need tiktoks help re update on 6 day old baby not feeding for more than 10mins

[laksa]

Hi Tiktok,

I previously posted re my 6 day old baby who wouldn't feed for more than 10mins at a time. Well I got her weighed yesterday at 18 days old and the hv advised I top her up with a small amount of formula at the end of each feed. She was born at 7 lbs 13 then lost some then a week later was at 7 lbs 12 and now at day 18 is 8lb and a 1/2 0z. the hv said this was minimal weight gain and she hasn't gained enough therefore to top up. I have tried this but she doesn't seem to want to take the bottle. Should I persevere with the top ups. Also I still can't express more than 20ml off my boob. Is my milk supply low, but if so wouldn't she want the bottle of milk and be hungry for it?

I just don't know what to do as I don't want her weight to suffer.

Please could you offer some advice

laksa, I'll try to help.

I am not sure of the dates - when was your baby 7 lbs 12 oz? Aged a week? Or a week after she lost the weight? This makes a difference, as if she was 7 lbs 12 at 2 weeks, the weight she is now is perfectly fine. If she was a week old when she was 7 lbs 12 oz, then yes, the weight gain is slow, and something might need to happen to turn things round....of course this 'something' does not have to be formula top ups.

So fill me in with the details

she was 7 12 at 10 or 11 days old when the first hv visitor occurred then which means the weight gain is a weeks worth from then till now.

oh, just checked book and at 10days old she was 7 12 and now is 8 and half oz. Not sure what to do. She is screaming now, but not from hunger as I fed her an hour ago and she didn't want the top up bottle milk and won't go back on the breast.

oh, she lost about 100g in the first week and then put to regain a bit to get to the 7 12 mark at 10 days. Sorry not sure what 100g is in oz, the midwives worked in grams and the hv in oz.

Thanks, laksa.

In this case, this seems to me to be a baby who is turning the corner and is doing ok....but if I was to see you, I'd ask you how often the baby is feeding, and hope that you would say 'often!' and that would mean at night as well, so the baby would be coming to the breast many times in 24 hours (the length of time on the breast is not really relevant)...probably 10-12 or more. I'd check when the baby was on the breast that milk was going from A to B (by looking at how the baby was feeding and swallowing), and that you felt comfortable. I'd ask about nappies - several soft yellow poos every day are a good sign.

There might be opportunities to give more frequent feeds, and to hold the baby close to you, so her feeding cues are quickly responded to, and maybe the attachment/latch might be adjusted.

If it looked like the baby needed topping up in the meantime (because perhaps the baby was not transferring milk ok and still needed to learn how to do it), then of course you can give expressed breastmilk, and maybe you need a better pump, or a better hand technique, to get more off.

So - any of that ring any bells?

laksa - try to breastfeed her before she gets to the screamy stage....calm her down if you can now, and offer her the breast.

It is perfectly ok for her to want feeding again after an hour (or even less). Think of it not as a new feed, but an extension of the previous one!

thanks guys, the midwife did say my latch was ok but maybe it needed refining and to try and get more aerola into her mouth so that she feeds more efficiently in 10 mins and doesn't stop because the milk slows down. I have tried but she is starting to fuss at the breast more when I do this and comes off permanently if I try to perfect her latch so it just didn't seem worth it as she would just stop feeding.

The pump I am using is the ameda lactaline electric, I have only pumped 3 or 4 times so far as I only ever seem to have time for about half an hours worth which only yields me 20ml! The pump is supposed to be a good one so I can only guess that it is me who is problem

I get maybe 2 or 3 poos in the day but only ever one big one in the day and a couple at night.

I feed her every 3 hours at night and every 2-21/2 in the day I was feeding her every 3 in the day but have upped it now.

The problem is if I feed every hour she only feeds for 5mins and then she wouldn't get hind milk would she??

Its all so confusing, plus she is a very unsettled baby at the best of times and I can't work out whether she needs winding or feeding half the time. I don't think I'm very good at this stuff.

fiofio, thanks for the reassurance but I can't get a full bottle out of these breasts and the pump is supposedly a good one.

I guess I can just try to up her feeds and see what she weighs next tues?

Hi Laksa
I have oversupply and I can barely express anything It's not a good reflection of supply to be honest... I have tried all pumps and the best way for me to hand express bit by bit - and as your are still establishing your supply this could also make it harder.

I have had a failure to thrive baby and a baby who nearly doubled his weight in 8 weeks from 7lbs to 14lbs.
Both fed 2-3 hrly both breastfed and both fed for less than 10 minutes.

Before you start relaly worrying about weight gain check...
is your baby alert, sleeping ok between feeds and generally settled.
Is the poo a good mustard yellow with curds in it? I think the colour of the poo being greener and slimier can be sign of too much foremilk but that could be hearsay

laksa, it might be worth getting someone else to observe the latch - not possible to judge on the web

Poos sound fine.

To use the pump efficiently, you need to go from side to side (maybe on each breast twice, swapping when the flow just trickles), and to check the fit of the flange is perfect.

It is ok to feed for five mins every hour - please don't be concerned about the hindmilk. If you look at kellymom it explains why short frequent feeds are just fine, and do not reduce access to creamier milk.

The more often you feed her, the better Forget timing.

Hope this helps.

Ooops - forgot! Try breast compression (google) when she stops feeding.

piffle, she settles sometimes but today has barely slept, last night she fed 3 hourly and went down fine each time. I have no clue when she settle or not, but she is a bit of cryer and grizzler. I will persevere and try the breast compression and see what happens at the next weighin.

laksa do you have a sling to carry her in? I found mine a godsend for the 1st 6-8 wks until ds2 would go down properly.

piffle,am still waiting for my sling to arrive, hopefully it will mean I can get some jobs done around the house as at the moment I spend all my time holding her and worrying about all the washing that needs to be done etc.

fiofio, I will try not worry about expressing.

thanks for the advice guys.