Breastfeeding help needed please...

GPark

CL - I've been thinking of trying that but was told it would affect my milk supply.

pigpen - I'll try making him go longer tomorrow, not sure I'll manage 3 hours though, will aim for 2 and a half and work up. DS1 has been waking, but he's had a cold for about 8 weeks, think the crying disturbs his sleep and he starts coughing then the coughing wakes him. Dr says it just starting nursery (he is in rising 3's) and he'll get better eventually so hopefully when his cold clears he won't wake so much.

teachergirl - hv did suggest it might be a growth spurt, but her solution was hang in there and wait for it to pass, your advice sounds better but not sure its possible at the moment. Maybe next time dh has the day off and can look after ds1 we'll try it.

Nicki

At 19 weeks one bottle of formula a day will not make your milk supply dry up. Your body will adjust easily. Lots of mums going back to work after 6 months will bottle feed in the evenings and the baby is formula fed at night with no problems whatsoever. If you think it might help, it would be worth a try for a night or two to see if it makes a difference.

honeypop

GPark wrote: »

HV said its probably because he feeds really fast, he latches on and gulps down as quickly as he can, even if it has only been 90 mins since his last feed. Also, no matter how long I try and wind him, he never burps - his wind always seems to go down rather than come up...
I have tried offering a dummy, but he won't take it, he prefers to use me as a dummy very often at night he will cry until I latch him on, then only feed for 2-3 minutes, he just uses me to fall asleep.

You have a clone of my baby! He does exactly these things too.

CL wrote: »

I hope I'm not upsetting anyone for saying this, but my LO is 16 weeks and breastfed. She sleeps 8-9 hours without a feed, then another 2-3 hours straight after a feed, but I give her a 5 oz bottle of formula before she goes to bed in the evening. It gives me a break and she sleeps great. I intend to continue BF to at least 6 months and one bottle of formula a day won't kill her.

This is what I do, and if it helps me to carry on breastfeeding on the whole, then I feel it's no problem. I did it with DS1 and breastfed for nearly 5 months, it also helped that I knew he'd take a bottle if needed and could leave him with someone if I had to, without worrying he'd need feeding while I was gone.

GPark wrote: »

CL - I've been thinking of trying that but was told it would affect my milk supply.

I think for one or two bottlea, it really doesn't affect your supply (my experience anyway). You could always express while you are skipping that feed, giving you the milk for the following day's bottle? That way you are still using the same amount of milk supply.

Same as you, my HV's are always too busy to do anything but the weighing at clinic, but it you tell them you need to speak to them then they should either get you an appointment at the surgery or do a home visit so yo have more time to discuss it. They may have a HV that specialises in breastfeeding, you should ask.

CL

Hi GPark. It has really worked for me. I know people may criticise me for not exclusively BF, but she gets 1 bottle of formula and 5 breast feeds a day. It gives me a good nights sleep and I'm sure doesn't harm her. I don't see any problem with my supply of milk, I express 5 oz every time I express.

ajaney

Hi

I can sympathise with you as my LO who is 8 1/2 months now & exclusively breastfed till 6 months then mixed till 8 months wanted to feed every 2 hours in the day & every 3 at night.

You could try a dummy first if he doesnt have one - mine never took to it but I know breastfeeding mums who used dummies very effectively

Have you tried the Tommee Tippee closer to nature bottles - these are what I used, occasionally giving some expressed milk before using them to substitute feeds from 6 months. he wasnt over the moon about it & it took some doing but he did take it eventually. Has anyone else tried giving a bottle when you are not in the room, they can smell mum!

It might be worth trying to extend the time by 10 or 15 minutes between & then setting an alarm to offer the feed the same length of time later i.e if he goes 2hrs 15 mins, set an alarm for when this time has elapsed & offer a feed if baby hasnt cried for 1. Increase the time after a couple of days & if the method works & you can get regular gaps of 3 hours or more, you won't need to set the timer.

Could your LO be ready for a little bit of Baby rice? I would seek advise about this before doing anything but he does sound like a hungry baby. You are 6 or 7 weeks off weaning & you could find he will go longer once he is having food.

Does your hospital/maternity unit have a breastfeeding midwife specialist? I met ours at the breastfeeding workshop & she was lovely, encouraging us to ring her with any problems.

google national Breastfeeing helpline & la lache league for advice over the telephone.

I mixed fed for 2 months, dropping a feed every 7-10 days & my milk supply was fine up until the end. It does vary person to person but it didnt cause me any problems, except after the last feed when I had sore boobies!

Hope you get some advice which helps & good on you for going as long as you have already!

Winky,_The_House_Elf

He has really nasty nappies, foamy and mucusy, which are often green, and he often seems to be uncomfortable

You could have been writting about my 16 week old LO until recently. In her case it was an imbalance as JoJo explained

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Sometimes wind comes because they have foremilk and not so much hindmilk because you're disturbed or they let go early.

If you are feeding too often for short spurts, then they may be getting too much foremilk, also it doesnt fill 'em up so they need to feed more often and you end up in a vicious circle.

What helped us was making sure she finished the breast completely, putting her back on the same boob, to make sure she got all the hind milk. I also did breast compression to make the hind milk come out faster.It took a few days, but as she was filled up more with the hind milk she needed less feeds, and her nappys became more regular and a yellow mustard colour...best of all she was no longer in pain!

In my case my little Miss Smarty Pants had figured if she started to get all squawky as if the milk had stop flowing I'd switch her to the other side...When really she was [STRIKE] lazy [/STRIKE]frustrated by the slower hind milk coming through, so was ending up with a double dose of faster fore milk, she really wasn't impressed at first when [STRIKE]I saw through her tricks[/STRIKE] I realised I'd been mis-reading her feeding cues but we got her back on track:rotfl:

Good Luck!

Winky x

EDIT: Oh and the wind has more or less gone...people were shocked that such a tiny thing could fart louder than most adults! She would wake herself up they were that bad!

I found the La leche league really helpful. The forum is here http://forums.llli.org/index.php

space_rider

3 out of 4 of my children fed like that, but they didn`t have the green nappies. Are you sure he doesn`t have an infection or something. Maybe you can ring the GP and ask for a sample to be sent off to make sure all is ok.

skintchick

The green nappies sound to me, like others have said, that baby is getting too much of the earlier milk (we don;t talk about fore and hind milk any more as it implies a changeover point whereas it's more like running a tap to get hot, the milk gradually changes over the feed).

The easiest way of solving that is to express some of the milk off before a feed, to enable baby to get to the creamier milk at the end of the feed, sooner, before they are full.

I had this issue with my DD, and as I am not comfortable wiht expressing, I just bore with it and fed on demand so was feeding two-hourly all day and night for a very long time.

She is now 19 months and perfectly healthy, which I hope reassures you that your LO is most likely fine, especially as weight gain is fine and your HVs have not expressed concern (unless I have missed something, I scan-read the posts as it is late).

Please do call some of the breastfeeding helplines, and/or find your local drop-in so you can discuss your concerns and get some information to help you.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

skintchick wrote: »

(we don;t talk about fore and hind milk any more as it implies a changeover point whereas it's more like running a tap to get hot, the milk gradually changes over the feed).

Ah, I did say it was some time ago - although I would argue that mine practically did switch, accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders and a tingling sensation, but fair enough, technical terms do vary over time.

But still, don't think you have to give up altogether just yet!

building_with_lego

Winky,_The_House_Elf wrote: »

...

What helped us was making sure she finished the breast completely, putting her back on the same boob, to make sure she got all the hind milk. I also did breast compression to make the hind milk come out faster.It took a few days, but as she was filled up more with the hind milk she needed less feeds, and her nappys became more regular and a yellow mustard colour...best of all she was no longer in pain!

...

I did this with DS but tricked him by putting him underarm onto the same boob- he thought he was onto the other as he was lying on his other side :rotfl:. I found it really helped me too- I felt really empty afterwards! Hang in there- you sound keen to carry on and work through it. I still miss that snuggly warmth of breastfeeding.