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[maybebaby3]

bf babies can go days without a poo. my hv said that they can go up to 10 days. my son went days at a go without poos and was fine! wet nappies are more important than pooey ones! check that the fontanelle is not sunken and baby should feed and latch off herself. weight gain is also obviously a good indicator!

In the first 4-6 weeks it is important they poo every day; at least twice. Sometimes babies will poo less or skip days in the first 6 weeks and it not be a problem; but often it can indicate a problem with intake or with a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. Often when babies are not getting enough hindmilk they will not poo at all; rather than having green runny poo. This is why its important to speak to a HV or your MW if its early days and your baby is not pooing as expected.

thanks for the info. my babies did poo more in the early days. when they started pooing more infrequently was later on and that is when i asked HV and she said that it was normal for the bf babies to poo infrequently. thanks for the info you learn something new every day!

 

[maybebaby3]

yeah i'd try swaddling. if it is colic you could try infacol or some other OTC remedy.

 

[gertrude]

Ok Todays question #1

After fussing for the last couple of days today pickle isnt interested at all in feeding. She latches on for 3/4 mins then gives up. Falls asleep again..

Is this part of a growth spurt? Is it linked to the TT? Should I try to wake her?

 

[gertrude]

Just to add she had some massive feeds yesterday. All day. Then this morning had a pretty grazing morning but since lunchtime hasn't been interested in anyt&inheritance but sleep!

 

[Nervous_1]

Let her sleep for a few hours, then if she shows no signs of waking, wake her then for a feed.

It's exhausting work growing!

 

[gertrude]

how long? I'm so scared she doesn't gain weight that I can't just follow instincts!

Have fallen out with my oh too which doesn't help

 

[Nervous_1]

Give it a maximum of 4 hours from the start of her last feed. At her age she shouldn't really go too much longer without a feed. However, if your instincts are saying to wake her earlier then do it

Sorry to hear that you and your OH have fallen out, but if you can keep trying to patch things up and talk to each other as it's so important that you support each other in the early days. Remember that you'll always have the support of us BnB ladies though!

 

[gertrude]

4 hours sounds grand. I think she slept too long last night then if 4 hours is the max. We leave her to wake us at night but she went 5

Oh is out working again tonight, and tomorrow, but I don't feel that he supports me at all getting Lo off this bottle because he enjoys giving it to her. I feel like I've lost my relationship since she came along

 

[Nervous_1]

5 hours overnight isn't too bad so don't beat yourself up! Every once in a while won't harm your LO.

I felt exactly the same in the early days. All I ever did was feed LO, and all my OH ever seemed to do was bring me food/water etc. There was no together time at all. It gets better as your LO gets older and starts to sleep for longer through the night so hang in there.

Maybe you could get your OH to give LO a bath each day and then read a bedtime story so that he has a set routine for bonding with LO? That way he might be more inclined to ditch the bottle.

 

[Katt]

Just to add she had some massive feeds yesterday. All day. Then this morning had a pretty grazing morning but since lunchtime hasn't been interested in anyt&inheritance but sleep!

Possbly the end of a growth spurt? Especially is she fed loads yesterday. Some babies sleep quite a lot after a spurt.

 

[maybebaby3]

gertrude i wouldnt wake her at night but would during the day. that way she will start learning the difference between day and night!

sorry to hear about your OH. men don't understand half the time and we need to take the reins. it's easy to feel that your relationship is sliding with sleep deprivation and worries that a newborn brings. we are here for you hun

 

[caro103]

hiya ladies, after a little advice.

My son is now nearly 3 weeks old and we're still having a lot of latch issues despite intense support from my mum whos a midwife and her colleague whos a breast feeding advisor!

He has a slightly recessed lower jaw and so we've had trouble from day one of him latching with a big open mouth, it always slips up towards my nipple. I was feeding him cradle style but this has made my nipples cracked and sore so I switched to rugby style. This helps a lot but i'm worried i'm now just getting sore on the other side of the nipple instead.

Tried shield briefly, made the latch even worse so ditched those.

Have tried gently trying to open the lower jaw once he;s latched on, although others can lower the lip I can't seem to do it and support his weight.

Pillows seem to hinder the feed, but do stick one under my wrist to help.

Any other ideas?

Also he often seems to have milk coming out of his nose!?! this a positional thing or cos my milk flows quite fast?

Thanks for any support or ideas you can give xx

 

[Mork]

Caro103 - hi!
Sorry to hear you have having difficulties, have you tried feeding whilst laying down on your side? xxx

 

[caro103]

hiya, wow quick response!

yeah, I have rather large boobs and think thats where i started to get properly chewed as both able to fall asleep more easily (not intentional on my behalf) and then didn't feel him slip until too late. would like to get back to side lying eventually but need to get the cracks to heal first and try and sort out this lower jaw problem :S

 

[Mork]

Bless you, cracked nipples are the worst Do you have a lactation consultant near you or a bfing support group? I found that invaluable in the first few months (also great to meet other mummies). You say that the shields made the latch worse? Were they the right shields for you i.e. size wise? I know many people dont advocate them, but i began using them at 5 days pp to 7 weeks and they really helped the latch and my nipples to heal. If it wasnt for them I am not sure I would have continued to bf. I am sure the other ladies will have lots of suggestions too! xx

 

[Nervous_1]

I would have suggested feeding lying down but someone beat me to it! lol.

Are you using lansinoh for your cracked nipples? It really helped me to heal no matter what feeding position I used.

 

[wishingonastar]

Caro - get yourself to GP and get lansinoh prescription (otherwise its £10 to buy in shops). Its the only one safe for LO to swallow as is pure lanolin. Put it on before and after a feed as well as between feeds eg when changing breast pads. It will help heal the cracks as well as help remove friction from LO's latch in the early days

Are you making sure to angle him right...nipple in line with nose and chin close to breast then he has to lift up to latch on and reduces his ability to do a lazy latch and encourage big mouthful

I know nipple shields work for some women, but I would only recommend them if you're very sore and cracked as they can lead to problems such as baby then refusing to latch without them and supply can decrease with prolonged use. I was very sore til 6 week mark with my first as I didn't get latch help for a few weeks and I tried shields with her but found them just as painful as feeding without!

I have overactive letdown but neither emily or isabel have had milk come out their noses so afraid I'm not sure what that is

 

[caro103]

thanks ladies, theres a breast feeding clinic at the hospital on wed so def going to go along to that!

and yep getting through the lansinoh like its going out of fashion, lol

shield wise, tbh they seem huge compared to my nipples so prob the wrong size, if still no joy after wed maybe i'll look into getting better sized ones. I see medula has different sizes, the ones i used were just boots own, really long and quite gappy.

 

[caro103]

wishingonastar, think i'm getting the angle right, know what to aim for at least. I def have timing issues as i do sometimes miss the open mouth, then he doesn't open it again properly! i've heard that about shields too so will be a last resort for me.

Thanks for the tip about putting cream on before and after too, was using after but not before.

the milk out the nose thing is odd! thought initially we had a leak on the latch but its def just dripping out his nose

 

[wishingonastar]

One of the BFing consultants I spoke with showed me how to bob isabels head gently back and forth so nipple gently donked her nose and it encouraged her to open wide then with speed I had to latch her on straight after. I only needed to do this for a short period before she mastered the latch herself