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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

MIX FEEDING, WANT TO BREASTFEED MORE BUT BABY NOT GAINING A LOT OF WEIGHT

94 replies

Dalrymps · 24/01/2008 17:24

the story so far...
I almost gave up bf cause it was painfull, I stopped for 5 days then realised it wasn't what I wanted so got in touch with a bf councillor and tried agian, since then I used an elecric pump to get my supply up and after a few weeks was getting 4 oz a day, I then began to try and bf him again just giving it a go once or twice a day. I am now at the stage where I am bf him three times a day with a formula top up after each bf (1-2oz) and he is getting 2 ff in between the bf's of 4-5oz, so 5 feeds a day, sleeps 8hrs through the night. Anyway, for the last 5 weeks his weight gain has slowed, used to be about 6-9oz a week, in the 3 weeks over xmas he gained 8oz, week after half an oz and last week 1 and a half oz. The people at the clinic said to try fitting in another feed but he refuses any more if I try yo give it him. I want to bf him mpre of the time but don't want to mess with his feding if he's not gaining enought weight? Just spoke to bf councillor and she said to bf him more, try to fit in 2 more feeds a day if poss and not to top his feeds up in the evening and to just keep bf him on demand in the evening... any advice? I'm a bit confused as to what to do, basically I want him to gain a good amount of weight and I want to BF him more!

OP posts:
MrsBadger · 24/01/2008 17:38

If you hadn't had him weighed would you be worried about his weight ie is he alert, happy, weeing and pooing lots?

If he's fine in every other way the bf counsellor's advice sounds sensible.

MrsArchieTheInventor · 24/01/2008 17:49

There's an article in today's Times about baby weight gain charts being out of date and in the process of being revised as they're based on bottle fed babies rather than breast fed babies, and breast fed babies typically gain weight at a slower rate than bottle fed babies. I guess if your baby is not gaining any weight at all then you should worry, but you can't force him to feed. As the saying goes you can put a baby to the breast but you can't make him suck.

Have you tried La Leche for advice?

Original poster
Dalrymps · 24/01/2008 17:50

yeah he's fine, very happy, plenty wee's and poo's. The bf counsellor even worried me a bit though cause she said 'it is quite unusual for a baby of his age to only be on 5 feeds a day' - i thought it was normal? and she said 'we need to get him gaining more weight than that' . I'm not doing anything different from when he was gaining well as far as i can see...

OP posts:
Original poster
Dalrymps · 24/01/2008 17:59

thing is he never really refuses my breast, well not so far, he might have a small feed but never refuses it all together... formula on the other hand, if he's not hungry enough he just pushes it out with his tongue. Haven't tried la leche but have spoken to my bf counsellor who is very nice and has helped a lot so far but i guess her comments about him not being on enough feeds a day was just not what i wanted to hear cause it makes me feel like its my fault

OP posts:
fishie · 24/01/2008 18:40

dalrymps i think the bfc advice sounds good too re increasing the bf. why do you think he won't gain weight if you are replacing the formula with breastmilk?

Original poster
Dalrymps · 24/01/2008 18:51

I just doubt my bodies ability to make enough milk for him, feel like the suppy isn't what it was before i stopped but have no way of telling how much he's getting really, just scared my body won't make enough and he'll starve and i won't know anything about it as i'll just be assuming he's getting enough as i won't be able to see he is... and take a breath!

OP posts:
fishie · 24/01/2008 19:30

you really need to do a big feedathon, go to bed for a couple of days. what are you doing with the milk you are expressing? why not top up with that instead of formula?

foxythesnowman · 24/01/2008 19:34

There's a few threads on this recently (I had similar problems). If you want to keep going then do. The advice my GP gave to me was express after each feed and use that to top up later in the day, so LO was getting a bottle of hind-milk in the evening.

Also make sure you have a really good diet yourself, get lots of rest and drink loads of water.

Do a search for the 'Little Acorns' thread - lots of advice and support there. I'll try to link some later, but must dash and put babies to bed.

chocospence · 24/01/2008 19:40

i agree with BF councillor advice too

he will soon tell you if not enough milk as he won't settle until he is full. You may find that you will breastfeed him more when you miss out the formula feeds but this will increase your supply. It may take a few days but you will notice the difference.

The drawback is you may lose your 8 hours at night as he may need a night feed..but you never know..you may be one of the lucky ones!
My DD is 4.5 months and still feeds 3 times a night...but i love feeding her so its cool with me

good luck. Your body will stand up to the challenge no problem!

SparklyGothKat · 24/01/2008 19:48

your little one is about 3 months, yes? I feed callum more than 5 times a day and he is a similar age. he still has night feeds too [tired] I was topping up with formula due to weight problems twice a day and once with expressed milk. we are now down to 1 bottle a day. I just feed him on demand and it seems to working. he has up to 10 feeds a day.

Original poster
Dalrymps · 24/01/2008 19:57

So feeding on demand seems to be the answer, i was just scared my body would produce enough but guess it will?

OP posts:
MrsBadger · 24/01/2008 20:03

it will!
when you were pregnant your body nourished him fine - it still can.

Original poster
Dalrymps · 24/01/2008 21:54

Thanks for the encouragement, i'm gonna carry on feeding him as i was but also try to get extra feeds in there and breast feed again instead of topping up with formula

OP posts:
pinkspottywellies · 24/01/2008 22:01

My hv told me I should top up with formula or wean at 16 weeks because dd was putting on weight slowly (1 oz a week between 10 and 16 weeks). I didn't, I just carried on bf on demand because I knew she was doing fine (alert, sleeping well, lots of wet and dirty nappies). When I went to get her weighed at 1 yr, the hv was pleased to see that dd was back on the 50th centile, where she started (having dropped below the 9th at one point). Hv said 'isn't it funny how so many of them drop off the scale then go back up again by about a year'.
If it's not unusual then why do they feel the need to 'do something' about it. If your baby is ok and like others have said if you hadn't weighed him you wouldn't be worried then he's fine. Breastfeeding on demand is the way to go. Good luck and enjoy your baby!

chocospence · 24/01/2008 22:24

As long as lo is not losing weight your fine. 1 oz a week is still putting weight on.

Some HV don't have a clue about BF, it really winds me up!

ItsNeverTooEarlyForPopcorn · 24/01/2008 22:41

dd1 didn't put weight on in the first few months, she fell down on the centile charts. HV & GP kept an eye on her - asking that she was weighed fortnightly but assured me that she was alert and happy. They did not encourage me to try formula.

It did worry me at the time - she was b/f exclusively until 5 months. She's a healthy 3 yo now.

I hope all the advice given here will help you to reach a decision you're happy with. It will be brilliant though if you can hang on without going doolally until at least 6 months. I hope your HV will help support you in your decision.

Original poster
Dalrymps · 24/01/2008 23:48

Thanks for your support, it helps to hear that others have had similar problems, i feel in my heart he is healthy and happy, i will try my best to offer him as many breast feeds as i can and thats all i can do!

OP posts:
tiktok · 25/01/2008 10:00

Dalrymps, I think you have nailed it when you say you don;t have confidence in your body. You need this confidence in order to do the things you need to do to increase your milk....breastfeeding three times a day is nowhere near enough to build up and maintain a supply, sorry....and that's true for everyone!

The smaller the gaps between breastfeeds, the more quickly milk is made, and the opposite is also true - long gaps means a slower (and lesser) milk production. The bf counsellor is spot on - if you want to maintain breastfeeding and indeed stop breastfeeding from dwindling to nothing, you will need to breastfeed a lot more, and her ideas of avoiding top ups in the evening and fittiing in more bfs when you can are very good.

5 feeds a day are not very many for a young baby - I agree with her there. Sleeping 8 hours is also unusual and it may be that feeding in the night is inevitable if you want to work on increasing the breastfeeding.

None of the breastfeeding advice will affect his weight adversely - basically, you will be giving him more milk, overall, so no problem there!

Original poster
Dalrymps · 25/01/2008 10:12

thanks for the advice tiktok, was hoping you'd be around . i've mocked up a rough schedule of how i can fit in 7 feeds a day, 2 of which will still be ff for now. want to see how that goes for a bit before thinking of dropping the ff and making those 2 bf. I'm still a bit confused though, will it take my body a few days to fully ajust to the new demand or does it happen almost immediately, or does it take longer, say, a week or more?
If you were me would you do the 7 feeds a day with 2 ff for a week and then maybe swap one ff for bf for another week and then swap the last ff for a bf? i don't know how to do it exactly, don't want to cut out a ff if i'm still not producing enough. Oh and the sleep thing, he's always been a good sleeper, he used to get up in the middle of the night once for a feed but now he goes 8 hrs, to be honest though i don't care if he doe start waking me up 3 times a night as long as he's getting what he needs and i'm able to bf him. Oh how i wish i'd never given up in the first place!

OP posts:
Original poster
Dalrymps · 25/01/2008 10:15

oh and by the way, i was thinking of not topping up any of the bf and only giving formula when it's a ff, think thats ok?

OP posts:
tiktok · 25/01/2008 10:46

Dalrymps, think in terms of 'gaps between breastfeeds/expressing'....you need to make 'em short. No, I don't think giving a whole ff instead of a bf is ok, because that way you s....t....r....e....t...c...h the gap between breastfeeds, probably more than if you top up after a breastfeed.

However, in the short term you will need to continue with formula somehow, and that might mean some full formula feeds...though if you can, make them smaller than before (check all this out with your HPs, though - they can see you and your baby and you need their views to feel confident all is well).

It will take at least a week - prob more - to get a full bf supply after so long partially feeding, and 7 feeds a day is still not really enough....it will be more than that if you decide to only bf in the evening and to feed at night though

Original poster
Dalrymps · 25/01/2008 11:12

sorry I didn't mean to give a whole ff instead of a bf, I meant to leave the 2 ff a day as they are but instead of topping up every bf with a ff of 1-2oz as i was doing to not top up after a bf and just bf again if still hungry after, say, half an hour for eg.
So your saying bf as much as poss and carry on with the ff for at least a week and see how it goes? If he doesn't wake in the night for a feed do you suggest I wake him? not sure what to do about that one...

OP posts:
tiktok · 25/01/2008 11:32

I see, Dalrymps....that is worth doing, esp the bit about 'topping up' with a breastfeed. yes, waking in the night is important to max the potential of the bf.....sorry!

Original poster
Dalrymps · 25/01/2008 11:46

ok, thanks for all your advice, I really appreciate it, will bf as much as i can and will start waking him for a feed in the night, wish me luck

OP posts:
Caz10 · 25/01/2008 14:26

Hi! can i crash - very similar probs so I wish you well Dalrymps! Tiktok - i know that night feeds are important to build up/maintain supply, but when counts as night? is there a time window?

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