January 2016 Moms
kwentela
member
Breast/formula feeding Q&A and support
kwentela
member
I know as a FTM I have questions and concerns regarding feedings and love the support this board has brought to many women. Wanted to make a place for everyone to ask their questions regarding feedings no matter whether LO is breast or formula fed. Hoping this can be a place of only support which we all need!
I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to pump while breast feeding to increase my saved supply. I'm trying to pump in the morning and during LOs morning nap after a feeding but I'm only getting about 4oz between those two pumping sessions. Ive increased my water intake and eating oatmeal daily. I've tried to pump for a short time after every feeding but I've found that DS gets mad bc he's not getting enough during his feedings then and I end up having to feed him part of what I pumped. Also was just wanting to vent about hating the MOTN feedings. DS is 5.5 weeks old and breast fed and the 3am and 5am feedings are brutal! I think my month plus of sleep deprivation is finally catching up to me bc it's so hard to stay awake for the almost hour it takes to feed, change, feed and rock to sleep. Idk what Id do without my phone to keep me awake, but I've still dozed off a few times and it scares me.
Thanks ladies and bring on those questions and awesome support!
I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to pump while breast feeding to increase my saved supply. I'm trying to pump in the morning and during LOs morning nap after a feeding but I'm only getting about 4oz between those two pumping sessions. Ive increased my water intake and eating oatmeal daily. I've tried to pump for a short time after every feeding but I've found that DS gets mad bc he's not getting enough during his feedings then and I end up having to feed him part of what I pumped. Also was just wanting to vent about hating the MOTN feedings. DS is 5.5 weeks old and breast fed and the 3am and 5am feedings are brutal! I think my month plus of sleep deprivation is finally catching up to me bc it's so hard to stay awake for the almost hour it takes to feed, change, feed and rock to sleep. Idk what Id do without my phone to keep me awake, but I've still dozed off a few times and it scares me.
Thanks ladies and bring on those questions and awesome support!
Re: Breast/formula feeding Q&A and support
FTM here and my baby is little over 2 weeks. I EBF and want to start pumping so that when she's 4 weeks, we can bottle and breastfeed. Is it too early to start pumping? Any advice in general for pumping and storing is much appreciated! TIA!
Once we got home, I'd nurse him and then pump and I never seemed to get much after pumping. Not sure if LO was emptying my breasts, but I barley got enough for another feeding. I had to give him expressed milk every other feeding and pump then, so that I could get a good amount. He was still getting breast milk, just not exclusively by nursing from me.
Cluster pumping is something that many women do too. 10 min. of pumping, 10 min. off, for a total of 1 hour. Often times that produces a lot of milk for storage and some women don't need to pump as often.
This is my second and it's been going much better than it did with DS in the beginning but hasn't been without its challenges. DD latched within minutes of skin to skin contact but my milk came in a few days later and I've been painfully engorged the past couple days and ended up with mastitis in both boobs! I got on antibiotics which cleared it up in a day and am feeling much better now other than some seriously roughed up nipples.
It was recommended to me that as soon as I wanted to, I could start pumping. In the first couple days of being home, I pumped on the side he wasn't eating from. Now, at 3 weeks, he wants both boobs, so that doesn't work. I have tried pumping when he is done, but usually he wants to be on me again within 30 minutes or so, and would get frustrated.
Recently, he is getting frustrated in the later afternoon/early evening. We have been offering him a bottle at these times, sometimes expressed milk and sometimes formula. I pump when he gets the bottle, and still manage to get 3-4 oz, so not quite sure why he's getting frustrated. Overnight and morning, he breastfeeds without a problem. The most important thing is to figure out what works for your LO and you. I actually like the afternoon bottle feedings, because it gives DH an opportunity to feed and feel a little more involved.
So at the end of the day, we are all bound to be saying to our child(ren) at some point; "Don't eat that!" despite all of our efforts to feed them the best possible things before they were old enough to feed themselves.
@hannahduff3 have you tried massaging right around your areola before getting your LO to latch? Use 2 fingers to massage your areola and you should feel your nipple area start to soften up. It helps push some of the milk back and softens up your nipple so they aren't trying to latch on to what feels like a grapefruit. This helped me so much in the first week! Good luck!
Can you try and visit a lactation consultant? Most insurance companies cover it. They might be able to help you determine exactly why your latch isn't working (enforcement? Forceful letdown? Etc)
If bottle feeding isn't working, you can use a dropper, like the ones that come with liquid baby meds. You could also try using a spoon. Keep trying, momma! Hope things get better soon!!
I had an awesome maternity nursing staff when I had my son 2.5 years ago. He was born at 36 weeks and had dropped from 6lbs to 5.5lbs during our time in the hospital. They were very supportive of my desire to breastfeed. Because of his low-ish birth weight and loss of weight, they gave me a very strict regimen to make sure I would produce enough milk. Here's what they had me doing that led to my long-term breastfeeding success (Successfully breastfed for 11 months and never had any breast infections/mastitis. Hoping to breastfeed my daughter for 15 months when she arrives any day now):
- Breastfeed 15-20 mins/side (keep waking baby if he falls asleep while eating)
- Pump 15 mins/side (I used a double electric pump so I was able to pump both sides simultaneously) while bottle-feeding baby the pumped milk from the last pumping session (in the beginning, I needed hubby to feed the baby while I pumped. After a while, I was able to figure out how to pump and feed baby from a bottle at once)
- Give baby the tiny pre-mixed bottle of Similac formula for supplementing (this extra step was just because he was losing weight. Once his weight increased, we dropped the formula).
Repeat every 2 hours 24/7 (might be ok to stretch to 3 hours at night).
I dropped the formula after a couple of weeks and loosened it up to every 3 hours at night around the same time. When I went back to work, I pumped every 2.5-3 hours. During the times that my supply started to dip, I would continue to pump for 1-2 minutes after my milk stopped coming out. This would sometimes spark a second let-down.
The best piece of advice I received during my breastfeeding journey was that breastfeeding is supply and demand. That's why it can sometimes be counterproductive to supplement with formula and that's why it's important, if you're going to pump, to do it on a schedule that's very similar to baby's eating schedule. Your milk will react to how much it thinks it needs to produce.
Also, lactation cookies are yummy and can help! Google a recipe. The best ones for lactation contain oats and brewers yeast.
If I were you, I'd also see if there's a local breastfeeding support group, either at a local hospital or independent La Leche League meetings, or call the maternity ward at your hospital and make an appointment to see the lactation consultant that works there. She might have some additional suggestions for you.
Good luck! You can do it!!
Have you read "The Motherly Art of Breastfeeding?" I found it at my local library. It's got some great diagrams and tips on latching.
Also, you could make an appointment with the lactation consultant at the hospital where you delivered. She can give you hands-on support.
I had a friend with latching issues and it turned out that her nipples were inverted (she never knew, but they just didn't stick out as far as I guess they needed to). Her lactation consultant suggested she try nipple shields and it worked awesome. Maybe shields would help you?
So dd is 2 weeks old and is still 2.5 oz below birth weight, and that's after a feeding. I weighed her with a baby scale before and after and she only gained an ounce and half even though she ate for 45 minutes combined on both sides. Which is weird because I can usually pump more than that when I skip a nursing session and give her a bottle. But when she's done eating, I can't get anything out anymore with the pump. I'm trying to increase my supply so I can pump to create a stash for work. I'm drinking extra water and Electrolyte drinks, and pumping after each feeding, for 5-10 min after the last drops of milk come out. I'm even massaging. But it's like I can barely cover the bottom of the bottle. I'm scared to try fenugreek because I heard it can cause gas for baby, which she already has a ton of that I'm trying to deal with. I just don't know how to up my supply. I nurse at least every 2.5 hours except at night when it stretches to almost 3 hours.
I still can't get my baby to latch. She's 4 days now, and when she does latch she takes 2 sucks and comes off. It's like she doesn't want to work for it and just screams her head off. So I have to pump first, which is usually only a little bit and give her that then give her formula. Oh and I have to give the formula by syringe to avoid her getting used to a nipple in hopes that she may eventually decide to eat from the breast. I do this every time she wants to feed. It's very exhausting at night.....a 20 min feeding session takes at least an hour
Aug17 December Siggy Challenge: Funny Pics of Kids Afraid of Santa
I would also check that she has a good latch with an LC and that she doesn't have a tongue tie so you can make sure she's feeding efficiently.
Prior to this she was a great eater.
My question is, do newborns have times when they eat less? Like the opposite of cluster feeding? She is still sleeping well, and is alert when awake, and still gets wet and dirty diapers. Should I be worried and try to force more feeding time, or let her do what she is doing?
Aug17 December Siggy Challenge: Funny Pics of Kids Afraid of Santa
At this point, to eliminate possibilities, in really wondering if it would be better off (and less stressful on us both) to switch to strictly formula? Who knows what it could be in my diet... or it could just be the formula. But I feel like the 50/50 leaves me with a ton of variables. Opinions?
DS ended up completely formula fed and is huge, healthy, smart, and absolutely adorable