Babies: 0 - 3 Months

BFing woes...

Tonight has been REALLY rough with feeding!  For 2 straight hours, LO screamed to feed but then fell asleep soon after starting (even with using a diaper change to wake her up), but would scream again as soon as I laid her back down!  She has been cluster feeding a lot, and I'm afraid she wasn't able to get enough!!  :(  She will not take formula (the doctor had us try when she was losing weight at first).  I feel horrible that I apparently am not providing enough for her tonight!!  She is asleep now (we'll see how long that lasts), and maybe her being tired was part of it (she was awake a lot more than usual during the day today), but I'm afraid she has fallen asleep hungry.  Any suggestions on what to do when LO is hungry but the well seems dry???
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Re: BFing woes...

  • I should probably add I have had horrendous allergies all night (sneezing and runny nose).  Not sure if that would effect anything as far as this or not (other than adding to my frustration)...
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  • Clusterfeeding does not equal a low supply. FF will only decrease your supply. Please look up clusterfeeding on kellymom.com for more info but it is highly unlikely that you're not producing enough. I know BF is a rough transition the first time around but it gets much much easier if you just stick with it. GL
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  • When DD falls asleep too quickly at the breast or is too fussy, I strip her down to just her diaper and wrap her blanket around us. Something about the skin to skin contact keeps her calm, content, and awake longer for a feed. my LC recommended this in the hospital when DD was being fussy at the breast.
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  • Are you taking anything for your allergies?  I've read that some medications can decrease your supply.
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  • This is very normal and has little to do with supply, more that it is the baby's fussy time.
  • It's normal- frustrating, but normal.  DD used to cluster feed every night from 3am-7am and it lasted for about three weeks.  
  • Ditto PP, we also did lots of nighttime cluster feeding in the beginning.  What finally helped us, was preemptively cluster feeding her in the early evening.  It took a while to work up to it, but now we nurse at 5,7, & 9 and then she'll STTN. 

    Hang in there it gets better and is so worth it!

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  • My DS did this for a little while around the same time... I used to try and get him to suck on my finger first (I have no idea why, but he would take that and not my boob) which would calm him down and then I had to "trick" him into taking my breast and then he was fine. 

    Also, is you LO doing this around the same time every night?? If so, try getting her to feed just before that time. So say she normally gets fussy around 7pm, try feeding her at 6:45 or 6:30.

    One thing that helped me a TON was setting an alarm! DS used to go to sleep at about 9-10pm, wake at 2ish to eat, go back to sleep, wake at 5ish, go back to sleep, and then wake again at 8ish. I'd set my alarm every night for 2am, 5am, and 8am. When that alarm went off, sure enough DS was rooting in his sleep! So I'd just pick him up, feed him, and put him right back down when he was done! Most of the time he never even woke up! If you know about what time your LO wakes up to feed at night, set an alarm for about 15 minutes before that time and try to get her to feed then. Doing that seriously saved my life!

    HTH! GL!!! 

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  • Also, my DS used to cluster feed like crazy! And I thought he wasn't getting enough, but we weighed him after one week of nothing but cluster feeding and he had gained a pound! So don't worry at all about your LO! As long as she's still having plenty of dirty/wet diapers, there is no need for concern! :)
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  • something that has helped me when this happens is to pump and put the milk in a bottle and have my husband feed the baby (he usually doesn't take a bottle from me)... he gets a lot of milk quickly and seems to stay up with dad to get the full feeding in then falls asleep.  I feel you with the cluster feeding - it happens sometimes but this is the hardest time right now with such a new baby - it gets easier! 
  • I pump at night because baby was doing this same thing and I worried she was not getting enough. This way I know for sure how much she is getting and that she's getting hind milk too so she'll stay full longer and we all get to sleep longer. This has really been a life saver for us. Otherwise baby would nurse ALL NIGHT LONG!!! :)
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  • Probably just a growth spurt.  For LO, they usually last about 3-4 days and then she's back to "normal" eating patterns.  Ride it out and try to use a paci when possible.
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  • I've had the same problem - I swear I have supply issues at night, despite what I read at kellymom.  As PP's have said, DH gives her a bottle of pumped milk in the evenings when the well appears dry - she's happier, gives DH a chance to participate/bond, and I pump what I can to keep supply up. 
  • I know it's rough in the beginning but it will get better.  Don't automatically assume that you have a low supply just because she is screaming and feeding on and off for awhile.  I have plenty of milk (an oversupply of about 9 ounces a day) and LO still has her moments of screaming and going on and off the breast.  For instance, tonight it took me 2 hours to get her to go to sleep for the night and she was screaming and didn't seem to like the breast.  It turns out she had a huge poop in her belly.  Once it was out, she still wasn't totally interested in feeding for another half hour.  She was going on and off and crying a bit.  I don't know what bothered her that time but she eventually fed and went to sleep.

    Your LO may just want to be held and suck for comfort.  They go through phases where their needs change.  Try to stay away from the formula as you will have to pump to make up that feeding and the pump doesn't work as well as just feeding the baby.

    I promise it gets easier.  I was thinking tonight how happy I was that I was BF since I would have likely wasted a bottle of milk when I thought she wanted to eat all that time.  Hang in there. 

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  • Thanks everyone for the encouragement and suggestions!!!  I will be trying them!!!  :)  Today she has allowed about 3-3.5 hours between wanting to eat, so I am hoping that continues tonight!!  I will be pumping just in case though, and documenting the times she wants to eat to see if I can get a definite pattern to try to feed her before she gets fussy in the future!  Thanks again!!
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