Advice on feeding a two day old baby

[EdieMcredie]

My baby is two days old and im planning on BFing. However milk not in yet and so I bought some formula to supplement. Of course all my midwives told me to get rid of it so I have. Tonight I will have no formula. Im managing to put her on my breast loads and she does suck but nothing much coming out and so I need more reassurance from people on here that she will be ok!!!

I just hate to think of her hungry and it's getting me down...

DS did too at the beginning, they soon become pro at it!

Hi, I'm reading all the posts and remembering my first weeks bf DD. All that's being said applied to me too. My milk came the 4th day, I didn't feel a thing. I was quite worried about my supply for a bit more (it was a very hot summer and it seemed the only thing I did was bf). For me co-sleeping worked wonders, feeding on demand too. Lansinoh seems to be great but I was also told about the last bit of breast milk. I was so worried the second night that I also gave her some formula, but she didn't drank it. I had a c-section and it was quite difficult the positioning.
My advice: Drink plenty of liquids, eat well relax as much as you can. Trust yourself, enjoy you dd, and don't be too rigid with the do's and don'ts.

And if any DP is reading: your support is ESSENTIAL NOW!!! Encourage your partner a lot. My dh tried to help telling me how to bf, he had read an article as opposed my extensive research (read everything I could find library, online etc.) Acting as if you know best is NOT helpful.

DP are sooooo important. I was very luck Dh was great. He could calm DS down when he was screaming and that made latching on much easier. He also backed me up with all his doubting relatives when DS was feeding for 1 1/2 hours in every 2 hours!

I certainly found BF really hard so it is not you.

Well today she projectile vommited which was bloody scary!

Getting better at latching

Edie, glad it's going well for you

Stick with it, tis hard....but so worth it when it all comes good!

obviously I'm not glad about the projectile vomitting ....my DS (5) used to do that. He also used to puke every time someone picked him up. i used to apologise beforehand and try to dissuade people, but they just didn't listen!!

Good thing about projectile vomiting is you get some idea of how much went in in the first place Agree its pretty scary though!

You sound like you are both doing great

Hang in there, I was a brand new mum who really wanted to breast feed and found it really really hard to start with. All the advice and support I got on mumsnet helped me pull through and my DD was 6 months old yesterday and I am still breast feeding. Amazing. Take each day as it comes your boobs are increadiable and will produce enough milk with enough sucking time from babe. Its tiredness and all those new mums hormones that make you doubt yourself. I set myself little goals,I said I get to the end of this week then I give up, then 10days, then 2 weeks, then 4 weeks, I was convinced at 6 wks I was gonna give up then sailed through my '6wk goal' and suddenly I realised I was enjoying it ;-) Good Luck ;-) its a great way of bonding with the little bababe and fantastic if you go on holidays as you only need YOU to feed I've fed many times in laybys enroute driving many miles to relatives etc......and cafes, and park benches.....

Hey Edie
Congrats on your bundle of joy! Well done for hanging in there, unfortunately too many give up too soon! I am currently bf my 2nd baby and loving it! It was really hard at the start but my aunt is a midwife and her support was amazing! I ff my little boy and am finding bf so much more convenient as food is on tap! Enjoy!
x

Well done Edie.
Good to hear you are hanging in there.
Once you accep that learning to breastfeed is all consuming and leaves you little time or energy to do anything else,it gets easier.

I recommend learning to feed while lying down with a gloosy mag or mindless novel.

Very restful.

She projectile vomited again this evening-I take it this is pretty normal? MW didn't seem too concerned.
We have bought her a bouncy chair to go in after feed instead of going on her back in moses basket.

Edie, First thing I want to say is congratulations and well done - you've got through the hardest bit.

Secondly to(hopefully) put your mind at rest a little: -

Re: the latching on thing and milk coming in issues - as everyone on here has already said it's perfectly normal HOWEVER what some people don't know is that you can expect babies to lose around 10% of their birthweight in the early days... DON'T WORRY, again to reiterate this is PERFECTLY NORMAL.

Re: comfy feeding positions - Try laying on your side with DD alongside you - a great position for watching tv in bed(!). During the night feed when DS was in bedside cot I'd scoop him from his cot to our bed and feed him lying down. One morning he and I happened to doze off together like this and I was only woken up a few hours later by a tugging on my nipple when DS had woken up, decided he was hungry again and latched himself back on (and he was less than 10 weeks old!).

re: sore nipples - This also works with nappy rash and newborn conjunctivitis IIRC. As well as the lanolin creams try rubbing your breastmilk into the sore area. It seems to have amazing healing properties and I can't speak highly enough of the stuff. I also hear that the cabbage leaves in the bra help loads too.

If you are as determined to breastfeed as I was then persist - my DS was premature and in special care and had to be tube fed for the first few days (coupled with the fact that having an induced preemie doesn't help with your milk coming in too well). Your milk is supply and demand - the more baby needs the more you'll make. Not sure if (but have an inkling that) this was the case with us but because DS was supplemented my milk dried up at 4 months

HOWEVER, if it's got to the stage where you need any port in a storm, don't beat yourself up about it. You want what's best for DD and that's for her to be fed and happy, regardless of how you get there. Rest assured we all know that part of being a GOOD parent sometimes is to do what's best for baby, which isn't always the romantic vision we'd spent all those childless years imagining.

Ooh, while I think of it... If DP wants to feed your expressed milk and you're wondering about nipple confusion, try the MAM Ultivent bottles, their teats are moulded flatter, like the shape your nipple goes in baby's mouth. I swore by them(after trial and error with hundreds of other bottles!).

Big hugs girl, you're doing just great.

Lara, mum to a very rambunctious 29 month-old Jake
xxx

Edie, sorry for the double post but regarding the projectile vomiting thing: are you stilol feeding DD SMA?

My LO projectile vomited after many (poss most) supplemented feeds, I found this to be caused by the prebiotics in the SMA. Some babies' stomachs are just too sensitive to cope with them.

We eventually ended up moving him onto the Aptamil/Milumil range, if that helps.

hugs again

L
xx

Thankyou Lara, that's really helpful

I have just about got the hang of feeding her side by side lying down, sooo helpful for when your stitches are too sore to sit on!

No she hasn't had any SMA since she was 2/3 days old. We have put her in her chair now instead of the basket so she isn't flat, im hoping that is going to make a difference. Also, don't think we were burping/winding her properly/for long enough.

Im definitely going to persist with the BFing. It gets easier every day. I find it hard work as I am a bit low in mood and also she still has troubles latching sometimes but I know we will get there and I won't give up!

Thanks again Lara xxx

Keep going Edie, you're doing great.

hi eddie congrat from me, u cud also try hot ovaltine from time to time, they are great in getting u relax energised ur breastmilk it helped me a great deal
g/luck

Thanks!

Going through what I can only assume is the next tough stage...she is permantly on my breast! Day and night...it's so hard! Last night we put the steriliser on and came soo close to giving her a FF. However we didn't and in the end got a couple of hours sleep. I guess she is going through a growth spurt?

Hi it's very normal for them to be almost permanently attached at early stages... my dd certainly was. However it really doesn't last for ever and it's great at getting your supply built up ( the more they suck the more milk you make)
Get a stack of dvds or magazines and take to the sofa if you can

Let everything else ( like housework) wait and let mother nature take its' course. Promise you will look back at these times fondly ( even if the lack of sleep is exhausting!)

Good luck

How old is she now edie?
I remember at about 5/6 weeks DS did this and I felt like throwing him out the window!!

Well done Edie, I had real problems getting ds to breastfeed (eventually sorted with nipple shields - my nipples weren't "pointy out" enough ) Then after about 8 weeks persuaded the little darling to go au naturelle (was worried about bringing up a boy with a strange addiction to silicon nipples!)

Just wondering, I went through a stage of thinking ds needed to feed all the time - would feed for 45 minutes and then start screaming 20 minutes later. Then dh reread the books and suggested that maybe he was just tired - we were assuming that any screaming was hunger. Sure enough poor little chap was just exhausted. Doh!

Be kind to yourself and don't beat yourself up about stuff. You sound a wonderful mum and you won't believe how many lovely, lovely times you have ahead of you!

Thanks guys, your postings are helpful and supportive as usual.

Lorayn-She is almost 2 weeks now! Time flies!

She seems to be gagging and choking quite a bit after a feed-is this normal? I think she guzzles pretty quick!

I am letting the housework go but DP is keeping on top of it bless him. Think all the baby stuff makes the house look messy though, there seems to be so much of it!

FRC-You are right, it is easy to assume that it is always hunger but there could be many reasons why she is unsettled, I think her tummy plays her up like it does most babies.

Hi Edie,

I have just been reading the feeds and feel overwhelmed with tears as I feel for you. You have done amazingly by being persistant and I am so glad that you both are doing well. I have a 6 week old baby and hope my tips help you as I moved away from friends and family when I was 29weeks pregnant and had no one.

I know how important it was/is to keep my sanity so when I feed I either read or watch TV. It keeps me occupied and stops e thinking about baby feeding - Mine feeds really slowly and can take an hour. This also makes you feel as though youu have contact with the outside world. I also goout for a walk ever day. Have you tried feeding in public? If not a coffee shop is the best place I meet other Mums in costas and four of us are BF. It's best that yiu have a supportive friend that talks to you normally and comforts you if you feel uncomfortable.

If you are feeding on demand it is tough but again it is manageable when you make it a special time between you and your baby where you can do things too.

Don't worry about the crying just ignor it and pretend you can't hear it sometimes babies just need to cry - see heath visitor as also could be collic which is very common.

All the best x

Edie, she is probably just extra hungry, that happens with growth spurts, your breasts will just get used to producing it more or letting it out quicker and she will get used to taking more and faster.
You've done great so far, keep up the good work!!

Good lord woman - a two week old baby and you're worried that you're letting the housework slip!!! Relax, no-one cares. And in a few months time, you won't be able to see the floor for brightly coloured plastic

The fab thing about tiny babies is that no-one can see anything but them. So put your little one in the middle of the mess and accept the adoration on her behalf!

N.B. Tip also works for outfits - we had a really posh do when ds was 2 weeks old and I really fretted about what to wear with flabby tummy, mega boobs - until realised that as long as I carried ds at all times, no-one would notice if I was wearing a bin bag.

Keep going Edie - Yaz is absolutely right, babies. like all of us, sometimes just need to holler. And if you need to just walk downstairs and turn the radio up, that's fine, we've all done it at one time or another.