Need some expert advise please on BF

[lardybump]

I feel like a total failure at the moment. Me and dp are snapping, we are both so tired and we are not even new at this.....

I have a dd of 23 months and a ds of 4 days.
DS is BF and while we were at hospital seemed very content. However the birth was very quick and he ingested lot s of mucus which made him sick a lot to start with. That seems to have eased now but now he is just so unhappy we are at the end of our tether. He is crying all night long, and it really is all night. He goes to the breast as if to feed but after a couple of mins he stops and starts crying again. We try to wind him and he will stop for a while but again after a couple of mins he starts crying again... He is not taking full feeds and so wants to go to the boob every hour, so I am so sore. He will eventually fall asleep on us but as soon as we move or try to move him he starts all over again.... He has not had a poo for almost two days now as well but MW told me that this is normal (dd used to poo about 7 times a day at this age!)
I never had any of this with dd so feel so useless I really dont know what to do....

I am also worried that I dont have enough milk for him. I have not had to use a breast pad because have not leaked at all yet but when I hand express milk does come out. He is having wee's which have a tint of orange to them and he has about 5 a day.

Sorry if you are reading this twice but have been advised to put in BF topic as well.

lardybump - it's horrible to feel confused, tired and desperate

But the most important bit of your post is your baby is four days old. Four days old. He is new, and getting used to the world...do whatever you can to help him do this, including

• skin to skin holding for as much of 24/7 as you can
• let him self-attach, use biological nurturing posits to help with this falling asleep on you and crying when moved is normal** get midwife to check what is happening with the pulling off the breast and crying (though short feeds every hour are very normal at this stage)
• no poo is unusual, but not a sign in itself that something is wrong...keep an eye on it
• again ask midwife about soreness, and about the slight orange wees - this can be a sign he needs more colostrum/breastmilk...may be helpful to hand express and get something into him while he is still learning to bf

Obv, you need lots of support and help with everything inc the toddler.

Calling a bf helpline will be useful, as well.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for your help, it is so reassuring. He has just had a poo.... Lots of it and bright yellow. isnt the colour change related to my milk, does that mean he is getting milk?

Going to BF clinic on wednesday anyway..

Yay for the bright yellow poo

This is a good sign that milk has not only come in, but that it's getting into the baby.

The colour is important, as it shows he has got rid of the meconium in his gut, and the mature milk is going in the top end...the yellow colour indicates this, because this is the colour that remains when mature milk is digested.

Thank you so much for your help I feel so relieved, I cant thank you enough.

Well done lardybump!

Was about to say the same as tiktok. Skin to skin, co-cleep etc but Hurrah for that wonderful flourescent yellow, up the back, stains everything, poo? How I miss it....

BR

Great advice as always on here from bunnyrabbit and of course tiktok- another idea that I found relaxing, comfy and just plain lovely was having a bath with the baby-he always fed well and it was really special. The warmth will relax you and can help milk flow too. (But get DH/DP to look after your toddler, would be less relaxing with splashing older sibling!)

Best of luck, sounds like you're on track. These early days are tough as you know- but just keep thinking, it will get better...