Please help. Breast feeder with sickness bug.

[happynewmummy]

Hello. I am exclusively bf a 20 week old. He has thrived so far. Won't take bottle at all. However I have had a d and v bug for nearly 5 days now and not kept a great deal down (sorry for tmi). DS is trying to feed more frequently but I don't feel as if anything is there. I try expressing to increase supply - but nothing there after feeds, please help, feel unwell and stressed out and I am petrified of nalnourishing my son. PS he seems OK at the moment - not crying.

Poor you! Have you been able to keep water down and is your baby still weeing and pooing normally?

your body will still be making milk, even if you are not eating. It won't be a problem for a few days. As thehouseofmirth said, as long as he is producing lots of wet/dirty nappies, he will be fine. The stress will be more of a factor in reducing supply, so try not to worry too much - easier said than done, I know HOpe you feel better soon.
Also, don't stress about expressing - it is notoriously difficult to get anything out unless you have hospital-grade pumps. Just keep feeding your DS, he will not starve!

I can keep water down - just! Should mention that was very sick throughout pregnancy and that combind with bf has left me 1 1/2 stones below normal weight. (weight I cannot really afford to lose) Will this make a difference?

I agree about the expressing; it's not necessarily a problem (unless you were managing to get huge amounts regularly & now you're getting nothing, and even then it could be that because of the stress / exhaustion you're not managing to achieve let down with expressing).

Really sorry btw to hear you're so unwell. But I'm pretty sure your baby will be fine, the body prioritises the baby's health above the mother's health if you see what I mean. However, if you're really worry I would top-up with small amounts of formula & see if he takes it. But to be honest, if he's thriving & peeing / pooing normally, it should be totally fine.

No, there is no need to top up and it would be a real shame to do so when you have bf for 20 wks with nothing else....yes, your ds is trying to feed more often, and that's a good thing! Sometimes, severe D&V can mean a temporary lull in supply but the baby deals with this by feeding more often, which makes up for it. Intro'ing formula will undermine this wonderful compensatory system.

Frequent feeding means there is less between feeds but it doesn't matter - and please, please don't judge your baby's intake by what you can express!!

(Maria, I am really sad to see you even suggesting the OP could top up 'to see if he takes it'...you've posted loads of times on here how difficult it is to get support to bf with nothing else, and how valuable mumsnet has been in affirming your own feeding choices. )

Tiktok, yes, you're right about the top-ups... They really are not necessary in this case (not that I'm expert, but that's what I think). I suppose I've often felt less than confident about my supply, which was why I mentioned that as an option. I personally have turned to top-ups at various times, not that it's helped, to be honest, but they do create a temporary feeling of 'all is well' (not necessarily a good thing)... But I hope what came across was my belief that the OP would be fine without top-ups