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[Leopard]

Lauren: it's totally normal for a 3/4 week old baby wanting to nurse all the time. Get rid of the formula and keep him at the breast. Try having a nursing day, just you and him in bed nursing, and keep him on the 'empty' breast as much as possible. On that day, if he isn't nursing, you are pumping.

StormyNights- Does baby show any signs of being increasingly unhappy? Do you have a good wet nappy count a day?
I've never used Reglan, however I was on Domperidone, fenugreek and blessed thistle as well as oats for breakfast. Try getting domperidone, go to you local health store or pharmacy, pick up so fenugreek and buy yourself some oatmeal for breakfast. Try putting her to the breast every half and hour if she will feed. I'll also give you same advice I gave Lauren, have a nursing day. Oh and get a different pump. Medela never worked for me.

 

[3boys]

medela pump works great for me

 

[OriginalDoll]

I would love some advice/help!

LO is almost a month old. Had been breast feeding since she was born. She got a little formula in the hospital, but since being home, its been breast milk only. First 2weeks home I breast fed her, family came to stay a week, so during LO's 3rd week of life, I've been pumping like a crazy woman and she's been eating from a bottle. Family is leaving today and I'd like to have LO nurse from me more often than the bottle. During this past week, I've put her on the breast to nurse for awhile, so she's stays familiar with it. But we never got breast feeding down pat, yet.
Anyone gone from boob to bottle and back to boob successfully?
Also, any tips on how I can increase supply so I can continue freezing breast milk for when I go back to work?
Thanks to whoever can help!

 

[Ozzieshunni]

Hiyas,

Keep putting her to the boob. Try and pump at the same time every day. Mornings are best for me, but it might vary for yourself. Try and eat oats and drink loads of water

Good luck!

 

[cheese lover]

^WSS, your LO is young enough that if you put her back on the breast for most of her feeds she should be able to go back to the breast fine. I introduced a bottle to my LO at 4 weeks since I was going back to work. She only had one a day, in the evening when DH got home. I pumped at ~9 am every day (while LO was napping the first time) and then she would drink that milk for her bottle and I would pump when she was getting her bottle. She never drank as much as I could pump so I was able to build up a very large freezer stash. I ended up not using it until around 6 months when I wasn't able to pump as much per pumping session. If you respond well to a pump you might not need to use frozen milk for a very long time and you may be able to freeze some even after going back to work.

 

[Maid Marian]

I would love some advice/help!

LO is almost a month old. Had been breast feeding since she was burn. She got a little formula in the hospital, but since being home, its been breast milk only. First 2weeks home I breast fed her, family came to stay a week, so during LO's 3rd week of life, I've been pumping like a crazy woman and she's been eating from a bottle. Family is leaving today and I'd like to have LO nurse from me more often than the bottle. During this past week, I've put her on the breast to nurse for awhile, so she's stays familiar with it. But we never got breast feeding down pat, yet.
Anyone gone from boob to bottle and back to boob successfully?
Also, any tips on how I can increase supply so I can continue freezing breast milk for when I go back to work?
Thanks to whoever can help!

I advise just putting her on the boob as much as humanly possible Having her on is the best way to get your supply up, keep it up, and also to get practice for both of you to help get breastfeeding down
If you don't already I'd advise co-sleeping, so baby can have access to the boob whenever she wants/needs. Also this means it'll be easy for her, and easy for you, to let her comfort-suck a lot, which is necessary for a good supply.

 

[Stormynights]

I've tried oatmeal, blessed thistle, fenugreek, we have two electric pumps of different brands. She always gets formula so I don't know about wet nappy count. I tried a nurse in for a day and they weighed her a day before and a day after and she had lost a few ounces. She is colicky, so she is always unhappy. We've been in the hospital, and I've been stressed out so my supply has practically dried up what little I have. I think I'm just going to throw in the towel.

 

[summer rain]

Stormy nights you have tried your best and then some, especially considering your LOs health issues and having to have surgery. I think it may be best to stop now and know you have given your LO the best start in life xx

 

[Lilly12]

I would love some advice/help!

LO is almost a month old. Had been breast feeding since she was burn. She got a little formula in the hospital, but since being home, its been breast milk only. First 2weeks home I breast fed her, family came to stay a week, so during LO's 3rd week of life, I've been pumping like a crazy woman and she's been eating from a bottle. Family is leaving today and I'd like to have LO nurse from me more often than the bottle. During this past week, I've put her on the breast to nurse for awhile, so she's stays familiar with it. But we never got breast feeding down pat, yet.
Anyone gone from boob to bottle and back to boob successfully?
Also, any tips on how I can increase supply so I can continue freezing breast milk for when I go back to work?
Thanks to whoever can help!

I advise just putting her on the boob as much as humanly possible Having her on is the best way to get your supply up, keep it up, and also to get practice for both of you to help get breastfeeding down
If you don't already I'd advise co-sleeping, so baby can have access to the boob whenever she wants/needs. Also this means it'll be easy for her, and easy for you, to let her comfort-suck a lot, which is necessary for a good supply.

Couldn't have said it better than that.
Put the baby on the breast every 2 hours at least.
Whenever baby wants to suck, offer the breast.
Cosleeping would be great too, for that skin to skin contact and closeness, it triggers both your body and your baby to up your milk and learn to breastfeed.

 

[Stormynights]

Stormy nights you have tried your best and then some, especially considering your LOs health issues and having to have surgery. I think it may be best to stop now and know you have given your LO the best start in life xx

Thank you, I feel like I'm just holding onto it for myself. It's just hard because often she refuses a bottle unless she gets breast first.
I suppose I'll just breast feed when I feel like it, but ALWAYS give her formula, until I dry up. We started a different kind for her colic, and so far it seems to be working.

 

[readynwilling]

stormynight - i agree you have tried and tried, you can't feel bad. Your stress level is probably half of the supply issue. I think that while yes its sad you can't continue to bf - you and LO will both be happier in the end and thats going to be more important. if you can continue to put LO on both breasts at the beginning of every feed and just think "if she gets milk then great, if not thats ok too - she'll get a bottle when we are done here" and take the stress part out of it, maybe you will find your supply slowly start to come back on its own. and if it dries up completely then LO will quickly figure out sucking on the breast is futile and stop refusing the bottle as option #1.

Also - i know its recommended to feed on demand so your LO can increase supply to meet their needs, but i think your case is very different... maybe try to time bf's (stress free ones) between bottle feeds... so if you know LO eats every 3 hours... then 2hrs after her bottle try to put her on the breast - see if she will latch and suck when shes NOT hungry... then you can offer her a bottle at feeding time.

 

[OriginalDoll]

Thank you for the input!
A few mentioned co sleeping. Do you mean just sleeping in the room with us, or in the bed with us?

Now that I've offered her the boob more-so than the bottle, she will eat for only 5-10 min and fall asleep for a good hour. I wish i knew how much she was eating. Should i be waking her up to keep feeding her?

I don't think she is eating as much as she normally does when pumped into a bottle, my boobs are feeling very full. I normally would pump at 10, 1, 4, & 7 round the clock and would get 4-6oz each pump. Now that they are feeling heavy still after a feeding, is my body going to think I don't need all this milk and quit making it? I don't want to lose my supply!

I'm such a newbie!

I have also noticed her grunting now after she has eaten or about to wake up. Anyone know what that is all about? Or maybe it's just a normal baby noise?

 

[3boys]

co-sleeping means sleeping together in a bed so you can have plenty of skin to skin

 

[Lilly12]

Thank you for the input!
A few mentioned co sleeping. Do you mean just sleeping in the room with us, or in the bed with us?

Now that I've offered her the boob more-so than the bottle, she will eat for only 5-10 min and fall asleep for a good hour. I wish i knew how much she was eating. Should i be waking her up to keep feeding her?

I don't think she is eating as much as she normally does when pumped into a bottle, my boobs are feeling very full. I normally would pump at 10, 1, 4, & 7 round the clock and would get 4-6oz each pump. Now that they are feeling heavy still after a feeding, is my body going to think I don't need all this milk and quit making it? I don't want to lose my supply!

I'm such a newbie!

To up your supply & teach baby to bf.. Cosleep as in let baby sleep right next to you with lots of skin to skin & all night access to the breast.

My DD never has nursed longer than 5-10 mins at a time .
Look at the output.. Is she wetting enough diapers?
Happy ? Gaining weight?
Trust your baby & your body!

Your body will make what your baby will eat. The more she eats the more milk you make.

 

[Ozzieshunni]

OriginalDoll, trust your body. If she is having 7-10 wet/dirty diapers a day, she is getting more than enough I know it's hard to trust something we can't see, but our bodies know what they are doing (most of the time) If you feed her when she's hungry, on demand, your supply will stay. If you continue to pump more than she's feeding, you could end up with an oversupply or blocked milk ducts.

 

[blessedmomma]

anyone have any tricks to pumping more? i only get out a little and i would like to be able to pump some for emergencies. i have a couple dr appts coming up and i can only get out about an ounce and a half on a good day. im ok with giving him formula if i need to, but would like to use bm if possible. i had a cheap pump and was only getting about half an ounce. got a good pump now but still not getting much more.

 

[cranberry987]

Pump from one boob while feeding from the other if you can bend that way. I nearly broke my pump it came out so fast!

 

[readynwilling]

kellymom.com has some great info on pumping and trying to increase the amount to pump. but they do say its normal to only get .5 - 1.5oz total when pumping and that you need several pumping sessions to get one feed. its just the mechanics of a pump vs baby nursing. BM is good at room temp for 8 hours, and 5 days in the fridge and 3 months in the freezer and then 6 months in the deep freeze (i think) so when you pump keep it in the fridge and combine multiple sessions over the course of a couple of days into 1 storage bag and then when you have 4 or so oz you can put that bag in the freezer!

 

[blessedmomma]

thanks ladies!

ready- that is some really good info! i thought the amount i was getting wasnt much at all but if its normal i guess i wont worry so much. i didnt know you could combine milk throughout the day but it makes sense. i have a few bottles over the past few days all with small amounts in them in the fridge i guess i will combine them all for my appt on monday so DH has something to feed him.

 

[Kirei]

Lean forward while you pump, you could also try hand expressing especially if pumping is making you sore xx