Post by watermelonseed on Sept 26, 2016 8:31:49 GMT -5
Since EPing I started with only about 16oz per day. With the advice of the LC I added fenugreek 3x a day and sticking to a strict 3 hour pumping schedule I'm now between 28-36 oz per day.
Fenugreek seemed to help a lot for me to increase supply.
I can't get her to wake up to BF on schedule. Since we have weight issues its kind of a big deal. I've tried Diaper change Undressing Cold washcloth on feet and neck Tickling feet/back of neck
What else? I have varying degrees of success normally, but this last feeding nothing would work so my mom is force feeding her a bottle of pumped milk (yes she's sleep eating) while I pump. I hate the pump and don't get quite a while feeding. Plus she's already getting lazy with her BF and the bottle is going to make it worse.
I am calling an LC, but any tips/tricks/advice are much appreciated. I don't know how soon I'll get in.
No tips because I'm having the same problem. Just wanted to send you hugs and wish you good luck as we both try to figure this out.
I can't get her to wake up to BF on schedule. Since we have weight issues its kind of a big deal. I've tried Diaper change Undressing Cold washcloth on feet and neck Tickling feet/back of neck
What else? I have varying degrees of success normally, but this last feeding nothing would work so my mom is force feeding her a bottle of pumped milk (yes she's sleep eating) while I pump. I hate the pump and don't get quite a while feeding. Plus she's already getting lazy with her BF and the bottle is going to make it worse.
I am calling an LC, but any tips/tricks/advice are much appreciated. I don't know how soon I'll get in.
Is she not waking up at all, or is she waking and latching and then falling back to sleep? When K does the latter, it's because she's not getting enough flow to keep her engaged, according to my LC. I usually have to keep doing compressions to keep the flow up so she won't fall back to sleep.
If it's the former, I don't have any good tips. K has that happen at least once per day, but I haven't found anything that will fully wake her up.
pismoduo she won't wake up at all. Even during the 2 oz bottle my mom gave her. She slept the whole time she was eating it. Then she woke up maybe 45 minutes later but obviously didn't want to eat because her belly was full.
Yea, K has one or two stretches like that a day. It was incredibly stressful at first. Now that she's gaining again, I basically just let her sleep through to when she naturally wakes up (it's usually 45 minutes to an hour past her normal feeding time) and then feed her. I'm sure you're doing fine. I know it sounds lame, but I had to keep reminding myself that I couldn't make her magically gain all her weight back overnight and that one or two feedings that weren't exactly on schedule were probably not going to derail our progress.
Do you know if there's a breastfeeding or a mom's support group near you? The LC I see has a Tuesday morning support group at her location that has lots of moms that get together and talk, and there's a scale there to do weighted feeds and such. If you can find one, some of the moms there might have some advice. Or maybe swing over to the breastfeeding board here at TCF? Those ladies were awesome when I was first struggling. Save
LadyNymeria sorry you are having the same issues. I felt horrible yesterday at the dr when I put her on the scale and I realized she lost weight.
Ugh the LC can't see me until Friday at 4:30.
Not sure if you've been in the Tuesday thread recently but I found out R lost weight too so I understand how you're feeling. I cried most of the ride home.
Sorry the LC can't get you in sooner. I hope she has a solution to help you out.
One tip I got in the hospital that was new, If they kind of fall asleep at the breast but are still latched press on the soles of the feet (constant pressure not tickling). It stimulates their suck reflex or something and they will usually start sucking again.
Thanks! I've tickled his feet, haven't tried pressure.
He's been a nursing champ since we got home from the weight check so I'm really hoping this keeps up.
I had to use a nipple shield to get him to latch so I wonder if he wasn't swallowing as much as I thought he was. Been getting him to latch without the shield all afternoon and he's not spilling so hopefully this is a good start back to some weight gain.
Post by jennybeans on Sept 27, 2016 16:20:12 GMT -5
LadyNymeria & unringthebell - I know how you feel with the nursing issues.. it sucks! Have you had them looked at for tongue or lip ties? That can sometimes cause sleepy issues since the baby will just shut down when they get frustrated nursing. Are you having any pain or lipstick nipples after nursing?
We did a consult today with the dentist and went through with revising E's tongue and lip ties. I'm noticing a difference in nursing already - she's actually sucking versus me having to do all the work with compressions to keep her going! It feels so much more 'right' and like it did with DS once he was older.
Post by jennybeans on Sept 27, 2016 17:47:18 GMT -5
Lipstick nipples means your nipple looks like a new lipstick after nursing. Think flat on the underside with a crease and rounded top. I swear mine are permanently like that from my son! E could stick her tongue out too. The dentist said hers was a posterior tongue tie where the middle/back was attached so the ripple motion you would normally get in good nursing couldn't happen.
FWIW, even with a good latch, K will fall asleep if she's not getting enough flow. I end up doing compressions for most of the time she's nursing after the first 5 mins or so.
Lipstick nipples means your nipple looks like a new lipstick after nursing. Think flat on the underside with a crease and rounded top. I swear mine are permanently like that from my son! E could stick her tongue out too. The dentist said hers was a posterior tongue tie where the middle/back was attached so the ripple motion you would normally get in good nursing couldn't happen.
That was interesting to read. R does seem to latch un-latch a decent amount, I can definitely hear him sucking in air when swallowing sometimes, and once in a while he'll start coughing like he was choking on milk.
I'll have to see if it keeps up now that I'm weaning off the nipple shield and mention something to the LC if it keeps up.
I can't get her to wake up to BF on schedule. Since we have weight issues its kind of a big deal. I've tried Diaper change Undressing Cold washcloth on feet and neck Tickling feet/back of neck
What else? I have varying degrees of success normally, but this last feeding nothing would work so my mom is force feeding her a bottle of pumped milk (yes she's sleep eating) while I pump. I hate the pump and don't get quite a while feeding. Plus she's already getting lazy with her BF and the bottle is going to make it worse.
I am calling an LC, but any tips/tricks/advice are much appreciated. I don't know how soon I'll get in.
You can breastfeed while she is in a light sleep state. When you lay back, natural newborn reflexes will engage during drowsy/light sleep. Here's a video that shows what that looks like (There's nipple showing, fyi) : www.biologicalnurturing.com/video/bn3clip.html
Post by hurricanerek on Sept 27, 2016 23:51:23 GMT -5
flyakite it definitely seems like some babies will comfort suck constantly. While it's not bad to let him nurse a lot, I don't think you need to feel guilty about ending a session yourself. When you notice the sucking changing from nutritive to non-nutritive is a good time for this. Non-nutritive sucking will not have an audible swallow and will consist of short rapid sucking rather than long and slow.
Post by jennybeans on Sept 28, 2016 2:47:30 GMT -5
flyakite, I remember it being much easier to tell comfort nursing from nutritive nursing when DS was older. TBH I can't tell yet with E and we've been having issues so I'm definitely not cutting anything short yet.
Once weight gain was good and I could tell it was comfort sucking (or suspected) I would break and if he started seriously rooting again I'd know he wasn't done and pop him back on.
Can someone remind me how many oz they're supposed to be gaining over X days? My LC told me and my sleep deprived brain forgot
My ped said they like to see about an ounce a day, give or take a little. Not sure when that changes but that was the first few weeks when we were trying to get back up to weight.
Lipstick nipples means your nipple looks like a new lipstick after nursing. Think flat on the underside with a crease and rounded top. I swear mine are permanently like that from my son! E could stick her tongue out too. The dentist said hers was a posterior tongue tie where the middle/back was attached so the ripple motion you would normally get in good nursing couldn't happen.
That was interesting to read. R does seem to latch un-latch a decent amount, I can definitely hear him sucking in air when swallowing sometimes, and once in a while he'll start coughing like he was choking on milk.
I'll have to see if it keeps up now that I'm weaning off the nipple shield and mention something to the LC if it keeps up.
I'm starting to think R could have some sort of lip/tongue tie. I've been getting him to nurse for longer stretches, but now I've noticed a few things.
I can hear him swallowing, but sometimes it's not as frequent as I'd expect for how much he's sucking. He seems to be unlatching a lot. Sometimes I hear a clicking noise before he unlatches. I can't seem to get his lips to stay flared out and I am seeing milk at the corner of his mouth. Plus still hear him sucking in air when swallowing sometimes, and the coughing like he was choking on milk once in a while.
I just texted all this to the LC at the peds office (super helpful having her cell number!) and asked her if she thought it would be worth checking for a tie.
In the meantime we're headed back for another weight check tomorrow instead of waiting until Tuesday.
LadyNymeria do you have a very strong let down? all of that sounds similar to how my older DD nursed with my over supply and over active let down. She also had a slight lip tie but we never got it clipped because it didn't affect nursing. Anyways, glad you're reaching out to the LC and hope they can help!
I thought I had managed to escape engorgement this time around. But the past 12 hours, my boobs have been so full and painful and the baby can't stay awake long enough to fully empty either breast at night. Argh! I'm just hoping to avoid clogged ducts.
LadyNymeria do you have a very strong let down? all of that sounds similar to how my older DD nursed with my over supply and over active let down. She also had a slight lip tie but we never got it clipped because it didn't affect nursing. Anyways, glad you're reaching out to the LC and hope they can help!
On my left I think I do. All R has to do is whine a bit and the left starts dripping. The right seems fine, but he exhibits all the same things on both sides. Actually seems to unlatch more from the right.
Post by jennybeans on Sept 29, 2016 9:51:13 GMT -5
LadyNymeria, clicking is another sign so it's definitely possible. In my research, a lot of people complained that their peds and LCs blew off concerns about ties (our old one did with my son and told me he would grow out of it and it would get better. Luckily I went back to work at 12 weeks so I kept my supply up pumping and got relief from pain until his mouth was bigger) and it took them going to a familiar Ent or dentist to get a diagnosis then cutting the ties made a difference. Not sure where you live but there is a group devoted to this on Facebook and they have a list of preferred providers on their website. It could be worth checking out if any are in your area for a consult depending on what your ped and LC say. Ours had a LC on staff who helps with the evaluations which was so helpful! ttbsg.weebly.com/
Post by jennybeans on Sept 29, 2016 9:56:28 GMT -5
In case you all can't tell by my long and multiple posts on the topic :-), I'm 100% on board with ties as legit issues that should be corrected after my experience with my son who we didn't do anything about and now the differences with E this week.
E's ties were less severe (not a full attachment on the tongue or lip) and after cutting on Tuesday she has already gained 6 oz (in 4 days!!) and is nursing better already. Still some lazy moments and clicking/slurping but overall so improved!!
LadyNymeria, clicking is another sign so it's definitely possible. In my research, a lot of people complained that their peds and LCs blew off concerns about ties (our old one did with my son and told me he would grow out of it and it would get better. Luckily I went back to work at 12 weeks so I kept my supply up pumping and got relief from pain until his mouth was bigger) and it took them going to a familiar Ent or dentist to get a diagnosis then cutting the ties made a difference. Not sure where you live but there is a group devoted to this on Facebook and they have a list of preferred providers on their website. It could be worth checking out if any are in your area for a consult depending on what your ped and LC say. Ours had a LC on staff who helps with the evaluations which was so helpful! ttbsg.weebly.com/
I actually already found an ENT in the area that discusses ties on their website and how important it is to have them corrected to promote good breastfeeding. My insurance doesn't require referrals, so depending on what the LC/ped says, I could try to make an appt directly with the ENT as long as they don't require referrals to see a new patient.
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