Breastfeeding

cant keep up... :(

So my LO was born with stomach issues which ended up requiring surgery at 3 weeks old. We were in the hospital for 1 week, and I pumped a lot of milk, because I couldnt feed him. After the surgery, he went from eating 2 oz a feeding ( and throwing it up) to now at 5 weeks, he is eating what seems like over 4oz every 2 hours. My supply has totally tanked and within 2 weeks, I have burned through my entire freezer stash and this morning I had to give him formula. I feel so defeated! I had thrush, and now I have a majorly clogged duct, and I think both of these things have affected my supply.  We started giving him the bottle with BM almost right out of the hospital because he was so hungry and not satisfied at my breast.  I really really really desperately want to keep  breastfeeding, but dont know what to do...   Is 4 oz every 2 hours an insanely large amount for a 5 week old?  Im afraid that my body is telling me that I can't keep up
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Re: cant keep up... :(

  • I'm sorry you're having a rough time.  Sounds like he might be hitting the 6 week growth spurt, which can be a doozy.  It's really important to nurse, nurse, nurse.  That's how he tells your body to increase production.  It's easy to overfeed babies with a bottle because the milk comes out with hardly any effort and babies tend to like to continue sucking for comfort even when they're done eating.  So I would ditch the bottles for a while, or at least cut back on them and just stick him on the boob whenever he seems hungry.  If you do have to give him a bottle, make sure you pump to replace that missed feeding.  It's normal with a newborn to feel like all you do is nurse, it's not a sign that you're not making enough milk.  You know he's getting enough if he's gaining weight and making enough wet/dirty diapers. 
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  • My DD is the same age, and while we had a smooth start to BF vs the road bumps you hit, I'm also now not able to produce enough to keep up with her demand.  My pedi said she should be eating about 4oz every 3 hours or so (less 1 longer stretch at night), and i'm only pumping about 1.5oz an hour after bf, or 3oz or so when i skip bf for giving a bottle.  She is only 8lbs, so that might be so she can catch up adding weight a little bit.  I'm sad and feel inadequate, but if I keep pumping I hope my supply will inch up and in the meantime I'm going to have to supplement 1-2oz of formula after each feeding.  Good luck!
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  • imagemeg211:
    My DD is the same age, and while we had a smooth start to BF vs the road bumps you hit, I'm also now not able to produce enough to keep up with her demand.  My pedi said she should be eating about 4oz every 3 hours or so (less 1 longer stretch at night), and i'm only pumping about 1.5oz an hour after bf, or 3oz or so when i skip bf for giving a bottle.  She is only 8lbs, so that might be so she can catch up adding weight a little bit.  I'm sad and feel inadequate, but if I keep pumping I hope my supply will inch up and in the meantime I'm going to have to supplement 1-2oz of formula after each feeding.  Good luck!

    Our ped gave us the same bad advice.  If she is gaining weight than you are making enough.  The pump is not as efficient as your lo and is not an accurate measure of how much milk you are producing.  The biggest mistake I made was giving formula.  It completely messed up my supply.  I hate to see other moms end up in the same situation because their ped gave them some random figures.  Kellymom has a calculator so you can see how much your lo should be eating (and 4oz would be at the very high end for any BF baby that young).

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