- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
October 2014 Moms
Breastfeeding Links & Talk
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Breastfeeding Links & Talk
ETA: I'm EBF.
Sometimes it's quick to pass and there are moments like right now where I'm struggling to get anything...
Foremilk and hindmilk aren't two types of milk. Your breasts produce one kind of milk, but as the milk sits in your breasts, the fatty cream rises to the top. So the first milk baby gets has a lower fat content and higher lactase content. If you notice green stool once or twice, there's no reason to worry or do anything about it. If the green stools are consistent, you can:
- Do breast massage before nursing to reincorporate some of the cream into the foremilk.
- Take care to allow baby to "finish the first side first." Don't nurse for some arbitrary amount of time on each breast, but nurse on one until baby has unlatched contentedly, and only then offer the second breast (or burp baby, offer the first breast again, and offer the second after that.
- If baby sleeps a long stretch or something and you're engorged, express a small amount before nursing baby.
1) I found a pea - sized lump in my breast. I'm trying to not panic, and started block feeding (for lots of reasons). It doesn't hurt. It's next to the nipple, but not on it. Any thoughts?
2) 2 hours is absurd for feeding, right? If I'm supposed to feed her every two hours, and you count from the time you start, then we just eat all day? A bottle is looking very attractive. I'd get to sleep at least an hour and a half every two hours.
Hallelujah.
Does the lump get any smaller after you nurse? Try some massage in a warm shower and a warm compress + massage before you nurse. If it's a plug, those things should help clear it. There are other recs for managing plugs in this thread.
How old is LO now? And is she back up to birthweight? At some point, you'll be told you can wake her every 3 hours to nurse at night, and then at some point you'll be able to stop waking her and just nurse on demand.
Caring for newborns is rough. It's relentless no matter how they're fed. There really is something to be said for sleeping when they sleep...little stretches throughout the day and night.
It does get better. They do sleep longer stretches, and they don't always nurse "like newborns." You'll hit a milestone or growth spurt or baby will start teething, and you'll realize just how much more sleep you were getting.
I'm just discouraged. A bottle would take 15 minutes. Our bf sessions are no less than an hour. I fell asleep feeding her this morning (laid back) and I feel like that's really dangerous.
Purp, I'm EPing and sometimes bottles take up to an hour too. She does the same thing she did on the boob. Falls asleep, etc. So it's not necessarily faster.
Eta: she lost more weight, that's why
So much of breastfeeding is psychological, and when you're stressed, you won't pump as much. The pump is also not cute, and the cuteness factor really matters. You love your baby, and the touch of her skin helps you produce milk. The massaging action of baby's jaw is very different from pump suction, and the cold plastic of the pump doesn't do anything for you love-wise...pumping also is a technique that takes practice.
I worry that if you don't get enough pumping to satisfy your doctor, you'll be bottle feeding when in reality there isn't a supply issue or a real need for it.
How is LO's weight gain? Could you call your LC and discuss your pedi's recommendation with her? Good luck!
He said she may be burning extra calories in these 2-hour sessions and like some suggested, she's just soothing, not eating or getting anything. We are trying a paci today for those situations. I hate that but. We are trying everything. She just seems so much more content after a bottle.
She also only took 1.5 oz just now. He wants 2.5 to 3. I can't force it but it seems curious. We will shoot for 3 hours instead of 4.
The closest person would probably be over an hour away. I'm pretty much stuck until Monday. I can ask about a weighted feed then but I doubt she will want me to be in her office for 2 hours while I feed. I don't know. But I will ask.
I just know our plan, based on what he said, was to feed her every 3 hours 3oz. And I'd pump while that happened. But if you think I need to pump more...I will. I'm just scared of oversupply. Which is what I thought I had until she got even skinnier.
The bit about a weak suck sounds like something. But every nurse and LC that had seen her said it looked good. I'll ask about that on Monday.
It's just difficult when we have appointments every day and people parading in and out of the house. Everyone else has held my baby more than I have.
DD1 never ate as much as her pedi said she needed to. She was only taking maybe 1-2 oz of pumped breastmilk per feeding at 1 week old. The most she ever drank at once was maybe 5 oz and she was on a bottle till she was a year old. She was a slow grower but healthy and consistent. We tried everyrhing to get her to eat more, too but nothing seemed to work. She also took a bottle every two hours until she was a year old so she was maybe more of a snacker anything.
1-2 per feeding is what we are getting in her. She seems content with it. I'm scared to force it.
My DD gets spitty after 2-2.5 oz with a bottle.
Regarding EPing, it is definitely more time consuming than BF long term. You are pumping and bottle feeding. I also didn't like that I missed out on snuggle time. However, for me BF was so painful and LO was never satisfied so EPing was the best choice for me and my family with DD1. I'm not sure how things will work this time, but no matter how things work out I'm going to try not to be hard on myself because an unhappy mommy is certainly not good for DD1 and DD2.
With pumping and BFing the LC consultant I saw recommended 15 minute pumping sessions so that's what I'm doing for now. If I switch to EPing I will probably increase to 20 minutes.
https://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/milkstorage/milkstorage/
For everyone doing weighed feedings, don't be too discouraged if they don't go as planned. They're really not the greatest way to tell how much milk LO is getting at every feeding:
Just like you are more hungry at some meals than others, and more hungry some days than others, LO's hunger level can vary from feeding to feeding, and thus how much milk he takes can vary from feeding to feeding. You're only going to find out how much milk was transferred at one specific feeding...
A weighed morning feeding might have a higher result than a weighed afternoon feeding, because your supply is highest and milk most abundant in the morning. More milk will often be transferred faster at earlier feedings too.
Fat content in milk varies from feeding to feeding, so LO sometimes will nurse less and take less milk at a feeding with higher fat content.
Anxiety can suppress a mother's milk ejection reflex, making a weighed feeding less productive because mom is nervous about the outcome.
Weighed feedings are a helpful tool in some situations and when done with a very accurate scale by an IBCLC. But I'll say again, don't be too discouraged if your weighed feeding doesn't go as planned!
(((Hugs))) to all the mamas struggling tonight!
So you might want to burp him when he unlatches on his own. Maybe you'll get a burp, maybe you won't.
Remember when you're supplementing that she is taking most of her total daily intake directly from the breast, so she doesn't need a 3oz bottle every 3 hours. Otherwise, there would be no reason for her to nurse. Maybe confirm with your pedi how many oz you should offer, and plan to save and freeze whatever else you've pumped.
Appointments might be unavoidable, but I would ask my DH to request no visitors for a week or two. People can drop off groceries or dinner or run errands for you, but this is your time to get to know baby, to recover from your birth, and to bond as a new family of three. Your baby will be available to hold for a long time yet, so no one needs to be showing up for visits right now. Have DH turn everyone away until you're rested and recovered and things are going well. This is his job.
Most mothers do experience some breast tenderness early on, and it usually disappears by the time your supply regulates, so between 4 and 6 weeks. With DS1, my breasts were tender only for the first couple weeks and then whenever I became engorged...usually during a growth spurt when he was nursing a lot more. DS2 will be 3 weeks old tomorrow and I am still experiencing some tenderness. Hopefully it will disappear sooner rather than later.
LO is officially only a day and a half old. At his 24 hour weight check he has lost 5% of his body weight. He seems to have a shallow latch, and I've often wondered if he is getting enough at each feed. I've been feeding him when he shows signs of hunger and letting him just hang out and do skin to skin when he's on the boob, but not eating. He's had great output in diapers. Since about 8 pm last night, he's had 4 pee diapers and 4 poop diapers. The nurses in the nursery said I should start pumping and feeding him what I pump after I feed him on each side. I've done it once, but he seemed to have an upset stomach afterwards.
From diaper outputs at his age, it seems like I'm feeding him enough. But the suggestions in the hospital make me think I'm not. Any advice?
Losing up to 10% of birth weight is common in the first few days. I would focus on nursing as often as you can (at least every 2 hours during the day and every 3 hours or less at night) and doing skin to skin when you are not nursing to encourage your milk to come in.
No need to pump. Follow @ss265's recs. Just nurse and snuggle.
Have you been supplementing with bottles? I would suggest holding off on any artificial nipples until BFing is going great! See if an LC can evaluate his latch and suggest some positions to help. Try to make sure he opens wide every time he latched by tickling his lips with your nipple. Good luck!