Will I be able to exclusively BF DS2 or is HV right?

[kayzr]

DS2 is 4 weeks old and we've had some problems with BF and his weight. He lost nearly a pound in the first few days. Then he only put an oz on so the MW made us give him formula top ups. I continued BF then he had his top up afterwards. I was told to continue this until he was back over his birthweight which he is now. I was planning on then dropping the top ups except maybe the one at bedtime.

Now HV said that I'll never be able to exclusively BF him and that although I can continue to BF and then top him up, she thinks it will be easier to just stop BF.

I feel pretty crap about it all as I really wanted to BF him as I didn't BF DS1 due to similar problems. I just feel like I have failed.

Will it be possible to just BF DS2 or should I just be happy that I have managed to get to 4 weeks with him having some breastmilk?

Just wanted to add that you are doing a fab job Kayzr. Mumsnet is a brilliant place to get superb advice and support. Good for you for ringing the LLL hotline. I was in a similar situation with my DS who dropped a pound in 5 days and was v distraught that breastfeeding wasn't working - I tried several times to ring the NCT helpline but burst into tears every time I tried dialling the number.
Plan sounds excellent.

My DS1 was 10lbs 6 n a bit at birth and I bf him for 8 months,without having to top him up with formula. Sometimes he would go through a growth spurt where I seemed to be continuously feeding him but after a day or two it settled down to normal feeds again. Please don't give up as you are doing everything right and I can't believe what the hv said!! I was told the reason big babies needed feeds more often was just that they tired quicker after a feed so maybe didn't feed for long enough in the early stage to get very full, but you learn together, you are ding fine.

Thanks everyone. Feeding seems to be going well and he is taking less formula now. So keeping fingers crossed everything is working out.

HV's do talk crap dont they? here's one for you (bear in mind that HV knows I have done the BF training course she wants a palce on. Consider as well 9ith fear) that HV now has a job as a BF HV at a sureatsrt!!):

@you can't continue to BF ds4; you don't drink milk (am intolerant) so cannot make it.

Now do cows make milk? Is the human ody so structured that there is a pipe into which milk goes down and out? Is human milk evcen the same as cows milk? nooo!

Indeed, ds4 hs the same intolerance as myself; if I rank cows milk he would get ill.

We ahd the same weight worries as yourself and ahve with all 4; ds4 is the first where I have had the courage to ignore HV (BF education- and tiktok- are wonderful things) and at 9 mnths he still only takes fluid by BF, has gone from 0.2nd to 50th centile and is gaining a kilo a fortnight

WHy does it still amaze me that so many hvs know so little about bf?

Someone at work has just had a grandbaby born and was telling everyone that as the baby is big 9lbs the mother had been told she'd never produce enough milk to keep him satisfied so was told to give forumla top ups from the start after each feed. Beggars belief.

You don't need to tell the HV that you are not giving him formula...you don't actually need to see the HV at all...there is no law stating that you HAVE to see them!

I sacked mine when number 3 was 6 months old...never saw one with number 4.

If you want to see a HV and get him weighed etc, then you can simply nod and agree when they ask if baby is feeding ok...you don't need to have the BF V FF argument with them...

Good point about seeing hv; we only do it because ds4 is higgh riisk for a developmental condition, otherwise you don't need them (and btw you can often buy hv grade baby scales on ebay LOL).

hercules- is 9lbs really even that big these days? (even if it as crap advice as you know)

Good on you for sticking to what you want, imagine how many mums she has stopped from Bfing!

Just take heart from a story I read on her about a lady who for a reason i can't remember wasn't breast feeding her baby and then the lo won't start again, she kept persivering and eventually the baby latched back on again. good luck

It all appears to have gone down the pan. He won't latch on and it is getting really stressful. He will still take his bottle so I have decided to FF. I am not happy about it but I can't keep letting it upset me all the time.

I was just wanting to say thanks to everyone for all your help. Hopefully if we have DC3 it will be 3rd time lucky.

Also do you think it is worth complaining about the MW who made us give formula top ups?

I do feel if she had let us have more time to let BF get fully going DS2 would have put his weight back on. I don't want her doing this to anyone else.

Are there absolutely no breast feeding suppport groups in your area?

Absolutely complain about the m/w - Tik will know the NICE Guidelines and strategies where breastfeeding is to be encouraged.

I hate going to get DS weighed - wish there were scales in some dark room where one could get the baby weighed and leave without getting into a discussion...

No, there was one but it has been stopped as no one went to it apparently.