It seems whenever DH/FIL watch LO they have NO problems with her... literally... no fussing, no crying (unless hungry tired wet etc). When shes with me she whines and fusses almost ALL day. DH and I got into an argument last night because its like hes telling me hes a better parent. I went back to work last week (only 1 day 12 hours). I EBF so I left pumped bottles. She was apparently still hungry so DH fed her 2 oz of formula- I leave 4 oz bottles. I guess she was still fussing so he made her the extra bottle and she chugged it down and was content. So ok she was a little extra hungry. So all weekend and today I fed her on demand like usual and she was her usual fussy for me all weekend and today. hence DH comment about her not being fussy with him... "maybe shes still hungry and not getting enough from your boobs?" I snapped back insisting on him being wrong. Well today LO was her usual fussiness and I kept feeding her thinking maybe a growth spurt? Then after I was completely drained- LO would suck and pull and even massage and hand expressing I would get like 1/2 a drop... so I gave her a 2 oz bottle of formula... she sucked it down like nothing and was content and even napped for almost 2 hours! Unheard of in the last month (at least for me). Now I feel like Im not being able to feed her enough. I pumped 3 times today after feedings and after I fed her extra formula. Im taking mothers milk and having oatmeal for breakfast. I DONT want to lose my milk and Im petrified Im going to
DH has been really supportive saying you BF for 3 mos thats great some women cant even do that formulas ok etc etc... I just dont want to lost my milk. My goal was to BF at least 1 year and idk if Ill make it. I figure Ill just keep trying and pumping as much as humanly possible and hope I dont dry up...
thanks for listening/reading
Re: I could just cry...
If you're really worreid about your supply, try fenugreek. It's brought my supply up twice now - once during a growth spurt and once after I had a stomach flu and my supply plummeted.
As for the fussiness, I'll just say that my baby is definitely more fussy around me too, and it's definitely because they smell the milk. My son might be perfectly content chilling out cooing and playing with his toes, and I go up to him and suddenly he's fussy and wants to eat. That's all it is - you aren't a worse parent!
I drink mother's milk tea and take 12 capsules of fenugreek daily.
I am an exclusive pumper and I still have a low supply, but I am able to give my baby 14 ounces of breadtmilk per day.
The meds and tea are slowly increasing my milk.
I pump 5 times per day, but if I could fit in more pumpings, I know my supply would be even better.
I am not stopping until a year. (even if my supply is low).
Some breast milk is better than none
wow, my daughter would never have been satisfied on 14 ounces. of breastmilk a day at that age! but she is a piggy
we were giving her three 4 ounce bottles of breastmilk at daycare at that time, but she was also nursing three to four times at home for a total of about 25 ounces a day.
I totally understand. I also am starting to lose my supply. I take 9 fenugreek pills and eat oatmeal almost everyday, but I'm only pumping about 10 oz and DS goes to daycare with 15. I nurse him at home at night to try to stimulate things a little more and I nurse on the weekends, but lately I'm dipping into my freezer stash more and more and am afraid that we're headed the formula route also. My plan to was BF at least 9 months (when we'll start TTC #2). We're only at 4 months now and it's getting hard.
I know in my head that it's not the end of the world and that lots of babies are on formula and are totally happy and healthy. It's just like a personal failure that I wasn't able to keep up. All that matters in the end, though, is that we have happy, healthy babies. You did your best to BF when you could and if you have to switch to formula it's ok. Any BM is better than no BM.