Day two feeding

[caz_hills]

Hi ladies,

Yesterday I gave birth through c section to my second child a beautiful baby girl.

I've struggled - as I did with my son - to feed her. She latches but doesn't suck. The midwives have been great and sat with me, helped me etc but now it's 24 hours after her birth they have said we should give her formula.

So now I'm massaging, hand expressing drops, pumping to get ready for trying to feed and also trying to express colostrum before offering formula in a cup. My milk hasn't come through yet of course. She has had ten (no kidding) poo-y nappies plus two wet only ones. So I hoped that meant that something was being taken in. She also has a lot of mucus from the birth which she coughs up.

I really want to breast feed and am after any advice. I am trying everything they suggest but wondered if people have any other suggestions? x

 

[mac1979]

Your baby is only 24 hours old. Latch her as much as you can, do skin to skin as much as possible. It will help your milk come in. My milk came in on day three and I had some colostrum before then. Your baby can lose some weight, up to 10% is normal, before your milk comes in. Is there any reason they are pushing formula so early? That seems odd. If you are hand expressing any drops of colustrum, keep her latched, she will figure out the sucking part.

 

[caz_hills]

They said that if after 24 hours they haven't had a proper feed then they offer formula in a cup - 15-20 ml per feed. We don't think she has had a proper feed. Afewsucks but nothing much although she had 9 soiled nappies and one wet one. They are saying tomorrow they want to change the cup to a bottle. I'm really trying with pumping, expressing etc and need to do more akin to skin as well.

Is this normal offering formula after 24 hours? I'm sure we could have said no but their lactation consultant said that's their strong recommendation. I'm desperate to breast feed so don't want to offer a bottle yet or give up!

 

[lau86]

Congratulations! It sounds like she is getting something given the wet and dirty nappies? My hospital gave me a sheet and it said how they should be behaving on each day, eg number of poos, colour of poo etc. Is she sleepy? When you say a few sucks how long does she feed and how often?
Fair enough if they want you to express but I would be very cautious of using formula at this stage.
My first son was given formula but he had low blood sugars, so didn't have the energy to breastfeed. I saw a few midwives before they asked me to hand express though which in hindsight I was annoyed about, it seemed like it was just easier to give him formula from their point of view

 

[MrsHudson]

I would be extremely cautious giving formula this early. Can you give donor milk instead? Or ask to see an ibclc? An lc might say thats the norm if its hospital policy but i have a hard time believing she would say that were she an iblc. It seems very odd to me they're pushing it so early. It can take up to 5 days for your milk to come in. 10% bodyweight is normal BUT you have to also factor in the fact the baby is losing water weight form the IV fluids gained during birth.

Put baby to breast as much as possible. That's the best thing you can do to get that milk in. Remember babies need very little in the beginning. Also if you're having a latch problem, have an ibclc check for lip or tongue tie.

Good luck! It's very hard in the beginning but so worth it.

 

[minties]

Emma was the same on day two, I think it's normal for them to fall asleep at the breast of have a lazy suck isn't it? All of mine have done this. The they seem to wake up frantic on night 3 or 4 and feed for hours on end!

I didn't get to BF Emma till she was about 12 hours old, and then sporadicat after that (she went to special care for respitory distress), never once was formula mentioned and I would have declined it if so. We established breastfeeding and it's all been fine since.

 

[caz_hills]

Last time I woke her every three hours. I pumped then offered the breast which she fell asleep on. She took the formula but then for the 1230 and 315 feeds she was rooting after the formula. So I put her back on the breast and she latched and sucked! Albeit not a lot but she / we did it!

 

[lau86]

It sounds like she's doing great. My youngest wAs very sleepy and hardly fed those first few days, I wasn't on the ball and let her sleep. I then expressed and gave her in a bottle (about 15ml!!) and she woke up a bit.

 

[caz_hills]

I'm now really unhappy about it. They have now said we can only go home if we feed formula in a bottle. And upping the formula amount. I feel like formula is now the norm with 'trying' the breast as opposed to the other way around. My husband is loving giving her the formula. I am going to get home and see the midwife tomorrow (apparently she comes day one at home) and talk to her about it. It's been too forced for my liking and suddenly we are buying formula.

My husband just want to give her formula I think- he doesn't seem to mind either way. I'm getting very upset about it now.

 

[lau86]

Oh Hun. It's not acceptable. 'She's not feeding properly' is not really a concrete reason for them to push formula on you! 1) they only need tiny amounts 2) some babies are very efficient at getting the milk out. are they looking at how much you're expressing? You could always give the formula then as your milk comes in wean off it. It really sounds like you need some better advice. Hopefully your community midwife can do that. As for your hubby I'm sure he has your best interests at heart but it's not his decision

 

[crownest]

I wouldn't be happy either they really seem to be pushing formula on you.

 

[noon_child]

I'm now really unhappy about it. They have now said we can only go home if we feed formula in a bottle. And upping the formula amount. I feel like formula is now the norm with 'trying' the breast as opposed to the other way around. My husband is loving giving her the formula. I am going to get home and see the midwife tomorrow (apparently she comes day one at home) and talk to her about it. It's been too forced for my liking and suddenly we are buying formula.

My husband just want to give her formula I think- he doesn't seem to mind either way. I'm getting very upset about it now.

Im not sure what this hospital policy is but I know in my hospital we couldn't leave until I had given her two proper feeds independently of help from the midwives/LCs. This was because they needed to be sure that there wouldn't be issues with her feeding at home without the support available in the hospital and that I was confident and comfortable enough to feed independently. IF I had insisted on leaving hospital they might have advised formula because we had such problems latching her BUT as long as I was happy to stay in hospital they were happy to support me to try to breastfeed.

Days 1-2 you LOs tummy is only 5-7ml. It grows around day three (triples to quadruples in size) and this is often when babies get suddenly ravenous and want to eat all the time. Sounds like the amounts of formula they were giving you on day 2 were a bit much.

How is her sucking now, can you see her swallow? If you are really unhappy, tell the midwives you want help breastfeeding and if they don't have the expertise can they please refer you to a Board Certified Lactation Consultant or have the infant feeding co-ordinator come to see you. You can also contact LLL as they do have volunteers who will do ward visits in some areas of the country.

 

[caz_hills]

Hi ladies. We are home now. Thanks for all your replies it's just cemented my thoughts that it was too soon. I'm pumping every time she feeds and it seems more milky now and I'm offering that (albeit in tiny quantities). She had a better feed today as well from me - more than ever so I'm hopeful that helps. My midwife comes tomorrow so I am looking forward to discussing it with her. We are still using formula - they said 30 ml per feed. If I can't pump 30 ml then I'm worried we will just end up using formula all the time.

I don't want to drop formula as we have started it but phase it out as my milk comes in. But now we have used bottles too and she easily necks the bottles so I know that's much easier for her x