Anxious baby is starving

[krulci]

I'm feeling super paranoid and anxious about DD (15 days old) eating. Her eyes got red, this morning, and she seems extra tired. I'm worried she's slowly starving. As of yesterday, she was back at birth weight, though she was gaining much more rapidly (2oz/day) during her first week (she was weighed daily because we were still in the NICU). I'm waking her up every hour to eat, even though she only sucks for a few minutes (~7 mins), and I plan on pumping in between to boost my supply. How do I know if I'm giving her enough?? Everything is so vague!

 

[eyemom]

How's she doing with her diapers mama?

 

[Anniebobs]

I would suggest not waking her every hour, her eyes could be red from being overtired. If she's back at her birthweight there's no harm feeding on demand - it'll give your milk time to replenish and mean she gets a bigger meal when she does feed so she'll feed longer and get more of the fatty milk. Also don't forget to take care of yourself, give yourself time to rest and snack lots (have things like carrot sticks and bananas on hand for feeding time) it'll make your milk better which will also ensure she gets enough. Also don't worry so much, if you're having wet and dirty nappies chances are she's doing great!

 

[noon_child]

I would suggest not waking her every hour, her eyes could be red from being overtired. If she's back at her birthweight there's no harm feeding on demand

This would be my advice for a full term birth but I'm not sure if it is different for preemies.
OP: 7minute feeds isn't unusual for newborns as they are so sleepy - even more so if being woken for feeds. Also ever baby feeds differently and every woman's breasts contain different numbers of milk ducts, so length of feed can't really indicate how much milk is being taken. Poo and wee output is a much better indication.

it'll give your milk time to replenish and mean she gets a bigger meal when she does feed so she'll feed longer and get more of the fatty milk.

I'm not sure I agree. Milk doesn't need to replenish as it can be made as a child feeds - although baby might have to work harder and be patient. Yes when feeds are spaced out you may be able to feel milk being stored in your breasts as they get full, but this isn't how breasts are supposed to work. They don't have any structures in them for storing lots of milk as they produce it on demand. Spacing feeds out too far can lead to engorgement which has its own issues (blocked ducts, poor latch etc.). If you have been told that you can now feed on demand because back to birthweight then I'd trust your baby knows when she's hungry but please feel free to wake her to feed if you are getting uncomfortably engorged to avoid these issues.

Also don't forget to take care of yourself, give yourself time to rest and snack lots (have things like carrot sticks and bananas on hand for feeding time) it'll make your milk better which will also ensure she gets enough. Also don't worry so much, if you're having wet and dirty nappies chances are she's doing great!

Agree - you need to care for yourself definitely!

It's really all up to you mama what you decide is best in your situation. Understand why people are giving the advice they are (i.e what problem they want to avoid etc.) and then you have to decide if this makes sense to you in your situation.

And remember none of this lasts forever - these newborns are different everyday - hang in there!

PS: The red eyes may be a virus etc. so if it doesn't improve or you are at all concerned then please seek medical advice a I have no idea what this could be.

 

[eyemom]

Yeah I was holding out to see what diapers were like but yes, I do want to reiterate not to worry about 7 min feeds. Mine did that too when she was newer, and it can be confusing when you're getting all kinds of conflicting advice even from your healthcare workers. I'm just thinking back to when I had dd1 and some would say whatever goes, others would say don't let her snack or she'll be on your breast constantly. Then this time with dd2, they were trying to push 10 min minimum feedings. It can be hard at first to determine how much is sleepy newborn vs is she actually full.

In my case, so your results may vary, mine had shorter feeds, but her tummy was still so little, and my milk came out so fast, she was getting what she needed. When she was really new though, and I really thought she was just falling asleep too soon, I'd feed her until she passed out so maybe just a few minutes. Then I'd change her diaper which would wake her up enough to finish eating. I'd try to resume on the same side at least at first if she'd only been at it a very short time.

I also had a bit of a foremost/hindmilk imbalance (it seemed to me to be a real thing but I guess it's up for debate), so dealing with that helped a little too I think, but I'll save going into that because it could be bad advice in the wrong scenario.

 

[Anniebobs]

I would suggest not waking her every hour, her eyes could be red from being overtired. If she's back at her birthweight there's no harm feeding on demand

This would be my advice for a full term birth but I'm not sure if it is different for preemies.
OP: 7minute feeds isn't unusual for newborns as they are so sleepy - even more so if being woken for feeds. Also ever baby feeds differently and every woman's breasts contain different numbers of milk ducts, so length of feed can't really indicate how much milk is being taken. Poo and wee output is a much better indication.

it'll give your milk time to replenish and mean she gets a bigger meal when she does feed so she'll feed longer and get more of the fatty milk.

I'm not sure I agree. Milk doesn't need to replenish as it can be made as a child feeds - although baby might have to work harder and be patient. Yes when feeds are spaced out you may be able to feel milk being stored in your breasts as they get full, but this isn't how breasts are supposed to work. They don't have any structures in them for storing lots of milk as they produce it on demand. Spacing feeds out too far can lead to engorgement which has its own issues (blocked ducts, poor latch etc.). If you have been told that you can now feed on demand because back to birthweight then I'd trust your baby knows when she's hungry but please feel free to wake her to feed if you are getting uncomfortably engorged to avoid these issues.

Also don't forget to take care of yourself, give yourself time to rest and snack lots (have things like carrot sticks and bananas on hand for feeding time) it'll make your milk better which will also ensure she gets enough. Also don't worry so much, if you're having wet and dirty nappies chances are she's doing great!

Agree - you need to care for yourself definitely!

It's really all up to you mama what you decide is best in your situation. Understand why people are giving the advice they are (i.e what problem they want to avoid etc.) and then you have to decide if this makes sense to you in your situation.

And remember none of this lasts forever - these newborns are different everyday - hang in there!

PS: The red eyes may be a virus etc. so if it doesn't improve or you are at all concerned then please seek medical advice a I have no idea what this could be.

Ah I didn't realise OPs baby was a preemie. My DS was a 36 weeker but was only in SCBU for 2 days (combined care though) and we were told to wake him every 2 hours until he hit his birthweight. But as you say this advice only applied to me in my situation so it may not apply to OP. By replenishing the milk I meant that for me the longer that goes between feeds, the better settled DS is and the less runny poos we get (seemed to me that early on he was getting too much foremilk). This was when he was trying to feed every half hour and feeds of every 90 minutes worked better for us. He's 8 weeks now and it's less of an issue, he tends to naturally feed every 2 hours unless he's unsettled. It does get better!

 

[AnonymousCAT]

My DS was born at 35 wks and I was told to wake him every 3 hrs to bf if he didn't wake himself. This meant we were getting the minimal 8 bf in per day and I could get some rest. My DS takes a long time to feed though and in the be beginning I would have to stimulate him a lot to push him through the feed. Ie he would feed longer if I touched his face, head, feet, jiggled his arm, touched him with a wet wash cloth, fed him skin to skin, waked him up with a diaper change In the middle of the feed when. I thought he was done then fed on the other side, and used breast compression. Waking to feed every hr seems like a lot to me and would have been unsustainable due to my energy level. I was told that when DS reached his due date we could switch to feeding on demand, but he typically stayed with his schedule. If lo has the right number of dirty and wet diapers each day and are gaining weight then I wouldn't worry. And if you don't mind bf every hr then go for it. But if you want to spread time between feeds you could try stimulating your lo through the feed to make them feed for longer but less often.

 

[noon_child]

My DS was born at 35 wks and I was told to wake him every 3 hrs to bf if he didn't wake himself.
... I would have to stimulate him a lot to push him through the feed. Ie he would feed longer if I touched his face, head, feet, jiggled his arm, touched him with a wet wash cloth, fed him skin to skin, waked him up with a diaper change in the middle of the feed when I thought he was done then fed on the other side, and used breast compression.
...I wouldn't worry. And if you don't mind bf every hr then go for it. But if you want to spread time between feeds you could try stimulating your lo through the feed to make them feed for longer but less often.

It's odd how different the advice is isn't it. My baby was full term with maximum Apgar at birth etc. and yet we were told to wake for feeds every 2hrs! I use to do like you and keep trying to get her to stay awake for longer feeds with nappy changes etc.