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[daisymay11]

I posted a thread in the main forum before I saw this one but could really use all the support I can get. Feeling really frustrated at the moment so I am going to post here as well.

My LO is 6 weeks old and I have been EBF. I have been struggling since he was born to be able to work out a schedule where I can BF him and pump to build up a supply. I would like to give him a bottle or two of my milk daily just to give me a little break. My main problems are that I never seem to have enough milk to pump. By the time he is done I feel as though I am empty and by the time I feel like I could pump he is ready to eat again. There have been a few times I have went ahead and pumped and then ended up having to give him the bottle right away because I couldn't satisfy him. Is this because I have a low supply? What can I do to increase my supply? I am so jelous of everyone who is freezing their milk! I also have a friend who said she gets about 10oz when she pumps from one breast. I only get 2oz max even when I am really full. Also is it normal that lo is still feeding all the time and wants to feed for hours on end. Is this ever going to end because to be honest I am getting frustrated that we can't go anywhere becuase he is wanting to feed all the time. I know it is possible I just don't enjoy it and come home feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Oh and I though I should mention I have mastitis right now so am feeling sorry for myself, like a failue and I am seriously debating adding formula for one bottle a day to get some relief. Any advice would be appreciated

 

[staralfur]

There's a six week growth spurt so totally normal that he's still feeding all the time.

The pumping sounds pretty normal, too. I'd bet your friend has an oversupply because 10oz is definitely not normal. It's tough pumping during growth spurts because they are feeding so often. If you're feeding on demand then your supply will increase without pumping, so no worries there. The good news is that the growth spurt won't last forever and you'll likely have an easier time pumping when he's not feeding as frequently.

Unfortunately adding a formula bottle to the mix is probably a bad idea, especially with mastitis. The best way to get the mastitis cleared up is to keep feeding directly from the breast. If you start skipping feeds then you're risking making it worse or developing it in the other breast too.

I'd give it a week or so if you can, or at least until you've gotten rid of the mastitis, and then revisit the pumping.

I know it's so tough, especially with mastitis. Don't feel like a failure, you're doing a wonderful job.

It does get easier and the feeds will space out, I promise.

 

[staralfur]

I just saw that this was posted a few days ago and you probably got some good replies from your other thread! I hope things are a bit better now for you.

 

[summer rain]

There's a six week growth spurt so totally normal that he's still feeding all the time.

The pumping sounds pretty normal, too. I'd bet your friend has an oversupply because 10oz is definitely not normal. It's tough pumping during growth spurts because they are feeding so often. If you're feeding on demand then your supply will increase without pumping, so no worries there. The good news is that the growth spurt won't last forever and you'll likely have an easier time pumping when he's not feeding as frequently.

Unfortunately adding a formula bottle to the mix is probably a bad idea, especially with mastitis. The best way to get the mastitis cleared up is to keep feeding directly from the breast. If you start skipping feeds then you're risking making it worse or developing it in the other breast too.

I'd give it a week or so if you can, or at least until you've gotten rid of the mastitis, and then revisit the pumping.

I know it's so tough, especially with mastitis. Don't feel like a failure, you're doing a wonderful job.

It does get easier and the feeds will space out, I promise.

^WSS, 2oz is actually at the upper end of the typical range for one pumping session, 10oz from a pumping session is very unusual and would indicate quite a serious oversupply problem. How much you can pump is no indicator of supply at all, some women who can pump loads have supply problems and some women who can barely pump a drop have an oversupply-I fall into this latter category. The most I have ever got is 5oz in a pumping session but usually I get closer to 0.5oz. I suffered with leaking, spraying milk and blocked ducts until my youngest was nearly a year old I just don't respond well to pumps at all well including hospital grade ones. Pump manufacturers should really be honest about this and admit that pumps don't work amazingly well for everyone but they don't because they are out to make money at the end of the day xx

 

[too_scared]

I need help

My little guy is 9 days old today and I am constantly worried. Maybe a little too worried and that could be causing problems too, I don't know.

Here's our story:

He was born 2 days past due, got stuck and needed suction to get him out. Because of that he got a big bruise. He was an extremely lazy eater from the start. The first night I was expressing colostrum out and getting him to sip it off. The second night we tried cup feeding. Because of the giant bruise he developed jaundice and on his 3rd day he was placed under the bililights. The dr had him under 3 sets of lights. His first bilirubin level was 363.

On his 2nd night I broke down and gave him a bottle of formula. He had dropped 4 oz by that time. I don't know if the sucking on the bottle gave him the idea of what he had to do but he definitely started sucking after that. It was such a relief.

I have to use a nipple shield because I have flatter nipples and a large chest. I have only gotten him to latch a few times without one and it only lasts about a minute.

While he was under the lights the dr had me nursing from one side for 20 minutes (my milk had started to come in by then) and then pumping both breasts for 15 minutes. I was producing around 2 oz (both breasts combined). They were topping him up with the expressed milk to help to wash the bilirubin out of his system. I was doing this every 3 hours

We were in the hospital for 6 days after his birth. He was doing so much better and was only a gram off his birth weight when we took him home.

I have stuck to the 3 hour schedule since being home (we came home Monday night). If he wakes before I feed before but I am not letting him go past that time. I was so worried he wasn't getting enough that we were sort of trying to get him to eat as much as possible (left over from the hospital advice, I guess) and then 2 nights ago he vomited a huge amount of milk while he was laying down to sleep. It came out his nose and scared me so badly that he was going to choke (no sleep that night!). Since then I have stopped encouraging him to feed more. He is consistently nursing for about 10-15 minutes at a time. Usually one side. I will let him feed as long as he wants then change his bum and then offer the other side. Usually he doesn't take much from the 2nd breast.

Last night he would nurse and then want more an hour later. After that he would go the 3 hours. He did that a few times and then slept well. He was more fussy than he has been (he has been so quite and settled, maybe the jaundice?) My husband convinced me to set the alarm for 3 1/2 hours after his last good feed because all the people we have talked to have suggested getting out of the timing (I just can't yet!) and he slept for almost that time before starting to fuss. We got him up and undressed (he nurses better this way) but he barely nursed at all. I could barely get him to open his mouth. Now I am scared to death again. I was finally starting to feel like maybe I could do it, that maybe we were starting to get the hang of it. Now I am back at square one, remembering him clenching his lips at the hospital. My husband thinks maybe he just isn't so hungry this morning because he ate so well last night. I am worried that he isn't feeling well because his little tummy was sounding gurgle-y last night. He is not a great burper, just doesn't want to burp.

Please help me. I am so worried about him. I had 2 previous mc and I just can't shake the feeling that somehow we won't get to keep him. Illogical I know. I am assuming it is the crazy hormones that is causing it? I am crying a lot. My husband is a wonderful support and we have already talked about how he would watch for PPD. I know the crying is normal because of hormones after birth and am really hoping it goes away soon. I feel the stress/crying might be leading to problems? I don't know.

I haven't posted this anywhere else. I tried to look through the list on the first page of this thread but I couldn't find anyone who seemed to have a similar experience to me. Maybe there is and I have missed her, I am very, very tired.

Thank you

 

[MrsChezek]

Hi. I'm really struggling with breastfeeding as LO is 3wks1d and it still hurts a ton! When I latch her on I make sure her nose is aligned with my nipple, I tickle her upper lip with my nipple until she opens wide and then pull her head into my breast by her neck and shoulders. I make sure the nipple ends up near her upper lip and not center of her mouth. Once in a while her lower lip remains far from my nipple and she has a wide latch but most of the time she readjusts her latch to be narrower which hurts a ton! I can't get her to stop and if I keep unlatching her and trying again she just gets angry and starts wailing. There's no learning curve!!!

When she pulls off after a feed, my nipple looks flat and there are vertical white lines on each side. And my boob throbs and burns in pain. I've noticed lately parts of my nipple turn white too and the pain is pretty bad. I'm not sure what to do anymore as I've seen hundreds of articles and videos about latching and feel I'm doing it correctly - she's just not doing her part! I really don't want to give up on BF but the pain is becoming unbearable...any advice?

 

[MrsChezek]

I need help

My little guy is 9 days old today and I am constantly worried. Maybe a little too worried and that could be causing problems too, I don't know.

Here's our story:

He was born 2 days past due, got stuck and needed suction to get him out. Because of that he got a big bruise. He was an extremely lazy eater from the start. The first night I was expressing colostrum out and getting him to sip it off. The second night we tried cup feeding. Because of the giant bruise he developed jaundice and on his 3rd day he was placed under the bililights. The dr had him under 3 sets of lights. His first bilirubin level was 363.

On his 2nd night I broke down and gave him a bottle of formula. He had dropped 4 oz by that time. I don't know if the sucking on the bottle gave him the idea of what he had to do but he definitely started sucking after that. It was such a relief.

I have to use a nipple shield because I have flatter nipples and a large chest. I have only gotten him to latch a few times without one and it only lasts about a minute.

While he was under the lights the dr had me nursing from one side for 20 minutes (my milk had started to come in by then) and then pumping both breasts for 15 minutes. I was producing around 2 oz (both breasts combined). They were topping him up with the expressed milk to help to wash the bilirubin out of his system. I was doing this every 3 hours

We were in the hospital for 6 days after his birth. He was doing so much better and was only a gram off his birth weight when we took him home.

I have stuck to the 3 hour schedule since being home (we came home Monday night). If he wakes before I feed before but I am not letting him go past that time. I was so worried he wasn't getting enough that we were sort of trying to get him to eat as much as possible (left over from the hospital advice, I guess) and then 2 nights ago he vomited a huge amount of milk while he was laying down to sleep. It came out his nose and scared me so badly that he was going to choke (no sleep that night!). Since then I have stopped encouraging him to feed more. He is consistently nursing for about 10-15 minutes at a time. Usually one side. I will let him feed as long as he wants then change his bum and then offer the other side. Usually he doesn't take much from the 2nd breast.

Last night he would nurse and then want more an hour later. After that he would go the 3 hours. He did that a few times and then slept well. He was more fussy than he has been (he has been so quite and settled, maybe the jaundice?) My husband convinced me to set the alarm for 3 1/2 hours after his last good feed because all the people we have talked to have suggested getting out of the timing (I just can't yet!) and he slept for almost that time before starting to fuss. We got him up and undressed (he nurses better this way) but he barely nursed at all. I could barely get him to open his mouth. Now I am scared to death again. I was finally starting to feel like maybe I could do it, that maybe we were starting to get the hang of it. Now I am back at square one, remembering him clenching his lips at the hospital. My husband thinks maybe he just isn't so hungry this morning because he ate so well last night. I am worried that he isn't feeling well because his little tummy was sounding gurgle-y last night. He is not a great burper, just doesn't want to burp.

Please help me. I am so worried about him. I had 2 previous mc and I just can't shake the feeling that somehow we won't get to keep him. Illogical I know. I am assuming it is the crazy hormones that is causing it? I am crying a lot. My husband is a wonderful support and we have already talked about how he would watch for PPD. I know the crying is normal because of hormones after birth and am really hoping it goes away soon. I feel the stress/crying might be leading to problems? I don't know.

I haven't posted this anywhere else. I tried to look through the list on the first page of this thread but I couldn't find anyone who seemed to have a similar experience to me. Maybe there is and I have missed her, I am very, very tired.

Thank you

Hi. I'm no expert or even BF champion but I just went through something similar. I came home w my DD and she had jaundice. The pediatrician was pushing formula and it made me super stressed. I felt I had to fight for my right to BF exclusively. I wasn't sleeping much (obviously) or eating much and my supply felt low. My DD just wanted to sleep all the time and I had to wake her to feed and then she'd fall asleep at the breast! She wasn't gaining back weight after dropping 7oz by day 3 of her life. I was a huge mess!

Here is what I learned:
- jaundice makes babies very sleepy!
- poking and prodding to encourage him to suckle is helpful (rub feet, blow air, etc)
- once he suckles, compress your breast as to push more milk into his mouth - this will get him to gulp and swallow the milk and wake him up. I learned this on Dr. Newmans site: https://www.breastfeedinginc.ca/content.php?pagename=doc-BC There are great videos too!
- spitting up is normal in babies
- stress definitely affects your milk production so take a deep breath and try to calm yourself. As long as he is peeing and pooping, ur LO is doing fine! I had to tell myself to forget everyone else and just focus on doing the best I can for my DD and that it will be fine...otherwise I would have gone mad!

Anyway, good luck and hope this helps a bit...big hugs!

 

[YikesBaby]

Question!

Our LO is 5 weeks old and eats like a champ... however she has just started to sleep 5-6 hours at night most nights. When she does this, I wake up with engorged boobs. She's such an efficient eater that she will only ever take one boob per meal, which means that I am left with one full boob until her next meal.

Should I be pumping the other one to avoid her messing up my supply?? Should I be pumping them both in the middle of the night to prevent them from getting so full and to maintain my supply? I've not even opened my pump, as I didn't want to interfere with nature, but now I am wondering if it can actually be a help?!

Thanks!

 

[too_scared]

Thank you so much, MrsChezek. I really appreciate your advice. He seemed to be doing so much better until last night. He was awake and alert all evening and then he didn't want to nurse at all. He was crying and flailing and pushing away. He slept well between, but only nursed for about 10 minutes. He took a while to settle but slept well when he did. He also had greenish poops. Not foamy, seedy - the same texture it has been all along, but greenish instead of yellowish.

 

[MrsChezek]

Thank you so much, MrsChezek. I really appreciate your advice. He seemed to be doing so much better until last night. He was awake and alert all evening and then he didn't want to nurse at all. He was crying and flailing and pushing away. He slept well between, but only nursed for about 10 minutes. He took a while to settle but slept well when he did. He also had greenish poops. Not foamy, seedy - the same texture it has been all along, but greenish instead of yellowish.

Somewhere in all my reading I learned that green poop is a sign of too much foremilk and not enough hindmilk. Are u pumping at all? Maybe you can release some of the foremilk before a feed so when he does his short feedings, he will get more hind milk. Just an idea! Here's some more reading about it:
https://forums.llli.org/showthread.php?9970-Green-Poop-in-Breastfed-Infant

Hope it all sorts itself out soon!

 

[too_scared]

Thanks! I will check out that link for sure. I heard that it means not enough hind milk too. I thought it had to be green and foamy, though? I don't know anything, though!

He has another dr appt tomorrow to get his bilirubin level checked again. I will talk to the dr about it. He had 2 greenish poops, a really good regular one, and then one green one.

 

[MrsChezek]

Thanks! I will check out that link for sure. I heard that it means not enough hind milk too. I thought it had to be green and foamy, though? I don't know anything, though!

He has another dr appt tomorrow to get his bilirubin level checked again. I will talk to the dr about it. He had 2 greenish poops, a really good regular one, and then one green one.

Oh wait, are they dark green?? When the bilirubin is leaving their system their poop will turn back to the merconium looking stuff, just not as sticky. When Hayden was on the UV light treatment her poop turned back to dark green. Hope the doc appt went well!

 

[too_scared]

Thanks It was green-green only once. It is mostly yellow with a greenish tint. We went straight from meconium to the dark green poops from the bilirubin. That was mostly gone by the time we got home from the hospital.

His levels were down to 83 today! Way down. So happy. The dr said not to worry about the greenish tint to his poop. He said that since his little belly is just growing the bacteria it needs that it could be any range of colours. It is not foamy at all, just regular texture but greenish. He was not concerned. I am making sure he nurses from the same side for longer now. Actually he nursed for an hour just now! Silly boy must be growing

Thank you again for all your help

 

[bbygurl719]

I have a super weird question. When I breastfeed. On my right breast my right foot gets this tingly feeling in it. Has anyone else experienced this n if so what causes it. I absolutely hate this feeling in my foot.

 

[loopy82]

too_scared - you've had a lot of good advice from MrsChezek. It sounds like he is doing well but it is perfectly natural for you to fret, especially if you didn't have the easiest start. Just keep an eye on things and keep up the good work

MrsChezek - From what you describe it does really sound like your nipple is being squashed from a bad latch, the best thing you could do is see someone like an lc about it in real life so they can help you work it out. Could she be tongue tied?

A couple of things you could try in the meantime is to move her further round than you think is right so she has to extend her head back more, so if you are holding her in the cradle position her bottom should be under your arm or thereabouts rather than closer to your belly. You could also try biological nurturing as it's known to help babies get a good latch. In essence you need to lie back with baby on you and just let them latch themselves, you can see more here: https://www.biologicalnurturing.com/ or by searching on youtube.

YikesBaby - Your baby is regulating your supply to what she needs so as long as she is gaining, is alert, etc. you don't need to do anything. To relieve your discomfort hand express just enough for you to be comfortable and your body will soon get the message and make less milk. Your other option is to express the other breast and build a freezer supply of milk with your extra supply, this might be handy if you're going back to work or know you're going to be to be separated at some point

bbygurl719 - Haven't experienced that but I have felt tingling in other parts of my body when I've scratched a different part, e.g. scratched my shoulder and felt it in my leg. Wonder if it's the same sort of thing?

 

[too_scared]

Thank you

I have another question now. Last night it almost seemed like he forgot how to latch. We are still using the nipple shield and it was like he wasn't sealing his mouth around the shield. He was leaking a lot of milk out from the bottom of his mouth. Everything got soaked in milk and he was getting a lot of air bubbles. No matter how many times I took him off and tried to get him to latch again he still did it. He was even tucking his bottom lip in. He didn't do that since we were in the hospital. I am in so much pain My skin is peeling off of both nipples even though I am using a shield. Last night I was SO tempted to switch to pumping and bottle feeding.

 

[loopy82]

This might be an obvious question but did you try without the shield as well? x

 

[too_scared]

I have tried. He just won't latch. I plan to keep trying because I really hate that thing but it seems he doesn't open his mouth wide enough yet. My chest is very large as well so I am not sure if maybe that has anything to do with it. I try to squeeze my breast so more goes in his mouth but he still will only start sucking for a second and then he stops. I have flattish nipples, but since I have been using the shield for 2 weeks now they seem not so flat. Do you think the pain/skin coming off will get worse without the shield?

 

[bbygurl719]

Thank you loopy for ur response. I dunno what's going on but I hate the feeling. But I'll deal with anything to keep breastfeeding

 

[sevenofnine]

I have quite a few issues. I wish I could go to a lactation consultant, but I just can't afford it at the moment.

I feel like I am doomed!

Here is the background: When Annika was born about 6 weeks ago, I wasn't trying to feed her but 20 minutes right after she was born that a nurse gave me a nipple shield. YES, I do have "flat" nipples, but they are not truly flat as they WILL become erect (one easier than the other). Even with the shield, I could NEVER keep her bottom lip out. She has a very thin, inset bottom lip and no matter how many times I try to pull it out, she will not keep it out.

So, because of the nipple shield, she has never learned a proper latch and has become lazy.

I am trying to get her to latch properly (and hopefully without the shield) as I feel she isn't getting as much milk as she could be getting.

Here is what happens:

1. I position her and offer her the breast without the shield. She immediately becomes incredibly angry, starts crying and screaming (which she hardly ever does otherwise) and bobs up and down repeatedly, without even trying to latch.

2. I put the nipple shield on to help calm her down a bit. She suckles improperly for a few minutes, gets milk, and then I take it off.

3. Half the time, she will FINALLY latch on. But she never opens her mouth wide enough no matter how hard I try to get her to, and her bottom lip is still tucked in no matter how much I pull it out.

4. Then I'm unsure how much she's getting? With the shield, I can see milk in it when she pulls off.

Basically my question is:

Is there a good way to wean from a nipple shield, and how do you encourage a lazy, VERY ANGRY (without the shield) nurser to latch properly when you can't even encourage them to open their mouth wide... ever? (And keep that bottom lip down!!!!)

Note: Generally not using the shield starts her screaming so bloody murder that she starts flailing and then becomes impossible to console, as she is right now...