Hysterical newborn- formula or breastfeed?

[rose88xx]

Hi everyone,
im looking for some advice on my 6 day old baby. First few days were fine, feeding on colostrum, good latch and lots of pees and poos.
but since my milk has come in there has been a huge shift in his behaviour- constantly hysterically crying, wanting to feed relentlessly and never sleeping. We took him into a&e yesterday as he had also vomited. The dr there advised that although he was feeding lots, and my milk was in the supply may still be slow and gave us some formula. We gave him 2 bottles of formula yesterday and he improved massively, even sleeping through the night well.
I tried to BF him again a few times through the night and this morning, but he will only latch for a few minutes and afterwards is hysterical again. I don’t think there is a supply issue as my boobs are totally full and dripping milk constantly.

could my baby have a sensitivity or issue to my milk? We gave him another formula bottle this morning after a few more feeding attempts and he was instantly more settled and content.

thanks in advance!

Does your hospital have an infant feeding team? Otherwise search for an IBCLC near to you, a good one is worth their weight in gold. They can observe you feeding and give you personal advice for your situation. A doctor in A&E is definitely not as knowledgeable about breastfeeding as an IBCLC!

Congratulations on your new baby!

Also the IBCLC can check properly for a tongue tie, DS was 'checked' by many different HCAs and midwives after he was born when we had feeding issues and it wasn't until an IBCLC checked him at 6 weeks old she found he was 90% tied. That can make breastfeeding harder than bottle feeding.

In the meantime you can do paced bottle feeding or use a supplemental nursing system to get the formula in to your baby while breastfeeding (so still stimulating your boobs and getting baby happy to be at the breast again).

Kellymom is an excellent website for all things breastfeeding if you want to do some research too.

I'd get some real life support from a breastfeeding expert. There are helplines you can call or ask your midwife when they visit what support there is for breastfeeding locally.

Breastfeeding is a learned skill for both baby and mum and it can take some time and perseverance to get established. There won't be anything in your milk he doesn't like - breast milk tends to be gentler on the tummy than formula and if he did have any kind of intolerance to milk then it would be just as bad on standard formula.

If your breasts are very full then there might be too much milk coming too quickly for him while he's so tiny - try hand expressing some off before latching him and see if that helps.

It's normal for him to want to be on the breast a lot. This is where he tells your body how much milk he needs - the risk with topping up with formula, assuming you aren't pumping to replace those missed feeds, is that it's telling your body your baby needs less milk than he does. It's fine to top up - I have with both of mine in early days while getting established - but don't skip feeds to do so. It's a good idea to pump to replace any missed feeds.

Sometimes it just takes a few days of getting to know each other and learning together. Skin to skin, free access to the breast, etc. can all help get things established. Hard as it is, tiny babies aren't meant to sleep well - feeding every couple of hours or even more frequently at times is how they are designed, and they don't know night from day at this point.

I agree with the suggestion to get a lactation consultant. Doctors' knowledge about breastfeeding is very hit and miss. I have no issue with formula but mothers need to know about the 'top-up trap'. Every time your baby misses a feed from your breast (because they are having formula), it tells your body not to make as much milk. Breastfeeding is very much about supply and demand. It's fine to use formula but do be aware that it could be the kiss of death for breastfeeding.

Suggesting you give formula because your milk supply isn't enough is pretty much the standard response from doctors who know nothing about breastfeeding and how it works on supply and demand. Breastfeeding newborn babies means lying around topless so they can go on and off all day and night until your bodies are in a rhythm together.

Our boobs are factories, not warehouses, so as long as you put baby on the boob, you'll make enough!

I agree it's always worth seeing a lactation consultant because tongue tie can cause issues if undiagnosed.

Kathryn Stagg on Instagram has a day by day what to expect when breastfeeding.

I'm sure the doctor meant well, but A&E doctors aren't generally particularly knowledgable about breastfeeding. You need proper advice from a lactation specialist. Luckily, there are lots of ways to get that!

Breastfeeding helplines
National Breastfeeding Helpline: 0300 100 0212
Association of Breastfeeding Mothers: 0300 330 5453
La Leche League: 0345 120 2918
National Childbirth Trust (NCT): 0300 330 0700

Also look for local breastfeeding groups - they often have peer supporters who can help with some things and signpost you to further support. You're still under midwife care so make use of that too and ask them to check latch, etc.

God, depressing that it sounds like the doctor automatically went to formula. No surprise that the breastfeeding rates are so low when stuff like that happens.

Like others have suggested, if you want to breastfeed, I’d try to get some support from someone who knows about breastfeeding. I got excellent support from the community midwives with my first. But some community midwives are less expert at breastfeeding advice and a lactation consultant might be best.

I’m not an expert although have now breastfeed children for about three years, but it sounds to me like your let down might be too fast for the baby currently so as others have suggested, hand express a little before latching the baby. It is also worth checking for tongue tie.

If you are giving formula, look into cup feeding. It can help prevent nipple confusion in the initial days.

With both my children, those first few weeks were largely spent on the sofa feeding and sleeping. It’s normal that the baby wants to feed a lot in the early days. That’s how breastfeeding works. It can be exhausting but worth it (for me) for the convenience of breastfeeding in the months ahead.

No expert but whenever I ate curry my baby reacted like yours the next day, screaming and vomiting etc. I soon learned to eat bland foods!!!

Also possible your baby has a food intolerance, my sister’s baby used to vomit whenever my sister ate cheese/milk. Turned out the baby is lactose intolerant and yes it does go straight through into the breastmilk even though some (male) doctors deny this.

It might be a completely different issue I know nothing about, I’m just suggesting that you experiment with your food intake and see if that helps your baby.

I would like to say that in some cases it is not as simple as 'if you put baby to breast you'll make enough', and that that idealism can actually be quite harmful to women who actually do have chronic low milk supply.

I have insufficient glandular tissue, my breasts didn't develop properly during puberty, and no matter how much I put my baby to the breast or how much I pumped, power pumped, triple fed, had galactagogue medication and herbal supplements and used an SNS I still wasn't even able to produce enough for one feed, ever. The only chance I have of producing more milk is each pregnancy/breastfeeding experience, in which there's a chance for more mammary tissue to grow.

Whilst rare, though not as rare as people will make out, chronic low milk supply does exist. And being told that everyone can make enough milk for their baby is incredibly damaging when you're already feeling like a failure of a woman and a mother because your body can't do one of the most natural things a female body can do, because of what a doctor calls 'your deformity'.

That's definitely not the case here since you're dripping milk op! Most likely a transfer issue, so with the right help you should be just fine.

But to others, please think about posting something like that again, and for the women who might read it and feel like they couldn't do it properly all over again.

But to others, please think about posting something like that again, and for the women who might read it and feel like they couldn't do it properly all over again.

^ Your experience just doesn't reflect the vast majority so people will continue to post advice as we have ie put baby to breast, see a lactation consultant and most likely all will come good. That's the reality for most women and if not, a lactation consultant will help pick up any issues anyway, so there is nothing wrong with reassuring a mum as we have. Your inability to breastfeed isn't a failure to me but seems you see it that way and that's why this is triggering for you.

But you didn't say 'most women', that's the whole point. I also gave the same advice to the OP, but you stated something as if it were fact rather than situation for the majority of women. It was reading things like that when I was pregnant which gave me an unrealistic view of breastfeeding and why I was completely floored when suddenly I didn't make milk and my baby was being starved, as one midwife put it. There are a lot of women in the low milk supply community who feel the same.

Would it really make that much of a difference to you to include a few extra words saying that this is the case for most but not all women? I can't imagine not wanting to when someone has pointed out how hurtful it can be.

I'll leave it there because I don't want to derail the op's thread for advice, I was just asking you to think about the words you're using and how they might affect other people who have had a different experience to you.

addler, as a doctor, may I thank you for your input. So many women suffer inappropriate guilt for being unable to breast feed, and ignorant and airy comments suggesting it is always possible, do untold harm to women who may be bordering on postnatal depression.
Breast hypoplasia is a very real condition, as you discovered.
The good news is that formula is a perfectly safe and effective alternative. My generation were majority bottle fed, and are the healthiest, longest lived generation in history.

Hi everyone,

thank you so much for all the advice! It seems the consensus was that baby and I are still getting to know each other and figure out our routine. So thank you all so much for the reassurance.
I spent yesterday chilling on the sofa with him and feeding pretty much on demand and he was totally happy and content all day. I think the issue may have been when my milk came in that it was too fast/too slow for him initially but now seems to have settled.
I also sent my OH out for a pump yesterday so I can at least pump for any missed feeds with bottles, or start pumping and bottle feeding to get a better idea of how much he is getting. But haven’t needed to do that yet.
I had a visit with my community midwife yesterday who didn’t seem fussed at all and gave me some great practical advice on timing of feeds and when to switch breasts etc which was really useful!
finally @CharlotteOH that’s so crazy you mentioned the curry as I had eaten a curry for dinner! I didn’t even want to suggest that as an option in case I seemed crazy but it was very interesting you had the same experience.

thanks again so much everyone :)

That's lovely op, well done. And nothing better than an excuse to chill out all day and snuggle your baby! Spending time in the bath with them can be great for establishing being at your breast as a lovely happy content place too. Although with the warmer weather it might not be so nice for you!

I'm glad you've got it sorted, it's a lot for you both to adjust to! Congratulations on your baby x

You took baby to A&E because he vomited. Seriously?

New borns are not supposed to sleep through. Breastfeed first and offer a formula top up second. However constant feeding is not unusual at this age and early days are a matter of trial and error. You could contact a lactation counsellor to check the latch and position. There may be a local breastfeeding support cafe locally.