So I think my breastfeeding journey is coming to a close. F frequently pops off I'm assuming because he's not getting much. Today I pump both sides twice and only got 2oz total. I just don't have the supply I used to and with pumping being such a PITA at work and being so exhausted at home I think we will be switching over to formula. I've only got enough for 7 bottles left in the freezer.
I'll still try to offer to nurse in the evening but it is what it is I guess
Why do you think he's not getting much besides the popping off thing? Pumping output does not equal nursing output. FWIW, A started doing the same popping thing around Flint's age. I don't get much on the pump anymore but we've done weighted feedings and he's getting 4 oz in a session. The LC and I chalked it up to distraction and becoming a power nursling. A nursing necklace has helped him keep focused and calmer during sessions. I'm sorry you feel frustrated. You've done a great job for Flint. If this is where your journey ends, that's okay, but just wanted to throw those other things out there. ::hugs::
He only nursed for 10-30seconds before popping off, even in quiet dark nursery at night. And only goes for 2-4mins max on a good day. He gets super pissed off and still screams like he's hungry. Then he'll crush a 5oz bottle after that.
I'll try the necklace idea, and maybe I can ask for a weighted feed tomorrow.
Ray, If he's really loving bottles lately, he also might just be impatient waiting for your letdown. You could try some compressions just before and while he nurses, if you were still looking for things to try.
Ray, If he's really loving bottles lately, he also might just be impatient waiting for your letdown. You could try some compressions just before and while he nurses, if you were still looking for things to try.
This is exactly what I'm dealing with with B! He gets soooo pissed it's not instant, and then I tense up anticipating the freak out. I usually use compressions while he's nursing until I letdown and it helps a bit.
I'm so tired of pumping 5 times a day and still not making enough for three bottles. My MMP drops apparently weren't Prime and won't be here until the 19th.
For those who used them- did you notice a difference right away?
Did you take them on the weekends too? I only need them for pump output. Nursing isn't a problem.
melody330 , it took about 36-48 hours to kick in, taking them 4 times a day. I would definitely do at least one or two doses over the weekend to help keep it up. Just be careful to watch out for engorgement (if you react really well to them). After a week or so of taking them 4 times a day I was able to go down to once or twice.
Post by cabbagecabbage on Jan 18, 2017 11:16:02 GMT -5
Sending all the good vibes to everyone. Feeding babies is hard work and choosing to stop pumping is not giving up. Breastfeeding once a day is not giving up. Giving up entirely is also sometimes the very best choice. Everyone's lives and breastfeeding relationships are so different and we've been doing this round the clock for half a year already. Think of all the great antibodies, nutrients, gut flora, and snuggles we've shared!
I've been increasing my water, eating oatmeal and lactation cookies, power pumping at night, and drinking mother's milk tea and my supply is just not really bouncing back after last weekend's stomach flu. I didn't keep up with Irene's bottles this week. I have a freezer stash so I'm good with that for now but on the days that I'm home with her should I be giving her a bottle? I honestly can't remember what I did with DD1 which was almost 5 years ago now when we had to start supplementing with formula during the work week. I just don't want Irene to be hungry.
Post by sarcaztic10 on Jan 20, 2017 9:07:59 GMT -5
ellebelle I would always nurse first and only supplement if she still seems hungry afterwards. It may just take awhile longer for your supply to bounce back. Maybe a couple days of BFing her more often will help it ramp back up. Keep doing everything you are doing over the weekend drinking the max recommended on the tea etc. I really hope your body just needs some more time, it seemed like it took forever for my supply to bounce back after being sick.
I did what you said and kept up with the tea, water, and nursed her as much as possible. She seemed okay and happy enough after nursing. At first I was worried the night waking was hunger but I think she might have an ear infection. So now I feel like a jerk for being upset about her night waking. Pumping now so we'll see what this new work week brings. Thanks for asking sarcaztic10!
comicSans I have been thinking of you too. Did you get in with an LC or that BFing meeting? How are you doing?
Thanks for thinking of me! We didn't make it to the meeting on Friday because my kids were raging loons. It's at 10am half an hour away and that's such a hard time right now depending on when DS gets up and when he takes his first nap.
The lc called me Thursday, but of course I was wrangling both children and she was gone for the day when I called back. Mission for the day is to get in touch with her.
Overall we're doing well. I've stopped trying to feed him more often because he just won't do it and it was stressful to me to try; he's perfectly happy to eat every 3 - 4 hours. I'm trying to do compressions while I feed him in case he's just getting lazy after letdown is over. Also drinking beer, lots of water, eating oatmeal, picked up some mother's milk tea, and generally not watching what I eat. hopefully the lc will evaluate, give me some more ideas, and offer to do some weight checks before the 6 weeks so we can keep an eye on his gain or lack of gain.
comicSans, so glad to hear things were going okay!! FWIW.. if you go to the Medela website you can find locations near you where you can rent and/or just use one of their baby weight scales. I have no idea what the cost would be to rent it, but could give you some peace of mind!
comicSans, so glad to hear things were going okay!! FWIW.. if you go to the Medela website you can find locations near you where you can rent and/or just use one of their baby weight scales. I have no idea what the cost would be to rent it, but could give you some peace of mind!
I have a question for second time BFing moms. Yesterday at Sam's six month checkup the pediatrician mentioned that usually around 9 months breastfed babies start not getting the nutrients they need from breastmilk so they start losing weight and need to be supplemented. Did this happen with your first baby and if so, what did you do? Obviously I'll do whatever if best for Sam, but I'd like to not supplement if at all possible and am wondering if there's something I can do to ensure he doesn't need it.
I have a question for second time BFing moms. Yesterday at Sam's six month checkup the pediatrician mentioned that usually around 9 months breastfed babies start not getting the nutrients they need from breastmilk so they start losing weight and need to be supplemented. Did this happen with your first baby and if so, what did you do? Obviously I'll do whatever if best for Sam, but I'd like to not supplement if at all possible and am wondering if there's something I can do to ensure he doesn't need it.
This is insane. TBH If a pedi said this to me I would run away, find another pedi. Admittedly, this is my hill to die on though.
Breast milk literally has all the nutrients babies need unless there is a medical issue.
Many times, BF babies tend to slow, even stall around the 9 month mark, yes. But this does not mean you need to supplement. I can't link ATM because I'm holding a croupy baby, but check out Kelly mom for peer reviewed resources.
Post by rungirlrun on Jan 24, 2017 12:16:21 GMT -5
mcktymck I've never heard that before. As long as your supply is still good and you're still nursing whenever baby is hungry, breast milk can be the only thing you give and it will still be enough for your baby. A lot of babies start eating a decent amount of solids around 9 months, but breast milk is still where most nutrients are coming from. I have never supplemented and never had any issues.
mcktymck I've never heard that before. As long as your supply is still good and you're still nursing whenever baby is hungry, breast milk can be the only thing you give and it will still be enough for your baby. A lot of babies start eating a decent amount of solids around 9 months, but breast milk is still where most nutrients are coming from. I have never supplemented and never had any issues.
This. At 9 months if your supply is still good, breast milk is the perfect food. The only supplementing I've heard of is adding an iron, but even that is questionable. Plus if baby is doing well on soilds you'll be adding calories that way, and can focus on iron rich foods. My dd loved chicken and Cheerios and her iron was fine lol. Bf babies do level off sooner with weight, but that's perfectly normal and not an issue.
melody330, rungirlrun, comicSans, okay that's good to hear! I think she meant more along the lines of supply tends to drop around 9 months which could cause baby's weight to either plateau or drop. I didn't take it as "you'll definitely have to supplement", more of a heads up that if for whatever reason my supply dropped and Sam stopped gaining weight supplementing could be a possible solution.
I have a question for second time BFing moms. Yesterday at Sam's six month checkup the pediatrician mentioned that usually around 9 months breastfed babies start not getting the nutrients they need from breastmilk so they start losing weight and need to be supplemented. Did this happen with your first baby and if so, what did you do? Obviously I'll do whatever if best for Sam, but I'd like to not supplement if at all possible and am wondering if there's something I can do to ensure he doesn't need it.
That's complete BS. Breastfed babies do tend to plateau as they get more active but your doctor sounds really uninformed about breastfeeding. That's crazy talk.
Tl;dr got some tips from the lc, overall feeling pretty good about where we are.
Had a good chat with the lc today. She seemed skeptical that it's a supply issue, which was reassuring to me. She said it would be unlikely to have low supply at this point if things have been going well since supply is established and the volume baby takes in has probably leveled off.
She said to keep trying to feed him often, don't fight him to do it, but even if he nurses for a minute or 2 he's taking in extra. Also push the high cal solids as an easy way (ha to easy) to add calories.
She agrees that he could be a bit lazy since I've always had a strong let down and once the fire hose stops he doesn't want to work for it. She recommended compressions, which I've started doing and also said I could try switch nursing, but she doesn't recommend that long term because it reinforces the bad habit.
Finally she said eat the foods they recommend to boost supply, plus good fats like avocado. It could increase the fat content of my milk, and a slight increase in supply could give it a little more force to get him more, quickly.
I'm feeling less omg I need to fix this now and confident I'm doing all I can. He's healthy and happy and kinda little
I may still try to get to that nursing group this week. They have a scale so I could do a weighed feed if he's hungry, or at least just check his weight to see how we've done the last week and a half. We'll see what our schedule looks like and if I can build up the courage to go - I always feel uncomfortable going to groups, like everyone there is bffs and I'll be the weird new person.
I'm really glad you're feeling better about it! Fwiw I went to a BFing support group when DD1 was born. I probably went every week for 8 weeks and every meeting, at least 50% of the people were new. A lot of people came once or twice to get a question answered and then never again. And heck I went for 8 weeks straight and didn't make any BFFs lol
Post by rungirlrun on Jan 25, 2017 20:39:30 GMT -5
Glad to hear you're feeling good about things comicSans! With DS1 I went to a breastfeeding support group for like 6 months. I wasn't having issues the whole time, but it was something to do in the winter. I made friends, but there were always new people, and it was a really supportive environment. You'll probably actually be a huge resource being a STM and having an older baby. I found it more to be a mom group and not just breastfeeding.
Thanks for all the support. I'm usually fine once I decide, and go, but I guess I like to prepare myself for the worst.
We made it there this morning. It was a bit awkward, but not bad. Not super helpful either. Basically the lactation counselor said it sounds like we're doing all we can. I did pick up an oil for me that's supposed to help, and a teething oil for him - figured anything is worth a try.
I did learn that some people actually see decreased production from fenugreek, which I'm not taking, but I though that was interesting if anyone here is using it and still struggling.
I'm glad we went, but we won't be going back because it wasn't all that helpful and dd was bored out of her mind. It said siblings under 3 are welcome, but there wasn't anything for her to do.
I did weigh ds, different scale so not 100% accurate, but it looks like a 5oz gain in 10 days. So about 3.5 in a week which is right where he should be at this age.
Oh also, there were mom's with babies from 4.5 to 8 months lamenting about sleep and complaining that their pediatricians are telling them the babies should be sleeping through and they need to drop the night feeds. The lc said she rarely sees a bf Mom who's babies sleep through, maybe because they aren't going to the group, but in any case there are lots of babies not getting up and eating at night. We're normal, and our babies are normal ☺️
comicSans, glad you're feeling better!! And glad to hear our midnight snack babies are normal haha. The weird thing is... since I've been back to work there's a small part of me that really doesn't mind one, or even two wakeups. Since I've been back to work its kind of nice to have some cuddle time in the quiet in the dark. I just wish it wasn't an hour before my alarm is due to go off lol
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