gaining weight now so there is no concern.

I'm struggling to find appropriate support, I live quite rurally and I only have my HV nearby and her solution is just to pull at my boob and force it into LOs mouth. Which just upsets her and me and doesn't get us anywhere.

For wind try cycling her legs and also holding her upright after a feed. I think there are breastfeeding positions that are less 'windy' but I'm not sure.

If she's gaining weight then I would say she's cluster feeding, do you find that after she's on and off the boob for a few hours does she then have a good few hours of sleep?

It's hard but doesn't last forever, she's upping your supply, it's actually very clever! Do you have someone there who can make you some food? And make sure you have remote, snacks, phone, charger all nearby

Have you tried Infacol for the wind?

Does sound like cluster feeding which, echoing what others have said, is completely normal at that age and can go on for a while. Try to go with it, it does get better. And to assure you, it doesn't mean she isn't satisfied for food but she might need the sucking because it's comforting for her which is normal too. Are you having any pain feeding her? Also do you burp her after feeds? I only ask because I was told breastfed babies don't need burping which isn't true.