B/f getting me down

[Furball]

This breastfeeding is not as easy as it looks when someone else is doing it! My LO is now 17 days old and this constant feeding is getting me down. I still have latching problems because he doesn't always open his mouth wide enough and then he gets frustrated and constantly crys.

My boobs are never full enough so he never seems satisfied and doesn't sleep for longer than 30 minutes at a time. I have tried pumping but it hardly seems worth it just for a few drops and my nipples are twice as sore then. The easy thing would be to give top ups of formula but I am scared that my milk will totally dry up then. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sam's mum]

I know how hard it is at first, but it does get so much easier. The first 6 weeks are by far the hardest when they're feeding constantly. You'll find you're not always feeding once he starts getting a bit more efficient at getting the milk out, and their stomachs do grow pretty quickly (info on how much their stomachs can hold here: https://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html) so he'll soon start taking a bit more at each feed too, and lasting a bit longer in between.

Do you have a local breastfeeding clinic or a lactation consultant that you could see about his latch? We had loads of problems at first too because Sam's latch wasn't great - I was in so much pain, but once we'd sorted it out it did get better quite quickly (and that also helped with the amount of time that I was spending feeding him, as it takes them so much longer to get milk out if the latch isn't right).

It's quite normal to feel that you don't have enough milk, but that's probably not the case - breast milk is digested so quickly (within 2 hours) so it's normal for young babies to want fed again not long after the last feed - especially if each feed takes a long time. My boobs only really ever felt full in the mornings when Sam had gone a bit longer between feeds and by the evenings I felt as if I had nothing left - but we're still going at 6 months.

If you do want to carry on exclusively breastfeeding try to avoid giving formula to top up if you can, as all that extra sucking when it feels like you don't have enough is just stimulating your body to produce more milk - it takes a few days but it will get better! x

 

[Whisper]

I agree with Sam's mum. It might not seem like it but every day does seem to get a little easier, my LO is nearly 4wks old and things have gotten immensly better for us both over the last week. I can really sympathise with the pain, but once you start getting the latch right, its just sooo much easier.
The initial few sucks are always a bit painful for me still but once she is on properly the rest of the fed doesn't hurt at all, and she is done in about 15/20mins. (10mins if she is super hungry!)
I think if you really want to continue with B/F you should get some help/advice to help with latching on but the longer you continue with it the better your LO will become and the less painful for you.
If it is too much for you hun you shouldn't feel bad about switching to formula, you need to do what you feel most comfortable with, as long as your LO is getting fed thats all that really matters.

 

[ryder]

I think you should find a consultant to help you. No one here can tell you how much milk and if your producing enough, because we arn't there!

Lots of women give top ups or substitute feeds with formula, this will NOT cause your supply to go down. If your finding your too sore and wish to substitute a feed for formula (alot of women here give a formula feed at night before bed as they find their baby sleeps longer). And then perhaps try and pump a feed so you are still stimulating the milk production.

Neither the pump or the baby will work properly if they arn't latched correctly though.

Good luck!

 

[Holldoll]

Lots of women give top ups or substitute feeds with formula, this will NOT cause your supply to go down.

Do you have evidence of this? Everything I've read says that not letting baby have a full feeding on the breast will make you not produce enough to fill the baby up.

I agree you should definitely find a lactation consultant. That was the best part of being in the hospital for 5 days after having her. I saw the LC sometimes twice a day, it helped IMMENSELY with the latch.

 

[Furball]

I think you should find a consultant to help you. No one here can tell you how much milk and if your producing enough, because we arn't there!

Lots of women give top ups or substitute feeds with formula, this will NOT cause your supply to go down. If your finding your too sore and wish to substitute a feed for formula (alot of women here give a formula feed at night before bed as they find their baby sleeps longer). And then perhaps try and pump a feed so you are still stimulating the milk production.

Neither the pump or the baby will work properly if they arn't latched correctly though.

Good luck!

I live in England so I don't know if we have lactation consultants here, I didn't see one in hospital. I just help from the midwives who were obviously very busy and could only help me when they could. I have been told that mixed feeding does reduce milk production.

I would love to continue b/feeding because my middle child had expressed milk and has no health problems whilst my eldest has a lot of eating issues and remains underweight.

 

[Furball]

I agree with Sam's mum. It might not seem like it but every day does seem to get a little easier, my LO is nearly 4wks old and things have gotten immensly better for us both over the last week. I can really sympathise with the pain, but once you start getting the latch right, its just sooo much easier.
The initial few sucks are always a bit painful for me still but once she is on properly the rest of the fed doesn't hurt at all, and she is done in about 15/20mins. (10mins if she is super hungry!)
I think if you really want to continue with B/F you should get some help/advice to help with latching on but the longer you continue with it the better your LO will become and the less painful for you.
If it is too much for you hun you shouldn't feel bad about switching to formula, you need to do what you feel most comfortable with, as long as your LO is getting fed thats all that really matters.

My little one only feeds for about 10 minutes at a time and the rest of the time just nibbles. However he is never satisfied. Would I be able to get someone to come over to my house or do I have to go to a clinic for help?

 

[claire1983]

I would get hold of your health visitor or midwife to get help with the latch - there are people out there to help you - dont give up!

 

[marley2580]

supplementing or topping up DOES affect your supply as your body will not get the cues it needs to produce the amount needed. Furball, call your midwives and ask them about breastfeeding support, there are loads of things out there like support groups. Hang in there

 

[Whisper]

I agree with Sam's mum. It might not seem like it but every day does seem to get a little easier, my LO is nearly 4wks old and things have gotten immensly better for us both over the last week. I can really sympathise with the pain, but once you start getting the latch right, its just sooo much easier.
The initial few sucks are always a bit painful for me still but once she is on properly the rest of the fed doesn't hurt at all, and she is done in about 15/20mins. (10mins if she is super hungry!)
I think if you really want to continue with B/F you should get some help/advice to help with latching on but the longer you continue with it the better your LO will become and the less painful for you.
If it is too much for you hun you shouldn't feel bad about switching to formula, you need to do what you feel most comfortable with, as long as your LO is getting fed thats all that really matters.

My little one only feeds for about 10 minutes at a time and the rest of the time just nibbles. However he is never satisfied. Would I be able to get someone to come over to my house or do I have to go to a clinic for help?

I think you can get someone to come over to your house, when i was talking with my MW before she discharged me she said that they would sometimes come over and spend over an hour or so with you coaching and helping with any b/f issues.
I was given this website add although i must admit i haven't looked at it myself yet...https://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/

It may seem a stupid question but how do you know he isn't satisfied? I mean, if my LO is still hungry then she will keep sucking, she does have a break and will occasionally just comfort suck for a few minutes before she 'drinks' again....is this what your LO does?

A little tip it might help, but when my LO has finished i always 'squeeze' out a small amount of milk at the end just to see what type of milk she has been getting, if it is still quite watery then i know she won't be full and hasn't had any hind milk yet....maybe try that and see what milk your LO is finishing on...?

 

[sam's mum]

The hospital where I had Sam runs a weekly breastfeeding clinic, so there might be something like that near you. There are a couple of numbers you can call as well for advice, and they might be able to recommend someone local you can see or a clinic you can go to:

La Leche League 0845 120 2918

The Breastfeeding Network 0844 412 4664 (if you call from a landline you get put through to someone local - they're all mums who are breastfeeding or have in the past so the support is really good)

 

[sam's mum]

It may seem a stupid question but how do you know he isn't satisfied? I mean, if my LO is still hungry then she will keep sucking, she does have a break and will occasionally just comfort suck for a few minutes before she 'drinks' again....is this what your LO does?

That's a good point - even now Sam will sometimes want to stay on for ages just to suck even though he'll finish feeding really quickly. If I try to take him off (when he's half asleep and not sucking much) he'll want to go straight back on, but he can easily be distracted with something else so it's not that he's hungry.

What colour is his poo? If it's a 'nice' mustardy yellow colour he's probably getting a good balance of the foremilk/hindmilk. If it's green he might not be getting enough of the hindmilk which is the higher-calorie stuff. If his weight gain is ok then he's getting enough and you might just need to work on his latch to make things a bit easier for you. After the first few weeks it does settle down though x