Sad... baby rice introduced

[kd73]

DS is almost 19 wks old and was sleeping well through the night being exclusively BF. However, this has recently changed and he has started rousing during the night and has been waking me on the hour every hour for no particular reason.

I am suddenly experiencing trouble with the amount being able to be expressed (was 10oz a couple of weeks ago and now struggling to get 7oz).

Previously alternated breasts per feed, now I am finding that I have to offer both...

Gave in and feed him a small amount of baby rice with breast milk, but feel sad, although he was licking his lips

Is giving the baby rice a cop out? Am I no longer exclusively breast feeding? Any advice would be gratefully welcomed...

he is progbably goign through a growth spurt.,
how much you can express is NO indication of how much milk you are having.
no, you are no longer exclusively breastfeeding if you are offering other things

the best thing for him is just breastfeeding more frequently. he doesn't need rice

seriously do not try and work out how much milk you can make by how much you can express
it is no indication

he is having a growth spurt
just breastfeed him more, as much and as often as he wants

he does not need rice

Definitely sounds just like a growth spurt at 19 weeks - breast or bottle fed you don't need to give rice - he just wants more milk to cope with growing a lot.

It's easier to see when they are older and ask for food. My DS is 4 and sometimes does not stop asking for food, all day, for a few days. It's all your DS is doing - but he only food he is asking for/needs is milk.

Best comfort I can give is that IT WILL PASS!

Thanks for everyone's response.

Well the baby rice did not give us a full night sleep and so essentially we were no better off, DS woke at 12.30(ish) but settled himself back to sleep and then again at 2am, when he had a midnight snack.

Hadn't considered a growth spurt as they normally involve me feeding every 1.5 - 2hrs in 24 hr period, however this has been a week almost and his feeds throughout the day are pretty much unchanged.

I was in exactly the same position as you and the health visitor advised me to start with the baby rice. I know i am very much in the minority with my views on this but after having problems feeding DD when she was born and her losing 15% of her body weight, i was not going to let my baby go hungry again. At that point DD was mixed fed on expressed milk and hungry baby formula and that is why i was happy to start. However, like i have mentioned, i only considered it after speaking to the health visitor who has been really helpful anytime i have seen her. It really made a difference to DD and she is a healthy and happy toddler. I would suggest making an appointment with your health visitor though. Good luck

Hi Riven, I express from one side first thing in the morning when feeding on the other side. This is then given to him by dad when he comes home from work around 7pm, this was to give me a bit of a break as he cluster fed when he was a small baby and by the time I could give him a bottle comfortably, I was delighted for the break. Also I believe that after a couple of hours kip for me, this feed contains much goodness to help DS sleep, although this is only my theory!

This morning I expressed at 2am!

Riven, you have 4 children I note. Trust me you are the better woman