@stellaluna14 Oooooh I'm going to go find some of that tomorrow, thanks!!! If you have a Trader Joe's near you, they have a chocolate peppermint almondmilk that is super delicious. It's been my hot cocoa replacement lately.
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!
I am so happy right now. For the first time in weeks, I actually had my other boob let down with the first. Really hoping that this is a sign of improving supply and it continues until I'm back to normal. I REALLY want to BF for a year.
I made my first homemade baby food last night...apples...it was so surprisingly easy! I put the peeled and cored/sliced (the most tedious part) in the steam basket of my rice cooker, ran to the store while they were steaming, then put them in my ninja blender and used the spout to pour the applesauce into 2oz freezer containers! LOVE IT! Bonus- everything is dishwasher safe
Love it, @kmurdock925!! I'm going to make some mashed banana cups tonight or tomorrow to freeze in anticipation. I bought a large bunch from Costco and I want to make sure to do something with them before they all go bad. I actually have some sliced apples....Also a Costco size purchase. Maybe I'll use some of those and do the same!
@TiffRox81I didn't even think about using my Sams card for making baby food!!! It is on the other side of town so I try to have a big list before going...I think that would do the trick! Tonight I am going to try carrots!!
Those of you making apple sauce, you can leave the skin on (still core) and just cook them a little longer before you purée them. Lots of vitamins in that skin
Do any of you have advice for babies with teething pain while eating? Q is cutting 2 more teeth and so I know it hurts him when he is nursing. He will nurse for a few min then scream out in pain and it takes a while to get him to get a full feed. I don't want to give him Tylenol every time he eats, but I just feel so bad for him. TIA
arhodes6 we haven't cut any teeth yet but have had serious periods of gum pain (maybe she'll get her 2 front teeth for Christmas?!) and we are bottle feeding now, not nursing but when she struggles with the bottle due to gum pain I will get a cold teether or let her suck on/chew an ice cube to numb her gums a little then she will eat just fine.
@kmurdock925 thanks I'll try ice before he Nurses next! I hope it works because it's super sad to hear him in pain and not have him nurse well.
Edited for an update: Q hated the wash cloth with ice, so we tried just trying the ice right on his gums and he screamed so loud you would have thought we were killing him. He nursed ok before bed but I knew he didn't get a full feed so he ended up waking twice in the MOTN to nurse, which he rarely does. We caved and gave him Tylenol at 1am and he slept much better after that but still woke a few times wanting to be held. Poor baby. I hope these teeth come through soon! I can feel them poking through the gums, but just barely. Come on teeth!
@arhodes6 poor baby! sorry to hear that I think we're back on the teething train too...ugh.
She used to sleep so well at night. She would just wake up once to eat but the past few weeks she has been up 5 or so times a night...all but one of them before midnight. I think she needs to eat more during the day. I was thinking about it and it has been a while since I upped her bottle size. I did the weight multiplied by 2.5 formula and we were a good 10-15 oz low!! In the past we had always been a few oz over. Plus with her basically crawling now and rolling like a fool she is burning way more calories. Praying that helps!
Lurking from October 16. I've been following this thread because it's nice to see what I'll be dealing with in the next couple months. I have a question, has anyone successfully breast-fed with the nipple shield? I've been using a nipple shield since week one and now I feel like her feedings are taking too long or she's not getting enough maybe because she has to work harder . I've been trying to latch her on without the shield but Failing
@Ladybug2821 Can I ask why you started using a nipple shield to begin with? We were able to successfully wean off a nipple shield, but it took awhile (we stared using it on the second day ). Our LC told us sleepy babies latch better. So we stated working with him latching without a shield only when he was very sleepy/half asleep. We were also advised to start a feeding off using the shield and then part of the way through, try to slide it off and get him to continue the feeding. It took a little while for that bait and switch to work lol Honestly at 2 months I felt like he was ALWAYS attached and eating. If you're worried she isn't eating enough have you tried seeing a lactation consultant and have her weighed before and after a feed to see her intake? I had simular feelings, and did take him in (we have an LC in the hospital he was born in, I can go in any time free of charge. Many WIC offices also have LCs, and we were told we can have him weighed any time/any reason just come in. So maybe some places to check). We were shocked to learn that he had taken in 3oz. They said as long as he was having enough wet diapers and showing weight gain it wasn't an issue (we only transitioned off of it for convenience plus he liked to try to grab and pull it). Hopefully that was helpful in some way, but LCs are a great resource for things like this. Good luck with your breast feeding journey!
@Ladybug2821We did finally, after about 3 months I think. Maybe earlier, but at the time I thought we'd be stuck using it forever. I tried a few times without and failed miserably, until one day I was at a restaurant and had left the shield at home on accident and LO was screaming and so I seriously just made him figure it out. It was not a fun way to do it, but it ended up for the best because I don't know that I would have tried quite that aggressively if I didn't have to. After that I offered without the shield and would only use the shield if he got too frustrated so he could get a little in his belly and calm down. Then I would take the shield off again and make him try again. I think that helped with the latch too. I used lanolin before and after just to protect from initial poor latches, but he really did pretty well. It was AWFUL without the shield when he was a newborn and any time I tried up until that point though. Definitely call a LC if you need help, but don't give up if you really want to get off the shield. It's also ok if you just need to keep using it though. If you're worried about intake and can't get the latch for now, you could pump some to supplement with a bottle maybe?
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!
@joberkiser I have been using a nipple shield since we got home from the hospital because I could not get her to latch and needed to make sure she was fed because she was losing too much weight. I've been trying without the shield but it seems like she doesn't open her mouth wide enough so she's doing a number in my nipples. When I am using the shield, like you said, it feels like I'm feeding her all day long which then makes me think she isn't getting enough. She does have plenty of dirty diapers and is gaining but I really don't have the time to sit and nurse all day long. Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm going to try to schedule an appt with an LC this week.
@winnie1122 my LO will be 2 months next week. I use the angel mamas nipple butter and that helps. Her latch isn't excruciating but if it continues on incorrectly I'm sure it'll get worse. I hate feeling like she isn't getting enough so there are days that I do give a bottle of BM but I like to save those on the occasion we actually go out. I'm glad your LO figured it out
Anyone have a baby thats going through a growth spurt and started cluster feeding in the middle of the night? The last 3-4 nights, M will sleep from 9/10-2ish and then from 2-6 is up every hour to nurse. And she's chomping down for a solid 15-20 minutes. I'm tired.
@LDSJM123 Not cluster feeding, but up around 3 or 4 for an extra feeding the last week. I've been taking advantage of the side-lying nursing position at those feedings. I can sleep while he eats, then he drifts back to sleep when he's done eating and I put him back in his R&P. It has made it much less painful for both of us, lol.
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!
Anyone have a baby thats going through a growth spurt and started cluster feeding in the middle of the night? The last 3-4 nights, M will sleep from 9/10-2ish and then from 2-6 is up every hour to nurse. And she's chomping down for a solid 15-20 minutes. I'm tired.
Eek, every hour - that is exhausting! I'm sorry mamma.
J is 5 months now. At 4 months we totally went through a growth spurt where he was probably feeding every 3 hours or so. Before 4 months, he'd go 6 or 7 hours between feedings at night. We'd put him to sleep at 7pm and he'd only get up once in the middle of the night around 2am to eat before waking up for the day at 7am.
After that he went back to "normal" for seriously about 5 days. Since then though, he's only been able to go 4 hours between feedings at night. So we put him down at 7pm. He wakes around 11, then 3am, then 7am.
We spoke to my LC yesterday and she said that as they get older, they need more, but *most* (not all, but most) EBF babies really can't and shouldn't eat more than 4-5oz per feeding. So that means more feedings to get what they need. Every hour is super rough though. Have you tried maybe letting her fuss a few minutes (like 5 mins) or giving her a pacifier to see if she'll settle down? Not to eliminate feeding her but at least to space them out more!
I could certainly try to be better about letting her fuss for a few minutes. She's still in our room either in the RNP or in bed with us. So I try to keep her quiet since my husband has to leave so early for work. I have done side lying nursing. At least before the clustering, I noticed she wouldn't eat as much (fell asleep fairly quick) and would be up again in a couple hours ready to eat as opposed to me just sitting up and feeding her. But since she seems to be up every hour anyways, might as well try it again!
Makes total sense about them needing to eat more frequently. I just miss the only up 1-2x a night. That was super doable. She has though, started going 4 hour stretches through the day, which for the first time in 5 months, feels like I get more done than just nursing her. So maybe the decrease during the day can be coorilated to the influx at night?
Update on everything: DS had a follow-up appointment and his weight is back up and stable. My supply has increased enough and we can start solids so I can continue to BF sans Formula supplements. And today I had my first spontaneous let down in almost 2 months! Yay for healthy babies and boobies!! Best Christmas gift ever.
Just got over having mastitis for the 2nd time . I was really enjoying breastfeeding while my week off with LO, it felt great not to pump. It is just so frustrating now that my supply is down and I am really struggling. I started allowing formula to supplement while my supply kicks back up and also to get her used to it, because I can no longer drive myself crazy with pumping, at first I felt like a failure, but now I am okay with it, I made it 5.5 months exclusively breastfeeding and although I wanted to make it a year, who cares? She can still mostly have breastmilk. Also I am really struggling with the transition to real food, right now I am letting her try purees at night and she is starting to get used to eating with a spoon and feed her the puree after breastfeeding. Should I be doing this more often? Should I continue to breast feed first then introduce the puree or the other way around? This process is really overwhelming me!
Ugh sorry to hear about the mastitis....I hear that is awful!!!!! Our ped said to always offer breast before food. Good luck with whatever you decide with breastfeeding!! Do what you gotta do. Just FYI there are fb sites to get donor breastmilk. I used Human Milk 4 Human Babies.
@adough27 Ugh, I'm sorry! I've had mastisis twice too, it succcckkkks. It sounds like you're doing what you can do, I would just say keep pumping as much as you can to get your supply back up and stable if you want to keep doing mostly breastmilk. If you're supplementing with formula and adding solids all at once, it might be harder to maintain much of a supply without extra sessions, especially after mastisis. But you do what feels right! As far as the transition to solids goes, I'm treating it like practice eating more than actual weaning right now, which takes the pressure off doing a particular schedule or anything. I got one of those baby bullets for Christmas which came with a really helpful booklet about what foods to start with and how many times a day to try them for each stage. Right now (if you're doing purees mainly, I know BLW is different) it just recommends a few tablespoons a day of just one type of food introduced every four days or so (to keep an eye out for allergic reactions). It's a nice slow steady pace and you don't need to replace feedings with the solids yet if you don't want to. My LO has been getting hungry more and more often lately, which may be a supply issue or may be just a growth thing, I haven't quite figured it out yet. So I feed him like normal and then if he starts acting hungry between regular feedings and I am able, I'll give him a solid "snack". Usually he's good after a tablespoon or two. I've only done avocados and bananas so far, following the four day rule because we're already dealing with allergies for him so I'm wary. I haven't even done it everyday, just when it seems like a good time. But if you want to start having a routine for your own sake, you could do something in the morning and something in the evening for now? Just don't put too much pressure on yourself, do what you feel is realistic with your schedule and routine and build up as you see fit.
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!
@austinjl thank you, that is a great solution, I didn't know you could buy other people's BM. I am going to give it a week to see if I could get my supply back up and decide my next steps from there.
@winnie1122, thank you so much, this eases my concerns! I just feel overwhelmed this week because it seems she is going through a growth spurt and just wants more food. I am trying to pump more at work and add another session at night, hopefully my supply increases with this, because I agree with that supplementing with formula is keeping me sane, I should be nursing more, especially when she woke up at 4 am last night hungry (which never has happened ). But I am also excited to introduce purees because she has become so interested in what I am eating. Frickin' mastitis, darn you!
Actually the one I listed is donation only so they don't allow any money to exchange hands. The only thing they will allow is giving storage bags to replace the ones given away. @adough27
Does anyone know if it's ok to drink one spark per day while breastfeeding? I stopped drinking it when I was pregnant but wondering if it's safe w feeding your baby inusually watered mine down not using full amount I could use some energy w all the sleepless nights
Q has been waking up a few times to eat the past few nights, which is pretty rare for us. When he wakes at night, he normally falls back asleep the second we pick him up, but not the past few nights. I had no clue why, especially because he has started solids, but I read from Kellymom there is a 6 month growth spurt, but then some sources say there isn't one. Anyone else dealing with this right now? I am pretty sure he is in a spurt due to how much he is wanting to nurse.
@adough27 my pedi said to due purée first, then offer boob. I've been doing this and have not seen an issue with him not wanting to BF or in a supply issue. We've also been trying something new every other day or so - I wait to see him poop out what we tried. So far all I've noticed a little diaper rash (very very minor) and I thinks it's because he's been extra gassy/poopy.
@arhodes6 I feel ya! DS has not been sleeping the best. He's been extra hungry and fussy and up 3-4x a night. I usually get a 3 hr stretch, a 3 hour stretch, a 1 hour, then he's up and wants to eat 2 times before leaving in the morning. It has really killed my first pumped amount But, he's definitely packing on for a growth spurt. He's getting all round and rolly and chunky. His 3-6s still fit length wise, but I can't get them around his chubby little arms/legs. Even his plain 6s fitting just perfect. So I'm expecting him to shoot up soon.
Interesting...I'll have to ask her again at our 6mo appointment tomorrow. Though we've kind of been going off of gut feeling with him. If he's at the table with us and wants some food (which he normally does), we will give him something. If he's not interested, then it is just boob after I'm done eating. Or last night I didn't think we should try anything new because he hadn't really pooped yet after his last new food.
Hubs had been begging to supplement formula to give me a break at night (I was an exact producer and going back to work hit my supply). I finally gave in because I was becoming a sleep-deprived monster and lo and behold, my supply dropped just as I feared. I have been pumping around the clock and power pumping like woah and finally got a decent amount today (after not getting to pump at work but that's a separate issue...). So happy to see this little one hitting the bottle with some hard-earned breast milk.
Hoping to at least make it through winter and then will probs call it quits
Congrats on getting more milk today! When DD1 was older I quit nursing her during the day and only did evenings. I was able to have enough milk for before bed for 6 months without any leaking during the day. It's amazing how our bodies can change how much we produce. So don't beat yourself up for not having enough milk! You could nurse only at home or quit altogether.
@holly142 That's interesting!! I was wondering about that myself...basically if I decided to go to just might nursing would things keep up. Good to know it's possible! Right now I'm still pumping before work and during work. Nursing in the evenings and overnight. I'm fine with doing things as I am right now. It if production becomes a real issue I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I wouldn't mind keeping a few feedings going if possible though!!
So at our 6 month appointment last week Q fell off the weight curve. He was 45th percentile at 2 mo, 15th at 4 mo and now at 8th. He has been waking up every 3 hours at night to eat for the past 3 weeks, which he usually doesn't do. I haven't had to do overnight feedings since he was maybe 3 mo. The pedi said that I should start supplementing with formula at night so that it hopefully fills him up and he can gain weight and I can get some sleep. I am having a hard time with this because I feel like if I can feed him I should. She also said my supply could be down because I might be about to start my period, I guess many moms start theirs around 6 months. I'm not sure what I wanted to gain from this post other than I needed to whine to people who get it...
Re: Feeding Your Baby
Edited for an update: Q hated the wash cloth with ice, so we tried just trying the ice right on his gums and he screamed so loud you would have thought we were killing him. He nursed ok before bed but I knew he didn't get a full feed so he ended up waking twice in the MOTN to nurse, which he rarely does. We caved and gave him Tylenol at 1am and he slept much better after that but still woke a few times wanting to be held. Poor baby. I hope these teeth come through soon! I can feel them poking through the gums, but just barely. Come on teeth!
She used to sleep so well at night. She would just wake up once to eat but the past few weeks she has been up 5 or so times a night...all but one of them before midnight. I think she needs to eat more during the day. I was thinking about it and it has been a while since I upped her bottle size. I did the weight multiplied by 2.5 formula and we were a good 10-15 oz low!! In the past we had always been a few oz over. Plus with her basically crawling now and rolling like a fool she is burning way more calories. Praying that helps!
*Edit because words are hard
J is 5 months now. At 4 months we totally went through a growth spurt where he was probably feeding every 3 hours or so. Before 4 months, he'd go 6 or 7 hours between feedings at night. We'd put him to sleep at 7pm and he'd only get up once in the middle of the night around 2am to eat before waking up for the day at 7am.
After that he went back to "normal" for seriously about 5 days. Since then though, he's only been able to go 4 hours between feedings at night. So we put him down at 7pm. He wakes around 11, then 3am, then 7am.
We spoke to my LC yesterday and she said that as they get older, they need more, but *most* (not all, but most) EBF babies really can't and shouldn't eat more than 4-5oz per feeding. So that means more feedings to get what they need.
ETA: words
Makes total sense about them needing to eat more frequently. I just miss the only up 1-2x a night. That was super doable. She has though, started going 4 hour stretches through the day, which for the first time in 5 months, feels like I get more done than just nursing her. So maybe the decrease during the day can be coorilated to the influx at night?
@kellz14
@winnie1122
@winnie1122, thank you so much, this eases my concerns! I just feel overwhelmed this week because it seems she is going through a growth spurt and just wants more food. I am trying to pump more at work and add another session at night, hopefully my supply increases with this, because I agree with that supplementing with formula is keeping me sane, I should be nursing more, especially when she woke up at 4 am last night hungry (which never has happened
@arhodes6 I feel ya! DS has not been sleeping the best. He's been extra hungry and fussy and up 3-4x a night. I usually get a 3 hr stretch, a 3 hour stretch, a 1 hour, then he's up and wants to eat 2 times before leaving in the morning. It has really killed my first pumped amount
I have been pumping around the clock and power pumping like woah and finally got a decent amount today (after not getting to pump at work but that's a separate issue...). So happy to see this little one hitting the bottle with some hard-earned breast milk.
Hoping to at least make it through winter and then will probs call it quits