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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Expressing and Breast Feeding

19 replies

Liskey · 30/12/2009 15:00

Hi

Looking for some advice please. I had my little girl on the 22/12 - she was induced early due to my pre-ecamplsia and then ended up as an emergency c-section due to lack of oxygen. She only weighed 5lb 5 at birth and I had trouble with breastfeeding initally and by the time I got the hang of it she had lost over 10% of her weight in 3 days. I started expressing on the advice of doctors and bottle feeding her at least 30-40ml of food.

I want to try breast feeding again when she regains her original body weight - but in the meantime is there any way to judge how much breastmilk she should be having? I have tried latching her on again and she does seem to but only for very short periods of time 5-10 mins so I'm reluctant to give up on the bottle feeding as it provides reassurance that she's not going to lose so much weight again.

Cheers.

OP posts:
StealthPolarBear · 30/12/2009 15:06

Congratulations
AFAIK the only way to judge at this stage is nappy contents, growth and general contented-ness between feeds. She should be having at least one dirty nappy a day I think and lots of wet ones.

AppleAndBlackberry · 30/12/2009 20:17

I think it's something like 100ml per kg in 24 hours if you're bottle feeding (so divide that by the number of feeds to get the amount per feed).

If you want to breastfeed I think the advice is 20 minutes each side (or as much as she will tolerate) before you top up and then just top up until she seems content. Then once you're confident she's breastfeeding well you can reduce the top ups gradually. However you should talk to your midwife too and make sure she's happy with whatever you're doing.

sanfairyann · 30/12/2009 20:29

Hi there
I'd be looking at local support groups run by people who have trained with one of the main bf support groups and phoning the nct/lll/abm helplines for advice from trained bf counsellors. I know it's hard cos it's over the 'festive season' but the support lines are still open and the people running them can offer really good tailored advice for your situation - it's an all too common story.
essentially you're looking at building up your confidence that you can provide her with all she needs, after a hard start to the birth and bf. No need to wait til she regains her birth weight before starting bf again, (with input from bf counsellors and mw of course). night and evening feeds are especially important for building up supply. expressing often if you are not bf at the moment(at least 8 times a day I think it is) will also help guard your supply. offer both breasts at every feed although she might only want one. can the mw watch her latch on to check her latch is good?
congratulations on your newborn xmas baby as well

sanfairyann · 30/12/2009 20:56

there's some good info here on kellymom.com - it's a reputable site
www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/index.html

Original poster
Liskey · 31/12/2009 16:09

Cheers for that.

My confidence has just taken a battering as midwife has come round and weighed little Eleanor and said she's lost 15g since her last weigh in - she'll get weighed again on Sunday and see if she needs to be readmitted to hospital . She was 2415kg at birth then went down to 2170 on the 25/12 upto 2255 on the 27/12 and now 2240 today - I'm trying not to stress too much but Midwife has said to keep feeding her every 3 hours.

Me and DH were convinced she was looking so much better as well - her cheeks look chubbier and she looks pink and healthy.

OP posts:
babybouncer · 31/12/2009 16:16

Liskey, I'd second all the advice given here, but don't be too hard on yourself if you don't manage to breastfeed 'full-time'. I had similar issues and was topping up with a full formula feed until I gradually dropped my feeds around 5 months and now I just keep the morning one. DS is happy and healthy and I can't ask for much more.

babybouncer · 31/12/2009 16:20

Also, there is no correct length of time for a breastfeed (sorry) - some mums take 40 minutes, others just 10. The signs are lots of really wet nappies, steady weight gain and a happy (ie not crying in hunger) baby.

If you're really concerned DD may not be getting anything from you, ask mw or hv for a feed-weigh where they weigh DD before and after a breastfeed.

Original poster
Liskey · 31/12/2009 16:32

Cheers again - I'm trying not to stress too much about this (doesn't help my blood pressure which hasn't returned to normal yet). She's defintely got the wet nappies but we're not sure abut the hunger because she doesn't seem to cry when she's hungry. We're also not sure about the weight loss as its the first time she's ben weighed on those scales (previously done in hospital).

OP posts:
ImSoNotTelling · 31/12/2009 16:35

Every 3 hours is quite a long time between feeds for a new baby - you could try offering her a feed more frequently? If she doesn't want it then nothing lost IYSWIM.

Mine only feed for about 10 mins a go but it's more like every 1.5-2 hours.

Original poster
Liskey · 31/12/2009 16:45

I wish she was interested that often! She's quite happy not to eat - she has to be woken up and encouraged to eat.

OP posts:
ImSoNotTelling · 31/12/2009 17:34

Good luck with it liskey

I can't add anything else I'm afraid my two penneth was a bit rubbish!

Huge congrats on your baby as well

londonlottie · 31/12/2009 21:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster
Liskey · 01/01/2010 15:06

Oh no ImSoNotTelling that was useful to know we're now trying her even more frequently - and she did wake up last night after only 2 hours and wantmore food so thats a positive!

Hiya londonlottie I'd seen the twins had arrived - congratulations for them. The midwives in hospital were encouraging me to feed on demand - which I've now realised was a very bad idea.

I totally agree with you about the rigmarole of expressing - I just wish she could feed on the breast as I don't feel I get any time for cudles at the moment what with constant pumping

I'll try and get the midwife/HV to weigh before a breast feed - if they come round at the right time as that might provide reassurance as well - at the moment Dh doesn't want me to breastfeed just bottle to give us that reassurance she's actually eating.

OP posts:
babybouncer · 01/01/2010 15:56

Liskey - my DH was supporting of my bfing, but found it hard as he felt a little helpless as he wasn't able to do the actual feeding and he used to joke that he couldn't read the full/empty gauge on my boobs!

Original poster
Liskey · 03/01/2010 12:19

Just wanted to come back and say thanks. Baby is now taking 40/50 ml per feed every 2 half or three hours and then an hour later wanting to breast feed as well for 10/15 mins. This makes me, DH and her happy as we know she's increasing how much food she's taking in and I really like breast feeding her and she's just happier.

babybouncer my DH felt like that last night when she wouldn't settle as she wanted another breast feeding session to calm down with - he couldn't really do that - despite giving her the nice expressed milk she wanted the real thing as well!

OP posts:
Original poster
Liskey · 03/01/2010 14:37

Even better news midwife just been round Ellie has put on 70g since Thur and is now only 105g off her birth weight. DH and I are feeling a lot happier and midwife has said we can try a sole breastfeeding session without the supplementary bottle - that'll be the 2-4am one then!

Thanks everyone again!

OP posts:
sanfairyann · 03/01/2010 20:37

that's great news. onward and upward

babybouncer · 04/01/2010 09:41

Great to hear! Hope it continues.

ImSoNotTelling · 06/01/2010 16:55

Woohoo! Nice work liskey

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