Help me get H off my back

katie4253

The plan has always been, once Gabe gets home to try to nurse.  Well, today is his 3rd day home and for his 5pm feeding I thought we'd give it a shot.  He totally refused the boob without the nipple shield.  However, I put the shield on and tried him in football hold.  He latched (perfect little fish lips latch) and sucked for about 20-25 mins.  My boob felt empty afterward and now I am pumping to empty the right boob (and pumping any remainder out of the left).  

H is all panicking because he can't see exactly how much he got.   I keep telling him he'll let us know if he is still hungry.  I don't plan on nursing him every feed at first anyway. 

Anyone have any insight on this?  I understand that he wants to know how much he is getting, but he isn't really able to look past this...

Lilystar82

Invest in a cheap baby scale. We got ours off of amazon for I think around 40 bucks. Weigh him before the feed and right after the feed and you will be able to roughly tell how much he got. Men like concrete numbers

katie4253

Lilystar82:

Invest in a cheap baby scale. We got ours off of amazon for I think around 40 bucks. Weigh him before the feed and right after the feed and you will be able to roughly tell how much he got. Men like concrete numbers

GREAT idea!  He has been saying (since before we left the NICU) that he'd like one.  All the more reason to get one now.  Thanks! )

kck329

This is one of the hardest things about switching to breastfeeding after being in the NICU where every ml that goes in or out is measured. It takes a little while but you will learn to relax about it. He will probably have some feeds where he eats more than others, times he falls asleep or is too fussy to get as much in, will eventually need his feeds increased and you will guesstimate....

As long as he is acting full (sleepy, no longer rooting, etc), he is ok. Breastfed babies often eat more often than bottlefed babies so he may be hungry before the 3 hours you are used to. That's ok, feed him when he's hungry unless you are on fluid restriction. He probably won't stick to his perfect NICU schedule now that he's home. 

It takes some getting used to, but remember he is home because he doesn't need the rigor of the NICU anymore. As long as he is having 6-8 wet diapers a day and gaining weight (you can take him to the pedi for a weigh in whenever you are worried), he is ok.

Congrats on working on BFing again! We are EBF at home now but it was a journey so keep asking questions!

urbanflowerpot

You can buy one as a PP said, or rent from your children's hospital. I'm a VERY rare case (well, not sure how rare), but my LO can't BF-suck. The LC's just happened to not realize this during the 58 days of NICU, so we have to go to suck training together and he has exercises in the meantime. Therefore I'm more on your H's side of the paranoia fence

ShannonSky

Lilystar82:

Invest in a cheap baby scale. We got ours off of amazon for I think around 40 bucks. Weigh him before the feed and right after the feed and you will be able to roughly tell how much he got. Men like concrete numbers

I'd go one better and just rent a medical-grade one for a month or so. We spent $60 on a scale only to find that it wasn't accurate enough for before/after feeds and ended up renting a scale from a local LC for a few weeks. Much more helpful. 

CeeCeeSugaPie

Just wanted to chime in to say stick with it! My DH was the same way and I nearly stopped BFing and switched the EPing several times. It was extremely frustrating not to have that support. It is so worth it to be able to nurse your baby, IMO.