Formula ?

[Dancingboy1989]

Hello,

Wife and I have just got our first newborn and at nearly 7 days old his still struggling with the boob, just doesn't seem to settle or like it his probably had 20 feeds from it maximum.

We have spoken to midwife and they helped and said also introduce some formula so at least his getting something in his belly. We are expressing milk and feeding him some of that along side trying to get him to feed from boob and baby formula also.

Any advice? I feel for my wife it's causing her such heart ache, and is doing everything everyone says, he gets a good latch just doesn't like to feed from the boob.

Sounds like cluster feeding. It's completely normal and will calm down eventually.

Baby is being clever and setting up mums milk supply. If baby is on mum then likely is taking milk. Is there plenty of wet Nappies?

When you say he doesn’t like to feed, what is he doing?

Really? Can only hope!

Yes we found when we did a day of formula at first just to get him some food after few days had all the poopy nappies, and now mainly breast lots and lots and lots of wet nappies! No poop since yesterday morning

@lou573
He sits on the boob maybe does 2-3 sucks and then goes to sleep or pushes the boob away lots

Sleepy feeder! Things you can try. Lots of skin to skin to encourage feeding. Basically your wife spending a day in bed with baby just in a nappy and breasts exposed to make feeding instinctive. At other times strip baby down to vest or nappy only for feeding (change nappy before a feed as that wakes them up too!). When baby stops suckling gently stroke his cheek to encourage him to start again. Same can be done with rubbing his feet or ear lobe (ear lobe was a tip given to me by a paediatrician). Feeding in the bath - again this is a skin to skin thing. Offer the breast a often as possible. no more than 2 hrs apart during the day - 3 hours at night. Wake for a feed if he isn't doing this himself. Time 2/3 hours from the start of a feed not the end. Good luck!

Agree with all the above - you just need to get through the sleepy stage. You’ll probably find he wakes up and starts feeding properly next week. Was he born full term?

Wet nappies is the key sign here that he is feeding, but I can take a few weeks for regular feeds to settle in. I remember week 4 being a firm turning point, and gradually up to that the feeds became regular every 3 hours. Also I was told to wake and feed every 3 hours if baby slept, but not to refuse if baby asked (in demand). I think that helped settle into a little routine.

It can be hard but your wife is doing great 👍 , make sure you keep her fed wither her favourite things and buckets of tea, comfy pillows, fresh bed sheets etc will all help keep her relaxed too.

Also agree with skin contact, you can't do it enough at this stage and if your wife naps then you can do it too.

Thank you all so much!

We are trying to do everything he just won't feed from it at all literally 1 suck now so gonna have to give him a bottle so his got something as can see his hungry. Then try the breast

Has he been checked for tongue tie OP?

They checked yesterday and said his fine, yesterday he came home and drank from the boob for 20, then 40 minutes up until 5 and then nothing at all won't suck

Has your partner tried using nipple shields? They can sometimes be helpful to get things going.

I've just ordered some of the nipples shields, do they just suction on?

Who checked for the tongue tie? Midwives and health visitors aren't qualified to diagnose them and ties are often missed.

Yes, maybe find a youtube video to show you how, but you sort of invert them and place over the nipple - then express a little bit to get some milk into them. They can make it easier for baby & were invaluable in getting my preemie who wouldn’t latch started on breastfeeding so worth a try.

He sits on the boob maybe does 2-3 sucks and then goes to sleep or pushes the boob away lots

Mine did this - one or two sucks if he sucked at all and then basically used me as dummy and fell asleep. So I had to express and top up with formula - feeding from a bottle is easier for them than the breast. I second getting tongue tie checked again. My DS had his cut (it was only a slight tongue tie, but the midwife was happy to do the procedure anyway - that’s why I’m saying get him checked again because someone less experienced might have overlooked it or thought it not worth doing) when he was 9 days old and that night he latched on and it was suddenly plain sailing from there! It’s not a guarantee but worth another try I think.

Thank you everyone for the help, we'll call the midwife tomorrow and ask about being tongue tied and hopefully the nipple shields will get him started!