Breastfeeding help needed please...

Gingham_Ribbon

Foamy green poo usually means that the baby is getting too much fore milk. This is the milk that quenches the thirst, but the hind milk gives the calories and fills the baby up.

Try to keep the baby on the same breast for longer, to drain the hind milk and you will probably see a change in sleeping habits as well as comfort.

I had to give up tomatoes with my first by the way. It's worth trying these things!

Re looking after your older child, what about getting a book to read together before you sit down to feed the baby? Or putting on Cbeebies to watch together? With practise you'll probably be able to sit both of them on your knee at the same time!

Mine are 4 and 7 and still say, 'there's always room for 2 on mummy's knee!' There really isn't any more though but they do try!

Don't worry. This will pass!

GPark

Thank you all for your replies...they have all been really helpful, lots of useful suggestions for me to try

I will try expressing a little before each fed to ensure that he gets enough of the hind milk - I am actually donating breast milk at the moment to the milk bank at Chester Hospital - so I know I can express easily, I have an electric pump which is fab.

I have also decided that I will try everything I can today to try and get him to go longer between feeds, even if its just a few minutes extra each feed, I can gradually try to extend it.

I do try to read with DS1 while I am feeding DS2, but he gets bored easily, he's not a child that will sit quietly and watch tv either, he likes to be constantly on the move, we are working on that though - he loves his bedtime stories so we are trying to encourage him to read more during the day.

Its reassuring to read others have gone through it too and it does pass! HV said the same thing - that worst case scenario its only 7 weeks till he is old enough to be weaned and things should get better then at least and given the problems we had with DS1 I really don't want to switch to formula.

Feeling much more positive today - DS2 only woke 3 times last night so managed to get some sleep so today is a good day to start trying to improve things.

barbiedoll

If your baby is feeding every two hours then he may be ready for weaning before the "magic" 6 months milestone. (Which a few years ago, was 4 months, even now, health professionals are still arguing about the best time to begin weaning:mad:)

The point made about too much hindmilk are valid too and some excellent advice has been given here. But...if you think your baby is getting ready for more substantial food, don't wait for permission to begin weaning. If you do start and he isn't ready, you can wait and try again later. The six month guideline is exactly that, a guideline. All babies are different and lots of mums begin weaning before the 6 months is up. They just don't tell the health visitor!

Read some of the opinions in this article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12180052

pinkshoes

Hello!

My DS is almost 18 weeks, and USED to feed every 2 hours during the day, and every 3 hours at night, and also had bad wind.

I then implemented routine at around 10 weeks (a book called SOS), and since then, he takes long feeds every 3.5 hours rather than "snacking", and rarely has wind problems.

It was REALLY hard work making him wait 3.5 hours at first, but I used to attach him to the baby sling, and get on with housework/cooking etc..., which near enough kept him amused!

onlyroz

As others have said, I'd recommend gradually increasing the gap between feeds - by 19 weeks bubs really should be able to manage 4 hours during the day, and longer at night. You also need to make sure that each feed is long, rather than just letting baby snack - increasing the gap between feeds will most likely help this.

oda

GPark wrote: »

I am actually donating breast milk at the moment to the milk bank at Chester Hospital - so I know I can express easily, I have an electric pump which is fab.

Sounds very similar to my DD1. Now I think that in my case I've caused it by expressing too often! DD1 never drank expressed milk as she wanted mommy's breast only, so all expressed milk went into the bin, I didn't know about possibility to donate it. I expressed to boost my milk supply, but as a result I had more milk than baby needed, and more fore milk as well. So with DD2 I've decided not to express if not really needed (I did express later, when weaning, just enough to add to baby rice). This time milk flow was not that fast, breasts never were that full, but they really responded to DD2 needs. I wonder if it could be the case with you, if you also express a lot...

heretolearn_2

You don't mention if dad is around to help you..

If he is, we used to take turns to be 'on duty' on alternate nights, that way we each got a few decent nights sleep in the week. Even breastfeeding, dad can go try to settle baby (especially if you are trying to increase the time between feeds) then bring to you in bed for the feed, then take away and change if necessary/settle back to sleep. You just have to wake up just enough to actually do the feed.

Sharing it out like this means that you cope much better, and frankly dad's need to do their share - I'm sure he would if you were bottle feeding, so why not in this situation? His sleep is probably being disturbed as it is. This way you each get a night where you can just relax.

skintchick

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

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!

It wasn;t a dig! And the tingling is usually a letdown; they happen regularly throughout a feed, not just at the start.

And yes, OP, as you say it's only 7 weeks to weaning! I disagree with the poster who said two-hourly feeds mean baby is ready to go onto solids, as my DD was a regular feeder but still wasn;t ready for solids till a few days before the magic 6 six months. I agree it's not exactaly at 26 weeks but we did baby-led weaning and she definitely wasn;t able to feed herself until 25 weeks and a few days.

It may be your baby is ready for solids, but feeds every two hours don;t mean that, IYSWIM.

faerie_girl

GPark wrote: »

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

This could indicate that he's getting too much of the earlier watery milk and not enough fat. Do you have a fast let down? If you took him off would your milk really squirt everywhere? The foamy nappies could be because your milk is coming so fast that its basically going through his system too fast.

You could try expressing a bit of milk before his feed to get rid of a some of the watery-ness it would also get over the rush of milk you could be having. That will then leave milk that has a bit more fat and comes out slower.

I would really recomend looking to see you have any peer support groups in your area, have a look on google or facebook.

EDIT: should have rest the other replies as you have already been given this advice!

GPark

thanks to everyone who posted since my last post, sorry it has taken me so long to reply and post an update...

Things are improving slowly, have taken everyone's advise and gradually stretched out feeds over the last few days, we are now managing 3 hourly feeds for most feeds and the wind problems seem to be improving - we also have not had a green nappy since Friday morning Just need to sort out the lack of sleep now - he is still waking for feeds at least twice a night, and he stirs and fidgets at other times too.

I am hoping that if I can get him to 4 hourly feeds, he will cut down to one feed around 3am - I can cope with that - with DS1 because of his reflux we couldn't get enough calories into him during the day so he was 14 months old before he dropped his 3am feed, so I know I'll be able to cope with one feed a night, because I've done it before, its just 3 a night I'm struggling with.

we did try weaning about 2 weeks ago, health visitor actually suggested it as DS2 is following the 75th centile, so said it sounds like he is ready now, but he wasn't - he wouldn't swallow anything, we tried every day for a week, tried baby rice, baby porridge, pureed carrot, youghurt - everything just got refused, it just kind of dribbled out of his mouth, so we decided to wait till 26 weeks before we tried again

I originally started expressing 100mls per day, at around 14 weeks to build up a supply ready for weaning, but then DS wasn't ready to wean, but I decided to continue expressing each morning and donate the milk, so that when he is ready to wean at least I'll be used to expressing and can use breastmilk for his meals. I only express 100mls a day, and I always do it straight after DS has fed

DH is around, but he doesn't help during the nights, says there is no point since I have to be awake to feed anyway - however whenever he is not in work he looks after DS1 so that I can nap, he also gets up with DS1 in the mornings and gets him ready for nursery so that if DS2 is still asleep I can sleep too