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Post by frecklesnbrains on Aug 21, 2018 8:01:38 GMT -6
I have a 5 day-old DS and we're struggling. Maybe I need some advice or maybe I just need some reassurance that this will be okay. Here's the scenario:
Our evenings have been AWFUL for the past 2 nights. The baby seems to breastfeed okay (though not great) during the day but during the typical evening/overnight hours he gets voraciously hungry and angry and refuses to latch for hours straight. I have been forced to resort to giving a small bottle (0.5-1oz) of pumped milk 1-3x per night in order to calm him down. Sometimes he will latch and feed briefly after that. This baby has also been very sleepy since birth, requires waking for most feeds and often falls asleep quickly at the breast. We've been doing all the extra stimulation techniques for sleepy babies that I found on Kellymom. Manual breast compressions seem to help him the most (which makes me wonder if his milk transfer is inefficient?). However, he will typically only actively suck for 10-15 minutes on one breast and then can't be stimulated enough to accept the second breast. His latch is maybe a bit shallow/inconsistent but my nipples don't hurt. His hunger cues seem to be non-existent (he's always either asleep or screaming) so I can't rely on him to determine demand and I'm just guessing by offering the breast every 2-3 hours.
My supply seems to be fine. Milk came in around day 3 and baby is having regular yellow poops following every feed so I know he's getting something. His weight was down 7% at the pediatrician appointment yesterday and we have a weight check again tomorrow so I'm hopeful that we can confirm that he's gaining. I'm also scheduling an appointment with an LC to evaluate his latch. I'm not sure what else to do.
I'm an experienced breastfeeder (my DS1 was EBF for 7 months) so this is incredibly frustrating and I've been in tears every night feeling like I'm failing at BF this time around. Thanks for reading my novel.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2018 10:15:33 GMT -6
Hang in there frecklesnbrains, you are doing great. It will get better! I don't think it hurts to seek out a lactation consultant for these issues, for peace of mind if nothing else. My only idea is to try and offer every 1.5 or 2 in the evening to try and get him before the hunger/ anger sets in. Could this be a witching hour thing and not so much related to actual feeding? Sorry, i'm not a lot of help but wanted to reply. |
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Post by westiemom on Aug 21, 2018 16:22:27 GMT -6
Hang in there! I don’t have any tips not mentioned above but wanted to send love.
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Post by frecklesnbrains on Aug 21, 2018 19:21:34 GMT -6
Thanks for the support ladies. Of course so far tonight he only wants to sleep. Too bad that time coincided with dinner and toddler bedtime so mama didn’t get to nap.
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loony
Emerald
Posts: 12,589 Likes: 45,028 
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Post by loony on Aug 21, 2018 19:27:18 GMT -6
Thanks for the support ladies. Of course so far tonight he only wants to sleep. Too bad that time coincided with dinner and toddler bedtime so mama didn’t get to nap. My first did this. I literally had to hang out topless with her in bed for two days to get into a rhythm. It sucked, but it was the constant skin on skin that synched us up. Hang in there, I hope he figures it out soon! |
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Post by frecklesnbrains on Aug 21, 2018 19:59:51 GMT -6
Thanks for the support ladies. Of course so far tonight he only wants to sleep. Too bad that time coincided with dinner and toddler bedtime so mama didn’t get to nap. My first did this. I literally had to hang out topless with her in bed for two days to get into a rhythm. It sucked, but it was the constant skin on skin that synched us up. Hang in there, I hope he figures it out soon! Thanks. This is what we did today more or less... he nursed well during the day. Now he’s back to his same antics again this evening. It’s encouraging to hear you figured this out in only 2 days. I can do 2 days! |
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vvvvvfee
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Post by vvvvvfee on Aug 24, 2018 5:39:16 GMT -6
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Post by frecklesnbrains on Aug 24, 2018 7:16:00 GMT -6
I feel like we’re doing well but DS2 still isn’t gaining weight and I’m incredibly frustrated. Our pediatrician says “sometimes it’s more important to look at the baby than the numbers” but going in every 2 days for weight checks and being disappointed every time is really wearing me down. I just want to feed my baby and not feel so anxious all the time. We’re still supplementing about 1 pumped bottle per day when he gets super hangry, usually during cluster feeding (which he’s been doing from like 11pm-3am the past few nights, which is also not helping my mental state). Why is BF so hard?! |
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vvvvvfee
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Post by vvvvvfee on Aug 24, 2018 10:50:56 GMT -6
I feel like we’re doing well but DS2 still isn’t gaining weight and I’m incredibly frustrated. Our pediatrician says “sometimes it’s more important to look at the baby than the numbers” but going in every 2 days for weight checks and being disappointed every time is really wearing me down. I just want to feed my baby and not feel so anxious all the time. We’re still supplementing about 1 pumped bottle per day when he gets super hangry, usually during cluster feeding (which he’s been doing from like 11pm-3am the past few nights, which is also not helping my mental state). Why is BF so hard?! ugh, sorry, that's rough. have you met with the LC yet?
to throw out a few more ideas-- -blowing in DS3's face annoyed him enough to wake him up when he was super-sleepy at the beginning
-offering more often during the day (like, hourly) to prevent frantic hunger. 2-3 hours is a long time for a newborn
-dividing up what you pump and just giving him a spoonful or two before each time you nurse
-pumping for a minute to stimulate letdown and then offering -try different nursing positions like laid-back nursing -taking him out in the sunlight during the day to get him on a better day/night schedule
-make sure you're using the slowest-flow nipple so that he is not preferring the speediness of the bottle
try not to fret too much if your dr is not fretting! our it's expected that BF babies lose weight for about the first 5 days after birth and then they slowly begin gaining.
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lily
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be a New Orleanian wherever you are
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Post by lily on Aug 24, 2018 20:01:15 GMT -6
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Post by frecklesnbrains on Aug 24, 2018 22:13:27 GMT -6
Great article! Thanks for sharing! |
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Post by frecklesnbrains on Aug 24, 2018 22:18:26 GMT -6
vvvvvfee thanks for all the tips! So far trying to increase the frequency of feeds outside his alert periods has been a bust. He just won’t wake up, or if he does the feed is pathetic. I think his latch is pretty good and deep, assuming he can get it. We have an LC appointment Monday so we’ll see what she says. Right now I wouldn’t be concerned if it weren’t for the weight and the 1-2x/day that he seems to require a small, paced bottle to calm him back to the breast. But 9/10 feeds seem to be pretty good. I’m just hoping it sorts its self and no one pressures me to supplement (especially myself!)
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vvvvvfee
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Post by vvvvvfee on Aug 25, 2018 7:19:40 GMT -6
frecklesnbrains, that article lily posted was great. i'm glad you're meeting with a LC. i'm sure it will all work out!
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Speedy
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Post by Speedy on Aug 26, 2018 14:38:20 GMT -6
My LO was very sleepy and had trouble latching at first. He also fell asleep at the breast. The LC suggested to me to strip him right down to his diaper and keep a wet cloth nearby to wipe him with.
For our first 2-3 weeks, breastfeeding was more or less a 2 man scenario. I would hold baby and keep his head in place so he couldn't unlatch, and then H would wipe him, blow on his face, and do breast compressions for me. Could your SO help like that?
Once DS got the hang of it and started gaining, H could step back a little and now we're all on our own, but his help was invaluable the first little while.
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Post by westiemom on Aug 28, 2018 10:08:10 GMT -6
My LO was very sleepy and had trouble latching at first. He also fell asleep at the breast. The LC suggested to me to strip him right down to his diaper and keep a wet cloth nearby to wipe him with. For our first 2-3 weeks, breastfeeding was more or less a 2 man scenario. I would hold baby and keep his head in place so he couldn't unlatch, and then H would wipe him, blow on his face, and do breast compressions for me. Could your SO help like that? Once DS got the hang of it and started gaining, H could step back a little and now we're all on our own, but his help was invaluable the first little while. This is similar to what we did at first too. |
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