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Infant feeding

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

Low Milk Supply in Afternoon and Evening ...Tiktok ???!!!!

129 replies

lovinit · 25/07/2005 07:49

Would it make sense for me to use a formula feed at 5-6pm and then express for the 10pm feed once milk supply has built up ?

Also, DD2 is 4wks and seems to only take 10-15 mins for day feeds and night feeds. Is this OK ? She never sucks for longer unless it is to soothe in the eraly morning. I guess that I am hopign Tiktok is here to answer this !

OP posts:
larlylou · 27/07/2005 09:30

hunkermunker...why didn't I think of that! I used to use a hot water bottle with my ds1 and it worked a treat...thanks for jogging my fading memory!

lovinit · 27/07/2005 10:23

LarlyLou, I have the same thing with DD2 and the crib ... I am battling at the moment, but am determined not to rock her to sleep , so will always make sure that she is nto fully asleep when she is down.

I am also trying from today to offer the 2nd breast so that she is well fed during the day. I was reading another thread and it seemed to help the mummy in that problem. I think that maybe I give up too easily and try to attend to DD1 but instead should persevere with the feed to make sure she gets more during the day ... maybe, who knows (!!!!!) that will help her sleep for longer at night. Also today. I took her to the doctor who has diagnosed reflux, so hopefully her 4-7am grizziness will go as she gets treated, itf that indeed has been the problem.

Will keep everyone posted !

OP posts:
tiktok · 27/07/2005 10:38

I dunno, lovinit....'battling', 'determined', 'persevere', 'make sure'...what happened to chillin' and going with the flow of a few days ago?

It all sounds so much like hard work, when your baby's behaviour (including the evening grizzliness) sounds normal to me. Your choice of course....but your baby is still so young!

I am very, very sceptical at today's doctors' readiness to diagnose reflux. It often seems to me to be pathologising normal newborn needs for feeding and comfort. I am not saying I do not believe that reflux exists, but knowing as I do the poor level of most doctors' knowledge of bf, I can be forgiven for wondering how well they can distinguish reflux from normality.

tiktok · 27/07/2005 10:39

Sorry, morning not evening grizzliness!

This too is normal.

lovinit · 27/07/2005 11:12

hi tiktok... From my observations, she really does seem uncomfortable ... legs pulling up and a kind of throat clearing noise that does not stop as if something is bothering her ... Would you think that that is normal behaviour in a 4 week old ? Also, she seems so much more comfortable to be upright ... I wonder why that is since in the tummy they were practically upside down ?

Do you not think that I should try and encourage her to take the other breast as well to make sure she doesn't just snack ? What are your thoughts on snacking babies and how it is actually not healthy for them to for digestive reasons ?

A bizarre thing has happened these past two days in that my right breast seems to nto fill up as much as the left ... in fact it never feels full , but OF COURSE I know that it does have millk ( I am getting there !) Is this common ? the other feels harder and fuller all the time ... Should I still feed evenly between them, or feed on the fuller one more ?

Tks for all your words of support and advice ! They are really honestly appreciated !

OP posts:
tiktok · 27/07/2005 11:29

lovinit, you say '"From my observations, she really does seem uncomfortable ... legs pulling up and a kind of throat clearing noise that does not stop as if something is bothering her ... "

If she is soothed and comforted by a feed, then I would say these signs are merely telling you she wants to feed/be cuddled. Babies of four weeks old cry if something is really botherng them.

If she seems more comfortable upright, then hold her that way! Some babies devcelop preferences for being in a particular position rather than others. I don't thnk it's a big deal, or worth puzzlling over, to be honest.

"Do you not think that I should try and encourage her to take the other breast as well to make sure she doesn't just snack ? "

By all means offer it, because she can't 'ask' you in words. She may or may not take it.

"What are your thoughts on snacking babies and how it is actually not healthy for them to for digestive reasons ? "

I don't have any thoughts. I can't see why taking food in in smaller amounts if this is what the baby seems to want is not healthy. How would it impact on her digestion? How do you know what is a 'snack'? You can't tell if the baby has had a large or a small amount by looking at the clock. In pre-industrial societies, when babies are held all the time by their mothers (as there is nowhere safe for them to be put down) babies feed dozens and dozens of times a day (and night). No one counts them, or times them. Certainly, no one frets about snacking. This is the way we have lived for 99.999 per cent of human existence. Breastmilk and breastfeeding evolved in these conditions. It is not possible that it would have evolved to be 'bad' for the bab's digestion to feed often.

Western babies do not 'know' they are born in 2005 with cots and cribs and prams and worries about clocks and snacks. But they do adapt, and many are fine and well-fed on quite different feeding patterns. But you don't need to rush your baby into that pattern as she will become more predictable and patient anyway.

Anyone telling you that snacking is wrong for health reasons doesn't know much.

Unequal breasts are normal. It doesn't matter. You don't need to be worrying about equalising them!

Hope this helps.

tiktok · 27/07/2005 11:30

bab(?) = baby

mandyc66 · 27/07/2005 16:32

I found with mine that they fed regularly but with out pattern for the first 6 weeks or so then suddenly i noticed I was sitting down at the same time to feed everyday or there abouts!! The fullness also subsided once the baby settled down its feeding pattern!

tiktok · 27/07/2005 16:49

I think that's many people's experience, mandy....it isn't worth stressing about or worrying if your baby at a few weeks old hasn;t got there yet

mandyc66 · 27/07/2005 16:53

Think lots of people forget that babies are new at this too!!!
You both need to adjust to this new way of life. It takes time. Relax and enjoy it!
Are you a bf counciler/advisor tiktok?

tiktok · 27/07/2005 17:06

yep - bfc with NCT.

larlylou · 27/07/2005 19:27

oh my goodness....dd2 is asleep after a good feed and has been for the last 15 minutes. I may be tempting fate here and she will now wake up but this is a record as she hasn't done this for ages. I decided to see if she wanted to do lots of feeding prior to her bathtime and then she fed for some off the other boob before bed. She was nearly asleep when I got her in her crib but so far, so good. Must remember the hot water bottle tonight!

larlylou · 27/07/2005 19:32

Pants....spoke too soon!

lovinit · 28/07/2005 02:03

How did the night go Larlylou ?

OP posts:
IVB · 28/07/2005 14:34

My boys are 2 3/4 yrs & 15 mths, so I'm just looking back on what I could/should have done regarding breastfeeding. Overall, I just wish I had had more confidence in myself and in my body's ability to do what nature had equipped me to do. I just didn't and my health visitor didn't either. Another friend who is still breastfeeding at 6 months says that the fact that her health visitor and midwife all supported her completely at the beginning when she was having doubts about her ability to produce enough milk has enabled her to continue to breastfeed exclusively this long. I wish I hadn't ever expressed, read so many articles and books and just tried to go along with the flow. Having said that, it's OK for me to look back on it, I'm not in the thick of it as you all are and therefore have a better perspective on things. At the end of the day, you need to do what you think is best for both you and your baby (and other children).

tiktok · 28/07/2005 14:44

Did you ever tell your HV how unhelpful she was with bf, IVB?

oliveoil · 28/07/2005 14:52

Tiktok - If I decide to have another baby (cluck cluck) can I have your mobile, home and work numbers please? You would have been my angel 11 months ago when I was going through all this.

You have been warned. I will stalk you. Think your advice is fab.

xx

welshmum · 28/07/2005 15:35

I second all of that thanks to Tiktok - currently bfing no.2 and finding all the advice on this thread SO useful. It really is keeping my confidence up and (I think) my little boy very happy.
When I think what I was told while trying to bf no.1 it makes me so cross. I remember the mat nurse standing over me while I tried to express - just so she could prove to me how little milk I had so that she could persuade me to mix feed. When I could get hardly any out I thought 'well she's right then' and that was the end of it all really. I felt so crap too.
Feel like a different woman now Older and wiser I guess - and have been following the bf advice on MN all through being pregnant too. Thanks again x

tiktok · 28/07/2005 15:48

Thanks

welshmum, so many women use the expressing test as a marker of their milk supply. It's very sad. The baby is a better remover than the pump, in many cases.

In any case, it wouldn't matter if everyone produced a gallon of milk every time. On both sides!

It's what gets into the baby that's important.

This is not brain surgery, is it? But try telling that to some HPs.....

oliveoil · 28/07/2005 15:49
aloha · 28/07/2005 15:50

I am so happy that I've stayed away from the clinic and not had my daughter constantly weighed and measured. It's been fantastic. Some HVs really think that if they can't say anything positive...they are doing their job really well.

oliveoil · 28/07/2005 15:52

How old is your little one? 7 months-ish?

aloha · 28/07/2005 17:46

OO do you mean me? dd is nearly 6months - and yummy.

lockets · 28/07/2005 20:52

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lockets · 28/07/2005 20:52

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