Newborn feeding advice

[LeannieB]

Hi my little man is now 5 days old. He was 9lb3oz when born. He was weighed today and has lost weight which midwife said is normal but he is also jaundiced. She said that the jaundiced peaks on day 5 and that they will come out on Tuesday too see us which is day 7. Makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong. I breastfed my other little boy and had no problems. Jamie feeds every 2/3 hours sometimes sooner day and night and sometimes can feed for half hour or more. He is weeing lots but his poop are still quite green in colour. Just after some encouragement. Thanks in advance x

Sorry forgot too say my nipples are sore and cracked and have been bleeding but she said his latch looked fine today and sounded like he was feeding well x

 

[shinona]

Hi, has your milk come in already? Sounds like you're doing what you can and you shouldn't stress (or try not to!) Wait and see how he's doing on Tuesday.
PS I have a Jamie too! Xx

 

[Sarah lo]

Wesley was a bit jaundiced when he was first born too and it took a few weeks to go away. I was told that as long as he was having lots of wet nappies and wasn't excessively sleepy he was fine. Keep an eye on those dirty nappies, they should hopefully start to turn yellower over the next few days but I wouldn't worry too much if they're still a bit green just now.

His feeding pattern sounds great keep it up and try not to doubt yourself x

 

[LeannieB]

Thank you. My milk came in on day 3. Is it ok too carry on feeding him while my nipples are sore and bleeding and scabbed over? I have lanoish cream so been using that. X

 

[Tulip]

He sounds absolutely fine and you're doing a great job. Keep him near the window and pop out for a walk daily to help clear the jaundice - it's perfectly normal.

Bit worried about your nips bleeding to be honest - it's fine to feed him, but shows there IS something wrong with latch or position or physiology (poss lip/tongue tie). MWs aren't the experts in this field I'm afraid. When you feel able, go to your local bf support group. My local one has the infant feeding coordinator from the hospital - a qualified lactation consultant - as well as excellent peer support.

You're doing amazingly! Xxx

PS - if it's any consolation I had poorly nips too, and still have a split on one side. DS2 is 11 weeks! We're off to an osteopath this week to see if she can straighten him out. So it is totally possible to push through xx

 

[leash27]

My LO was also jaundice and lost 7% of her birth weight within 2 days so it is perfectly normal. It took us a while to get back to her birth weight again, think it was around 3 weeks. Jaundice can make them extremely sleepy so be sure to keep waking for feeds, my MW advised us not to let Ella sleep more than 3 hours without a feed throughout the day and night. I also placed her moses basket near to the window for her to sleep during the day so she was getting plenty of sun on her. The best thing for jaundice is to keep feeding as much as you can as it flushes it through their system I am told.

It took over 5 weeks for Ella's jaundice to clear up completely and we had to have some blood tests done to be sure that her biliruben levels were within the normal limit. It is very common so I wouldnt worry about it too much at all.

As for bleeding nipples, I would definitely have your latch checked and keep lathering them with nipple cream between feeds if you can.

x

 

[c1403]

My little one was quite jaundiced, it had gone by day 10 (midwife wasn't too concerned at day 5). Keep feeding on demand as that helps.
How long is baby on each breast? I've read that green poop sometimes means they aren't getting the fattier milk at the end of a feed so maybe stick to one side and not switch so much (I was advised to feed off both breasts each feed but my DD seemed to be a one sided feeder and would do 15-20 mins on one side and her poops soon turned yellow)

 

[LeannieB]

Hi it's really hurting still when he latches on and my nipples are still sore and bleeding. Who do I need too see about wether he has tongue/lip tie? Thanks x

 

[Tulip]

You need to see a lactation consultant. Call the hospital and see if they have a bf clinic or ask to speak to the infant feeding coordinator. Or if you've got the cash find a private lactation consultant😑

 

[noon_child]

You need to see a lactation consultant. Call the hospital and see if they have a bf clinic or ask to speak to the infant feeding coordinator. Or if you've got the cash find a private lactation consultant��

Or call LLL (La Leche League) or NCT (National Childbirth Trust) and they can send someone out to your house to observe feeds and offer advice, support, shoulder etc. On the advice of LLL I just TOLD my HV to refer me to someone to check for tongue tie. My HV didn't know anything about it, but when she heard that my LLL counsellor suggested it she just went right ahead and referred me to the ENT consultant at my hospital.

There are also breastfeeding cafes (baby cafes) run in lots of children's centres which sometimes have lactation specialists but always have an HV and sometime trained peer supporters.