question on block feeding & foremilk/hindmilk inbalance?

[spacecadet]

you are a star thank you i feel much better, im skin on skin wit her in bed now shes had a couple of good let downs im trying to keep her a bit awake so shes im myarms rather than lying in bed like normal, its funny cos just noticed my other boob splashing a few drops on my belly and thatreassures me there is milk and i just need to get her to work for it!
hoping to get her to sleep just for an hour or so so i can spend a little bit of time with OH downstairs, i know i should sleep myself but i need a cuddle or 2!!!
thanks miss shine also xx

 

[Mervs Mum]

Even when it's not dropping out babe there will still be some there. They are clever them there boobies xx

 

[spacecadet]

morning! well she woke at 12, 2.30, 4.30 & 6.30am, we got up at 8am and took the dog out, just got back and shes feeding again.. although we're not getting much swallowing? and shes moaning lots, had a lovely wet heavy nappy overnight with completely normal looking poo yay! ive steralized all the pumping euipment and bottles, gunna express as much as i can for tonight to offer her if shes grumbly (do u think thats good idea??), just soooooo tired hoping she'll nap today so i can try to as well.. although i got so much housework to do and a overdue assignment to finish... will stress/illness have effect on my milk supply?
as usual she has falen asleep now after 10 mins of feeding tends to have a narclectic (sp?) effect on her!
my OH suggested maybe we should introduce a FF in the evening to fill her up so shes more contented overnight and sleeps longer.. i know he wants to help more so if i can express a goiod amount during the day maybe that will work??
i have trouble getting her to take EBM in a bottle anyway so maybe wont be option anyway
sorry yet again wrote an essay.. waffle waffle moan moan...

 

[Mervs Mum]

Well done girl!!! And YAY for normal looking poos!! It's working!!

Dont over analyse the swallowing - she's weeing thats the main thing and the poos are looking better too!!!! That's all you were after!!!! So now you can start working on the other things - just take it a bit at a time.

Dont fall into the trap of thinking formula makes them sleep longer - it does for some babies but not for all. It's not what you put in them that makes them sleep - they do that when they are ready I believe. Now this is easy for me to say as I'm not running on broken sleep but try to remember this.....little babies wake in the night...period. Try not to force it and it will come. She may get into a better evening feeding pattern now she's getting to the hind milk. Again remember its only 2 days since you started trying to change things - lets walk before we run.
You may well find she soon starts to cluster feed in the evening and will go longer throught the night on her own - she'll start to kind of store it up from tea time to bed time - it seems very common and especially in BF babies from what I read.
If you want to pump go for it. Your prolactin levels are highest between 1-4am so this is a good time to pump if you find yourself awake with her at that time. When I started I pumped one and fed from the other - this is quiet effective too. Dont be down hearted when you only get little amounts - that will improve and in the mean time just keep gathering it till you have a feed. You could use some formula just be aware it will affect your supply. I'm not saying dont but maybe see how this new style of feeding goes for a little bit longer. Make sure you are napping during the day when she does - sod the housework for now - you may find (like I did when I was having some issues after topping up and mucking my supply up) that it only lasts a few days and then there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Keep coming, keep writing essays (see how I came out in sympathy and wrote one back ) and keep moaning to us!!

WELL DONE!!!! YOU ARE AMAZING!!!! FANTASTIC DETERMINATION!!! I AM IN AWE!!!!

 

[spacecadet]

woo hoo thank you feel beter today she had a real good feed of my left boob and i can hardly express any now! expressed 3oz from my right boob too and will let my OH give her that this evening while i have a soak in the bath maybe.. i dont want to supplement with formula but suppose i was just thinking my fella can help more if i did.. at the moment hes working long hours so i understand when he gets home he just wants to eat and goes to pub for a beer, by which time shes normally asleeep when he gets home, hes trying hard doing lots of work around the house (he just put new windows in the whole house)and gardening and cooks tea every night and cos only i can feed her when he does take her he cannot stop her crying if she wants food, i always try to feed her up before he has her but i hear her crying from upstairs and have to come down i do worry that only i can put her to bed etc..
goodness this motherhood thing is hard, thank god for thid forum and all the support here xx

 

[spacecadet]

hello, wanted to update how shes getting on..
ok so fed her roughlyevery 3 hours yest during the day, then from 6pm she fed pretty much continually (cluster feeding?) so i just kept swapping boobs, she had lots of lovely swallowing too
tried to put her to bed at about 8 as she was asleep on me but she woke straight up as soon as i started to move so abandoned that idea and carried on feeding her pretty much continually until 11pm! then she slept till 12 and then fed until 1am.. she then slept till 3.30, woke again at 5.30and then 7.30am, then she wanted to comfort suck and would have stayed there but i had to get up at 9am cos was hungry! (and my back was killing me!)
no poos yet today but a big wet nappy this morning, i am thinking maybe shes even having a growth spurt?!!
i realise now that i need her to learn to sleep without having my boob in her mouth! and in her cot when we get it, and to nap during the day not on my lap! may start another thread for this and see if anyone has any suggestions!
im feeling brill about block feeding now, she seems to be happier and not fussing so much over it yay!
tried giving her the EBM last night, she loved the bottle for the 1st time ever and grabbed it and sucked the teat for ages, i got a warm happy feeling over it (as her taking a bottle means eventually maybe an evening with granny & grandad one day woo hoo!!) and was well happy! until i looked at the bottle after about 10 mins of sucking and realised there was still 3 oz in there!??
i think she liked the cold teat from the fridge so have put her dummy in the fridge today oh well made me laugh crazy baby! i even checked the teat and no prob with the milk coming out? weird eh? i will try with warming it 1st but didnt want to waste the milk if she didnt want it all..
anyways waffle waffle again thanks for listening xxx

 

[lillysmum]

sometimes they just want to quench their thirst which is what the foremilk does but you need to make sure baby is getting the hindmilk obviously so baby gains weight, you could definitely try helping baby get milk easier by squeezing whilst baby feeds.

but it can be very difficult to know when your breasts have been emptied of milk, as a rule i'll keep putting baby to the breast for about 15-20mins or until baby shows signs of not getting any milk then move to the next side

 

[spacecadet]

yes it is diff to know when breasts have been emptyed of milk! i am now fairly reassured that i do have a good supply at least! even when she has fed well from one it stills seems to have lots left! but i must be doing better now cos no green poos for 3 days now!!
routine was out last night as went late night shopping with a good friend (you can tell i havent been out of the house much - i was like a kid and chatting loads to complete strangers and being all excited inthe shops) then we went to pizza hut until 10.30pm, took violet with me and fed her for about anhour in pizzahut! she was so good and smiley around the shops etc.. then we got home and she was wide awake, but i laid her in bed and fed her for an hour and she fell asleep,then after a couple of wake ups eventually slept 2-6.30am so i feel so energised from a good sleep
i think im gunna start a babyjournal cos its obvious i enjoy talking about her isnt it!!
than you all sooooo much for the brill advice, feel so much happierabout everything!
xxxxxxx

 

[Mervs Mum]

Good work boobie mama xx