Sick Baby and Supply

[liziz]

LO is 7 months old, and we're doing great with BFing, pumping, bottles, etc.

Unfortunately, she's been vomiting the last couple days (we think it's just a little GI bug, and we've been to the doctor). We have a plan moving forward, which is to feed her small amounts, and often, so BFing for 5 minutes out of every hour when I'm with her, and getting 1 oz bottles every awake hour while she's with her babysitter (side note: we're super thankful to have a babysitter that will keep our sick girl and help us). If she eats less than I pump while I'm at work, no big deal, it goes in the freezer, and everyone is happy.

My questions are this:
1. How do I keep my supply from tanking, if she is nursing considerably less than she normally would (she's still been STTN)
2. Would it make sense to pump before I feed her so that even if she's very hungry, she'll get less milk from me, and hopefully take it a little slower (and keep the milk down)?

Thanks for your help!

[vvvvvfee]

i wouldn't worry too much about your supply, especially if you're working and continuing to pump with the same frequency than you normally would. a couple of days of less-frequent nursing shouldn't make a difference.

do you feel like you have a really forceful letdown that might overwhelm your LO with too much milk? my inclination would be to just offer your breast, let your LO decide how much milk to take, and then if you still feel really full/engorged, pump off the excess. as far as ease of digestion, BM is about as good as it gets, so if she is able to go a couple of hours without vomiting, i wouldn't be concerned about overwhelming her system.

hope your LO feels better soon!

[vvvvvfee]

p.s. kellymom has some good info on this:

kellymom.com/bf/can-i-breastfeed/illness-surgery/baby-illness/#vomiting

they do suggest offering the breast more often, but limiting the length of feedings so it's easier for them to keep it down. so maybe you don't need to pump beforehand, but just keep the sessions short.

[liziz]

I should add, we've been doing short, frequent feedings, and as soon as I go any longer, like at bed time, it seems to trigger the reaction.

I don't have a forceful letdown at all, I think I just need to limit her feedings til we can make it to 24 hours puke free.

P.S. Ugh, the laundry!

[flcl]

Nothing new to add... PP pretty much covered it all!! Hope LO is feeling better. It's so hard when babies are sick

[liziz]

LO is still under the weather, we've gone up to 36 hours puke free, but it keeps coming back to get us if we feed her too much. I think we'll come through it ok, just hard to watch.

[melody330]

Feb 15, 2015 10:41:07 GMT -5 liziz said:

LO is still under the weather, we've gone up to 36 hours puke free, but it keeps coming back to get us if we feed her too much. I think we'll come through it ok, just hard to watch.

We are going through the same thing. He keeps breast milk down with no problem. Water is harder for him, it can't be too cold. As far as solids, Cheerios and pancakes seem to be safe . My mother gave him butternut squash soup yesterday (36 hrs puke free) and he puked twice.

So frustrating! Hopefully your LO is keeping BM down too.

[liziz]

It seems like if she eats much more than 2 oz at a time (she was just starting on solids, so easy to go back to EBF while she's sick) that's when it happens. I'm happy my parents are here this weekend - they can entertain her while I pump to make sure I keep my total number of nursing minutes up.

[Deleted]

2 oz at a time is a good sized feed when you don't feel good. Back off on solids for a while it's normal to have a bit of intolerance for a while after a stomach bug- stuck to cereals and such. Don't worry to on in about pumping extra just push more nursing sessions more often to reach a good daily total that's probably going to be a bit lower than 25 oz a day for a few more days. But your supply will adjust to her needs and still give appropriate nutrition in smaller amt of oz she needs right now and then go back up when she increase demand when she's recovered.

[liziz]

I wasn't concerned when it was a few days, but now that it's been a week, and the last couple weekend days (when I usually nurse the most) I've nursed about have as many minutes as I normally do. Just adding in a pump session or 2 to keep demand up on my body.