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Infant feeding

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

Original poster

Breast milk supply for 'big' babies?

32 replies

Haylstones · 03/03/2008 17:53

Ds is a week old and I'm exclusively bf. He was 9lb8 at birth and has only lost 1.5oz since then and is producing lots of wet and dirty (bright yellow) nappies. I've had a few comments since then that I might struggle to keep up with him, especially when he has periods when he wants to feed regularly (normally going 2-3 hours then sleeping till next feed but sometimes in the afternoon or evening he gets a bit fractious and I feed more often). Dh thinks this might mean I'm not keeping up with him but I'm not convinced- dd was 7lb 2 at birth and fed much more often and sporadically!
Any advice/reassurance would be much appreciated. I'm determined to continue bf (managed 18 months with dd) but I could do with some reassurance that my body can keep up!

OP posts:
tiktok · 03/03/2008 17:58

Of course you can keep up with your lovely bouncing baby

The weight of the baby has nothing to do with this....I expect at some point your dd weighed more than your ds does now, and you were fully bf her.

If you grew him to this size, you can certainly feed him!

People have twins and triplets and make enough milk, as you know.

andienovicehabitlifter · 03/03/2008 18:01

my ds2 was on the 98th centile and I had enough milk for him he is still going strong at 8 months
he cluster fed in the evenings as well but only until he was about 7 weeks my ds1 who was smaller did exactly the same

CarGirl · 03/03/2008 18:02

My bf dds were 10lb 6oz, 9lb 2 & 9lb 10oz they were all bf until 6 months (and slept through at nigh - shhhh) I even managed to donate to the milk bank with my youngest. So yes IME plentiful supply of milk and it helped with weight loss whilst eating for England........

filthymindedvixen · 03/03/2008 18:11

I had 2 boys, one 8lbs 9oz and one 9lbs 8oz. I b/f them bother, for a year and 18 months respectively. With the second one, after a year, I did do bottles at night as I just couldn't cope with working and a toddler and night waking any more. Just go with the flow, as it were...
Gte as much rest as you can, eat well yourself and you should have plenty of milk for you lovely big boy. Good luck.

Monkeybird · 03/03/2008 18:12

My 3 babies were 9lb 16oz, 8lb 12oz and 9lb 7oz and BF them all exclusively till 4.5 months (people were advise to wean early back then), 5.5 months and till now (6.5 months) and carried on after that when on solids too, though to varying degrees.

Ignore all the well-meaning but unhelpful comments - your supply will adjust.

The pattern you are describing is normal for a BF baby -many feed 2-3 hours in the day( in fact that's pretty good for a week old baby!) and then cluster feed in the afternoon/ evenings

You may find lots of 'frequency days'/growth spurts when they feed like mad for 24-48 hours but this too is normal and you'll just produce more milk. If you need another good reason to keep going you can think of all those extra calories you'll be burning (if that motivates you of course!)

Original poster
Haylstones · 03/03/2008 18:12

Thanks, that's reassuring. I did think that was the case but with hormones and insecurities coursing through me I started doubting it! He seems happy and isn't unhappy (most chilled out baby I'e ever seen!) so I shall continue as I am.

OP posts:
Monkeybird · 03/03/2008 18:12

9lb 15oz - doh! otherwise would have been 10 obv

Original poster
Haylstones · 03/03/2008 18:14

That makes no sense, sorry! Presumably if he is happy he isn't unhappy!! you get the gist anyway!

OP posts:
Habbibu · 03/03/2008 18:16

DD was 10lb 11oz at birth, stayed on 99.8th centile while exclusively breastfed for 6 months. And ignore all the crap you'll hear about having to wean early because the baby is big...

gegs73 · 03/03/2008 18:35

DS2 was between 98 - 99.6 centile for weight and off the chart for height. I had too much milk for him which was what stopped my BF him in the end, but it was there When I swopped to bottles, he actually slept worse at night and wanted more frequent feeds in the day for a while which would also suggest he got more from me than formula. Just go with your baby and what you body tells you and don't worry about what other people say.

dizzydixies · 03/03/2008 18:37

mine were 10lb2 and 11lb1 - you will be absolutely fine and in a few weeks your body will be sooooooo adept it will produce milk as and when it needs it

well done on your beautiful bouncing baby boy

Original poster
Haylstones · 03/03/2008 19:10

Thanks, am feeling more positive by the second!

OP posts:
dizzydixies · 03/03/2008 20:05

good, just remember to feed yourself and have a pint of water with you everytime you feed to keep your liquids up

sophus · 03/03/2008 21:09

Hi, DS was 10lbs 10oz and is now nearly 6 months, about 19lbs and still BF in spades and doing well on it. in the early days he put on 8oz a week. So yes you can do it, and you will and you will both thrive.

Surfnicky · 03/03/2008 21:57

I am bf my 27 week old DTs and haven't had a problem with supply at all. I have just always assumed that as my body knew I was carrying two babies, it would ensure that I can make enough milk to nourish them. And as CarGirl says, when you're having to produce lots of milk you do really need to eat LOTS...and that's a good enough reason for me!!

artichokes · 03/03/2008 22:01

DD was 9lbs 4oz and I BFed her for 14 months. Your body will produce the milk your baby needs as long as you let him suck when he wants to.

(One happy side effect of the amount DD ate was my rapid weight loss. I was a stone under my pre-preg weight by the time she weaned).

tiktok · 03/03/2008 23:07

You don't need to deliberately eat more, and you certainly don't need a pint of water every time you feed.....

Eat accordiing to hunger and drink according to thirst and you'll be fine.

Milk supply does not depend on your diet or fluid intake....dizzydixies, you're asking her to drink rather a lot, doncha think?!

TheFallenMadonna · 03/03/2008 23:10

Another big baby feeder here. Exclusive bf until nearly 7 months, because I forgot to wean at 6 months . No top ups, no early weaning, no worries

Joolyjoolyjoo · 03/03/2008 23:13

Glad I've seen this! My boy was 8lbs 15oz, but quickly piled on the weight. I bf'ed my girls until they weaned themselves at 7 and 9mths, and want to do the same with him, but people keep telling me I will never keep up with him! He is very settled, doesn't feed terribly frequently, and sleeps for a good 6 or 7 hours at night, which I think is wonderful !! Yet people still keep telling me he will need bottles to top up etc!! I smile politely and ignore them. Good to hear others reinforcing what I already thought. He is 16wks now, and I just KNOW MIL is going to start with the old "can he not just have a chocolate pudding?" thing any day now! Sigh!

TheFallenMadonna · 03/03/2008 23:26

Oh yes, ignore people!

MIL gave me a terribly hard time about ds who was a dreadful whinger, and who she thought looked 'peaky'

But even she couldn't say anything about gorgeous dd who was even bigger and clearly sated enough to satisfy the most vocal early weaner

Joolyjoolyjoo · 03/03/2008 23:33

He has slight eczema, so I am using that as my excuse to keep him on just bm till 6 mths! MIL can't argue with that!! Actually, she's not too bad- she just has a chocolate pudding fixation when it comes to babies!

Surfnicky · 04/03/2008 09:14

Tiktok - just a quick question about not needing to eat more. I, like artichokes, am already a stone under my pre-pregnancy weight and haven't neccesarily found that I'm more hungry. However, I find that I need to eat all the time as if I don't I keep dropping weight (I'm not complaining by the way...) - but my appetite doesn't always remind me to eat, IYSWIM. Maybe my appetite had increased without me realising, as I'm always stuffing myself full of avocado & full fat cheese!!

Overrun · 04/03/2008 09:17

Hi, I just want to say in hopefully a non boastfull but helpful way, that I have bf dts exclusively. At birth collectively they weighed 11lb, and for the first 4 weeks they both put on just over a 1lb a week, as they had some catching up to do.
I hope this puts into context your worries about your baby

wickedwitchofthenorth · 04/03/2008 09:30

Eary days for me yet, but no major problems so far. Son was 8lb 9oz at birth (50th centile) and then rapidly shot up and stayed on 91st centile. He's 8 weeks old and 14lb. My HV told me that I prob wouldnt be able to bf for long, certainly not exclusively for 6 months, because he's so big and I'm only little. Obviously am filing that advice firmly where it belongs

Have found weightloss a bit of a problem, have dropped to 8st from 8.5 when I concieved. I feel drained when he's having a growth spurt and feeding more often. Am trying to remedy this by eating my body weight in chocolate. (ate so much on mothers day that my milk actually smelt of ferrero rocher that night - baby didnt complain though

LaundryFairy · 04/03/2008 09:53

Hi Haylstones - my DS was 9lbs 5oz and I did fine breastfeeding.

One thing I did find is that there were times when his need for milk would suddenly jump, and this worried me a bit. I got some great advice about dealing with increasing demands from Penelope Leach's book Your Baby and Child. The jist of it is that let the baby feed as often and for as long as needed because that stimulates extra production and, even if you are temporarily a little bit short, your body will soon sort itself out. Even if the "cupboard is empty", letting them carry on nursing helps to stimulate milk production.

Good luck, and I'm sure you'll do fine!

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