A Little help feeding please

[Missnurse]

Hi ladies

My LO is 2 days old and still quite sleepy, he had a very good initial first feed after birth but slept a lot the remainder of that day, that night he went from breast to breast for 3 hours but was still unsettled which turned out to be him being a bit mucusy. He fed ok yesterday but I'm finding it difficult as 1) my after pains are very bad during a feed and 2) my left nipple is really sore which will be my fault as I most likely haven't had him latched on right so now I can't feed him from that nipple only the right so at the minute I'm giving 2 bottles and feeding from the ok nipple in between, I'm worried that my milk won't come in right and that he won't be getting enough from my one nipple? Also when he's feeding he sucks quick then will gulp for a bit and then he does like a shuddering movement with his jaw then suck again, does this sound like he is actually taking milk?

 

[Katteh]

Hey, congratulations on your new baby!

I'm going to bullet point this as I feel it will be easier...

A couple of questions first:

- have you had a midwife or lactation consultant check baby's latch? If not, I'd highly recommend it. If there's a lot of pain like that then it suggest something isn't quite fit.

- when you have given a bottle, have you given formula? If so, did you express in place of those bottles?

Regarding the other things:

- On day two you should still only have colostrum, so you can't expect baby to get much, it is only when your milk comes in that you can expect lots of gulps when feeding.

- unless you put baby to the breast, your milk supply won't get the message that it needs to tell it how much milk to produce. Those first few days/weeks are essential to establish your milk supply. That's how your body knows how many babies worth of milk it has to produce. If you aren't feeding regularly then it won't know to produce enough milk, and you are likely to struggle to maintain your milk supply.

- you need to be feeding baby every 2 hours during the day, 3 at night ideally, if baby doesn't wake up then you need to wake it. Babies are often very sleepy and when they sleep a lot and skip feeds, they then run out of energy so just sleep more and don't have enough energy to feed. It's a vicious cycle.

- for the after pains I'd recommend taking regular painkillers, paracetamol and ibuprofen (in the uk) are fine. It won't last forever and it just means your uterus is shrinking down.

- if you're really struggling to feed from the sore nipple, try using nipple shields. As a last resort, express whenever baby is feeding from the other side as you really need to stimulate it otherwise you'll end up with a side that produces barely anything.

Hope that helps a little. Good luck!

 

[sheldonsmommy]

To add to Katteh, if your milk has already come in (you'll know this because they will be really full, uncomfortable and leaky at times when baby is crying), you will want to watch for sucking and swallowing with a ratio of 1:1 or 2:1. The shudder may be that milk is being let down very quickly and baby is trying to keep up?

But if your milk isn't in, there will be a multiple sucks before a swallow.

Also, in the first few days of breastfeeding, baby is learning how to breathe and feed rhythmically. It takes practice.

Lansinoh nipple cream is what I used for my nips. Works like a dream. I had scabs and it was excruciating for about a week because of a very strong, but improper latch.

Hope you guys get the hang of it soon!