Feel Helpless:(

[TriChick]

A little background: Attempted to BF my first, but the combination of jaundice, piss poor advice from an unqualified "lactation consultant" at the military hospital, and a husband who doesn't see the point in BFing resulted in me exclusively pumping and combo feeding the first month before his appetite far surpassed any BM I could pump.

Fast forward to now. LO #2 is 5 weeks old and so far we have managed to BF exclusively! However, in the past week his demand has started outweighing what I am producing He is satisfied from about 3am until noon, and then is constantly draining the breast and hungry again a half hour later. This lasts until around 1am the next morning. His wet diaper count is good and he is putting on some weight, but he seems so unhappy the majority of the day The worst part is, I return to work day after tomorrow, and have only managed to stash 10oz. for my first day back for a 10-hour shift (only able to pump 1oz in between feedings). With his current feeding habits, I am unable to pump except after the 3am feeding, because any other time he is ready to eat before I can get a session in. I've started fenugreek and done everything my new LC has suggested, but my supply isn't budging. My husband has made it known that, if LO acts hungry while I'm working, he will be giving him formula without a second thought.

I'm sitting here nursing and crying. Supplementing with formula was our "kiss of death" with my older son, beginning the downward spiral. I know my husband secretly wants us to FF. this is our last child, and my last chance to have a successful BFing relationship with one of my children. I'm heartbroken that it could be ending before it has really started.

Sorry to vent. I have no one to talk to who understands why this is important to me

 

[Hope83]

I'm sorry your husband isn't more supportive hun!

Doesn't he understand the benefits of breast feeding versus ff feeding?!
Anyways, it sounds like your lo is going thru the 6 week growth spurt. Hang in there! I'm sure the cluster feeding will be over soon!!
In the mean time, make sure you drink and eat a lot! Like crazy amounts of water and food! That gives your body the energy it needs.
Also if you are able to pump one ounce in between feeds, that sound pretty good to me. I'm not able to pump much at all and my supply is efficient.
You are doing great hun! Keep on going.
I'm sure other ladies will have more helpful suggestions as well.

 

[Loubyroo]

It is sad that your husband isn't supporting your choice to breast feed 😔

I agreed with PP it's a growth spurt and completely normal, as long as your getting wet nappies and baby is gaining weight trust your body you will be producing enough milk, as for going back to work I sympathise because if I was going back to work just yet I know it would be a real slog to express and feed, it was tough enough just expressing a batch for over Christmas!

Hang on in there and start freezing your batch ASAP x

 

[TriChick]

Thanks for the supportive words, ladies. My DH is supportive when things are easy, it's the challenging times that make him frustrated. Honestly, I think a lot of it stems from what happened with our first son. The "lactation consultant" and GP that saw him a couple days after birth said that his bilirubin levels were increasing and he would soon require phototherapy. They both said (incorrectly) that the only effective way to get it under control quickly was to supplement with formula ASAP. On top of that, the LC just kept telling me she was "extremely worried" that I was going to give him thrush, but offered no advice. We were new parents, so we took their advice as gospel. The mix of both made me feel like a failure and led to some pretty bad depression the first couple months, as well as disappointment for not researching independently before it was too late. To him, I think breastfeeding has a negative connotation, as it killed him to see me so upset and heartbroken last time. He has been understanding of my desire to try again, however gets apprehensive when he sees signs of sadness and depression when I am having a rough time at 3am with a screaming baby and no milk.

On the brighter side, today has been MUCH better. It was like posting that last night allowed me to put my frustration and worries on "paper" and get them out (something that has been hard to do with DH for the reasons above). Getting past that mental block allowed me to relax more when nursing. Lo and behold he ate a meal and went right to sleep, only waking up every three hours to eat and fall back asleep. I was even able to pump and extra half ounce after his 5am feeding! Lol regardless of whether it's the end of a growth spurt, fenugreek, or mental shift, I don't care. It's working! My stash is up to 15oz, which I think (hope!) will be more than adequate to keep him strictly on BM tomorrow.

 

[Loubyroo]

Aw I feel a little bad for your OH now...

Really pleased to hear things are going better thou, hope it continues!

 

[cat_reversing]

sometimes you just need to talk things out and sleep on it, things look different next day.
Great that you're determined to keep bfeeding, the more you can give the better.
Keep it going!!

 

[New2Bumps]

Similar story with my first!

My only words of wisdom is please trust your body. After 5 wks it knows what it's doing. Ditch formula and every time you think you're not producing enough, instead, think that your baby is having a growth spurt and suddenly needs more milk and boobs take a day or two to catch up. It's so so normal. They have a spurt so often in the first few months and so a day of almost constant feeding is so so normal! I can't emphasise that enough. We can't just put an extra ounce of milk in the boobs, it takes time! My LO cluster fed from 4pm till 7 for about 5 weeks. If you look for cluster feeding, or not producing enough, or not enough milk or growth spurt... you will see so many other moms feeling the same. Just try, if you can, sitting down and having skin to skin time and just letting Lo feed when he wants during those periods where his appetite seems massive.
I hated when ppl said this to me as it seemed like it never applied to me and my confidence was low, but trust in your body, assume all the ups and downs are normal and you will get there xxx