Anybody with any bf knowledge please...

[Stretch]

Hi.

DS2 is 21 weeks. excl bf until Dec when we moved house and I needed some help/a break so we put him on one bottle (7 ozs) at night. He feeds 2 hourly in the day. We all had D&V bug 2 weeks ago. I struggled to feed him and gave him a couple of extra bottles on the worst day.

Since then, we have been fighting to get a good latch. He is tongue-tied as well so that makes it harder. I have just had him weighed for the first time since 7 weeks, and he has put on nothing At most, 5 ozs

HV said all usual gumpf about topping up and weaning, but nothing about how to help me regain latch/supply.

He is smilimg, cooing, holding head, wet/dirty nappies like normal.

And yes, I know I should have had him weighed earlier, but I've had problems in the past with frantic hvs that panic if they go down just one percentile.

What the hell do I do?? He is number 4, and to be honest, I'm struggling. DS1 is 20 months and a handful at the moment.

I want to keep feeding him, but is it in his best interests for me to continue?

If anybody has any thoughts or tips, it would be very much appreciated.

Personally speaking I would pump lots off and give it to him in a bottle, to keep supply up and ensure he's getting plenty, but a bf counsellor would probably give you lots of careful help with the latch and suggest you two lie in bed as much as possible, skin to skin, trying all the ways you can think of.

Lots of sympathy from here, anyway. It doesn't necessarily get easier just because you've had four, does it!

is he following his centile line or has he dropped through them?

Did your HV place a failure to thrive sheet over the top of the growth chart?

Would you have been concerned about his weight pre getting him weighed?

My ds is 10 months old, and was ebf until 26 weeks and now eats like a horse, but he only weighs 17lbs and is teeny tiny but I dont have any concerns at all

The only way to increase milk supply is to get him to feed more so lots and lots of skin to skin contactto encourage feeding (hard I know with an older child to look after too)

Its def in his interests for you to continue, as long as you are happy with that?

my ds fed every 2 hours and it was very hard, but now he is 10 months old and only feeding morning and night, its a doddle and I am so glad we perservered.

If you started to wean early, remember those early foods are not calorific and will prob not help with weight gain.

HTH

oh and def seek more professional advice as to his tongue tie..maybe a NCT breastfeeding counsellor or lactation consultant?

Thank you for the responses.

BM, I can hand express, but it gets pretty painful. I try to do that at night when DH gives him his bottle.

Lilymolly, he was 9th percentile, he is now way underneath it.
He was 4.36 kg at 7 weeks, he is now 4,45 kgs. Even bearing in mind he may have lost a lot of weight when ill, he must have only been putting on 1/2 oz every fortnight.

No FTT sheet either. Which is weird as DD2 was classed as that when she dropped from 50th to 2nd percentile!

The reason I got him weighed was beacuse he had just grown out of 0-3 month clothes and I was putting him in 3-6 months. I realised couple of days ago that they were now swamping him. He is very long though.

His tongue tie was looked at by my dentist, and he said it was a deep tie and could not be done without GA. At 9 days old that was a bit scary to contemplate.

How do I get to see a bf counsellor?

NCT Website? Have you an infant feeding cco ordinator at your local hospital? they may have contacts for you.
NCT helpline is manned by BFC so they could help
[http://www.nct.org.uk/info-centre/getting-help/helplines try this]]

(I have only just started training!)

Stretch, the NCT helpine is good on this stuff.

Re: pumps, get yourself a posh Avent IQ all bells and whistles one. Seriously, it kept me bf four months longer than I would have done.

WHO report on infant nutrition makes interesting reading - this might help you make a decision about what's best to do.

I don't know if this will be of any help, but my DC3 was born at about the 70th percentile, but at 3 months dropped off the bottom of the chart and didn't make it back onto it till months later. He was also happy, pooing, smiling, wetting nappies, but admittedly rather thin. The doctor was worried and suggested ff, which I didn't do. He eventually started putting on weight when I weaned him just before he was six months old. He is now 16 months old and thriving. He didn't have tongue tie, but the point is that although he was thin, I always felt that really he was ok, and if I hadn't had him weighed I wouldn't have been worried about him. The doctor eventually conceded that ha had been ok all along. I think that maternal instinct can sometimes be a better guide than the weight charts.

And good luck! My three are all close together and I remember just how exhausting it was in the first few months (we had also just moved and I had noone I could call on to help out).

Thanks you lot. Was rather more emotional than I sounded in my OP! Just looking at his chart made me

I will try the NCT helplines. Have to find TheProvincialLady on here as I think she goes to a bf clinic in my town.

The HV should have really helped me with this though, shouldn't she?

Thanks peasandbeans.

I do think charts are too scary to ever consult.

HVs know sweet FA about bf apart from the absolute new baby basics, IME.

Hi Stretch,

Unfortunately most HVs just don't have enough training in BF to be able to provide this sort of support. But definitely try the NCT helpline, they can also put you in touch with local BF counsellors.

Good luck!

It might be worth considering that if he's had a D&V bug he could well have lost quite a bit of weight then and just be putting it back on now.

This happened with DD when she had a throat infection a couple of months ago. She went very skinny for a few weeks and I could see her ribs, but she was pretty much back to normal within a month