Too much weight loss...supplementing :(

OhBaby+2013

My son will be 4 days old today and he's lost 10% of his weight.  I'm devastated.  I've been feeding lots but he's sleepy and lazy and won't eat for long.  My doctor told me today that I need to supplement for at least a day or two until I can see the lactation consultant tomorrow.  I'm so sad.  My husband doesn't understand why I'm so upset.  I'm just feeling disappointed.  I wanted to do iron my own and didn't want to have to use formula.  But my son needs to get stronger so I will do it.  Thanks for listening.

cdzcapok

Same thing happened with my son and pedi immediately said to supplement with formula.  I was shocked in the office so I didn't question him, but I lost it once we got home.  I felt like a failure and if I didn't supplement with formula, I was starving my son.  I spoke with a lactation consultant once we got home and she suggested pumping and bottle feeding and/or hand expressing and spoon feeding.  You could also try breast compressions while LO is on the breast (just Google it). 

I have done all of these (my husband gave the bottles and spoon fed) and we were back to baby exclusively taking the breast at 3 weeks.  We really had to work as a team and support each other, but it eventually worked.  I want to stress the eventually because even though we fed baby around the clock after that first appointment, LO was down 15% so it was really hard to stick with our plan and not feel like we were starving him.  By Day 6 he had gained nearly 2 oz. in roughly 12 hours!  We had about 7 weight check and jaundice checks before we were given the all clear, but our son is now thriving and we never had to give an ounce of formula.  Good luck mama!

Litgirl77

This happened to us too. My milk never came in that well and even though I've worked with two LCs and tried all sorts of things, it just hasn't increased enough to provide what DS needs. I BF everything I can give him, but we are supplementing with formula because it's only 6-8 ounces a day total.

All this to say - it's not the end of the world, and don't beat yourself up. Do everything you can to improve things but don't drive yourself crazy. As PP said, stress is the enemy of milk production. Giving your baby formula does not automatically make you a bad mother, just as BF you child doesn't automatically make you a good one.

In the end, I keep reminding myself that if this is the worst problem DS and I have, at the end of the day, I still have a happy, healthy baby and we are blessed to not have more serious issues to deal with.

Good luck, and hang in there! 

Mrs.AmyDylan

cdzcapok:

Same thing happened with my son and pedi immediately said to supplement with formula.  I was shocked in the office so I didn't question him, but I lost it once we got home.  I felt like a failure and if I didn't supplement with formula, I was starving my son.  I spoke with a lactation consultant once we got home and she suggested pumping and bottle feeding and/or hand expressing and spoon feeding.  You could also try breast compressions while LO is on the breast (just Google it). 

Me too. I pumped and we bottle fed until DD got with the program (she had a tongue tie that needed clipping). Pumping also helped bring my milk in and establish supply.  

laxkal23

CJ had feeding issues at first too. I was devastated about supplementing too since I only wanted to bf, but If you supplement and baby gets healthier and stronger he will become a better breast feeder, what's most important is his health. My advice is to put him to breast for 15-30 minutes at each feeding then supplement with pumped milk. It worked for us and after his 3 week appointment I was able to stop supplementing now I EBF like a champ. CJ was 5lbs 7 oz at birth and came home at 4 lbs 11 oz. but he is growing like crazy. Today at 12 weeks he has doubled his weight. 

Justtee33

same thing happened to me. we're now at 1 month and ebf for over a week now. dont worry too much. pump often and let baby suck as much as they want. feel good about keeping baby healthy and bringing up their weight, at my 2 week doc appt., i did a happy dance to see him back up to size...and then i started weening off the formula. you're a good mommy.

Icecream4me

I, too, suggest pumping.  The nurses at the hospital taught me to hand express and spoon feed until I had an appt with my lactation consultant the next day.  Things got much better after that. I've heard that pumping, even if only colostrum is coming out will help stimulate the milk coming in.

Nonetheless - I still had days where she wouldn't eat as much even after the milk came in.  I pumped with the Medela harmony.  I hope this is all okay.  I'm worried about over-production and under-production at the same time. 

I'm only on day 7 and still figuring it out.  It's so hard to know because I get conflicting responses - even from different nurses at the dr office!  But my little girl had gained back some weight since leaving the hospital so that's good. 

 My husband thinks I'm crazy - obsessing over my breasts all the time!  He thinks it would help me to also bottle feed so he can help.  I have friends/family who did this and it works fine. 

Misses-C

I had this issue with DD#1.  I supplemented with expressed b.m.  I did that for abotu 2 weeks (only if she didn't feed for the full 10 minutes on a side).  She'd fall asleep and there was no waking her.

After about 2 weeks of occasional feedings with bottle, she was old/big enough to stay awake, and all was good.  But I used b.m.

OhBaby+2013

UPDATE:  we fed Ben 1.5 oz of formula yesterday, but he really wasn't interested in it.  Since then my milk has come in and I've seen the LC today.  I have pretty flat nipples so she gave me a shield to try out.  The shield has really helped already.  He is still a sleepy boy and only eats for fifteen to twenty minutes but he seema to be getting a good amount of milk in that time.  I will feed every 2 hours during the day and every 3 at night until I go back to the LC on Tuesday to see how it's going.  The best news is that he was actually up in weight today from when we left the hospital on wednesday which means the read at the doctors office yesterday was likely a bit off! 

 Thanks to everyone for all the support!