proof that it was all in my head!! top up bottles

[wishing4ababy]

i have been giving up when Charlie wasn't settling after feeding off me and giving him the top up bottle. I had promised myself that today was the day i was going to give up on them totally after a few successes yesterday. This orning he had a really good feed off me (slurping and gulping again) and then wouldn't settle again. Eventually when i was at the end of my tether i went to get him a bottle and my mum had a hold of him. She just gave him a cuddle and he is now settled and asleep! no need for the bottle again....am really pleased...but also a bit cross with myself for not trusting him.
xx

 

[Arcanegirl]

Alex has done that a few times, wills till be a bit unsettled even after taking himself off the boob.
I figured out its just him wanting a poop so will wriggle and fuss a litte untill he does something.

 

[Mervs Mum]

This is how it was for us.....my screamed at my hubby GET ME AN EFFIN BOTTLE!!! But he knew how much I wanted to get back to EBFing so he took her and walked the floor for an hour and she settled.....i think they can smell the milk on you too and so giving them to someone else is definately the way to crack it! x

WELL DONE YOU TWO!!!! x

 

[mrs shine]

I'm sure they can smell the milk on us too. It's really hard at the moment as hubby is away so its just me and LO and sometimes he won't settle for ages, I know he shouldn't be hungry still but I after a while I'll end up giving in and giving him more boob, he'll take it and then end up sicking it all back up cos he didn't need it in the first place!

 

[wishing4ababy]

I;ve been wondering about them smelling us too - sometimes he is really settled and asleep with my boob literally at the tip of his nose. As soon as i move away from him (or heaven forbit put my boob away!) he goes ballistic again!! Little monkey!!
very proud of him though. He has just had a fabulous feed from both boobs and is now fast asleep on his daddy's knee!! NO TOP UPS SO FAR TODAY!! am still taking it one feed at a time...but tomorrow i have been breast feeding for 3 whole weeks!! I am a bit proud of myself for that!

 

[Mervs Mum]

3 weeks is fab and you are doing so well without the top ups

 

[XKatX]

Well done you!!! x x

 

[Jelly Bean]

Sorry, but what's wrong with top-ups? He's already getting all the wonderful nutrition he needs from your milk...

 

[XKatX]

Sorry, but what's wrong with top-ups? He's already getting all the wonderful nutrition he needs from your milk...

If you rely on top up bottles, you aren't encouraging your breasts to produce enough milk for your baby - supply and demand. So you will soon be fighting a loosing battle and may eventually not produce enough milk for LO. The OP obviously didn't want to be relying on this and was keen to be 100% BFing.

 

[Mervs Mum]

Kat's right! No one anywhere ever said that topping up is wrong - it's totally fine BUT if you want to exclusively BF then top ups will stop you for the reasons already mentioned.

Some people combine both, some people exclusively BF and some FF - none are wrong - but all work within certain parameters.

As we've heard many times BFing doesnt HAVE to be all or nothing BUT exclusive BFing does as the name would suggest and this OP really wants to do that at this point

 

[wishing4ababy]

It is a v personal choice....and i don't think there is anything wrong with top ups...same as i don't think there's anything wrong with feeding formula exclusively....just not something that i want to do. because of that...and because it has been somewhat of an uphill struggle....I am bloody proud of myself!!!! and a little smug!!
PS - what is an OP????

 

[Mervs Mum]

Opening post/poster

And so you should be proud!

 

[Jelly Bean]

Kat's right! No one anywhere ever said that topping up is wrong - it's totally fine BUT if you want to exclusively BF then top ups will stop you for the reasons already mentioned.

Some people combine both, some people exclusively BF and some FF - none are wrong - but all work within certain parameters.

As we've heard many times BFing doesnt HAVE to be all or nothing BUT exclusive BFing does as the name would suggest and this OP really wants to do that at this point

What I don't understand is about being anti top ups is...if your boobs don't have enough milk to satisfy bb, say during a growth spurt, obviously you want to do everything to stimulate more milk production, such as putting bb on the boob more often, blah blah. But how can you prefer letting bb go hungry just because you want to exclusively bf? Very confusing.

 

[Mervs Mum]

Kat's right! No one anywhere ever said that topping up is wrong - it's totally fine BUT if you want to exclusively BF then top ups will stop you for the reasons already mentioned.

Some people combine both, some people exclusively BF and some FF - none are wrong - but all work within certain parameters.

As we've heard many times BFing doesnt HAVE to be all or nothing BUT exclusive BFing does as the name would suggest and this OP really wants to do that at this point

What I don't understand is about being anti top ups is...if your boobs don't have enough milk to satisfy bb, say during a growth spurt, obviously you want to do everything to stimulate more milk production, such as putting bb on the boob more often, blah blah. But how can you prefer letting bb go hungry just because you want to exclusively bf? Very confusing.

I think you need to be careful what you are implying here.

No one is ANTI top ups. What are you trying to say about me or anyone else, who choses to let nature do it's job and wait for your own supply to build? Are you saying YOU are a better Mum because you top up? And I'm not because I let me LO 'go hungry' (which I dont agree with BTW).
I'd hope not because I'm certainly not saying you arent because you do! What if I couldnt afford to buy formula to top up? Or what if I'd have been a Mum prior to the turn of the century when there were no top ups to give!? Are those Mum's bad for letting nature do it's job? Of course not - we are all doing it how WE see best and the one thing we ALL have in common as I said above is noone is wrong. The simple fact is if you want to EBF, as the OP does, you cant use regular top ups. When BFing is established then you can get away with it but not before.

 

[wishing4ababy]

Kat's right! No one anywhere ever said that topping up is wrong - it's totally fine BUT if you want to exclusively BF then top ups will stop you for the reasons already mentioned.

Some people combine both, some people exclusively BF and some FF - none are wrong - but all work within certain parameters.

As we've heard many times BFing doesnt HAVE to be all or nothing BUT exclusive BFing does as the name would suggest and this OP really wants to do that at this point

What I don't understand is about being anti top ups is...if your boobs don't have enough milk to satisfy bb, say during a growth spurt, obviously you want to do everything to stimulate more milk production, such as putting bb on the boob more often, blah blah. But how can you prefer letting bb go hungry just because you want to exclusively bf? Very confusing.

I think you need to be careful what you are implying here.

No one is ANTI top ups. What are you trying to say about me or anyone else, who choses to let nature do it's job and wait for your own supply to build? Are you saying YOU are a better Mum because you top up? And I'm not because I let me LO 'go hungry' (which I dont agree with BTW).
I'd hope not because I'm certainly not saying you arent because you do! What if I couldnt afford to buy formula to top up? Or what if I'd have been a Mum prior to the turn of the century when there were no top ups to give!? Are those Mum's bad for letting nature do it's job? Of course not - we are all doing it how WE see best and the one thing we ALL have in common as I said above is noone is wrong. The simple fact is if you want to EBF, as the OP does, you cant use regular top ups. When BFing is established then you can get away with it but not before.

there should be a smilie for applause. well said hun...like I said how you choose to feed your baby is such a personal decision. Nobody is judging anyone for doing top ups etc...if he needed it i would give it to him...but as i said, he didn;t need it - it was all in my head. Having said all that i feel as though i am being judged for wanting to ebf? what is that all about?

 

[Sweetpea7830]

Sorry, but what's wrong with top-ups? He's already getting all the wonderful nutrition he needs from your milk...

the problem i started to have with this is that my smartie pants little one realized the bottle was much easier...so he would eat just enough to knock the hunger edge off, and then commence to screaming and wait me out for the bottle of EBM!! it led to engorgement for me and much crankiness between us both to where he was screaming for food, i was screaming to pump off the engorgement, and both of us were miserable. i was thisclose to ditching breastfeeding, but now that i went on a bottle strike - ie no more topping off - it has greatly improved bfeeding for me. he's completely satisfied (not hungry and needing more food) and now i just have to figure out when to introduce the bottle back - maybe just 1-2/day to give me a break. the good news is, we're both more relaxed now. whew.

 

[Sweetpea7830]

I;ve been wondering about them smelling us too - sometimes he is really settled and asleep with my boob literally at the tip of his nose. As soon as i move away from him (or heaven forbit put my boob away!) he goes ballistic again!! Little monkey!!
very proud of him though. He has just had a fabulous feed from both boobs and is now fast asleep on his daddy's knee!! NO TOP UPS SO FAR TODAY!! am still taking it one feed at a time...but tomorrow i have been breast feeding for 3 whole weeks!! I am a bit proud of myself for that!

congrats!!! mine is doing the same as yours re: the smell of milk. giving him to my hubby does the trick, but when hubby's at work it's a pill!!

 

[Mervs Mum]

there should be a smilie for applause. well said hun...like I said how you choose to feed your baby is such a personal decision. Nobody is judging anyone for doing top ups etc...if he needed it i would give it to him...but as i said, he didn;t need it - it was all in my head. Having said all that i feel as though i am being judged for wanting to ebf? what is that all about?

BTW.....

 

[Mervs Mum]

the problem i started to have with this is that my smartie pants little one realized the bottle was much easier...so he would eat just enough to knock the hunger edge off, and then commence to screaming and wait me out for the bottle of EBM!! it led to engorgement for me and much crankiness between us both to where he was screaming for food, i was screaming to pump off the engorgement, and both of us were miserable. i was thisclose to ditching breastfeeding, but now that i went on a bottle strike - ie no more topping off - it has greatly improved bfeeding for me. he's completely satisfied (not hungry and needing more food) and now i just have to figure out when to introduce the bottle back - maybe just 1-2/day to give me a break. the good news is, we're both more relaxed now. whew.

Another success story!!! Well done Lisa!! You achieved what you wanted to and that's what's important. You define your own success no one else

 

[Jelly Bean]

I think you need to be careful what you are implying here.

No one is ANTI top ups. What are you trying to say about me or anyone else, who choses to let nature do it's job and wait for your own supply to build? Are you saying YOU are a better Mum because you top up? And I'm not because I let me LO 'go hungry' (which I dont agree with BTW).
I'd hope not because I'm certainly not saying you arent because you do! What if I couldnt afford to buy formula to top up? Or what if I'd have been a Mum prior to the turn of the century when there were no top ups to give!? Are those Mum's bad for letting nature do it's job? Of course not - we are all doing it how WE see best and the one thing we ALL have in common as I said above is noone is wrong. The simple fact is if you want to EBF, as the OP does, you cant use regular top ups. When BFing is established then you can get away with it but not before.

Oops, that post came off very wrong! :duh: I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open, I meant to phrase it as "I'm actually confused about this issue" and it came off as me preaching because I failed to provide backstory. Please excuse me.

I'm only 21 y/o, first baby, 4 weeks into the BF/EBM world and there's so much I still don't understand...I think part of my confusion has to do with Luciano's pediatrician actually telling us outright to give him top ups from the very start, when my mom's instinct would've been not to gorge him with more milk just because he's putting his fists in his mouth. I'm a little sorry now I listened to her. He now takes at least 6 oz. of EBM at every feed plus breastmilk, which I honestly think is too much for a 9 lb. baby, I think maybe the Dr's top-up order was erroneous one-size-fits-all advice that should've been intended just for babies who are having weight gain difficulties. What do you think?