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Does this sound right to you?
Hey Girls
As some of you know little Jack had lost quite a bit of weight so we have been topping him up with some formula after feeds. He takes this really well. The problem is the HV advisied me to give him 3-4oz after a BF but he takes more like 4-5oz. Hes 7lb 12oz now and 4 weeks old. The fact he takes so much from the bottle makes me think hes getting nothing from me even after being on there untill he comes off. As he always has a 4-5oz bottle after. He isnt sick after and is contented for 3-4 hours after a feed. I cant express any either even when my boobs feel full. The Health visitor says the latch is fine and always has as did the midwifes.
I dunno whether to just stop breastfeeding as it seems pointless if hes just there for half an hour and getting nothing.
xxx
As some of you know little Jack had lost quite a bit of weight so we have been topping him up with some formula after feeds. He takes this really well. The problem is the HV advisied me to give him 3-4oz after a BF but he takes more like 4-5oz. Hes 7lb 12oz now and 4 weeks old. The fact he takes so much from the bottle makes me think hes getting nothing from me even after being on there untill he comes off. As he always has a 4-5oz bottle after. He isnt sick after and is contented for 3-4 hours after a feed. I cant express any either even when my boobs feel full. The Health visitor says the latch is fine and always has as did the midwifes.
I dunno whether to just stop breastfeeding as it seems pointless if hes just there for half an hour and getting nothing.
xxx
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Replies
Toby is 3 weeks and 1 day old and was losing more weight and not gaining any.
I was having a nightmare feeding him. He wanted feeding constantly and I was continually told this was normal, but knew in my heart Toby wasn't getting what he needed from me. After he had lost more weight - the HV advised me to top him up with formula after a BF which we did one evening around 6pm. He drained nearly 3ozs and was so contented afterwards. He slept SO well that night too even though I continued to BF him.
The next day I had a nightmare feeding him again - he was just not satisfied. We gave him a bottle again around 6pm and the same thing happened. I was in tears later that night trying to BF him, I'd been doing it for hours and Toby wouldn't stop crying - to me it was clear he was hungry. We gave him another bottle that night around 11pm and he slept through until 5am! The next day we decided to slowly switch from BF to bottle / formula feeding.
Toby is now thriving, gaining weight and is much happier and contented. The change in him is amazing! Also, I am much happier... I know my little boy isn't hungry anymore, he is getting what he needs and is satisfied after a feed. I feel like a totally different new Mum!
I was told Toby's latch was fine too. My boobs would only feel full in the mornings and even then I couldn't express anything either. I tried a manual pump to express and had a go on a friends electric pump and nothing came out. Most of the day my boobs just felt totally empty. I am sure that Toby was taking enough milk to keep him from being hungry for no more than 1hr at a time and that my milk just wasn't filling him up.
Anyway, that's our story... as much as I would have loved to continue BF Toby, its not working for us and changing to formula is the best decision we've made for him and me.
Julie xxx
Your post is exactly how the last 3 weeks of my life have been!!
That's exactly how Jack has been, he would just cry constantly and to me he was clearly hungry and I was sure I had nothing to give him. We would have the same thing everyday where he'd suck for hours and when I thought he'd finished I would put him down and then he start crying for more food minutes later. My OH tried to hold him but he would just cry to go back to me. Everybody said this was normal coz his tummy is so small etc but for me it didn't feel right. I clearly did not have 3 hours worth of milk in my breasts nor would he have space for all that milk!! I had images of Jack loosing more weight and becoming unwell so in the end I gave him 3oz which he drained, too me if he'd been having all the milk from me he wouldn't be able to drain all that milk straight so it didn't add up.
I know everybody says think its good for your baby but I hated sitting there for hours not being able to even get up to go to the toilet or go out as I would be feeding for hours and u cant do that when Your our and about. Plus once I realised that he was still hungry after hours of feeding it was even worse, I thought why people making me put jack though this when he could just have some formula and be contented. Surely it's horrible for him to be starving and with me making him work hard on the breast for hours and he still gets nothing. It ended up with Jack crying and me crying and my OH also very distressed.
He now has a 4oz bottle now after every attempt at a breast feed and I really think that making him suck on the breast for 30mins or how ever long he wants is a bit pointless when I know he's going to have a bottle anyway. Since having the bottles Jack like Toby is gaining weight and seems much happier, he is like a different baby, he slept after a bottle last night from 10.30 until 5.30 this morning and had another attempted BF but then the 4oz bottle which he drained and is now still fast asleep! I also noticed things like his skin seems better not dull looking plumper and he generally seems healthier.
Julie, my boobs are only full in the morning. That's the only time I wear breast pads as the rest of the day I don't leak and they don't feel full. My mum and some of her friends and the health visitor said they leaked so much they had to hold the pad there until they put the baby on as the milk would just flow out all the time. Mine are never like that. I tried expressing lots of times, especially overnight or in the morning when there at the fullest and get nothing.
Too be honest if I'd carried on listening to everyone saying ???????your supply what he demands??????? ???????it's normal to feed lots??????? I think jack would be quite poorly by now. I read some of your other posts so now how much you wanted to breastfeed, I did too and used to think everybody should but now I understand why it can be hard sometimes especially when its things beyond your control like lack of supply or just rubbish milk like I have!!!
Thank you for writing your story it's nice to know someone else can relate to what we went though. If you ever want to chat some more just get in touch!
Jennie x