That sucks a lot!!! Sorry you are dealing with low supply. Breastfeedingis such hard work, I imagine it sucks when it doesn't work as planned. Good luck to you @shaylalr
@shaylalr I'm so sorry you're dealing with this, especially after working so hard. Lots of hugs and I hope it starts getting easier, but I understand the heartbreak. ❤️
Married 6/1/13
BFP #1 7/2013 MMC 9/17/13
BFP #2 5/2014 MC 6/15/14
BFP #3 11/13/14 (Found in ER with ruptured cyst) Diagnosed MC 11/15/14
BFP #4 4/2015 MC 7/1/15
BFP #5 10/21/15 EDD 7/3/16 Praying for our rainbow!
@shaylalr it's not silly to be crying over this at all. I would be a mess, and lots of women who struggle with breastfeeding have emotions over not being able to feed their baby like they planned. But she got 4+ months of breast milk which is fantastic! So try to remember that you did your best and she will be fed and happy. You will still be providing for her by providing the formula. So you are doing an amazing job!
@Heathereaddy Her allergy was super severe. we tried the Similac alimentum and she still had a reaction. Now we're on Neocate. Since we switched she's been great.
@Heathereaddy While I was trying to eliminate allergens, they put him on the Similac Alimentum. It has a pretty awful taste so we had a lot of trouble getting him to take it, and he ended up being allergic to soy too, so we couldn't have continued to use it anyways since it contains soy. But as far as I know, it's the first choice for dairy allergies!
@arhodes6 Plugged ducts are the worst. I had so so many of them the first few months and they mostly have stopped, but I've had a couple come back the last couple weeks. The most effective things I've found are pumping after a hot shower and massaging the ducts (rub downwards towards the nipple and use lotion or oil when you do this, it makes a huge difference somehow), or make one of those rice-sock heating pads and use it to massage the duct if it's being really stubborn. If none of that works, hand express as much as you can, focusing on the clogged areas. I usually do that in a shower or bath too so the heat helps me out. Drink a lot of water too, being dehydrated makes them worse I think. Good luck, hope they clear up fast!!! eta: If they are getting bad overnight, my LC recommended only pumping enough to relieve pressure, but don't get up and empty out each time or your body won't get the message to chill out at night. After doing that a few nights my boobs could go all night without needing to be emptied at all.
Married 6/1/13
BFP #1 7/2013 MMC 9/17/13
BFP #2 5/2014 MC 6/15/14
BFP #3 11/13/14 (Found in ER with ruptured cyst) Diagnosed MC 11/15/14
BFP #4 4/2015 MC 7/1/15
BFP #5 10/21/15 EDD 7/3/16 Praying for our rainbow!
@shaylalr totally feel your pain. But it sounds like you've done all you can. You can always keep nursing, even if it's not for nutritional purposes. For bonding, especially since you both enjoy it.
Question for you mommas that venture out of the house for long periods - Do you ever bring bottled breast milk with you? If you're formula feeding my question still applies! How do you make/keep bottles warm now? Especially with cooler weather! Our babe will only take a warm bottle!! I was thinking of picking up one of those 12hr thermoses to either put warm milk or water into depending on what we're planning to feed. This issue presented itself this weekend when I had a couple beers and felt uncomfortable feeding her! Poor girl was so disappointed with the temp of the bottle.
I ordered a breast pump online a couple weeks ago and it's supposed to be delivered on Thursday and I'm so freaking excited!! I want to continue breastfeeding primarily but build a little freezer stash so I can reclaim a tiny bit of my pre-mom life. Like dinner with my husband that we both eat while it's warm.
Does anyone have any resources for pumping while still nursing on demand and not screwing up your supply? I don't know where to start.
Question for you mommas that venture out of the house for long periods - Do you ever bring bottled breast milk with you? If you're formula feeding my question still applies! How do you make/keep bottles warm now? Especially with cooler weather! Our babe will only take a warm bottle!! I was thinking of picking up one of those 12hr thermoses to either put warm milk or water into depending on what we're planning to feed. This issue presented itself this weekend when I had a couple beers and felt uncomfortable feeding her! Poor girl was so disappointed with the temp of the bottle.
Thermos is the way to go for water to keep warm to mix with formula. I vaguely remember seeing a car charger bottle warmer for travel as well so you could do both BM and FF.
@jennyleigh16- DD2 wakes up and eats about 2-4 times per night. On the nights she only eats 2 times, I pump as soon as I wake up since I have extra milk. I have about 10 bags in the freezer. DH gave DD2 a bottle today while I was at the dentist. Since I missed the feeding, I pumped as soon as I got home and froze it.
@austinjl- DD2 is only 5 months tomorrow so we are waiting 1 more month (she isn't quite sitting up by herself yet plus waiting until 6 months can reduce the risk of obesity and allergies). When we start we will make our own baby food for harder to eat things. Softer foods I will give her whole. So, a mixture of BLW and purées. With DD1 I was really excited to start and it ended up being kind of anti-climatic. However, I am kind of excited to start again!
@jennyleigh16 I usually pump after baby has gone down for the night if I need a bottle the next day for any reason, but it definitely is tricky to build a stash when nursing on demand! I needed babysitting today and felt bad because I didn't manage to get a full bottle pumped before my mom picked him up. It ended up being enough for the time she had him, but still. Basically just whenever you can fit an extra session in, and definitely pump if you miss a feeding due to baby getting a bottle while you're out or whatever.
Married 6/1/13
BFP #1 7/2013 MMC 9/17/13
BFP #2 5/2014 MC 6/15/14
BFP #3 11/13/14 (Found in ER with ruptured cyst) Diagnosed MC 11/15/14
BFP #4 4/2015 MC 7/1/15
BFP #5 10/21/15 EDD 7/3/16 Praying for our rainbow!
@jennyleigh16- DD2 wakes up and eats about 2-4 times per night. On the nights she only eats 2 times, I pump as soon as I wake up since I have extra milk. I have about 10 bags in the freezer. DH gave DD2 a bottle today while I was at the dentist. Since I missed the feeding, I pumped as soon as I got home and froze it.
This is exactly me too! Whenever M takes a really long nap and misses a feeding or only gets up once at night, I take that opportunity to pump and freeze. Also if I think ahead, my left side is my better producer. I'll give her my right sight in the middle of the night and again first thing in the morning. That'll have given my left side 8ish hours to super fill up, I routinely get 5-6oz on just that side when I do that first thing.
Anybody doing solids yet? Baby led weaning or make your own???? Does anybody feel nervous about getting started?!?!
We too are waiting until 6 months. M can not sit up on her own nor has she shown any interest in table food (we make sure to have her at the table with us.) We'll also be doing a combination of BLW/homemade purees. I still need to read the book on BLW, but I love the concept and idea of it!
@LDSJM123 Hahaha! Your pumping/feeding thoughts sound a lot like mine! I too have one that's better than the other. Depending on what/when she last ate off I sometimes offer her the lower producing side. For sure pump every morning after her morning feeding! I have about 10 bags frozen. Some days while pumping at work I've been able to store extra, as she's eaten less during the day than I've pumped. But it's amazing how quickly those bags go!! We have three holiday parties this month. My mom will be coming to stay with her those evenings. Luckily we don't plan on leaving until she's almost asleep which hopefully reduces what my mom will have to pull from the freezer, but it still worries me that I won't be able to replenish them.
I worked last night and it took me 20 minutes to get 2 oz total. I stayed up and pumped at midnight for another 2 oz. I just finished my period so I'm hoping that's all this was and I can bounce back quickly, but it was discouraging.
@schaze I hear ya on the supply issue. Only getting 2-3oz every 2 hours myself. I've had the perfect storm against supply happening the last few weeks. Hoping to bounce back soon.
@DachshundMomma Haha mine too, any time I eat he tries to steal my food! I was feeding him and eating out of a bowl over his head and I saw his little hand reach over the side of the bowl and grab it to pull it down. Especially if I eat popcorn, he desperately wants my popcorn.
Married 6/1/13
BFP #1 7/2013 MMC 9/17/13
BFP #2 5/2014 MC 6/15/14
BFP #3 11/13/14 (Found in ER with ruptured cyst) Diagnosed MC 11/15/14
BFP #4 4/2015 MC 7/1/15
BFP #5 10/21/15 EDD 7/3/16 Praying for our rainbow!
@winnie1122 I can't help but laugh when he does it. We haven't started food yet but he seems interested. He's only 17 wks so I'll be bringing it up with his pediatrician.
Oh yes tons of interest here too!!! It's like Christmas morning to her, watching food/drinks!! I don't think we're going to have any issues getting her to take to solids. We're waiting until the 6 month mark, which is only a few weeks away luckily! I'm as eager as she is I think, haha!!!
Our pedi told us to start solids, just for fun basically. My LO is 18 weeks and 18.9 lbs now. Carrots was not successful. He wasnt a fan and got a small diaper rash, so I waited until that cleared up (couple of days) to start something else. We tried squash last night and he LOVED it! It was adorable to watch him eat it with the spoon and learning how to swallow the food. We dont do it to supplement bottles or anything, just for fun to see what he likes and what he doesnt like and really for me to take adorable/funny pictures with food all over his face!
Our pedi told us to start solids, just for fun basically. My LO is 18 weeks and 18.9 lbs now. Carrots was not successful. He wasnt a fan and got a small diaper rash, so I waited until that cleared up (couple of days) to start something else. We tried squash last night and he LOVED it! It was adorable to watch him eat it with the spoon and learning how to swallow the food. We dont do it to supplement bottles or anything, just for fun to see what he likes and what he doesnt like and really for me to take adorable/funny pictures with food all over his face!
Same! I tried mixing potatoes in with formula. Jaxon didn't really care for it but it was mainly just to give him the right idea. I'm trying carrots sometime this week. He's a big boy for 18 weeks and shows so much interest in eating with a spoon. He can almost sit up by himself! I'm ready for him to start eating more solids. Tired of washing bottles if we are being honest!!
just had our 4mo visit n pediatrician said could start veggies if we wanted but im waiting until 6mo unless i def have a reason to start earlier. lil man is def curious and looks at my food n watches me eat it!
Gave my LO baby oatmeal with a few blobs of baby apples mixed in for breakfast and she LOVED it! The rice cereal backed her up but the oatmeal has kept her regular and she digs eating from a spoon!
We've been trying things here and there. Avocado was not a hit. It was adorable. He had this look on his face like "what is this?!" Banana he LOVED. trying carrots later today. We also are only doing food for fun not replacing any nursing sessions yet.
We've tried different flavours of baby rice and so far so good. No proper food yet but we're going to start that this week. Where I'm from weaning is recommended between 4-6 months for formula feeding. K is constantly trying to grab food from my hands and has even grabbed the spoon from me while I was feeding him. It went all over his head, he almost got it in his mouth a few times.
Plus every baby is different, some may start a bit earlier than others for weaning. You know your own baby and if they are ready for it or not.
@LF93 Same here, plus she stares intently at us whenever we're eating. Today we gave her the spoon with a bit of oatmeal and she put it straight into her mouth. after that she refused to let us feed her so we had to keep putting oatmeal on the spoon and then letting her do it. She made it in more often than not. We're only doing a couple of tablespons for now once or twice a week.
LO tried some of daddy's yogurt yesterday. It's the first thing we've tried on a spoon. He was so happy. Though he had no interest in the spoon other than to grab the food of it with his hands. We did have to give him so pedialite this week and bought a soppy cup for 3-4 month olds. He was happy being able to drink by himself.
We give DD baby oatmeal with apples in the morning and carrots in the evening, she loves it!! Next week I think we will switch up the fruit and veggie just to make sure there are no allergies
Although, I feel like once again I had to adjust my routine for the ever changing schedule of a baby...mornings have one extra step now...bah
LO refuses to eat unless she feeds herself. So feedings are extremely messy. Now she reaches for my fork or spoon when I'm eating or opens her mouth as I put it in my mouth. She's becoming so independent.
For anyone thats tried lactation smoothies/cookies how long did it take to show a result(increase)? Right away? Im trying to increase my supply and I drank a lactation smoothie and a lact cookie and some lact cookie balls and still havent noticed a diff. Didnt know if it take s acouple days to help or should I have seen an increase already the same day? I just dont want to waste my time with all this if it doesnt help.
Any interest in a specific thread for those of us who are doing, or considering, Baby Led Weaning (BLW). Come to ask your questions, share stories or recipes, and navigate through the mess? Posted on the December randoms too.
Re: Feeding Your Baby
For those with babies with dairy allergies who are supplementing or formula feeding, what formula are you using?
@arhodes6 Plugged ducts are the worst. I had so so many of them the first few months and they mostly have stopped, but I've had a couple come back the last couple weeks. The most effective things I've found are pumping after a hot shower and massaging the ducts (rub downwards towards the nipple and use lotion or oil when you do this, it makes a huge difference somehow), or make one of those rice-sock heating pads and use it to massage the duct if it's being really stubborn. If none of that works, hand express as much as you can, focusing on the clogged areas. I usually do that in a shower or bath too so the heat helps me out. Drink a lot of water too, being dehydrated makes them worse I think. Good luck, hope they clear up fast!!!
eta: If they are getting bad overnight, my LC recommended only pumping enough to relieve pressure, but don't get up and empty out each time or your body won't get the message to chill out at night. After doing that a few nights my boobs could go all night without needing to be emptied at all.
Does anyone have any resources for pumping while still nursing on demand and not screwing up your supply? I don't know where to start.
Plus every baby is different, some may start a bit earlier than others for weaning. You know your own baby and if they are ready for it or not.
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DS#1 July 2016
Baby #2 July 2018
Although, I feel like once again I had to adjust my routine for the ever changing schedule of a baby...mornings have one extra step now...bah