Supply issues - how do you know?

[Linzi]

We're just having problems in the evening - Molly is always hungry all evening, she literally will sit between about 6 and 11 attached to me which is fine. But we just struggle because she doesn't seem to be getting anything after half an hour and she just ends up fighting with me trying to get something out.

She's putting on weight fine, but she will also take a large expressed feed on an evening (eg yesterday I had a drink coz it was my birthday, in the 2 hours I didn't feed her for, she took 10oz of milk, didn't bring any back up and cried for another feed as soon as that had gone). She is putting on weight amazingly, she just feeds a lot, every couple of hours through the day and then this 5 constant hours on an evening. She usually has 2 feeds through the night too.

I think she needs hungry baby formula I just don't think Im making enough for her. Im really struggling and it's making me want to stop feeding her.

*edit* I keep being told it's a growth spurt but she's been the same since she was born every day, I dont think she is on a growth spurt, just think she's a hungry baby

 

[Lownthwaite]

She is cluster feeding which is totally normal in the evenings.

She is gaining weight well, as you say, and providing she is alert when awake and producing a good amount of wet nappies then I really wouldn't worry about low supply.

It is actually quite rare for a woman to have a true low supply issue.
Just follow babys lead - feed when wants to and for as long as she wants to.

She doesn't need formula - she just needs your milk to regulate which it will do at about 6 - 10 weeks.

Hang on in there it gets easier

 

[Linzi]

Everyone keeps saying that though and I just can't believe it, she goes on for a minute latches on and tries to get something then can't get anything coz she's already been on for like an hour or whatever and then starts screaming, crying, really agitated and fidgety.

Its like she's trying to get it out and just can't.

She's a big baby, she's on the 98th line, maybe its not low supply but she's just so hungry I can't imagine Im making anywhere near enough

 

[summer rain]

Some babies are on a constant growth spurt between birth and 8-12 weeks; however these do tend to be the babies that once they turn that corner skip any further growth spurts and that don't need solids nor show any real interest in them until well past six months, my son was like this until he was bang on 12 weeks-for us quitting wasn't really an option as he did have an intolerance to cows milk so would have had to go through the mill to get an appropriate formula but even still I remember saying to OH tomorrow I am going to the GP to get the ball rolling to get a specialist formula, by the morning though it would be forgotten although by 12 weeks I was at the end of my rope a bit. Suddenly at almost exactly 12 weeks I put him in his cot awake and he went to sleep and only woke once in the night; and ceased the evening cluster feeding as well. I was waiting for the 4 month sleep regression, 3, 4 and 6 month growth spurts and they never came xx

 

[summer rain]

Size of baby doesn't really have any correlation to how much they need and how 'hungry' they are; my two smaller boys were always much hungrier and could take more EBM than my bigger ones. All BF babies need about 18-30oz per day from 1 month until 6, regardless of birthweight or their weight at that time; they may be able to take very large quantities of expressed milk but doesn't mean they physically need it-some babies are not filled by bottles at all. If your baby truly wasn't satisfied by your milk then she'd be unhappy all day every day; and either sleeping excessively and listless or seemingly hungry and crying from morning until night; the fact it is just in the evenings tells me this is something she will grow out of very very soon xx

 

[Lownthwaite]

Size of baby doesn't really have any correlation to how much they need and how 'hungry' they are; my two smaller boys were always much hungrier and could take more EBM than my bigger ones. All BF babies need about 18-30oz per day from 1 month until 6, regardless of birthweight or their weight at that time; they may be able to take very large quantities of expressed milk but doesn't mean they physically need it-some babies are not filled by bottles at all. If your baby truly wasn't satisfied by your milk then she'd be unhappy all day every day; and either sleeping excessively and listless or seemingly hungry and crying from morning until night; the fact it is just in the evenings tells me this is something she will grow out of very very soon xx

Well said.

I know it's hard to believe when everything seems so hard but it really does get easier.

 

[Linzi]

She only wakes twice through the night, she has since she was born we're pretty lucky with that!! She wont even wake to dream feed which Ive tried a couple of times.

She is only 5 weeks tomorrow though...

Im sorry I dont know whats wrong with me this past couple of weeks Im a nightmare.

Just feel like Im completely letting her down and she'd be better off on formula

 

[Linzi]

She sleeps all day, she's awake probably 2 hours a day, and sleeps the rest of the time. When she is awake she's unhappy and seems agitated, she just cries. I dont mind that she cries I just want to know why really and it makes me worry about if she's hungry... Ive cut dairy out and its done nothing just not sure what to do next

Sorry for the hormones

 

[summer rain]

If shes alert when shes awake I wouldn't worry about that too much either. You're not letting her down at all, its obivous she has her days and nights the right way but probably wants to tank herself up before sleeping for longer stretches at night, it will get easier though I know it doesn't seem that way now xx

 

[Lownthwaite]

It is hard in the beginning but it will pass and you will come out the other side finding feeding easy. Trust us.

We wouldn't still be feeding at nearly 15 months if it was still hard

 

[AmeliePoulain]

You have been given some really good advice - all I can really add is that my little girl cluster fed for the first 12 weeks pretty much solidly it felt like.

Every night I told my husband I was giving up bf'ing the next day but somehow we made it

You are doing so well, it will get easier xxx

 

[BlackBerry25]

Elliot is like this too. Right at dinner time, and I cannot feed H or make dinner, or the timer starts going and dinner starts burning and H is whining at me. Its annoying, oh man, do I know!

He is fussing and screaming and freaking out most of the time too.
I have noticed I really really REALLY have to burp him, and he usually hates it. And put him on his tummy for a bit. He still wants to suck constantly but it calms him down for a few mins (the tummy thing) and it doesnt seem to last AS many HOURS if I really work hard and get a burp or two out.

 

[BlackBerry25]

And I gotta add, yes you are doing amazing!

Don't feel bad, whatever you choose to do

I have done both, as I am sure you know, and H is perfectly fine. Also, I think I had extra hormones or something being released when bfing H, and I was so sad and depressed and as soon as I stopped, I instantly felt a weight lifted off my shoulders.

Only you know when you have had enough.

Not trying to discourage you in any way, just letting you know, that it doesn't mean anything bad of you at all, if you do decided to stop. I know I wrote a post on here in 2008 about how I just had enough, and Samantha said to me, if you are done, its ok. And it really was.

 

[Blah11]

It is a growth spurt babe. Babies have really rapid growth from birth to about 2 months old and they do feed constantly. If shes having wet nappies and not losing weight and is alert, she's fine. I'd be more worried if she didn't cry at all. Amelie was 1 hour on, 1 hour off at mollies age including throughout the night. Its hard but gets easier soon X

 

[Blah11]

I also think you're comparing her to a FF baby (Seth was FF wasnt he?) and they're really different. BF babies dont take huge amounts of milk like FF babies do and they dont need that much so their little stomachs need filling more often as BM is easy to digest. Remember shes learning to BF too and it takes awhile for them to get efficient and the feed to be done quickly.

If you genuinely want to switch then do so, youve gave her the best start ever, but don't do it if you think you'll regret it (and i think you will).

 

[Elmo5]

From my experience cluster feeding lasted until around 3 months, then when the cluster feeding seemed to end she then fed about 1-1.5hrs all through the day. This has then started spreading itself out and it was down to 3hr just shy of 5 months.

The only growth spurt I noticed was around 6 weeks.

 

[BlackBerry25]

Good to know, since my kid is up every 1-3 hours.

 

[Kiddo]

Have you tried gripe water? Vincent is the same most evenings and gripe water seems to help. Babies with colic are soothed by sucking so that might explain the constant feedung. You must be knackered as it can be pretty stressful

 

[midori1999]

I stopped BF my first two sons as they were big babies (second son was 10lb when born at 38 weeks, so over the 97th centile) and I thought they were feeding all the time because they were big and therefore hungry. No-one told me that their feeding pattern was normal for BF babies and so I put them on formula so they wouldn't be hungry. I did regret it later on, but it was really too late then.

It's important to remember that small, frequent feedings are normal for mammals. In fact, in other mammals where the Mum's continuously carry their babies, so apes/monkeys, for example, the babies feed as often as every 15 minutes, including at night. This is reflected in cultures where human babies are carried continuously by their Mothers and have free access to the breast. So in fact, in our developed, western world, even BF babies feed less often than nature intended.

FF induces 'artificial' sleeping patterns, because it is harder for babies to digest, which means they use more energy to do so, which means they need to sleep more to conserve energy in other ways. Also, FF babies take an unnatural amount of milk in a lot of cases, as it is much easier to drink from a bottle than a breast and as we can see how much they are drinking and that the bottle is not empty, it's all too easy to encourage the baby to finish their bottle.

The long sleeping patterns in FF babies are not without risks, it is one of the reasons that BF babies are at less risk of SIDS.

Of course, if the constant feedings are getting you down, then it is absolutely your decision to switch to FF, but please don't do it because you think you sre starving your baby or he is hungry. The way your baby is feeding is completely normal and natural.

 

[claire-lou]

Oh wow I could have wrote this, for 8 weeks she fed constantly from 8 until at least 1:30 sometimes 2:30 and would then crash out and feed 2 hourly and I was back up with our toddler at about 6am I was exhausted and contemplated quitting sooooo many times. Then one night she just fell asleep at half 9 and and that was it corner turned! She still has a big feed pre bed but not like the early days. Hang in there