Anxiety over breast feeding and a bunch of questions...

[Itsychik]

First of all let me say that I would really, REALLY appreciate some advice as I'm feeling a little lost...

For some brief background info, when my DS was born it took 5 days for my milk to come in and then things went great for a week before suddenly going 'downhill' and he had no/slow weight gain for weeks (despite near constant feeding) and after trying everything under the sun (and under LC guidance) my supply never increased and we had to combi-feed the entire 8 months I was able to bf.

I've just had my second baby 9 days ago and desperately want to be able to ebf this time around. My whole pregnancy I've been nervous/worried about bf'ing as I felt like such a failure last time. This time so far things have been going so much better--it's too good to be true and I'm afraid it will end any moment. Milk came in earlier and DD was up to (and above) her birthweight by a week old. Problem is I'm just doubting everything. DD has started going a lot longer in between feeds (4 - 5 hours during the day and up to 6 hours at night, and then often only on one side) and I'm sooooooooo afraid this is going to affect my supply. I've tried waking her or feeding her more often but most times she just refuses to feed until she's ready. So I've been pumping irregularly (either on the side she doesn't feed from or if I think she didn't empty the breast enough) but I'm just afraid that I'm doing it all horribly wrong and that after another week everything will go downhill like it did with my DS.

So I guess my questions are:
1) what kind of guidelines would be good to follow when knowing when to pump? Should I try to develop a pumping schedule?
2) what do other people do when their LO's only feed from one side? Do you just leave 6+ hours in between feeds? Has your supply suffered?
3) how to cope with all the worry/anxiety?

Most people just tell me to feed on demand and trust my body to regulate but I tried that last time and never recovered, so this time I'm desperate to increase supply from the start but I'm constantly second guessing myself and don't know what's right/wrong...

Advice is greatly appreciated

 

[noon_child]

At nine days old my LO only ever took one side at a time. I think it was week three when she was big enough to want both sides. I used to pump the side she didn't eat from first thing in the morning but only to ease my discomfort, and then later on I did it because her latch was bad an I needed to have some milk to syringe feed her.

Pumping can cause oversupply though which can mess with the latch - so it isn't a problem free solution.

If she is gaining weight and has alert periods then I'd say trust to feeding on demand but in those early days they are sooooo sleepy and going long stretches between feeds can make them more sleepy and it goes downhill from there - it is such a mine field isn't it?

Can you try having her in a sling/carrier, as I read somewhere they can be more inclined towards dreamfeeding and snacking on milk regularly if the boobs are right there.

Sorry I can't be more help. Good luck

 

[Popples1]

My LO is a lazy boy and would rather sleep than feed. I was advised to feed him every 3 hours and express after each feeding to get my supply up. It's been hard though because I've either been feeding or expressing pretty much constantly. It'd be much better to demand feed but I understand about not trusting your body. If you LO is putting on weight I don't think you have much to worry about though. Maybe she's just an efficient feeder? x

 

[luna_19]

My baby was quite sleepy in the beginning so I always fed one.side.them pumped and bottle fed the other side until he got better at feeding on his own. You could do every 2 hours during the day and every 3-4 at night. You can also pump the side he already fed from to help.increase your supply. Good luck

 

[sheldonsmommy]

I, like you, would pump irregularly. I pumped from one side in the morning to relieve engorgement while he fed on the other side. During the day if he only wanted one breast, then yes, I would leave the other until he wanted to eat next.

Eventually your supply will regulate and be exactly what your lo needs.

With my first son, my supply went way down and he ended up losing half a pound because of numerous reasons, but mostly because I just 'trusted' my body (even when I wasn't feeding on demand, trying to work, etc). But this time around I know that weight gain + dirty diapers = enough bm.

Sounds like you're doing great already though!