Baby not satisfied with BFing?

[Palmtree9]

Hi all,

I have a 4 week old who I'm not sure is satisfied by BFing.

Background:
Day 5-10 he didn't put on any weight (didn't lose any either)
Day 10-17 used shields and expressed to give bottles at night. Had 4 small bottles of instant formula which we used over the 7 days

Day 17, had put on lots of weight

Now day 28, no longer using shields, weight gain slowed down again, doesn't poo every day, very fussy and cries pretty much all the time between breastfeeds. If he has a bottle of either formula or breastmilk, he settles down well.

I'm pumping 5-8 Oz a day, as well as feeding, to try and keep the bottles to expressed milk.

I'm panicking my supply isn't enough, or his ability to actually take milk from me isn't good enough so he's not getting enough straight from the breast.

Has anyone else experienced this, or have any advice? I feel he could breastfeed for hours every morning and not actually fill up

Are you still feeding overnight @Palmtree9? Feeding overnight, especially in the early hours helps to build up your supply.

Are you feeding him when he wants to as well or are you feeding to a schedule?

It's normal for them to feed for hours, every few hours or little and often all day and night at this age. I'd BF at night rather than use a bottle of expressed milk though, unless it's absolutely avoidable. The more you feed the more milk you make and your body changes the milk through the day.

He'll be having a growth spurt, will take a while to increase your supply to catch up. Also it's normal by this pony for wrong gain to slow then surge. If it gets too much just too up at the end of a feed rather than replace a feed

With some formula I mean

I've had two like this and it did end up being me having low milk supply.

It was difficult (mentally) but with both I used paced bottle feeding after each feed to top up with expressed breast milk or formula. I offered after every feed to start to allow baby to eat as much as she needed.

What helped me most was seeing a private lactation consultant (IBCLC) for help. HV's will just say top up but IBCLC will make more personalised detailed plans with you plus help protect your supply (if that's what you want).

I kept hoping the constant crying was a froth spurt but the weight gain told a different story.

Whatever happens don't feel guilty and there is no shame in needing to use formula.

Thank you everyone! Sorry, I couldn't find the thread again to reply

I wasn't feeding overnight, he was having a bottle of expressed and I was pumping because he slept better with the bottle. But after hearing more, I've gone back to breastfeeding at night to help production. I've also started fenugreek supplements, and my supply seems to have increased...whether it's a coincidence or not, who knows!

@sheusesmagazines that sounds like what I was worried about. His weight gain also indicated not enough milk for him.

Thank you everyone for your advice and words of support!

How is it going @Palmtree9 I'm on day 9 and pumping round the clock I'm exhausted and my supply seems to have no rhyme or reason to it. I may produce loads at one session and very little another. It's exhausting.
My little boy is coming to the breast more but it always seems to be a struggle and he fights me. When he's there he may be there for ages and then come off ravenous still and refuse to go back on so we give him a bottle... mostly expressed when my supply can keep up sometimes a formula top up. I just want it all to settle down. My partner is back to work in the next few days and I have no idea how im going to keep up!

I was going to update the thread today!
LO has suddenly decided he does know how to latch, and is able to take on a lot of milk now in each feed. I don't know if it was that his mouth got a bit bigger, tongue got stronger, or the pumping and fenugreek capsules upped my supply for him, but he's much more settled now and BFing is going much smoother.

@sociallydistained a couple of things my midwife and health visitor suggested to me; nipple shields if he was struggling to latch, and I went onto fenugreek capsules from Holland and Barrett, and my HV said that oats can increase supply, so to eat porridge!
Pumping round the clock is so tiring, isn't it! But you've got this ☺️☺️ my boy went off BFing around day 5, and took til day 27 for him to decide to go back to it!

I pumped for 6 weeks round the clock with DD so you have my sympathies ladies.

I think when it comes to supply, we get too hung up on the supplements etc, when really the best thing for supply is hydration and some good quality sleep. Countries with high bfing rates are actually more relaxed about giving the odd bottle of formula so mum can sleep, so there’s definitely something in it.

See if you can get somebody to take the baby for a ‘shift’ each day so you can get a 5 hour stretch (DH used to take DD from 6-11pm). Make sure you’re drinking and eating plenty also.

@Palmtree9 That's excellent news and really reassuring! I hired the hospital pump it's just arrived today. I have a momcozy wearable pump but it is driving me mad.. tbh I think I messed up the seal by sterilising it regularly when I should have but yeah I at least feel the pumping will be more successful for 2 weeks and hopefully in that time my boy will get better at feeding too. His latch has improved in a couple of days so I have hope too.. he just gets raging angry at the boob if it is not timed perfectly 🤦🏻‍♀️