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Infant feeding

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

My supply shouldn´t be affected should it?/ Is he eating enough?

3 replies

MurderousMaveta · 09/10/2007 19:50

I went back to work last week, ds is 5 months old, and I work 9-5pm monday, wed, fri. So far I feed him in the morning before I go, then my mum gives him a bottle of ebm and dh later gives him a bottle of formula (I can´t seem to express enough for 2 bottles of ebm in the time I have) I then feed him before bed and twice in the night. On my days off I do all feeds.

Over the 4 days I´ve so far had to try and express milk while I´m at work though it seems like there´s less each time and I´m struggling just to get 6ozs. I give this to Mum and she knows she can offer him a formula top up if he needs more after the 6 but he never asks. However he´ll glug down 8ozs of formula later.. But I don´t know how I can express more - as it is I struggle to find time at work and by night I´m so exhausted I rarely remember.

This is a bit waffly, I think I´m just worried about it all going pear shaped - tonight for the first time since he was a tiny baby he was really frantic at his evening feed. I´m not sure why, he´d eaten at 3pm and at about 6ish he´d had a small feed (drink really) but wasn´t very interested. Then when I laid down to feed him at 7pm he was so impatient he was only sucking for a few seconds at a time and the milk wasn´t letting down but where he would normally keep going until it did he kept pulling away and crying in frustration. I ended up giving him a bottle and he put it away in no time at all.

Oh I don´t even really know what my question is.. I really like breastfeeding him and don´t feel ready to stop although he definitely seems ambivalent about it. (And by that I just mean he isn´t a baby who´ll hold out for breastmilk and nothing else will do, he´s always been happy to take a bottle either of ebm or formula and no problem taking a bottle from me.. ). Does this all sound normal? I think the feed tonight has got me all worried that my supply is going to stop...

OP posts:
Tommy · 09/10/2007 19:57

IME, I would say that 6oz is quite a lot to express anyway and trying to do it while you're at work is probably not easy.

I don't really know the answer to the specific problem this evening but I do knpow that my friend managed to b/feed her DD for 18 months - morning and evening even though she'd never been able to express anything.

Maybe tonight was just a one off? Sometimes my DS gets fidgety and cross with feeding and it isn't my "fault" - he's just crotchety or maybe not very hungry.

I'm pretty sure your supply won't stop if you carry on morning and night and all the time on your days off but it might take a little time ti get into the new routine.

hang in there

MurderousMaveta · 09/10/2007 20:08

Thanks for answering Tommy.. one thing I was wondering if whether with the introduction of so many (relatively) bottles he might be getting a bit ´lazy´ re. feeding and used to the milk coming quicker from a teat.. I do have a doidy cup, should I ask my mum/dh to feed him ebm/formula from this instead? And can a 5mo drink from a doidy cup okay? I have offered it to him but neither of us are sure what we´re doing..

OP posts:
Tommy · 09/10/2007 20:56

I think theoretically he should be able o drink from a doidy cup but they need a bit of help. Have you tried a Tommee Tipee beaker or Avent bottle with beaker spout? I wouldn't stresss yourself you much about it though - a bottle is fine if that's all he will take it from.

He won't starve himself! Keep offering the breast milk - that's the best thing he can have

BTW - no-one knows what they're doing on this parenting lark most of us just muddle along doing the best we can

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