Thought breastfeeding was going great - apparently I was wrong!!

[Freddie15VES]

My little one is 17 days old and still 100g below her birthweight

We ebf and she always seems content and full but health visitor isn’t happy with how slow the gain is even though she is gaining and wants me to start expressing/bottle feeding

I feel so deflated like I’ve done something wrong

I want to ebf I don’t want to start introducing bottles into the mix 😔

Just feeling like I’ve failed massively

Feel like I should just move to formula and take the stress out of it

As your baby has had jaundice I can see why the HV was more concerned still sadly they were out of line/misinformed.

Glad DC is doing great, fantastic news!

Also, I panic expressed yesterday after the ordeal with the hv and now I’m in hell. She’s absolutely full of milk which is great as she’s been extremely settled but my boobs are going wild, I’m in engorgement hell and they’re spraying/leaking all over the place so if anyone has any advice I’d be very grateful as I’m so uncomfortable now 🩷

Hand express just enough to help the discomfort – it will probably take a couple days for your supply to adjust, but it will.

OMG with expressing you just do enough to take relieve the pain, nothing more!

No advice ( my babies are adults now).

Just wanted to say she is gorgeous and well done.

Just express a tiny bit, enough to take the edge off and make it easier for your baby to feed. It'll settle back down again.

I breastfed all 3 of mine and none of them got back to thier birth weight for a month. I breast fed them all for a year in the end.
with my first it was a panic and back and forth to be checked out/urine samples/breast feeding clinics etc.
by my 3rd I was much more confident in saying that i knew how it was going and that they would gains weight slowly.

Thanks guys, she went 3.5 hours without eating last night so my boobs were killing me this morning and I thought I was gonna have to crack the pump out but luckily she’s fed 5 times since 6:30am 😂

I could audibly hear my letdown if I forgot to put a breast pad in my bra and one night when it had gone wondering my other half got hit in the eye from the letdown on the none feeding side..

Keep a muslin with you and when you feel a bit uncomfortable hand express until it feels soft again. I held the pump or haakaa close to the breast without attaching it just it catch any milk that came out and save the milk for later. At 3 weeks my partner gave the odd bottle at 7am so I could get some unbroken sleep as I was getting mentally unwell. The 50-60.ml whilst didn't replace a feed allowed him to give me a bit longer.

@Superscientist oh my god that made me laugh

will the letdown ease up when they’re less engorged? She struggles to feed on my right side cos it’s like a water pistol

I had this and was advised to lean back when starting the feed rather than be upright or hunched over, and gravity then helps it not come out quite so forcefully!

@Freddie15VES yes it got better but was still pretty forceful and like @SchoolNightWine I had to do leaning back or lying down feeds for a while. Get latched and comfort and lean back about 15 degrees - you might want to prop yourself up with a pillow. When my daughters reflux was really bad we almost exclusively did lying feeds and I had the mattress for the travel cot under the sofa to lie on during the day....the things you find yourself doing!
Hand expressing before a few seconds before a feed or staunching the flow with a clean muslin for a few seconds can calm the flow down before starting a fed helped too. Ask the infant feeding team for more specific advice and they can do an assessment to see how well your little one is handling the fast letdown.
You may find the entire contents of your house will be covered with speckles of milk....just roll with it!

https://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supply-worries/fast-letdown/

I was told to try football hold but go on best with side by side feeding.

Update again - midwife came out today and weighed baby girl, she’s now 9lb 6.5oz! Were well over her birth weight and I’m so glad I stuck to my guns and didn’t try and force bottles on here when she evidently didn’t need it. Feel like sending the HV a smug text

Yay well done!

Thrilled for you @Freddie15VES well done!

Well done - both of you!

Fantastic, so pleased for you both. She looks so content.