Advice ref increasing Milk Supply please!

[ChristmasShinySnowflakes]

My friend is struggling to get her baby to feed from her. He apparently had a bout of 'colic', following which he screams the house down when put to the breast. Of course the little sod monkey takes a bottle absolutely fine.

My friend- (her name's Michelle by the way and I've encouraged her to join/will send her a link to this thread) - desperately wants to breastfeed. Her son is 7 weeks old and despite the fact she's ready to throw in the towel I really want to get her some good advice and support to help get things on track again.

I've encouraged her to use a breast pump after every feed, and to take fenugreek to try to support a healthy supply. I don't think she is taking in nearly enough fluids so she's going to drink more too. Any other words of wisdom would be very much appreciated!

Thanks in advance if you are still awake!

BUMP!

is he being offered bf and then if he screams, gets a bottle instead? If so i wonder about "niple confusion". I think the trick is to stick with bf until he settles with it, no bottles at all if she desperately wants to try b-feeding exclusively, and maybe contact a local bf peer counsellor or midwife and check that lo is latching on properly, because if his position isn't right he'll be trying to 'suck' rather than 'milk' the breast and therefore get no milk
does this make sense at all??

Yes it does; thank you

She is attending a breast feeding clinc on Tuesday. I saw her this week and we tried with her using a nipple shield and he fed well with that for a few days before screaming when put to the breast again

And yes, he is offered a bottle if he refuses the breast!

tis so . if she is determined to get through it, give her heaps of encouragement and have a think with her about what would be relaxing for her and the baby whilst she feeds him, because if she is tense / worried (understandably though!) then the lo will often pick up on this and become anxious too. How about she decides to just bf for a day or two, no bottles, and a huge attempt to go somewhere comfy, private and just her and the babe chill out together. maybe some kangaroo care (skin to skin contact) would help them too?

BTW, get her to keep an eye on what she eats!! My dc used to go nuts with wind / screaming if i had broccoli or cabbage and there are quite a few known triggers which cause colicky symptoms in young bf babies. One of the super-dooper bf experts might be able to help with that list, but the gist is that when you suss out any link with mum's diet and baby's distress, then you can act accordingly, perhaps feed baby before eating x food, or if it isn't a totally necessary item then maybe leave it out for a few weeks.

Thanks sooo much

I think she'll find it hard not to give in and let him have a bottle; he screams and screams with no let up at all. I suggested they enjoy a nice warm bath together to encourage some good skin to skin contact.

I really appreciate your suggestions and will pass them on!

In all seriousness I was recommended by the MWives to drink some Guniness (glass a day!) to help milk supply OR go for yeast tablets if one doesn't like the dark stuff!

cosleeping, baths together and a sking to skin babymoon is the way to go. it sounds like nipple confusion and less like her diet. the diet thing is largely a misnomer from what I understand.

What makes you think it's a milk supply problem?

Some links:

www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html

www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/fussy-while-nursing.html

www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/back-to-breast.html

And contacts for breastfeeding counsellors here (on the right hand side).

hth.

Christmas, hope your pal posts

Not enough info in your post to be sure what's going on. Using a pump after every feed and use of fenugreek are possibly unnecessary hassles, and drinking more fluids is not normally needed, as fluid intake is not related at all to supply; in fact, 'over drinking' was linked in one study to making less milk! Diet ditto.... unlikely to be the cause of the screaming.

Honestly, reading between the lines it sounds that she is simply not feeding often enough, and that this might have been going on for a while, so the baby objects to the 'unproductive' breast in favour of the bottle. If this is the case, then there may be a case for expressing, but it's just not clear.

Sheilds need to be used with extreme caution, and introducing one at this stage is not a good plan at all, sorry.

I am a breastfeeding counsellor, and I'd suggest she calls a breastfeeding counsellor and goes through the whole story - hope she gets help.

Thanks tiktok I was hoping you'd be around

I'll text her in a minute and hassle encourage her to register and post, but I'd agree that she needs to put him to the breast more frequently; I can though see how this would be a stress as he just yells and yells!

She is going to a breastfeeding clinic on Tuesday. Thanks for the responses everyone!