re establishing b/f after 2 wk break baby 6 wks old??

[Piffleoffagus]

My friend has a 6 wk old daughter (dd), her 5th child, her previous baby was very prem so she did not b/f that baby, but has b/f all her other kids well into the 2nd yr.
Her dd was 3 wks early, normal delivery, home same night. DD did not regain birthweight after day 11 so she was referred to hospital b/f clinic and then to a paediatrician who advised her to put dd on the bottle. DD then put on 11oz in ten days, but was seriously constipated and needed medication to poo. Mum has changed formula and dd is pooing again.
She feels very sad about giving up and as it has only been 2 wks and baby still willingly goes to the breast, she is keen to try and reestablish b/f
given that since the last weighing, dd is not gaining even on the bottle.

I have given her my advice but said I would get our local NCT b/f counsellor to drop by to give her some firm and realistic plans and help.
Has anyone any idea how likely it is that she can sort this out? She was accused by the docs of having a poor supply, but baby was feeding every hour which prob meant all fore and no hindmilk, hence the expressing to no avail situation that occured.

Any advice from a learned person out there?
Cheers in advice!
Piffilitis

What a sad tale....mothers of babies who are in a crisis situation need help to preserve the bf through the crisis.

Yes, she can reestablish bf - do a search on relactation on these boards for info and links.

It can be normal for babies to feed every hour and this does not have to mean 'all foremilk' . It may be the baby was not feeding effectively - I don't know.

It was a huge over-reaction for the doc to advise formula simply for not reaching birthweight. Maybe bf was ineffective, but he/she can't make that diagnosis with no more than that as a symptom.

The NCT counsellor will help and will explain that putting the baby to the breast as often as possible will encourage a return to full bf. She will not be able to drop the formula suddenly though. All the best to her.

thanks tik tok have found that thread and printed it out.
Hopefully our b/f counsellor can see her asap to give her some help along the way.
baby is still well on the 50th centile!

Ooh piffle I have just seen the same post on coffee so now I know who you are lol!

This is so sad, its pointless saying what the advice should have been to your friend but I hope she manages to get back to b/f. From what I understand it will be a case of frequently putting the baby to the breast to stimulate the milk supply whilst slowly reducing the formula top ups.

Good luck to her.

I had a 8 day break from DS1 and managed to re-stablish bf without out too much work. I hope it owrks out for your friend

LOL Julie
I know what you have been through! You were one of the folks I mentioned to her about perseverance!!!
Hope then I have the right Julie!!!
I have spoken to our local b/f phone counsellor and she says it is putting baby back to the breast day and night before a bottle, to try and regenerate supply, apparently as it is before 6-8 wks when she stopped supply can dwindle very fast, but she is very keen and will lob her dd on to the boob at every opportunity!
Thanks everyone

I did joke recently to my HV and also our local bfc that my breastfeeding saga has been discussed up and down the country lol. Seems like I'm right.

Ds didn't regain his birthweight for a month and even though he was failing to thrive at one point I was never told to put him on the bottle. When oh when is the message going to filter through to some helath professionals.

It sounds like your friend is now getting good advice so hopefully you will soon be posting another sucess story.

Julie I have a dd that at 20 mths weighs 18lbs, I have so been through it too, but I am a bit more hardnose... Told them all to piss off and lied to the HV about SMA top ups
hee hee

I'm horrified by this story.

My dd2 didn't regain her birthweight til 3.5 weeks, but midwives and HVs were very supportive and low-key about it. Nobody so much as mentioned the words 'top-up'. She's fine now, but still on the small side.

She has done it!!!!
After 24 hrs stuffing her darling gorgeous little dd on her boob, her milk has COME in again!
She has enough for all the babies in hants now!
Note to self ---Must pursue career as b/f counsellor!!!!!!!1
I care!!!

Hurrah!!

Thats fantastic!

If not a career as a bfc what about peer support. I am nearing the end of my 8 week course and have learnt so much. Some peer supporters go on to become full bfc's but I can't commit the time to full training.

That's brilliant. I am so pleased for her.

I wonder if your friend would feel up to writing to the doctor, or the maternity unit, and if not making a formal complint, just pointing out how poor the support and the information was...the hospital breastfeeding clinic at least should know the paed they referred her to was unable to know how to manage the bf.....

Piffle
What a lovely thread to read.... well done to you and your friend.

I love happy endings!!

BR

tik tok we have done it today, they never even askeher what she wanted, if she had only been asked...
Vulnerable mothers no matter how many babies they have had, still are being over ridden...
My HV is also my friends HV and we she mentioed about the milk coming back in and her determination to feed at least 3/m b/f to mixed, she said oh have you been talking to piffle again...
I had the BIGGEST war with my HV about it with my dd and a my dd's cardiac surgeon wrote to my Hv and told her off... that in babies with low weight of undetermined cause, changing them to formula could be dangerous if they ended up having a heart condition like my dd did, low weight gain being a classic symptom..
hee hee nice to know you inflict on someones conscience