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Infant feeding

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

Breastfeeding.. is this ok?!

33 replies

llaethmam · 03/02/2023 18:22

My newborn (6 days) is jaundice and very sleepy, HV aware and he didn't need treatment but I'm struggling a bit with whether he's feeding enough and engorgement pain. He feeds roughly every 3/4 hours, sometimes more often but only like a little 'snack' not a full feed. He's notorious for falling asleep after a few sucks and pulling off when let down starts and missing all of it (I collected it in a bowl and it's a lot!) this happens most feeds. I have to jostle him awake constantly. I'm finding myself feeling permanently engorged, the relief after a feed doesn't last long and my boobs never feel empty. Im trying to encourage him to feed more when I'm particularly in pain and he'll usually latch on but will fall asleep and stay asleep. If he wakes on his own accord for a feed it's usually a better one, and if I change his nappy first he goes demented and will really cry and wake himself up so we'll get a better feed then. I keep worrying he isn't taking enough but he is pooping very regularly and had some bigguns so I just don't know?!

OP posts:
Cuppasoupmonster · 03/02/2023 20:46

That’s quite a drop in weight (no criticism of you whatsoever) but it suggests to me he simply doesn’t have the strength to breastfeed at the moment. There’s no magic solution for that, only time and a little weight gain so he is strong enough to do it. I really would recommend investing in a pump and feeding him that way, it will also keep your supply up for when he is ready to feed from the source. Throughout the pumping I put Dd to the boob a couple of times a day just so she wouldn’t forget what it was, and like I said as soon as she gained some weight it was all fine.

SassyPants87 · 04/02/2023 01:52

@llaethmam i would get midwife to come out and check levels and make sure they are going the right way. Please do this ASAP as if levels get higher is can be dangerous for the baby. In the meantime just feed feed feed every 2 hours. If baby doesn’t wake to feed every 2 hours then you must use bottles to get them milk in him. It’s only for a few days, I had to do this and then went on to exclusive BF after the jaundice levels were fine

llaethmam · 04/02/2023 13:24

My midwife popped out this morning he is back at 6lbs 3 so we're going in the right direction. She said she's happy but if I want him to gain quicker try every 2 hours in the day time but that he isn't doing badly as he is and is probably just quite a speedy feeder!

OP posts:
SassyPants87 · 04/02/2023 14:44

@llaethmam did she check bilburin levels? Babies can still gain weight and be jaundiced. I think the advise from most people on this thread is around more feeding is to flush the jaundice out regardless of weight

AreBearsCatholic · 04/02/2023 14:48

My second was a 36 weeker two, 4lb, they are different to full term babies and the first weeks are hard work. Until he got over the jaundice I was advised to do a feed every 2 hours and undressed him for it, and pumped to give him a bottle twice a day, as it was less work for him to drink.

missally · 04/02/2023 17:51

Still I'd be thinking about getting him retested for jaundice levels...

llaethmam · 04/02/2023 18:18

She said she can see slight jaundice but it's normal at this stage, his eyes have started to clear up and he was awake and alert when she weighed him so she wasn't concerned between that and the weight gain. She said it will be if there's any trace of jaundice at day 14 that he'd be sent for a blood test for prolonged jaundice

OP posts:
Callisto1 · 04/02/2023 20:04

That's good news! Sounds like things are going in the right direction.

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