Feedimg on demand

[suzi2]

DD is 3wks + 2 days. She is breastfed on demand but the only 'problem' is that she demands a lot! I was expecting it to calm down by now but she's still feeding every hour or two with maybe a 3 hour gap in the night. She doesn't feed for long at all so it's more like she's snacking and sucking for comfort.

She put on 11oz this week and 12.5oz the week before so she's getting plenty (can they get too much?). She is very windy, still only pooing every few days, has a big fat belly a lot! I think she's sucking for comfort as she has a sore tummy and thats making her sorer? My let down seems fast for her and she's always gulping and fighting the flow. When she is asleep, she is sleeping on me. When she wakes, she is crying until a nipple is in her mouth again. DS is getting a bit miffed too I think.

So, should I forget demand feeding and stop feeding her sometimes? I'm not sure how else to console her though as the usual walking/cars/pushchairs/bouncing don't seem to work.

Sounds pretty normal to me - she's still v young and her stomach is tiny. She'll be goig though a growth spurt aroun dnow as well, so feeding more often.

Feeeding on demand is the best way to keep up your supply. FWIW, DS was feeding every couple of hours (at least) for ages and suddenly started going for 3 hours betw daytime feeds at about 4 months.

And I think it's impossible to overfeed a bf baby - but there are plenty of experts on here who can tell you if that's really so

Sounds like you have a strong letdown and overactive supply.

You could try feeding one-sided and see if she settles?

Tiktok described it thus on this thread :

By tiktok on Tue 07-Jun-05 09:11:49
Oliv - one thing I haven't seen suggested on here is one-sided feeding. The fact your lilttle boy feeds a lot is a hint. You need to feed on one side only, every time your baby comes back to the breast, for several hours (about six). After those six hours, switch to the other side. You will see if this works within about two days. I have known many, many mothers who have found their babies' colic disappears with this. This reduces the stimulation of your breasts and the consequent amount of lactose-rich milk your baby gets, without reducing his calorie intake. It's only a good idea if your milk supply is generous and your baby is thriving....but it is deffo worth a try. I don't think your GP's advice to sit for an hour trying to get a burp is sensible., sorry.

Thanks. Hunkermunker - I had thought of this... Retrospecitvely, I think oversupply was a factor in DSs windiness and colickyness. Of course at the time I was convinced I didn't have enough milk and used to even express a bottle each night. I've been a bit scared to try the single sided feeding but I guess now I know that her weight gain isn't a problem then it probably couldn't harm? I didn't realise you did it for 6 hours though. I reckon my other boob might explode by then lol.

Potentially silly question...

I've heard oats increase your supply? If this is true, should I try and curb my oatcake addiction - I'm eating 10 a day.

also meant to say that I don't have any real symptoms of oversupply I don't think? I don't leak really (never did with DS), don't get overly engorged (but have a J cup boobs so it migh be tricky to be engorged at this size?). I do have a very painful let down and had this with DS though which I believe can be a 'sign'?

Sorry, 101 questions here. Never in a million years thought I'd be worrying about havign too much milk!

Her weight gain, your fast letdown and her windiness is what made me think of overactive supply. You don't need to be leaking everywhere for this to be true.

Oats are a bit of a myth, I think. If you like oatcakes, eat 'em. If you are forcing yourself to eat them because you think it'll help with your milk supply, replace them with chocolate

I've just been reading some more and the symptoms in baby all seem to ring true. She's refluxy (though doesn't spit up a lot) has frequent hiccups and always tries to adjust her latch to jsut the nipple. Which of course I've been discouraging as I don't want to get sore. She seems to settle better when lying beside me and feeding lying down too.

I'll keep going with the oatcakes then. Eating copious amounts of chocolate and shortbread too... at what point do I have to stop blaming 'pregnancy cravings' and 'I need extra calories' for my glutony?

Oh, when she's about six

'Refluxy' and 'frequent hiccups' could be signs of silent reflux too, so don't rule that out if it turns out not to be oversupply.

I must sound like a broken record, but everytime I get to hear of a fellow big boobed breastfeeder I need to pass on a tip which the breast feeding counsellor told me

Use a rolled up muslin square and put it underneath your boob to perk it up a bit and incease your visibility of your babys latch

Sorry, bit of a hijack

And there you go, another thread killed

lol margo - it's usually me that kills them! I have tried the muslin thing and also a tubigrip sling/hoist but still go with the trusty hand and a cushion where possible!

yes - although I do find it hard to b/f whilst out and about, actually I cant do it one side unless I have masses of cushions

I found the nursing rooms in Mothercare are the best.

Other than that I either resort to formula/not go out