Breastfeeding issues

Was he a preemie or low birth weight? Have you had him weighed? Have you tried nipple shields to help latch? If you want to EBF, don't get into the formula top up trap

Are you changing his nappy before feeding to wake him up? You want full cheeks and watch his jaw and neck to see if he’s swallowing. If he falls asleep quickly you can tickle his feet, hands or ears to wake him up. I do agree with the frequency of wake ups. To see if he’s getting enough you monitor the number of wet and dirty nappies in a day

@Carys he wasn’t premie but i had GDM and he was born 3.2kg and they tell me that he is small. He is also probably jaundice. He will know tomorrow when they come back and check him. And he has lost weight but only the normal %. Unfortunately we went into the formula trap because both of us were really worried about him.

@heather yes i do change his nappy before every meal and we tickle his hands, feet we also use a waterwipe yo alert him. I can see that he moves his mouth but i don’thear the same sound as when using the bottle so i am not sure if he actually eats.

All sounds quite normal to me. It’s expected that they will drop on weight a bit after birth so personally I would advise to just keep putting him to boob and let your body work its magic. Waking for feeds is pretty standard until they have regained birth weight and they do cluster feed once they get the hang of it - and that is quite intense - but it’ll just be his way of building your supply up. Like others said, as long as he’s having wet nappies I would try to remain confident that he’s getting all he needs.

@Sophie thank you 🙏 i know that he eats because we top up either with expressed or formula or both but i would like hime to be on breastmolk only. We were told not to let him more than 30-40 mins on the boob and then give him bottle to be sure that he has eaten. How long did you leave yours to breastfeed at the beginning?

My girl used to feed about 45 mins, and used to fall asleep on the boob as the milk has hormones which encourage them to do so. I used to tickle her ears and feet to keep her awake for a little while. Who was it that said not to leave him on more than 30 minutes? I’ve never heard that personally. In my opinion, if he wasn’t eating while on you, he would be hungry and crying. I’m not a specialist though so maybe text your health visitor and get another opinion. I was always told to leave baby on as much as they need to help them learn to feed efficiently and to build my supply. If you feel better knowing that he has had a top up then do what works for you. Just be wary of him developing a bottle preference if you still want to breastfeed. It sounds different because it is different. - the milk comes out faster with less effort from baby, so sometimes they’ll grow to prefer that. From what you have said here it all sounds normal. Keep monitoring nappies and jaundice though 😊

I have SO much information I can give you as I was in the exact same boat. My girl was 4lb 15oz at 37 weeks when I was induced - she was only latching every second to third feed for the first week, she either wouldn’t wake to latch, or would wake, latch, but fall asleep before suckling. We were told that because she was so little and so sleepy that we couldn’t trust her to give us feeding cues every time, so we were on a strict 2hr feeding schedule. She lost the full 10% they allow babies to lose before intervention (dropped to 4lb6oz), but then starting gaining and hasn’t stopped- so don’t lose hope. For knowing if he’s swallowing: basically you watch baby’s jaw/throat area towards the ears and look for them to have a longer suckle movement. You’ll see a normal suckle movement a few times in a row, then a longer drawn out movement - and THAT is the swallow ! It’s hard to explain but I’m sure there are videos online (lmk if you can’t find)

@Sierra oh Sierra thank you. How did you deal with this? Did you introduce formula for a couple of days/weeks or you just stayed on breastfeeding? If the latest, how long did it take for her to be full?

I hit character limit so I’m starting again- For the 40 min max on the breast - I was told 30 minutes by my doctor, but after seeing a lactation consultant, she determined that the doctor gives that guideline if mom can’t tell if the baby is actively eating. If baby is using you as a dummy or not getting milk, they’re burning energy and calories that would better be used on a bottle. If baby is actively eating- let them stay on breast as long as they want! We had to fully strip my LO to the diaper, use a wet cloth/wipe, blow on her face, tickle feet, and SO much more to try to wake her to start feeds. It also can help if someone other than mom holds baby before feeds because the baby isn’t being soothed by mom’s smell. I’ve linked something similar below- but what we did in place of a bottle were syringes that have a plastic tube at the end to avoid nipple confusion and a finger feeding system. Our hospital provided them! https://a.co/d/5HmOyI6

@Asteria I didn’t introduce formula but we did a finger feeding system that I kinda explained in my above message- but if you have any questions whatsoever just let me know!!! I always tried to latch baby first and feed off breast if she’d take it. Blowing on her face and compressing the top of my breast were the two main tricks that worked to keep her suckling! Breastfeeding is so odd because baby can feed for 6 minutes and be full for the next two hours, but then turn around and feed for 20 minutes and want back on the breast in 30. We ended up on a schedule of alternating breast-feeding and syringe feeding each feed for about the first two weeks. Once she started putting on weight and things got less scary, she was already transitioning herself to eating longer and latching more frequently. If you’re at all able, seeing a lactation consultant was the main things that got me through! If there’s any questions or support that I can give to you, please lmk!!! You are doing GREAT 🩷🩷

Thank you Sierra. That’s really helpful and supportive. This is what we do as well but we introduced formula & expressed milk. I am doing everything i can. We will be seem by the midwife tomorrow and set up next steps but i have already been looking for a lactation consultant in my area to help me. I don’t want to give up.