# Feeding worries!



## Yogi (Sep 13, 2005)

Hiya

I've been breastfeeding solely my 9 week old baby since birth.  She was 3 weeks early weighing 5lbs 9ozs and a week ago when she had her jabs she was 9lbs 11ozs.  She's been gaining obout 8-10ozs a week since birth.

Over the last couple of weeks I've had some really bad days where she just doesn't seem to settle.  Yesterday she was just really unsettled so we put her in her pram to walk and that normally helps but this time it didn't.  She'd been fed probably about an hour before the walk.  15 mins down the road she still wasn't settling and I had to carry her on our walk and in the end had to sit on a bench and feed her again.  She wouldn't settle so we came home and she was still upset so we gave her a 4oz bottle of expressed milk.  This was 7pm and then she slept till 5am.  She has never done that before.  

Last week I fed her on the breast and me and DH left her for the first time with my mum.  10 mins after I'd left the house (and I'd just fed her) mum said she was still crying.  I'd left mum a 4/5oz bottle of EBM in the fridge and mum said she gave her that (again just 10 mins after I'd fed her) and then she settled and was flat out asleep.  That was again at 7pm and I had to wake her around 2am to give her a feed which she probably could have quite easily kept sleeping without.

I'm worried that now she is getting bigger that my breast milk isn't filling her appetite and I don't know if I should just switch to forumla as it does take me quite a while to express a decent amount.  I'm passionate about breast feeding and dont know what to do for the best for my baby.

Also did I do the right thing letting her sleep 10 hours or should I have woken her?

THanks so much

Y x


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## Yogi (Sep 13, 2005)

Did I post in the right place?


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## jeanette (May 3, 2003)

Hiya hun

Yes you have posted in the correct place! I hadn’t forgotten..each time I have gone to sit down to reply to you the phone has either rung or molly has insisted on sitting on my lap!  

As a mum who has breast fed I know how you are feeling and reassuringly it is really common to feel that you are not producing enough milk.  Mums often think that their milk supply is low when it is not. Many professionals say that it is very rare for a mum not to have enough milk.

Babies often go through growth spurts. They will seem to be feeding forever! Often you can feel that you aren’t producing milk if you initially have a strong letdown feeling that subsides or if the fullness in your breasts doesn’t feel the same. This is a natural signs that your body has adjusted to your baby's feeding requirements. 

The more you breast fed..the more milk you will produce. Some feds maybe longer than others (this may just mean that she has been more efficient feeding as opposed to your supply).

If your baby has five to eight nappies a day, is healthy and alert, and produces yellowy-mustard stools then your milk is fine. Most importantly, having her weighed regularly to ensure she is gaining gain is the best way to make sure that she is getting enough milk. 

If you feel you are not producing as much milk as you would like you can get support from a breastfeeding counsellor or infant feeding specialist. Your health visitor will also be able to help you. 

If you feel that you need to increase your milk:

Let her fed as often and for as long as she requires. Offer both breasts at each fed.

Try to avoid offering formula milk as if she becomes full on formula milk she is less likely to fed more frequently from you which will affect your supply.

There are herbal remedies available that can help with your supply (speak to someone in your local health food shop)

Your GP may prescribe a drug called Domperidone which can help with your supply.

Make sure you are drinking at least 3l/ 24hours and are having 500 calories more than what you would normally have. No dieting!

Make sure you are resting as well.

Try hand expressing the fore milk off just before a breast fed so that she feeds on the hind milk which is full of calories and more filling.


Expressing milk for a full fed is an option but its best to try the above and come back to me if things don’t improve.

10 hours is a long time! but maybe she is ready to sleep through the night.

Hope this helps

Jxx


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## Yogi (Sep 13, 2005)

Thanks ever so much for your reply its really helpful.

She hasn't gone 10 hours since that once so it must have been a fluke.

I do have a strong let down feeling and my boobs are softer than they were so alot of what you say makes sense.  I'm a little more confident that I've been mistaking her crys as crys of hunger when in fact she has wind.

I've just fed her now and used colief drops for the first time and she is sound asleep with no wind it seems.

I'm so glad that it seems my milk supply is okay as I'm so passionate about breastfeeding.

Do have another question if I may, if you don't put breast milk in the fridge does it go off?  I ask because just before I fed her I expressed an ounce and put the colief drops in that and fed her that in a bottle then put her on the breast.  What do I do about giving her these drops whilst I'm out for the day.  Can I just take an ounce of breastmilk and drops in a bottle and put it in her bag or will it go off?

Thanks you are a star

Y xx


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## jeanette (May 3, 2003)

Hiya

Expressed breast milk should be put in the fridge within about an hour.

If you go out..put ice bags in the cool back..this will be fine. Alternatively freeze it and take it out when you need it in your cool bag (by the time you need it it will have defroasted..if not pplace the bottle inside a bowl with warm water.

Jxx


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## Yogi (Sep 13, 2005)

Oh Sugar, I expressed a couple of ounces this morning and just put them in my bag and fed it her later this afternoon.  Now I feel bad as I rang the breastfeeding support line and they told me it doesn't go off.  I'm worried now she will have a bad tummy.


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