Exhausted - Help!

[littlestar]

I've got a really bad cold at the moment and Lil Q is keeping me up alot at night. he went to sleep at 10pm woke me at 1am for 1hr then again @ 5am and ended up getting up with him as he constantly wanted boob.

I went to get him weighed and he'd put on a whole 1lb in a week!!! he's 6 weeks on Saturday and he's now 11lb1oz (was 7lb10.5 at birth)

my health visitor was concerned about my wellbeing and advised me to try expressing to allow myself a rest. Lil Q is pretty much awake all day and on boob at the mo so i'm not even able to catch up with sleep during the day.

I'm in two minds about expressing, yes it would be nice to be able to go shopping, cinema or have a nice soak in the bath without being disturbed but i'm worried about how it will affect his feeding.

will it affect his latch when feeding? will he refuse breast when he realises a teat is easy food and doesn't have to work at it? I know it shouldn't affect my supply and could actually increase it.

i don't want to end up exclusively pumping, at least when it's a baby doing the sucking it feels more natural. any advice would be appreciated.

 

[lindak]

Sorry your feeling rubbish at the moment. Zac is 10 weeks on sunday and I have been giving him the odd expressed bottle since maybe 5 - 6 weeks I had the same fears as you , but he had no confusion at all and he takes the bottle no problem but prefers my breast over a bottle any day. Give your self a little break it doesnt have to be forever even if its just the night feeds for a day or two, you will be so much better to you lo if you have some energy. I know its hard but will be worth it in the end.

Hope you feel better soon xx

 

[im_mi]

why dont you sleep whilst feeding your baby hun? expressing and feeding from a bottle might well affect his latch and your supply seeing as he is still so little. experiment with some positions for lying-down feeding and get snuggled up and have a nap with him. he is at about the right age to be having a massive growth spurt which is why he is feeding so much. its all completely normal and although it is completely exhausting, it will pass breastfeeding releases hormones that make us sleepy so it seems only natural to try to get yourself a little nap whilst nursing xxx

 

[im_mi]

oh and just so you know, health visitors recieve VERY little training in breastfeeding support. Expressing might make things easier in the short term but it could cause problems with breastfeeding which can be hard to solve. When your little one is older and breastfeeding is established, it wont be such a big deal. if you do decide to express, make sure he takes the milk via a cup, spoon or syringe instead of a bottle to avoid nipple confusion xxx