tiktok, bfing gurus, bfers, interested parties of all creed and colour... heyulp! bfing a preemie baby... top tips please

[Aitch]

don't know where to start, really...

dd is two weeks old today (blimey) and put on her birthweight on wednesday so that's great. however of course she didn't start putting on weight until her formula top-ups, topping up with ebm didn't do the trick.

her weight gain today was only 30g (last few times has been double that or more) and i do put that down to the fact that i've been pumping more and therefore have been giving her more ebm top-ups than formula.

question is... what's the tipping point? she is gaining, i am producing more milk (not heaps, but volume-wise we are on target for the SCBU calculations). we were told to give dd 280mls per day in top-ups as well as bf, but with the formula it's been more like 350ml.

so do i accept the 'slow' weight gain and think of dd's longer-term benefits having protected my supply, or do i want her on formula but with more energy to feed, iyswim?

midwife has suggested one top-up of formula, and at the next topping-up with ebm, this seems like a reasonable compromise to me, but am i missing something.

vlc - your post made me laugh - I remember the flipping.

Very impressed that you could surf whilst bfing....I bet Channel 4 would make a programme about that!

Aitch how are you and the LO doing today?

using a stretchy wrap to breast feed in

would this help Aitch? I am willing to lend you one of mine to have a go. My best friend who has a 13 wk old gives him most of his day feeds in this position as she has 3 other kids to look after.

I've breastfed with a Coorie. I latched BabyDragon on and then adjusted the sling so it was comfortable. Having the right sized one is important though.

Didn't mean to sound accusatory when I asked why you were pumping You didn't sound like you knew why and it sounded like DD2 fed better direct when you hadn't... How's she doing anyway?

sorry to have gnore the bc thing. yep, am using it, have been sine day 1. it's also ccontributing to tits feeling bruiesd though.

it was a good question, soupy, and one that i will be asking the madwife when she visits today. (assuming dd has gained weight, that is. if she hasn't i'm in deep doo-doo).

will look at the sling stuff, thanks. i have a kari-me, but am not skilled. plus dd is so titchy that i'd have to get her head bang on. i bet a coorie is good for that, actually. you kind of put the kari me on before the baby, iykwim?

the coorie is BRILLIANT.

we've got the stripey one.

2040! and i reckon that in the last three days she's had maybe 100ml formula and maybe 200ml ebm so the rest is feeding. (not that it's a massive weight gain, but the paed said that he'd be happy with 20g/day so it's more than that). i'm still pumping, but i think not so much, and now that dd is waking up a bit more she's easier to demand feed.

anyhow, quite relieved. that's the midwife gone now, just the HV to come...

2040g btw is 4 and half pounds in old money. born at 4lb1oz, only made that back on i think wednesday of last week, so it's not bad.

Whooooot ! Go DD2 !

Did you ask about stopping topping up ? Sounds like she's cut back the top ups in only a couple of days so much that she won't want anything by the end of the week anyway

That's fab

she's asleep, i'm back double-pumping. i can hear her farting away, so she must be fine.

i'm still to do teh top-ups. i've only been doing them when she's not been settling, say at night after a ferocious cluster feed. other than that, i'm just feeding, feeding, feeding and not bothering to top-up if she comes off the breast drooling milk. that's okay, surely? one presumes she's not going short if she's passing out drunk. i do panic a bit if she won't settle, though, i do admit.

anyway, i can't give up the pumping. i bought a BRA... lol. bloody expat told me to.

I think if she's passing out drunk and drooling milk, then she's def getting enough!

If she doesn't settle, then swap boobs a few more times, then see how she is

i have been, cmot, but you know how it is, they put the fear of god into you in hospital that they are falling asleep through tiredness rather than satisfaction, iykwim? hence the slight panic.

can i ask you bfing ladies (btw many thanks all you non-leakers, that made me feel a Lot Better) if you pumped once bfing was established? how regularly?

Yeah, I know what you mean. But she's obv not a delicate little flower who doesn't have the energy to cope - she's putting on weight nicely, has the energy to cluster feed etc and presumably isn't waking up 30 minutes later bawling for more cos she didn't get enough before when she passed out drooling.

I started pumping at 6 weeks (after my initial pump o rama)to give DS a bottle once a week or so as I went back to work ft when he was 16 weeks. Then it was 3 times a day, 5 days a week...

yikes.

right. feeding lying down. spill it, ladies.

Aitch: I didn't pum p much (too disorganised) until I went back to work. The it was 2-3 times a day, which thanks to an overactive letdown was more than enough. I just found it a faff to fit in pumping sessions in between feeds (DS fed every 2 hours round the clock).

oha dn I didn;t manage feeding lying down till DS was a bit bigger, but then I had massive norks and was scared of suffocating him! Later on it was a godsend. I just kind of rolled over and stuck him on as I recall

Feeding lying down ? I am not partic blessed with norkage (back to 34b now, was a 34f at the height of milk production), so it was fairly straightforward.

Lie on side, adjust nork so that nipple faces forward. Extend arm on that side out along the pillows

Bring baby up so that nose/nipple are levelish

In my case, baby does hippo impression and latches on, then cuddle their legs into your tum. You can leave arm up, or bend back round them

I found propping a book on a pillow worked well for reading

Laying down:

I always had a decent pillow supporting my head and laid with the arm at the bottom jutting out at right angles in front of me.

Have pillows to support your knees.

Use rolled up blankets/bolsters to help support DD2 to lay on her side if need be.

Depending on boob size you may have to either roll forward a little to lower nipple, or, roll back a little to lift nipple .

Either way, make sure you get plenty of pillows to support you and your back.

Also google "biological nurturing positions".

That weight gain is fantastic

Excellent weight gain!

I am a totally rubbish expresser, so I stopped expressing as soon as dd1 started gaining weight. I preferred to do marathon cluster feeding sessions with a good book. dd1 would bob on and off, feed, doze, feed, whatever. I think it was v.good for boosting supply.

Couldn't have done it as much with a toddler around, mind you.

Aitch, do you think they want you to top up because of her being a bit premature? Because it sounds as if the bf is going really, really well. If she's gaining weight, feeding well, satisfied with bf, I'm not sure why they feel the top-ups are useful.

To keep them happy, maybe you could agree to keep going until she gets to her due date and then stop. After all, term babies shouldn't need top ups if they're bf well.

Seeing your baby gaining weight on pure bf is a fabulous confidence booster by the way, if you're feeling a bit wobbly about bf. Hope you get to experience that asap.

What sling are you using? Different slings can be easier or harder for nursing in. I'm a big wrapping fan, especially for nursing in. Didn't have to do it too often, but I would walk down the road nursing and no one knew there was a baby in there let alone that I was nursing!

Just read you have a Kari-me. My biggest tip is to keep the front cross on top of the cummerbund, not under like the instructions show. You can get it a lot tighter and adjust better with baby in. I showed someone like that at the BLW meet in London last year and she was shocked at the difference, the weight was better, baby higher...

Here's my photo album. Has the early pictures of Tink in I told you about earlier and me demonstrating wrapping. Will have to do some more when the baby is born so I can have some baby pictures, but it's pretty much the same all through anyway, with a smaller baby you can position them where ever you want to.

I tried to pump after but I couldn't face it anymore! BTW, have you tried using shells? You put them in your bra to collect milk. If you change them regularly and sterilise them you can use what you catch. I didn't think I leaked a lot till I used them and could sometimes double what I expressed, I think they do slightly stimulate your supply as well.

did you buy the coorie, too, aitch .

even DH likes it. and DD2 looked SO cute in it, all cooried down.

sorry no... fleece allergy.

Like tinkerbellesmum once I had ds & dd feeding directly from me I gradually reduced pumping, within a week down to 3 times a day, within a fortnight just twice a day & by a month I'd stopped. I just couldn't face it anymore and there was no time (& v little milk left) to pump as both demand-fed v frequently. Which in a way was a mistake as we stopped giving bottles and then when I returned to work had fun (ds never again took a bottle, just refused any type we tried, and boy did we try- so just went straight to cups -maybe he too associated bottles with no so pleasant experiences in SCBU...)

I never have mastered the art of lying down BFing...but practically made a permanent dent in the sofa