The Breast Feeding Support Thread

littlemissfixit

I know that supply decrease when bottles are introduced, thats a decision I made, he is 7 months, I bf my daughter for 9months and that was enough, each to their own. I was asking if some people had actually been able to stretch the weaning process keeping the evening and morning feeds because it is something I wouldn't mind doing. As I lost my job when I was pregnant, now have to look for something and have to be ready to start immediately if needs be, if the stress of the daytime weaning is dealt with it will be easier.

I also have lost all the weight thanks to bfeeding, I meant more getting my body back to myself, again each to their own.

littlemissfixit

Julo12 wrote: »

LittleMiss I gradually introduced 4 day time bottles and still bf during night if she wakes and first thing in the morning. Yes it affects ur supply but 2 months on I still have enough to keep her happy.
I would have loved to keep going as sometimes now I feel I have the worst of both worlds with prepping bottles and being the only one to get up at night! But baba just had gotten to a stage where she screamed if let down didn't happen quick enough and then just refused to feed, was v stressful for both of us! Had 2 wks of it before I started increasing btls which she was happy out with... Heard since it can be to do with teeth, at the time the nurses I spoke to just suggested my supply must not have been good...
Good luck with it!

My boy has become very hard to feed to, distracted with anything, cant do it in public and even in the car, he is just not interested!

liliq

I only started losing baby weight around 12 months. In saying that I was very easy on myself so if I had better food habits I probably withdraw have been back a lot quicker.

ck83

I lost loads of weight while I was bf. was much lighter then than pre-pregnancy. still have a fair bit to go. I'm starting to think the only way ill shake it off is if I have another baby and breast feed that...

Emcm

littlemissfixit wrote: »

Im in a bitter sweet place at the moment, looking forward to getting my body back, wear clothes I like and a little more independence... but at the same time there is this mornful feeling. It was like this the first time, but I think its worst now because we think its likely to be our last child.

I have introduce the 3rd daily bottle yesterday, so he now BF at 7am, bottle feed at 10h30/1h30/4h30, BF at 7pm/11pm/3h30am. The 1h30pm bottle and the night feed are quite small but I've tried stretching the daytime feed and he is not having it. I suppose he is still used to little and often munching approach!
Has anyone successfully kept maybe evening and morning feeds, I wouldn't mind keeping going with those especially that he doesnt sleep through yet, But my supply isn't very abundant so I wonder will I be able to do that.

Hi there

I am in the same position as you weaning from BF, my little man is 7 months now. We are doing quite well on just the morning and night time feed and we both really enjoy those. My supply is definitely less which I expected it to be but he still seems satisfied with what I have to give him. He is well established on spoon now so I am not worried that he isn't getting enough. He is happy and smiling so that's a good sign. I intend to carry on this way for some time.

Like you had my reasons for wanting to stop doing it exclusively having 3 kids under 4 left me quite worn out and run down so it is nice that other people can help me out now. I feed him exclusively for 6 months so was proud of that.

My last baby I feed morning and night for 3 months. One tip drink plenty of fluids I always try and drink a pint of water before bed and always have a drink beside my bed so I can sip away during night

Hope this helps best of luck with it all

littlemissfixit

Thanks for that Emcm! Im glad to hear that cause I dont see any reason yet to wean completely, he is 6 and half months now but I still feed himat 11pm going to bed and he will still wake at round 3am for feed, so I could keep them up and the morning feed for as long as possible!

liliq

littlemissfixit wrote: »

Thanks for that Emcm! Im glad to hear that cause I dont see any reason yet to wean completely, he is 6 and half months now but I still feed himat 11pm going to bed and he will still wake at round 3am for feed, so I could keep them up and the morning feed for as long as possible!

If I remember correctly, feeding on demand like that during the night will be a much better way to keep milk production going... I imagine that if you do that you'll probably be able to keep up those feeds much more easily that someone who is doing last and first feeds only

Emcm

I am obviously a very lucky lady my wee fella is sleeping through 12 hours he goes down at 8.30pm and doesn't stir till 8.30am and has been doing that for 2 months. I don't have to think about middle of the night feeds

littlemissfixit

Oh your lucky! my girl slept 8hrs from 5 months, 12hrs from 8 mths. For some reason, I was convinced that my wee man would be even better than that but still waiting and he is going on 7 mths now. It will come someday!

Emcm

Hi there ladies

I am looking a little bit of advice. The other day I noticed a yellow crusty spot on my nipple it came off in a hot shower but oozed for a day ot two it has dried up now but I am now suffering really badly with itching it is so bad it kept me awake last night. It's also quite uncomfortable when feeding sharp shooting pains which I have never suffered with before. I have read this could be thrush ? My baby is showing no signs of it. I am wondering has anyone else suffered with this and would the best way to treat it be the Canesten tablet !

I have been afraid to put any creams on as don't want my baby ingesting anything.

Emcm

Just checked my babies mouth again he does have White stuff on it it must be thrush not sure what to do now might have to go to GP

cyning

Emcm wrote: »

Just checked my babies mouth again he does have White stuff on it it must be thrush not sure what to do now might have to go to GP

I know when me and babs ended up on antibiotic within a week of eachother I was warned to go back to doc if I noticed any thrush. I'd probably go to GP or maybe ring your PHN and ask them?

NextSteps

Talk to the chemist or doctor.

ck83

I'd advise the gp ASAP if you're concerned about thrush. I had it and it was excruciating, I never saw any signs with baby, but I don't think it would have been pleasant for him either. I had to get oral mycostatin for both of us.

CrowWoman

Chemist should be able to confirm it's thrush and give you some Daktarin. Good luck, it's painful!!

Glowing

CrowWoman wrote: »

Chemist should be able to confirm it's thrush and give you some Daktarin. Good luck, it's painful!!

Has to be the Daktarin Oral Gel, not the cream .. so its safe for baby to ingest off nipple!

Emcm

Thanks for all your replies rang GP but couldn't get an appointment but receptionist took pity and put my call through to him. He has put me on an antibiotic and given me Canesten cream to use but I have to be careful to wash it off before I feed and he also gave me the mycostatin drops for the wee man.

Hopefully we will both feel better soon as if his mouth is as sore as my boobs I pity him

Thanks again

bauble1

Hi all, I'm stressing out a bit. Back to work after Christmas. My lo (nearly 10m) has had a lingering chesty cough for the last few weeks. As a result I've ended up nursing her to sleep for naps/ bedtime and she's back in the bed with me waking frequently just to latch on and nod off again.

How is she going to nap for someone else when I go back. Did anyone else go back to work when lo was still nursing to sleep or did you sleep train to change this beforehand? Don't know if I want to sleep train but esp not while she's still sick. Added to the disruption Christmas may bring I'm running out of time.

Any advice appreciated.

CrowWoman

Bauble, I'm in the same boat. Back to work mid-January and LittleMan will only sleep in my arms. He's a really light sleeper and will wake if I even move, let alone try to put him down. Not to mention the fact that I haven't introduced bottles yet.

I foresee a tough beginning to January as I try to get him ready for the childminder.

How Strange

bauble1 babies are so intuitive and clever. I bet your little one will map just fine when she's in childcare. Your crèche/childminder will establish their own routine with her and maybe after a few days adjusting she will be fine.

The love and cuddles she gets from you are a great reassurance and comfort for her especially if shes unwell so just keep things as they are and take going back to work one day at a time.

CrowWoman I don't know what age your son is/will be in mid January but once breastfed babies are over 6 months and being otherwise fed on demand they don't need bottles or milk during the day. A breastfed baby can get all it's required nutrition from 3 feeds per day and anything else is a bonus for them. I used to feed my son before I went to work (he got very clever very quickly and made sure to wake up in time!), one feed when I collected him from crèche, another at bedtime and one if not two during the night. He had a sippy cup with water during the day.

It took a while for the crèche staff to get their heads around this but they were very supportive and worked with me so we had no problems whatsoever. My son was 6.5 months starting crèche and started solids the week before.

liliq

I went back part time when R was 6 months until he was 13.5 months.
He napped no problem without needing boob when I wasn't there, and i fed him to sleep whenever I was there.

CrowWoman

Thanks to both of you.

He'll be 6.5 months when I start back. I'm going back part time, 5 hrs a day, so I was hoping to get by on one expressed bottle a day. I never thought of planning his feeds around that, but he doesn't feed much in the mornings even now. He has a good bellyful before we get up, then I can go til early afternoon before he's hungry again.

Thank you again, you've made a lightbulb go on for me.

lazygal

The creche will have seen it all before. I was worried about naps as I feed to sleep for her daytime naps, she will not settle otherwise unless in the car/buggy. But another mum who has two in creche has put my mind at rest and said the staff know their stuff and have all the necessary tricks to get LO to sleep on a routine. I'm not the best at implementing a regime but I figure I'd rather enjoy my time with her before going back and let the creche be the start of a more scheduled day.

Pebbles81

Hi all,
As I've mentioned before I'm exclusively breastfeeding my 11 week old daughter.
It's going well but I'm foreseeing future problems!
I always nurse her to sleep and when she is unsettled or crying I offer her my breast and it soothes her straight away.
As a result of this she will rarely go down for a nap awake and when upset the only thing I can do is nurse her!
I have never left her for longer than a few hours and now that I'm thinking about getting some time to myself I think it's going to be impossible for anyone else to get her to nap or go down for the night.
I have managed to give her a bottle of expressed milk but she won't take a soother!
Any advice would be very welcome as I'm beginning to think I'll never be able to go anywhere without her!
Thanks in advance

bauble1

Thanks for the reassurance ladies. I know deep down you're right ... I always lose perspective when in the middle of a 'bad' spell.

I'm sure the creche will be fine. I have grandparents minding lo too so also worried I'm making it difficult for them.

Pebbles, your lo is still so young, i would carry on as you are. They change so much and often from my experience. Wait until she settles into her own routine in the next couple of months and work from that. I think in hindsight I made life difficult for myself and lo by trying to get her to settle on her own at times. Magic boob could've been used more. Its all learning as we go!

Julo12

Pebbles81 wrote: »

Hi all,
As I've mentioned before I'm exclusively breastfeeding my 11 week old daughter.
It's going well but I'm foreseeing future problems!
I always nurse her to sleep and when she is unsettled or crying I offer her my breast and it soothes her straight away.
As a result of this she will rarely go down for a nap awake and when upset the only thing I can do is nurse her!
I have never left her for longer than a few hours and now that I'm thinking about getting some time to myself I think it's going to be impossible for anyone else to get her to nap or go down for the night.
I have managed to give her a bottle of expressed milk but she won't take a soother!
Any advice would be very welcome as I'm beginning to think I'll never be able to go anywhere without her!
Thanks in advance

I had the exact same worries but then discovered for naps my daughter can be walked to sleep in the pram and so this is what my oh or mil do. I was really worried about my first night out last wk as I nursed her to sleep all of her 5 mths but she was so worn out by bedtime she conked on the bottle!
Also won't take a dummy so I was always bfing to settle her but I found after about 12 or 13 wks she didn't need it as much, just in the evenings when she might get a bit tired and need a snooze b4 her bath. Equally tho she can be soothed by walking around - it's a bit harder on the other person but usually if someone is helping u out they're a lot more rested than u and aren't going to mind doing whatever is necessary!
Baby will get tired and I'm sure whoever u leave them with will be experienced enough to get them to nap or sleep. The first time we left our daughter with my mil I was checking my phone the whole time. Got back and baby had just drifted off in the pram in the kitchen while she was cooking and that was her second nap after snoozing on a walk too!!
Very long winded way of saying don't worry!

emer_b

Pebbles81 wrote: »

Hi all,
As I've mentioned before I'm exclusively breastfeeding my 11 week old daughter.
It's going well but I'm foreseeing future problems!
I always nurse her to sleep and when she is unsettled or crying I offer her my breast and it soothes her straight away.
As a result of this she will rarely go down for a nap awake and when upset the only thing I can do is nurse her!
I have never left her for longer than a few hours and now that I'm thinking about getting some time to myself I think it's going to be impossible for anyone else to get her to nap or go down for the night.
I have managed to give her a bottle of expressed milk but she won't take a soother!
Any advice would be very welcome as I'm beginning to think I'll never be able to go anywhere without her!
Thanks in advance

pebbles, I could have written this post! same age baby, same story with the nursing, bottle and soother!
I have days when I get really stressed about her needing me to get to sleep but I've found that when I leave her with anyone else they nearly always get her to sleep with no problems. She only needs me if I'm there!
I've been putting too much pressure on myself to make her an independent sleeper, I'm going to try and go with the flow a bit more until she's a little bigger.

On a different note, my 11week old has slept 9hrs and 11hrs straight for the last two nights (it was more like 7/8 hrs for a few weeks prior to this). Not exactly a problem I know, it's fantastic . However she's a bit on the skinny side, hasn't been doing well on her growth charts, and I'm just wondering if this seems like a very long time for a small baby to go without feeding?
I've been making a big effort to feed her as much as possible over the last few weeks to help her gain weight . She's not great to sleep during the day, quite erratic really, but I didn't think babies could bank up sleep like that overnight?

How Strange

emer_b I wouldn't be concerned about an 11 week old sleeping like that during the night. It's be different if she was a newborn. Also, if you're feeding on her on demand during the day then you're doing everything that you should be.

When you say weight charts I presume you mean those for breastfed babies. Also, and this is something I really believe, babies are the weight and size they're meant to be if there's no other health issues and they're being fed on demand. Some babies are just skinnier or more petite than other babies. Done babies have to be in the lower percentiles and that's not a bad thing as long as that's where they've been all along.

If she's fed on demand, is otherwise content and has a lot of wet and dirty nappies then she's the size she's meant to be. The worry never stops!

emer_b

How Strange wrote: »

emer_b I wouldn't be concerned about an 11 week old sleeping like that during the night. It's be different if she was a newborn. Also, if you're feeding on her on demand during the day then you're doing everything that you should be.

When you say weight charts I presume you mean those for breastfed babies. Also, and this is something I really believe, babies are the weight and size they're meant to be if there's no other health issues and they're being fed on demand. Some babies are just skinnier or more petite than other babies. Done babies have to be in the lower percentiles and that's not a bad thing as long as that's where they've been all along.

If she's fed on demand, is otherwise content and has a lot of wet and dirty nappies then she's the size she's meant to be. The worry never stops!

Thanks How Strange, yes its the charts for breastfed babies. My baby is quite content, active, getting stronger, more alert and doing plenty of nappies. The problem is she started off in the 50th percentile but slipped to the 9th percentile by 8 weeks. I have been on here about this issue before so I won't bore everyone about it again but I'm getting her weighed again next week (3 month check up) and I'm really hoping she hasn't slipped further. Thats the only reason I was concerned about the long sleeps, but I guess if she was hungry she would be waking.
However, not getting her weighed every week for the last few weeks (as the nurse wanted me to) has been the best decision I've made. I've just been able to feed her and enjoy her without constantly worrying about the ounces gained!

Pebbles81

Thanks emer_b.
Glad to know I'm not the only one in this position. My mam (who reared 5 of us) basically said the same as you did. I just have to get up the courage to leave her now
My little one rarely sleeps for that long but some people have told me that @ 11 weeks, if babs is hungry during the night she'll let you know! I was setting my alarm for every two hours during the night to feed her, I thought I had a slightly cranky baby, but she changed as soon as I stopped waking her (she almost always wakes up smiling now ) I had the poor little thing worn out!
I feel like a different woman now that I'm getting so much more sleep & feel like I'm doing better with regards looking after her!
And I'm even starting to get some work done around the house....for a while my oh thought he was never going to get a dinner cooked for him again