8/7 Newborn-3 mo Check In

[lily]

Welcome! Please come in and chat!


How old is LO?

How's everything going?

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share?

0-1mo:
What is something about your newborn(s) that surprised you?


1-3mo:
How do nights look at your house?

If you're pumping, how is that going? When are you returning to work, or are you SAH?


GTKY: what song has been stuck in your head lately?

[babystandish]

-2 months

-everything is going good. Had her 2 month appt last week and she's gaining well.

-nights are pretty great. She nurses to sleep around 9pm and then wakes up somewhere between 2-4am for her first wake up.

-I pump for my workouts/runs but she's been refusing the bottle so it's been frustrating

-system of a down-aerials

[lily]

babystandish sorry for the bottle refusal. Hope she gets over that.

[mrshall1027]

How old is LO? 4 days

How's everything going? It's rough. I'm trying really hard to successfully nurse this time (I exclusively pumped with my DD, and looking back, it was because I gave up too quickly with her having a poor latch) and it's hard! My son was 3 weeks early and is a lazy eater. As soon as he latches, more often then not, he will fall asleep or just hang out there and feedings are taking an hour. Right now, we have been using the SNS set up to make sure he's getting enough to eat and I'm not really sure when we should transition to direct feeds. I'm also trying to see if he will let me know when he's hungry. It seems when I wake him to eat (if we've gotten to the 4 hour mark), he fights it more because he's not ready to eat. Then we end up having to try again in 30 minutes. In the middle of the night, this is not a cool situation to be in! Did anyone else wait longer than the 3-4 hour time frame and go off the child's signals for feeding?

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? Sorry, I kinda rambled above and asked there.

0-1mo:
What is something about your newborn(s) that surprised you?
He has the softest cry. He sounds so pitiful! My DD was a loud screamer, so it's a nice change.


GTKY: what song has been stuck in your head lately?

[Deleted]

Hi ladies! I'd like to join you over here:)

How old is LO? 3 days

How's everything going? It's difficult. Some feedings he'll latch right away, but then pull off quickly. Rinse and repeat a few times while fussing and then finally feed. Others he'll root around forever without latching and then finally after different holds/boobs he'll latch.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share? I'm guessing that's normal ish? We did a little supplementing at the hospital because my milk wasn't in (not sure if it still is yet) and I'm wondering if it interfered a little.

0-1mo: I'm shocked at how much hair he has!

If you're pumping, how is that going? When are you returning to work, or are you SAH?

Not pumping yet, except for a little hand. When should I start, I'll be SAH.

GTKY: some Lumineers song. I can't remember the title.

Read more: howeverithappened.proboards.com/thread/4624/8-7-newborn-mo-check?page=1#ixzz4pCClQeVu

[gimmesugar]

@easilyunamused Congratulations!! He's so sweet! Yes, latching can be inconsistent initially. You'll both need a lot of practice. Suckling and skin-to-skin will help your milk come in. It's different for everyone, but I knew mine was in when my boobs felt hard when I woke up one day. When DS nursed, I could also see milk at the corners of his mouth.

Just FYI, in the first couple of weeks, my nipples were sore, but it was manageable. It would hurt when DS initially latched, but if I counted to 10, the pain would slowly dissipate. If it didn't go away, I would unlatch him and try again. Nursing shouldn't be super painful.

[lily]

mrshall1027 as you've discovered, sometimes newborns are extra sleepy in their first days - early babies especially - and don't rouse well to eat. Consult with your pediatrician but in general the rule is feed on demand but not longer than 2-3 hours apart during the day and one 4 hour stretch at night until LO regains birth weight. Regaining birth weight often correlates with an increase in appropriate hunger cues / wakefulness. But your pedi and IBCLC can advise best.

Are you working with an IBCLC? A weighted feed may be helpful to see how much LO is getting without the SNS. You can likely do this at your pedi's office if you aren't working with a LC.

Tips for waking a sleeping baby- unswaddle, undress, leave baby on a safe flat surface. While nursing, rub LO's shoulder/side/cheek/feet. Tickle feet or shoulder with a cool rag. Changing diaper between breasts usually wakes baby enough to nurse on the second side.

@easilyunamused unfortunately that's common newborn behavior and the cause is awfully hard to figure out from this side of the internet. Very common when milk is first in to have an overactive letdown which causes that latch-->let go-->latch-->let go as LO struggles with too much milk too fast. But if your milk isn't in yet, probably not the case. overactive letdown kellymom article
Are you working with an IBCLC?
Can you reach out to your local La Leche League Leader? LLL provides free peer support, including basic latch and positioning help. Sometimes a home visit or even just a phone call can help you figure out what's going on & how to address it. Your Leader should also be familiar with the BF resources and health care professionals in your area if you want additional help.

Find IBCLC: uslca.org/resources/find-an-ibclc
Find La Leche League: www.llli.org/webus.html

Both of those links are for the USA but both organizations are international if y'all aren't in the USA.

[lily]

kellymom.com/hot-topics/newborn-nursing/

[Deleted]

Thanks gimmesugar and lily! I'm going to ask the pedi if they have recommendations for a lactation consultant. I did have some time with one at the hospital too. Luckily he does end up latching in the end.

And it's a bit painful and first, but then it's mildly discomfort. So I *think* the latch itself it good.

[lily]

@easilyunamused one of the hallmarks of a bad latch is a misshapen nipple at the end of the feed, often looking slanted like a lipstick. Cracking & bleeding are signs of a major latch issue.

This is my favorite latch technique:


Lots of nipple cream (lanolin or a non-lanolin option like Earth Mama Angel Baby Nipple Butter or coconut oil) before and after nursing can help.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the video. I'll try that too. I haven't noticed misshapen nipples but it's only been 3 days. I have been using the nipple cream religiously from the fist feed. 😊

[lily]

@easilyunamused you'll get the hang of it :-) you and LO are both learning so much right now, nursing included. You're doing great.

[mrshall1027]

lily Thanks so much for the tips and info. At the hospital, they said to feed every 3-4 hours, but I'll ask the pedi this afternoon at his first appt. He's been waking on his own at the 3.5/4 hour mark over the last day.

I'm not working with an IBCLC yet, but I want to in the near future. The combination of him being early and having a tongue tie are why we've been using the SNS setup. We're also taking him to get his tongue tie looked at this afternoon, so I'm hoping we'll get some insight on how much that's playing into his latch. Also, I remembered the lactation consultant at the hospital saying the SNS is helping with him being interested in eating because the flow is better than straight from my nipple. Once he's bigger and has a better latch, we can switch over to direct feeds, but that probably won't be until closer to his due date.

Thankfully, while at the hospital, his weight and blood sugar all stayed within goods ranges. I'm hopeful to see he's still in good range at his appt this afternoon. He's has good poop and pee diapers, too.

[lily]

mrshall1027 you're a rock star for being on top of all of this! Hope the pedi appt and the tie consult are helpful and go well & you get in with an IBCLC soon like you want. The SNS can be a pain but all that at breast time is so good for you both. Be kind to yourself; you're doing great!

[yourpaceormine]

How old is LO?
9 weeks

How's everything going?
Pretty good. I'm hoping that as she gets older she'll become a little better at this and we can eliminate the bottle feeding and some of the pumping.

Questions/concerns/cute stories to share?
She just started smiling at me while nursing. So adorable!

0-1mo:
What is something about your newborn(s) that surprised you?

1-3mo:
How do nights look at your house?
Actually I can't complain. Bed between 8-9:30. Depends on when I finish pumping. Usually we only have one MOTN wake up, anywhere between 12:30-3. Nurse, bottle feed and then I pump. Back to bed. Day usually starts between 6-6:40. Occasionally she will have an earlier in the night wake up (around 11) and then our second wake up is between 2:30-4.

If you're pumping, how is that going? When are you returning to work, or are you SAH?
I've been pumping for just over a month. It's going alright. I don't mind it, but I wish it was going towards a freezer stash or for me to be able to go out w/o her for a couple of hours. But it goes towards the bottle that she gets right after nursing.

GTKY: what song has been stuck in your head lately? I've been watching Glee during my MOTN feedings, so one of the songs from there.

[yoshijo]

Hi, I'm jumping in!

A is 1 month old today. I am mostly pumping, occasionally BFing, and supplementing with formula.

I just started Bfing this week (didn't start off Bfing bc of NICU time and not gaining weight)

I'm struggling to know when she is full/done/needs to switch sides. She will fall asleep but continue sucking for 20+minutes if I let her.

She also has reflux and I don't know the best position for her to feed since she spits up so much when I sit her up after Bfing.

G: I'm surprised at how much she sleeps during the night

Gtky: Kelsea ballerini legends

[gimmesugar]

yoshijo Hi and welcome! I don't have any personal experience with reflux, but Kellymom suggests using semi upright positions (see the Breastfeeding Tips section): kellymom.com/hot-topics/reflux/

Baby is generally full when her hands are relaxed. I almost always offered both sides (1st side is "main dish" and 2nd side is "dessert"). In the early days, H and I did a diaper change in between sides to make sure DS would stay awake enough to nurse. I also didn't overly discourage non-nutritive sucking. You have such a short period of time where they want to comfort nurse (and it's ok to nurse to sleep without creating a sleep association), so I just let him do it! However, sometimes I would do some light breast compressions/massage and kind of start to to slowly pull my nipple away to see if he would try to nurse more. If he was really done (or asleep), he would just let it go. Otherwise, he'd be like "Oh yeah!" and start eating again. The same Kellymom link with tips also suggests encouraging non-nutritive sucking because it reduces irritation and speeds gastric emptying, which could be helpful in your case (both for your supply and for her reflux).

Longish nursing sessions are normal with newborn babies. I went back through my tracking app, and when DS was 1 month old, I was spending around 4 hours nursing each day (spread over 11 feedings). Now at 3 months old, I spend around 2 hours or less each day on nursing sessions (spread over 7-9 feedings).

[piratecat]

yoshijo J is almost 3 months and will nurse forever if I let him and almost never pops off on his own. I pay attention to his suckling/swallowing and do compressions if he slows down and then unlatch him after he has stopped being productive for a while. Earlier on, I would also do a lot of massaging of his head or back of his hand to keep him awake and suckling.