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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

1 week old, help please

64 replies

tmc14 · 07/12/2017 12:41

Hi,
My gorgeous boy was born last Thursday. It was a very long labour with last minute complications so we were both exhausted. Friday feeding was a struggle. Saturday morning my midwife came and helped us feed. Saturday/Sunday went much better and he took to feeding really well. However, he started to get sluggish and was sleeping a lot. By Tuesday he’d lost 13% of his body weight. So, on MW advice (who is really pro breast feeding) we started some mixed feeding to get his weight stabilised.
Unfortunately now of course he’s preferring the bottle. I’m still feeding at each feed, both breasts, and expressing after each feed, and just mixing in some formula, but I’m worried this is the beginning of the end, at only one week old.

Any advice on how to move forward please? My milk is coming in but my breasts don’t get the engorged feeling I was expecting. I’m expressing around 10ml each time. I just feel so sad that I’m not feeding my baby :-(

OP posts:
BertrandRussell · 09/12/2017 07:57

Just to say that I had masses of milk and porkers of babies but I couldn't express for love nor money.

So p, unless you have other reasons for thinking it, don't think you don't have enough milk. And it' such early days too- your supply won't be settled yet. Your baby needs to suckle as much as possible. Can you feed lying down? A tricky but invaluable skill!

Original poster
tmc14 · 09/12/2017 10:03

@figgypuddingandcustard thanks for your story. That’s heartening to hear. I’m feeding him as much as possible but he also really likes to sleep! So I’m waking him up a lot. Which is hard going at times. I’m hoping to be like you and wean him off the top ups over the next couple of weeks.

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Original poster
tmc14 · 09/12/2017 10:09

@lunaluvpud thank you! We’re both trying really hard. He does get tired breastfeeding.

@spacedinosaur both my midwife & the ladies at the clinic thought my supply wasn’t great. My breasts don’t appear to get ‘full’ and milk is coming out, but after a 30-40 minute feed he’s still asking for food. It could just be the fact that he was 9lb4 and is v hungry!
I’m expressing to try and stimulate more production, on the Midwife’s advice.
I will look up SNS, thanks for the tip.

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Original poster
tmc14 · 09/12/2017 10:12

@bertrandrussell - he’s quite a chunk, so we might just not be matched up in terms of volume. I’m trying to not really go on my how much I express, just whether he’s still hungry after breastfeeding. I’m not 100% sure of anything though!

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Lunalovepud · 09/12/2017 10:20

@tmc14 my boobs never felt full either... Milk used to leak out sometimes but not after the first few days. I found kellymom quite reassuring... I'll post a couple of links in case you are interested. Smile

BertrandRussell · 09/12/2017 10:25

No- my breasts very rarely felt full either. OP- sorry for all the questions, and PLEASE ignore me if you want to- but you say "after a breastfeed". How do you know when a feed is finished?

Lunalovepud · 09/12/2017 10:26

These are not to dispute any advice you have been given by qualified professionals, just to reassure you that your concerns are common and normal and lots of women can bf after a rocky start. Whether you end up bf, ff or a bit of both, you're doing an awesome job. Smile

Original poster
tmc14 · 09/12/2017 11:02

@lunalovepud thank you! I’ll read the links. There’s so many sites it’s hard to know which ones are good.

@bettrandrussell I don’t mind questions at all, I’m very grateful for the advice. I feed him until he refuses, but isn’t upset. I use both breasts & switch when he seems too sleepy. If he ask for more, I offer him the breast again but sometimes he just seems too tired to, but won’t actually sleep so I give him some formula in small amount with paced feeding, trying to settle him in between so I’m hopefully not overfeeding. If that makes sense.

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Original poster
tmc14 · 09/12/2017 12:26

@lunaluvpud great articles! Especially the bits about baby being sleepy as he could easily sleep for more than 4 hours if I let him. I’m trying more cluster feeding today and not offering formula each time. Accepting that he might be fussy/grouchy but trying to encourage maximum breast feeding. My only worry is his weight but he’s weighed again on Monday and again Wednesday so if I can keep an increase going until then that would be fab. We’re mostly still in the house so can sit around skin to skin ready to feed when he is.

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SpaceDinosaur · 04/01/2018 22:37

How are you dong @tmc14 ?

Original poster
tmc14 · 06/01/2018 20:54

@spacedinosaur thanks for asking, I started this reply yesterday but didn’t get a chance to finish!

We are doing ok. Baby is 5 weeks now. We are still mixed feeding. His TT was fixed really quickly by the NHS and feeding improved. He has a great latch and now switches really easily between breast & bottle (he is such a trooper). We have tried to ease back on top ups but when we do that we struggle with weight loss. I know this is common sometimes when stopping top ups but we couldn’t get past this, even when giving it over a week. So we’re back topping up.

BUT - we breastfeed at each feed, he feeds well from both breasts and then has a top up until he’s full. My Midwife & the breast feeding clinic have been great & really supportive. I feel much better about the situation, he’s putting on weight, is contented & laid back, sleeps well, and is getting breast milk at each feed. Ideally I’d like to be ebf, but I’m doing ok and really enjoying him. We’ve been settled in our routine for a week or so now, so I’m planning on trying to ease back on top ups if possible in the next few weeks. But if it doesn’t happen, I at least know he’s getting the benefits of breast milk even if he continues to need the extra formula as well.

This thread is so valuable, thank you again for your help & support.

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SpaceDinosaur · 21/01/2018 14:14

You're doing amazingly.

If you want to go fully ebf it is possible. How did you get on with the SNS?

Original poster
tmc14 · 28/01/2018 21:18

Hi @spacedinosaur hmmm, I struggled with the SNS, we couldn’t really get the hang of it. And I didn’t try it when we are out & about, not sure how that would work.

So I top up with a bottle. Perhaps with more practice the SNS would work. The good news is I haven’t had to increase the amount of top up I give over 24 hours for the last few weeks (he decides when to stop the top up), we’ve been breastfeeding as much as possible & I would guess his needs are increasing as he grows, so perhaps my supply is slowly increasing. Although at his last weigh in he had dropped from 75th centile to 60th but the health visitor didn’t seem bothered. So we shall see how his weight progresses I think before thinking about decreasing top ups.

He’s a very contented happy baby so I figure he must be getting enough & is perhaps just a slow grower (unlike me!!)

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