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[xerinx]

Well after him settling so well last night he woke up 2 for a feed and then settled great after. He then woke up at 5 for a feed and settled well again. Hes still asleep now

It was best nights sleep we've had since having him!! First time hes slept upstairs and settled and 1st time we have been up before him!!

Im soooo happy that it went well

Im going to try only feeding him bb before bed so he assosiates it with bed time but im going to express during the day to encourage milk to come in and it means hes still getting some more bb milk

After a week of doing this i might put him to bb more often but i need to see how things go as im still unsure if i want to exclusive bf. But every lil helps

 

[im_mi]

yep, youre right, every little helps! also, the milk-production hormone levels are higher in the night so breastfeeding him at night will really help your supply.

 

[wishingonastar]

great news also with you looking into other postions, a good one for night time/chilled feeding is the laying down one (info on the net or i can explain if you need me to)

can't believe they told you to stick with left side only that's ridiculous and awful advice!

 

[xerinx]

great news also with you looking into other postions, a good one for night time/chilled feeding is the laying down one (info on the net or i can explain if you need me to)

can't believe they told you to stick with left side only that's ridiculous and awful advice!

Yea thats what i thought!! But they were useless i asked so many times for help and was ignored.

When he was first born i had a lovely midwife who helped me all day to try and get him suckling but then when i tried the next day/night the midwife was useless. Im sure she could see how frustrated me and lo was getting. I was up all night trying to get him to latch onto right bb and she just said give him left one!!

Ive started expressing today while oh has been giving him ff, im not getting much but at least that should encourage milk to come in.

I really enjoyed last night it was lovely and relaxing for us both and i was amazed that he slept so well

 

[im_mi]

Putting little one to your breast will be much more effective in promoting your milk supply to increase hun, just worth bearing that in mind you could bf for as long as you want, then afterwards continue to pump while LO has a ff top up if necessary.

 

[xerinx]

Im thinking that i dont want to bf constantly so am wondering that if i do put him to bb when hes hungry to ecourage milk will he get used to that? I dont wanna have trouble when i stop it?

I dont feel comfortable with bf all the time and my oh wants to feed him too so i just wanna bf at night and maybe once during the day.

Does any of that make sense?? lol

 

[im_mi]

its all down to personal choice, hun. For me, i personally really wanted to bf exclusively because its so much easier and cheaper! But, i can understand why someone might not want to.

To be honest, Logan is probably more likely to refuse the breast in weeks to come if he is being ff as well as bf. ff takes a lot less effort on a baby's part and so if he realises that he can get milk quicker from a bottle, he may get lazy and refuse the breast altogether. Alternatively, he may continue to bf but make you sore due to a shoddy latch after being used to an artificial nipple. However some babies are perfectly happy to switch between bottle and breast with very few problems! Its all down to the individual baby.

Babies love to breastfeed, even if you are only feeding him yourself a couple times a day he will get those emotional and physical benefits. babies are born expecting those benefits, you know? Hugs to you, you're doing great xxx

 

[xerinx]

Thankyou for advice

Ive just tried to bf him before bottle but he wasnt that interested only latched on for 2 mins on each... but when i squeezed my bb there wasnt any milk coming out so maybe that was why?

Ive expressed 2 times today so far but only got a few drops im slightly worried that my milk may have dried up as i left it for so long....

I wish the mw's had told me to perservere and explained that even a lil bit was worth doing!!

Even if he doesnt take bb he is quite happy to cuddle up to them and i love the feeling of him so close to me

 

[im_mi]

even if your milk does dry up completely hun, it is totally possible for you to start lactating again it wont happen overnight, just keep plugging away and it will increase gradually. its important to remember that expressing is absolutely no marker for how much milk you are able to produce. ive NEVER been able to express more than an ounce or two at a time.

One thing that is brilliant for increasing supply is skin to skin contact. You dont even have to latch him on, just strip him off and strip your top half off and snuggle with him. the hormones produced by this are necessary for milk production

 

[TigerLady]

It isn't likely that your milk dried up all the way already. But it may be regulating downward. TBH, it is probably a "make or break" time in choosing what you do. If you are really sure you don't want to exclusively BF, then I would just keep getting him to the breast as often as you are comfortable with and don't be suprised if you do dry up soon or if he starts to refuse it soon. It might not work that way and you may be able to keep going a few times per day for quite some time. But just don't be shocked if you can't.

On the other hand, if you really want to BF, then if you keep working toward getting him to the breast as often as possible and for as long as possible, your supply will pick up again. Especially if you let him comfort suck as much as he wants. The more he is on the breast, the more your supply will increase.

As for OH feeding him, he doesn't have to feed him formula. He can give him EBM in a bottle. It may take a week or so before your supply picks up enough to make that possible, but it will happen. If you express after every feed and store a little at a time, you will eventually get enough for a full bottle (2-3 ounces of BM at his age).

Then, OH can give him that bottle and you can express at the same time. Then you have stored milk for a bottle the next time OH wants to feed. Just make sure you express every time LO is given EBM to keep your supply up with him.

Good luck with your decsion, hon. This is a tricky one! EBF isn't for everyone, so if you want to go to FF, then don't feel guilty or bad about it. But if you think you may want to BF, give it a real effort so you don't regret it later!

 

[xerinx]

Well another night down and he took bb for 20 mins or so then had 2.5oz formula and went to bed

Hes been in bed for an hour now and is lovely and settled

This seems to be working

Thankyou ladies for your guidence

 

[thelilbump]

glad things are looking bright for you

 

[tiggercats]

More help please

I have mastitis I'm currently at the end of day 2 of antibiotics and as long as I keep taking the paracetamol I don't feel too bad. My problem is shifting the lumpy bit, I've tried massaging it in the bath and while Alex is feeding, but it isn't getting better. Do i just have to wait for the antibiotics to work or can i help the process at all?

 

[TigerLady]

I haven't had it before, so might not be much help...

But do you have a pump? Can you pump your breast until super empty (while massaging and using warm compresses) after a feed?

 

[tiggercats]

I have a manual pump but not the time if i want to rest or sleep. I don't get on well with the pump, it takes ages. I'm on my own so between feeding, winding, entertaining and changing LO i don't get time for much else. I only get on here when Alex is feeding (typing one handed). As i'm feeling ill i've spent my spare time either feeding myself or sleeping. I know this sounds negative but i am struggling just to get the basics done each day. I've wanted to try the pump today, but haven't had the chance

 

[TigerLady]

That's okay, hon. Just do your best. Have you tried different positions for him to nurse in? Sometimes a different position will drain a different area better and help with blocked ducts and lumps... might be worth a shot?

 

[im_mi]

^yes yes, trying different positions is a good one to try. im sorry you have mastitis, it must be awful i have never had it, but plenty of the girls at our LLL group have, one of them had it twice and with plenty of regular feeds it went away. one thing to keep an eye out for, if you are on antibiotics, is thrush. Quite a lot of women will get it during mastitis treatment and it can make feeding agonising. Look for white patches in LO's mouth (although my son never got them when he had thrush), sore nipples that look somewhat red and scaly, and sometimes LO will be reluctant to feed if the thrush is bad in his mouth.

 

[tiggercats]

I've been to the BF clinic today and been shown how to effectively shift the blockage She also said it might not be infected mastitis which made me quite frustrated because that means I'm taking antibiotics unnecessarily, however as I felt so ill, high temp, very flu like, I'm inclined to believe it is infected. I'm not looking forward to getting thrush if we do because I've had enough painful feeds now. The sore nipple is because we have a lazy latch (my fault) I don't wait for a big enough mouth before letting Alex latch on, so I have to be patient and wait for him to really open very wide. It means we have to re-learn but never mind, we will succeed. It is strange though because my left side is fine, no latch pain and I don't think we do anything different. The good news is I also had him weighed and he is now 8lb10oz, so even though we have had our problems, I've been very stressed and upset and the mastitis this week he has still managed to put on 8oz in a week

Thanks again for all your help

 

[im_mi]

aw thats brilliant news! Well done you! You'll get through this soon enough

 

[TigerLady]

GREAT news, TC!