Anyone gone from EBF to formula during the day and bm morning/night? Wondering if my supply will stay up for mornings and nights If I'm not pumping during the day.
@KarasTwin yes! You, me, @klkonwi@slr1229@JessHeppell and I know I'm forgetting someone (sorry) - we get to see the future with everybody else's babies ahead of ours.
Me me! LO was born late - July 3rd!
Eta- I'm wondering about introducing cereal, LO will eat and eat and eat and then spit up which is new. But the standard here is nothing but mil or formula for the first 6 months so I'm not getting much support from our care nurses. I haven't talked to our dr about it - LO's next appointment isn't until her 6month check up.
We tried cereal mixed in breastmilk for 3 nights this week before bed. He absolutely loved it and made noises but it didn't help him sleep at all....... Soooo I'm prob going to restart it in another month. Texture and spoon is really all we were aiming for/ and docs suggest they get used to like others have said.
LO has become a monster eater this weekend. She was a 4-6oz bottle girl at best and the past few days she's sometimes done 7-8oz. Maybe some kind of growth spurt? She's 20 weeks. I haven't googled yet but am headed that way.
@swaugh14 it must be something in the air..same thing happened this weekend. She went from eating 3-5oz every 3-3.5 hours to eating 5-6oz every 1.5-2.5 hours. And looooong naps. Definitely growth spurt!
TTC: 1/2014
BFP: 9/24
EDD: 6/8/2015
Sorry for the poor man's siggy...ticker won't load regardless of how many tips I read.
New to this feed (no pun intended, ha!). Still dealing with my happy spitter who is huge, gaining weight like a champ, but still spits up sometimes huge amounts at almost every feed. We're at 16 weeks, hopefully some improvement will come soon. Currently on a dairy free diet which I'm not convinced is actually helping (until I "test him" by eating ice cream and LO vomits even more than normal for a full day or so). Le sigh.
I have noticed that my baby spits up more frequently ever since I switched to soy. I feel like it may be the formula
LO has become a monster eater this weekend. She was a 4-6oz bottle girl at best and the past few days she's sometimes done 7-8oz. Maybe some kind of growth spurt? She's 20 weeks. I haven't googled yet but am headed that way.
Same thing here at 21 weeks. I was not expecting a 5 month growth spurt!
These days LO loves to grab the nipple shield and take it off while eating, then hold it and suck on it as if that's where the milk comes from. That's not how it works, buddy! Since he takes it off so much I've been letting him nurse without it more often, which he CAN do, but there are still problems. For one, he latches and unlatches often and it takes viligince on my part to make sure he is actually on my nipple each time. My nipples don't protrude so he usually can't find the right place without assistance. Perhaps because of these badly placed latches, my nipples/surrounding skin are often sore after he feeds from them directly. Second, I don't think he gets as much. With the nipple shield I hear him swallowing and see the shield filled with milk when he's done. He can get a lot in a short time with the shield when he's not playing around with it. Without the shield, I don't hear as much swallowing (though there is some) or see as much milk dripping when he comes off the breast. It seems like he's telling me he's ready to be done with the nipple shield, but my breasts still function best with it.
I actually couldn't find the nipple shield yesterday evening when we were about to go out to the Halloween party at his daycare, so I nursed him without it in public with a daycare worker looking on! That was a first. He did fine without the nipple shield except that I think he didn't get all that much and had to work a bit harder for it. When he was younger that would've been a catastrophe and we would have had to rush out to buy another nipple shield or he wouldn't eat (which actually happened). Found the nipple shield later at home.
I have a friend who also has inverted nipples and breastfeeds who said her baby stopped using the nipple shield at four months. I'm guessing this might be a common age to stop using a nipple shield due to a combination of them being so grabby at this age, and having bigger mouths and thus the ability to take more breast tissue in the mouth even when the nipple isn't prominent. I probably could have weaned him off the nipple shield earlier but it's been working well for us so I lacked motivation to do it differently.
I still use the shield on occasion.. Especially if he's lazy in latching to prevent nipple injury. However we were able to successfully nurse the majority of the time without it between 1.5/2 months. I don't think that in our case it's any harder for him now without the shield.
LO has become a monster eater this weekend. She was a 4-6oz bottle girl at best and the past few days she's sometimes done 7-8oz. Maybe some kind of growth spurt? She's 20 weeks. I haven't googled yet but am headed that way.
Same thing here at 21 weeks. I was not expecting a 5 month growth spurt!
Me neither! 8oz before bed and DH said he fed her 4 middle of the night. Which sort of annoyed me since I'm trying to get rid of that feed. My first thought is that he took the lazy way out and fed her to get her back to bed, but with the way she's been eating the past few days maybe she really was acting like a starved crazy!
I have 44 bags of milk in the freezer. This means we may need to supplement in 22 work days. So I may not make it to 6 months but it will be within days. Anyway I have bought in the virgin gut theory and I like the idea of BM only for 6 months. But then I realized that I should perhaps test a formula before the stockpile runs out. Just in case he seems really formula sensitive and I decide to build my supply back up. Keep him 100% BM as long as possible or test a formula?? Either way I'll still pump once or twice a day and nurse at night and whenever I am home. I just can't pump enough for him, both that I don't find the time and that I don't seem to response as well to the pump as nursing.
@swaugh14 was thinking the same thing. She turned 5 months a week ago and has eaten 20 oz before 1 p.m. where it usually is about 25 the whole day. Not expecting this and definitely didn't have enough milk thawed out. ( I have been rotating my stock so had frozen my other milk). I hope this is one though so she can finally wear her 3 to 6 month clothes.
@rklinge0 Amen on the clothes! Mine is still in 3 month stuff (almost 5 months old) but it's all summery and I can't wait until she fits her fall clothes better! But yeah, the food. I am thinking this 5 month growth spurt is for real.
Question about those babies who have started solids. I know the amount of milk they intake can reduce because they are getting other calories. About how much milk do you feed your LOs per day now that they have been on solids? I am trying to create an efficient stock pile, and don't want to make too many 6 oz bags if she will only be taking 4 oz at a time get what I'm sayin?
Makes me happy there is a growth spurt with an accompanying increase in food consumption coming up. It will make it easier to get some more ounces in my dude.
@cait7425 I don't think anyone is at that point yet? Solids aren't really supposed to be a bulk of their food until 6 months. I know our doctor said right now just 1/2 spoonfuls. And at 6 months is when she should be having "3 meals a day" so at that point I think the breast milk/formula will decrease
@cait7425 our LO is getting cereal once a day and baby food once a day. He was putting away 30 oz of formula a day, easy. I asked the pedi at his 4 month appointment how much he should have of each and she said there is no magic number but that he should get at least 20-24 ounces per day, still. Sometimes he only eats a little over an ounce of baby food, sometimes 2.5, I let him eat until he stops on his own, wait a little and give him about 4 ounces (instead of 6). With cereal, I do one tablespoon of cereal and 4 of formula from a 4 ounce bottle, then he finishes the bottle
@henryviii my pedi recommended introducing formula slowly. So like the first day do one formula bottle then breastmilk for the rest. Then, continue to increase formula and decrease breastmilk.
Thanks @amccoy129 we'll probably never need to do more than two bottles of formula a day unless I quit pumping entirely. I think I'll start formula when I am down to 10 freezer bags of milk. That should give us a week to ease into it. And if he's really sensitive to it it will give me a week to power pump and catch back up to him.
I know its not October anymore but I don't know if we want to start a November one or not.
Anyway. For real - how much is everyone's LO eating in ounces? I'm hoping for this growth spurt with the increase in appetite some of you are describing, but I'm still feeling like I'm short of the ounces that his Dr wants him to get.
@mellymar I kind of go by her weight times 2. So she get about 26 ounces a day. I can't tell what she gets while nursing, but she takes 4.5 oz bottles. She eats 6x a day. I was giving her 5-5.5 oz but had to kind of force the last ounce down, and that's not a good habit to get into. I also have a petite baby. I'm going to get her weighed today, and I'll let you know if she gained a decent amount in the last 2 weeks.
@mellymar We were averaging around 25 oz in a 24 hr period. Now, with this new spurt, she has upped it by almost 10 oz in a 24 hr period! Not sure if that'll drop back a little, but I feel like she is overall a more focused eater now. Before, she was very slow and distracted. Hopefully you'll see these changes too!
@mellymar During the week, LO eats 28 ounces from a bottle plus 3-4 nursing each day. On the weekends I try to nurse more, so it's hard to tell. We had a short growth spurt one weekend where she upped it to about 35 ounces from a bottle but that only lasted 2 days. She's 20 weeks today..
Thanks for the replies @cait7425@swaugh14@Sammy K . His pedi says she wants him eating 24-28 oz a day, but we can only get him to take 20 oz a day in formula. Hopefully I make up the additional 4+ oz in breastmilk. Its reassuring to hear that other people are around the mid 20s.
Thanks for backing me away from my anxiety, ladies
For the first time, LO refused to BF. Granted I only do it every so often, but she's never flat out refused. I didn't expect it to make me so sad but it did. We've had such a shitty road to this point, and I'm so damn stubborn I just didn't want it to be fully over. But it is.
TTC: 1/2014
BFP: 9/24
EDD: 6/8/2015
Sorry for the poor man's siggy...ticker won't load regardless of how many tips I read.
@dancegurl1118 I'm sorry you're sad too. It's such a bittersweet moment. I'm proud of your commitment to go as long as you did with the duct issues you were facing. Maybe you could drowned your sorrows in a big glass of wine?
Thanks guys. I appreciate it. Still sad but it is what it is. If I let myself fall too far down the rabbit hole I start thinking about the next baby and how somethings just messed up with my anatomy and yada yada...there are much worse things in life why am I hung up on this?
TTC: 1/2014
BFP: 9/24
EDD: 6/8/2015
Sorry for the poor man's siggy...ticker won't load regardless of how many tips I read.
@dancegurl1118 That sucks, lady, I'm so sorry. To be a broken record: what would you tell your best friend, in this situation? Be your own best friend and be easy on yourself. It's ok to be disappointed, but it's also great that your LO is a thriving baby with an awesome mama who will do anything for her. Big hugs
Have people had their low-producing boob totally just give up the ghost? My L side has been weak from the start, MOTN pump would yield 4oz on the R and 3oz on L. Since going back to work it's gotten worse, now just 2oz from L in MOTN and when I'm at work it only gives me around 1.5oz every 3 hours. I'm starting to burn through the freezer stash because LO eats 20-22oz while I'm gone and it's hard to keep up. I've noticed LO has been tugging on it in frustration when nursing which he never did before. Is this just going to be the end for left boob production?
I'm power pumping, eating oatmeal, taking Honest Co lactation pills...nothing is helping left side. Is this the beginning of the end?
@klirwin82 left boob is my bad boob too. And its near death. It will be its fullest first thing in the morning, but still not as good as right boob. I give LO that one first so that hopefully he 'drains' it because he's so hungry from sleeping. Then the next feeding (2-3 hours later) its essentially empty. I know that having LO attempt to feed on it should help its supply, but there isn't anything there. So I've started skipping feedings on left boob. It recovers enough for LO to feed off of it a little bit if I use it every other feeding. Right boob can go every feeding, but it doesn't refill as much between daytime feedings as it does overnight. So yeah, left boob is is totally lame. And this is even with taking supplements and eating oatmeal a couple days a week. Good thing I had started using formula way back or I'd be stressing right now.
I just discovered LO, DH & I all have lip tie! We just discovered this by random chance tonight with LO & then did some reading up on it. It is hereditary so we checked & we both have it too (upper lip, DH has both upper & lower). Anyway I wonder if this could be a reason for my LO eating so frequently especially at night. I'm going to have to pay attention to her latch more & ask her pediatrician if we should do something about it. Hers looks like a stage 3. She's been growing & gaining weight okay so not sure if anything would need to be done. Has anyone had any experience with this? Now I can't stop feeling my upper lip tie! I think I'll let my mom know (maybe this is why she was only able to BF me for 3 weeks.) Just so interesting to me that I'm still discovering things like this five months in.
Just curious how many times in 24 hours your LO eats & how long do they nurse for?
Also regarding the low producing breast, mine is my right & I've actually been able to "catch it up" quite a bit to the left just by alternating starting on the right versus left. When I start on the right its getting the stronger suck but when I start on the left it stimulates let down on the right so that has helped too. I always feed on both sides unless she just refuses. If I forget which side was last I just start on the on my bad side. LO gets fussy with the right side sometimes so I'll have to switch her over but then I'll usually switch back & she's fine.
I asked my pedi if LO had a lip toe and she said even if he did they don't do anything about it until after his permanent teeth come in. Honestly, I understand the thought behind this, I do. But I felt brushed off by her, which annoyed me. I could see why people here don't like her as much as the Dr that left, in the way she answered me about that. Anyway, I know a couple of the moms had their LOs with one, hopefully they'll chime in
Re: Feeding lo - October
Eta- I'm wondering about introducing cereal, LO will eat and eat and eat and then spit up which is new. But the standard here is nothing but mil or formula for the first 6 months so I'm not getting much support from our care nurses. I haven't talked to our dr about it - LO's next appointment isn't until her 6month check up.
I actually couldn't find the nipple shield yesterday evening when we were about to go out to the Halloween party at his daycare, so I nursed him without it in public with a daycare worker looking on! That was a first. He did fine without the nipple shield except that I think he didn't get all that much and had to work a bit harder for it. When he was younger that would've been a catastrophe and we would have had to rush out to buy another nipple shield or he wouldn't eat (which actually happened). Found the nipple shield later at home.
I have a friend who also has inverted nipples and breastfeeds who said her baby stopped using the nipple shield at four months. I'm guessing this might be a common age to stop using a nipple shield due to a combination of them being so grabby at this age, and having bigger mouths and thus the ability to take more breast tissue in the mouth even when the nipple isn't prominent. I probably could have weaned him off the nipple shield earlier but it's been working well for us so I lacked motivation to do it differently.
I hope this is one though so she can finally wear her 3 to 6 month clothes.
@caitlincunn I wasn't sure if some people started to really supplement with solids since some of their LOs are more than a month older than mine.
Anyway. For real - how much is everyone's LO eating in ounces? I'm hoping for this growth spurt with the increase in appetite some of you are describing, but I'm still feeling like I'm short of the ounces that his Dr wants him to get.
Edited, 'if' vs 'of'
Thanks for backing me away from my anxiety, ladies
Big hugs
I'm power pumping, eating oatmeal, taking Honest Co lactation pills...nothing is helping left side. Is this the beginning of the end?
So yeah, left boob is is totally lame. And this is even with taking supplements and eating oatmeal a couple days a week. Good thing I had started using formula way back or I'd be stressing right now.
Just curious how many times in 24 hours your LO eats & how long do they nurse for?
Also regarding the low producing breast, mine is my right & I've actually been able to "catch it up" quite a bit to the left just by alternating starting on the right versus left. When I start on the right its getting the stronger suck but when I start on the left it stimulates let down on the right so that has helped too. I always feed on both sides unless she just refuses. If I forget which side was last I just start on the on my bad side. LO gets fussy with the right side sometimes so I'll have to switch her over but then I'll usually switch back & she's fine.