Is there something wrong with my breast milk?

[MalcolmsMiss]

My now 7 month DD was exclusively bf until 6 months. She was always a nightmare to get down at bedtime, and would catnap throughout the day. Never once did we ever get a day sleep longer then 40 minutes.

Well, at 6 months I got food poisoning that lasted 3 days. By the 3rd evening, I caved and gave her a formula bottle before bed, as my supply was pretty much non existent by this point, and she was hungry. After that formula bottle, she went down without a single sound! I was amazed at the difference a formula bottle made.

Since then, after being sick, and then introducing that 1 bottle, my supply never fully went back to the way it was, so during the day, before her arvo sleep, I started giving her whatever i had pumped the previous night, and then topped up with formula. She has since started sleeping 2 hrs each afternoon...last night I managed to pump a full feed for today's lunch time feed, so didn't bother topping her up with formula. She woke after 40 minutes crying, and was fussy. I offered 120 mls of formula, which she downed, and settled back to sleep without a fuss. My guess is she will now sleep for a good 1.5 hrs.


Sorry for the novel, but is there something wrong with my milk? She is so much more settled when she has formula, compared to just breastmilk. I don't understand?

(Might I add, with the whole catnapping thing, she would wake up crying and grumpy, so I know she needed more sleep. I knew something wasn't right, and I guess it was that my milk never really filled her up enough?)

Any feedback?

x

 

[lj2245]

My now 7 month DD was exclusively bf until 6 months. She was always a nightmare to get down at bedtime, and would catnap throughout the day. Never once did we ever get a day sleep longer then 40 minutes.

Well, at 6 months I got food poisoning that lasted 3 days. By the 3rd evening, I caved and gave her a formula bottle before bed, as my supply was pretty much non existent by this point, and she was hungry. After that formula bottle, she went down without a single sound! I was amazed at the difference a formula bottle made.

Since then, after being sick, and then introducing that 1 bottle, my supply never fully went back to the way it was, so during the day, before her arvo sleep, I started giving her whatever i had pumped the previous night, and then topped up with formula. She has since started sleeping 2 hrs each afternoon...last night I managed to pump a full feed for today's lunch time feed, so didn't bother topping her up with formula. She woke after 40 minutes crying, and was fussy. I offered 120 mls of formula, which she downed, and settled back to sleep without a fuss. My guess is she will now sleep for a good 1.5 hrs.


Sorry for the novel, but is there something wrong with my milk? She is so much more settled when she has formula, compared to just breastmilk. I don't understand?

(Might I add, with the whole catnapping thing, she would wake up crying and grumpy, so I know she needed more sleep. I knew something wasn't right, and I guess it was that my milk never really filled her up enough?)

Any feedback?

x

If she was gaining good weight then I'd say supply wasn't an issue but my LO is allergic to just about everything and that means I've had to restrict my diet to pretty much rice and potatoes!! I think it could be possible that your LO is reacting in some way to something you are eating. It's not dairy as shed react to the formula too. It could be something as simple as chocolate giving her wind, lots of acidic fruit giving her heartburn or it could be an allergy. Do you drink a lot of caffeine? It may be worth starting a food diary and eliminating one thing at a time to rule out any kind of allergy/intolerance. Does your LO have any eczema?

 

[MissCurly]

Sorry you're doubting your milk!

I would first assume that she may need more solids?

 

[MalcolmsMiss]

My now 7 month DD was exclusively bf until 6 months. She was always a nightmare to get down at bedtime, and would catnap throughout the day. Never once did we ever get a day sleep longer then 40 minutes.

Well, at 6 months I got food poisoning that lasted 3 days. By the 3rd evening, I caved and gave her a formula bottle before bed, as my supply was pretty much non existent by this point, and she was hungry. After that formula bottle, she went down without a single sound! I was amazed at the difference a formula bottle made.

Since then, after being sick, and then introducing that 1 bottle, my supply never fully went back to the way it was, so during the day, before her arvo sleep, I started giving her whatever i had pumped the previous night, and then topped up with formula. She has since started sleeping 2 hrs each afternoon...last night I managed to pump a full feed for today's lunch time feed, so didn't bother topping her up with formula. She woke after 40 minutes crying, and was fussy. I offered 120 mls of formula, which she downed, and settled back to sleep without a fuss. My guess is she will now sleep for a good 1.5 hrs.


Sorry for the novel, but is there something wrong with my milk? She is so much more settled when she has formula, compared to just breastmilk. I don't understand?

(Might I add, with the whole catnapping thing, she would wake up crying and grumpy, so I know she needed more sleep. I knew something wasn't right, and I guess it was that my milk never really filled her up enough?)

Any feedback?

x

If she was gaining good weight then I'd say supply wasn't an issue but my LO is allergic to just about everything and that means I've had to restrict my diet to pretty much rice and potatoes!! I think it could be possible that your LO is reacting in some way to something you are eating. It's not dairy as shed react to the formula too. It could be something as simple as chocolate giving her wind, lots of acidic fruit giving her heartburn or it could be an allergy. Do you drink a lot of caffeine? It may be worth starting a food diary and eliminating one thing at a time to rule out any kind of allergy/intolerance. Does your LO have any eczema?

She did have a touch of it as a newborn, but since changing washing powder, and using bash oil instead of soap, that hasn't returned in a while. I on,y have 1 green t a day, the rest is decaf English breakfast. It might be an allergy though, as from what I gather, most exclusive breast fed babies aren't like this, so something must be wrong! I'd have no clue what it would be though

Sorry you're doubting your milk!

I would first assume that she may need more solids?

I heard that until 12 months babies don't even really need solids? We do blw, but does eat quite a lot as it is, and with the formula she is settled, so my guess is its something to do with the breastmilk itself, not so much her eating habits as a whole iykwim.

 

[sarahh]

I would guess that's its because formula fills a baby up more because it doesn't digest as easily as breast milk that is making your baby sleep longer. So nothing actually wrong with your breast milk.

 

[MalcolmsMiss]

I would guess that's its because formula fills a baby up more because it doesn't digest as easily as breast milk that is making your baby sleep longer. So nothing actually wrong with your breast milk.

This was what I thought at the beginning. But I know babies who are breast fed rather then formula fed, and they don't cat nap, and are much more settled at bedtime, even at the same age as what DD is now that's why I think it's personally something wrong with my milk, otherwise all the mothers I know who breastfeed would be having the same issues as I am with DD.

 

[lj2245]

If she's having solids and bf on demand then its not a supply issue. You know your baby better than anyone and you should trust your instincts. My son vomits a lot when he has a reaction to something I've eaten and as you don't mention vomiting I asked about eczema as there are 2 types of reaction (immediate and delayed) and the delayed reaction symptoms include eczema. My son has a delayed reaction to eggs. He's very unsettled when he's had a reaction.

I will say that the fact your daughter is always unsettled in her sleeping makes me doubt it could be an allergy as it would have to be something you eat a lot of and she would still have the reaction if you bf then followed with formula.

Is there anything your instincts are telling you? For weeks I knew it was my milk making my son ill and noone would believe me.

 

[MommyJogger]

If she's having good diapers and you're giving her access to solids as she would choose to take them and feeding on demand, I'm sorry to say that it might just be a natural personality thing that your daughter isn't a very good sleeper yet. Formula really knocks them out, but that's not necessarily the best thing for them. I know that passing out into such a peaceful slumber gives the impression of "satisfied", but it's not very good for her little tummy or her long-term health if you have the choice. How are her diapers when you don't give formula? At least 5-6 really wet ones each day? Babies don't 'need' solids before a year, but many babies will enjoy taking them before a year. As long as the majority of their nutrition is coming from breast milk or formula, letting them self-feed as they see fit won't do any harm. Are you giving her opportunities in the day to feed herself? How does she respond to that? Could you give a brief outline of her routine (when you offer feeds, what time she wakes up, when and how are you trying to help her ease into naps)? There's a lot of experience in the forums and with a little more information, someone might be able to help her sleep a little better in the day without resorting to formula.

 

[gardenofedens]

My DD only catnapped during the day as well; it's just her personality IMO. She was a fantastic sleeper at night though, at least after she fell asleep which often took up to two hours! She started sleeping 6 hours straight at 6 weeks, 8 hours straight at 8 weeks, and 10-12 hours straight by 12 weeks. During the day she'd take several 30-40 minute naps rather than 2-3 longer naps except if I let her comfort nurse through the entirety of the nap; then it would be 1-3 hours long. I obviously couldn't do this very often though. Since about 6 months old, she seems to have flip flopped. She'll nap for 1.5-2 hours straight during the day after going down very easily but wakes every 2 hours all night long. I'd much rather the other way around but in the long run, it's just a short phase so we'll muscle through it!

Oh and I should mention that she is now fed both breastmilk and formula as I'm pregnant and really only producing colostrum. We started formula at 11 months but that hasn't changed her sleep habits.