Please send milky vibes - Kif's last stand

[Kif]

I'm giving it one more week before I just let things take their natural course. Suspect that'll be ds becoming totally formula fed. Which is OK - since he's 4 months, but a little sad.

We had 4 months trouble free feeding. Then 3 weeks mad feeding frenzy, escalating crying, crashing off the charts for weight gain. So from 10 days ago (exc. bf) we're now up to 16oz+ formula a day (and rising?). Still bf every 2 hrs or more, and co-sleeping at night. Similar to what happened to dc1.

My 'last stand' strategy is: I'm treating us both for thrush (query my self diagnosis as no white plaques in his mouth). Also ordered 'more milk plus' supplement - will take from tomorrow. Carry on feedathon (but ff on demand also).

Done the rl rounds with bfc, gp etc. No suggestions. Occassionally express, but max yield 1.5 oz.

Any bfc types have experience of supplements? What can I expect? Anything else you can advise?

All vibes appreciated.

Must resume looking after the rest of my family soon - and feel a little obsessive to be chasing this given he's no longer teeny tiny newborn - but very sad if this is the end of bf for me and my little chap.

A trained counsellor from one of the groups would consider it outside her competence to advise formula at all, Kif....we would all regard this as an intervention, and would refer you to a health visitor or midwife or other healthcare professional as part of any discussion with you. On top of this, your baby was gaining weight and not ill, or in any desperate need to have fluids or calories (though I accept the point on the chart is something that would indicate a need for careful support and assessment).

If she was a counsellor from BfN (and not a 'supporter' or 'peer counsellor' or similar - all of whom do great work but who are no more able than I am to advise formula) then I am dismayed and disappointed. Even if she was also a healthcare professional and advising you as such, I would be surprised - because three bottles of formula a day are going to impact hugely on the breastmilk supply.

On what you have said here, I think you have been let down - and it's great to hear you are already managing to bf more. You won't be able to drop all the formula at once - and it might be a good idea to get support from someone who knows what they are talking about and what to look for while you're working on retrieving the milk supply - but frequent breastfeeding is the way to go

hi, just want to send good vibes and if you've any over send them back my way. am going through a similar situation but havent actually started the ff yet...

{{{{ hugs}}}} maleche. You want to tell us more?

tiktok - the lady advising formula was a sure start/hv/bf group leader person - and to be fair he'd already had the odd bottle from the w'end before.

I think her advice was suspect, Kif....I am relieved to learn she was not a breastfeeding counsellor.

Good luck Kif - I admire you hugely for this

hope the LLL woman is on the ball

F&Z
x

Ooooh - loving the milky-medicine . I feel like I've gone up a cup size. Only odd thing is - ds has basically slept and fed through the afternoon. Is it a side effect? Is he bowled over by the milky munificence? Or is he just limbering up to party all night?

Just wanted to say I was where you are - paed pretty much bullied me into giving ds formula as he said ds was dehydrated and I probably 'just couldn't' feed him. I knew the last was complete bs but was scared so caved in.

The good news is, I did pretty much the same as you have done - took more milk plus, put him to the breast constantly and little by little cut out the formula over 3 weeks, and ds has now been exclusively bf for two months.

Word of warning though - I found the supplements very effective, and carried on taking a full dose even though I clearly had enough milk (insecurity ) and got terribly engorged.

Kif - is it the motherease one you're taking? where did you order it from and how long did it take to arrive? Im getting some fenugreek pills tomorrow but also trying to chill a little about the whole thing. DD2 6 mo is full of beans so obviously not starving yet! Just feel like im drying up...

bump - you around kif?

its ok kif - just saw your post on my other thread about foods to avoid/increase bmilk - thanks!

cool, malaleche.

Parcel arrived nice and quick. Doesn't taste too bad if you mix with a bit of water/juice/fruit tea.

I swore that I wouldn't get carried away with things, but you get drawn in... 8 days ago I was all 'never mind, fun while it lasted'. Now I've a small pharmacy in my fridge, changed my diet just in case thrush was the problem, started about 4 MN threads, consulted two strangers by phone, seen my GP, attended two distinct bf groups, allowed ds to turn into a newborn agsin. Tomorrow driving up to see another bfc. sounds quite mad when I list it like this.

ib - what a lovely story of how it can work out. thanks for posting.

thanks F&Z!

Modest progress today - only 12oz formula today. Yay!

Kif - that is excellent and I would not expect you to reduce formula any faster than this, truly.

I really feel for you, as I know how easy it is to question yourself when things aren't going well - but two months on I'm honestly really glad I did it, miserable though I was at times when it happened. I would really encourage you to try and find a good lactation consultant, it really helped me to feel like a professional was overseeing the process. I called LLL and they put me in touch with someone in my area.

Mind you, ds was only 10 days old when I first put him on formula, and I'm not even at 4 months yet, so you've already done so much better than me...I just hope you get to bf for as long as you want!

Sending many milky vibes....

Kif, so you have reduced the amount of formula by 25% almost immediately? I don't claim to know much about it, but that sounds like excellent progress to me!

YAY!

sunshine aand lollipops..##

good day today

Firstly, I'm writing the 'motherease corporation' into my will. Dropped another 4 oz supplement today - so we've halved the formula since I began taking the 'more milk plus' supplement 60 hours ago.

Secondly - many thanks to you all for pushing me into it - the LLL lady was extremely constructive. Far exceeded my expectations. Even getting totally lost in the one way system on the way there, and stuck in gridlock on the way back hasn't dampened my enthusiasm!

We were round her house 2 hours - most of the time her watching Ds feed. She got me to do this thing with squeezing out a drop of milk at intervals to see what it looks like. Her verdict was that although the latch was apparently fine, he wasn't really getting into the hind milk. He was giving up just as it was getting 'creamy'.

We played around with a few ideas to improve it. 'Rugby ball' hold seemed to encourage him to resume sucking when he'd completely lost interest cradle hold. She also said to hold him closer firmly, to resist his tendency to try to pull away and slip into a less open mouth position. Dabbled with breast compression.

She also measured his head - which is in proportion to his length at just below 50th centile. Apparently head circ is a more reliable indicator than weight for growth problems.

For the first time I'm daring to hope that I might pull this one back.

Sounds like great progress . Glad you got some support. Well done you and baby Kif!

... my maths is way off - 36 hours not 60.

Thanks Swizz - checked out your profile - lovely chappy you've got. Master Kif loves that caterpillar toy too!

Gosh Kif,this makes lovely reading.

Anything that crackles when he chews it is No. 1 Toy for DS .. Love your pics as well

oh I'm so pleased it's working out for you! {smile}

Delighted for you