BF bub but I think she needs a formula top up, recommendations?
Hi Ladies,
As you know we've been having a really rough time with bub cluster feeding. It's 7hrs right now she has been feeding tonight & won't settle and this is happening every night. Everyone I speak to has said this is normal behavior but I get the feeling she is not getting enough during these feeds to satisfy her. She has had pretty good nappies but I noticed today they were not as wet or dirty as usual.
I'm thinking of maybe giving her a bottle of formula just at her night time feed but would like some recommendations of what brand to get please?
I would give her EBM but I just now have used my last 60ml and lately when I express I get only 5-10mls altogether.
Please help ladies
Before you go down the formula road, have you spoken to the ABA?
Give them a call, 1800 MUM2MUM, they are there 24/7 and have a chat to them.
There are many things you need to take into consideration, and many things you can do depending on what the actual issue is.
Generally, once you go down the top-up road, your supply will suffer, and ultimately, your BF relationship can be adversely effected.
Not sure if it was you I mentioned this too or not, but have you looked for any other signs of colic?
Often babies will feed (read soothe) through their tummy pains - the rhythmic action of suck swallow actually makes the pain and cramps go away.
Of course, this only adds to the problem. So if she is feeding CONSTANTLY for 7 hours and crying when pulled off the breast, I would seriously look at this.
Do you burp her? How often? Are you eating anything that could be upsetting her - this could be anything like milk to garlic to chilli to (think this was Kitt3n) peanut butter. Sometimes your diet can cause bubs to get very windy, this will be causing her pain, and the feeding is a comfort and soother.
Feel her tummy, low down - is it firm, hard? Or nice and soft? Does she have any pain you can pick up on when you touch different parts of her belly?
Give her legs a circle around. Lay her down on her back, hold her legs together on her shins, just under her knees, and move her knees together in a clockwise circle, so you move them around, and up to her chest, ad back around. Make sure you take them quite wide and do it for a few minutes.
A warm bath can help soothe, as can baby massage. You can use chamomile oil in a carrier oil to soothe. Again, rub her tummy in circles, clockwise, with an even pressure.
This will all help anything move through.
If you are concerned about your supply itself, then grab hold of the lactation cookie recipe, it works wonders, and is tasty .
Have a look inside her mouth, is there any white residue looking stuff in there, on her tongue? She could have oral thrush, which means you could have it on your nipples.
Is she having issues with silent reflux? Not all reflux babies vomit everywhere constantly, many throw up in their mouths, without much fuss, but the constant acid reflux will make their throats sore, the feeding again soothing, but worsening the problem as well.
There are just so many things, it can be overwhelming. But run through them and check them off, offering formula won't actually solve the problem in the long run, could make it worse, and give you a whole new set of issues (tummy problems, constipation...).
Anyway, I am no expert, hopefully Barb, MantaRay or Marcellus can offer some sage advice, these are just some of the things that I came across through our years of BF, and thought there may be some things there you hadn't known of or tried yet.
I burp her, cycle her legs, massage her tummy after every feed.
She seems to do lots of farts and does usually burp when I burp her. I did think possibly the reflux as she does vomit and swallow it again. Sometimes she goes red in the face almost looks like she is choking & does a cough as if something is in her throat and then she starts screaming again. She starts drifting off to sleep & then starts crying again, usually this is followed by a burp, a fart, vomit or hiccups.
My poor baby has been unsettled since 8:30pm & it's now 4:30, she can't sleep, I gave her a bottle of my last EBM at around 4ish, 60ml but that hasn't settled her.
My boobs are so sore from the constant feeding.
I've been so good with my diet, no dairy, no chocolate or garlic, onions, spicy foods, no gassy veg etc not sure what to do but to me this is not normal regardless of what my LC & mchn said. I just don't think my bub wants to be awake for this amount of time, my poor little girl I just don't know what to do, I'm sure she's exhausted & DH & I are too!
This is our first bub & we don't know what's normal & what's not, we can only go by what other ppl tell us but my instinct tells me this is not right.
I've considered formula, infacol or something similar, seeing a pediatrician, going back to the LC, calling the ABA.
It comes to daytime and she is good, she sleeps 3hrly in her bassinet, no crying etc but right around 9pm feed she is set off, won't settle, wants to feed continuously and cries on & off the whole night.
I'm so sorry you are having such a hard time of it! I am sure she doesn't want to be awake either, and no it isn't normal for all babies.
If you can recognise the vomiting etc, then I would follow the reflux path. Call the ABA and talk to them about what they suggest, I would think it is a paed you will need to speak to, but have a chat to your MCHN too, and tell them you are think she has silent reflux. Clearly she is not happy and not settled, and neither are you, which is never good.
Hopefully you can get her on some sort of antacid, not sure what for bubs so young (DD was 7 months or so when she developed reflux, but it wasn't severe and didn't need medication) I know there are several girls who have had reflux bubs on things like Gaviscon etc. I hope they will come in and share their wisdom with you.
If you do get her down, elevate her head, so stick a rolled up towel under her bassinet mattress or have her in with you with her head on your arm, so she is elevated, may help to ease the reflux a little.
HI,
You are having a tough time of it. It's great that you are keeping in touch with your maternal and child health nurse and LC. How is your baby's weightgain going? How many wet and dirty nappies is she having? Tell us a bit about the birth - how did that go for you? 60mls is a biggish feed on top of lots of breastfeeding. If that hasn't settled her, chances are it wasn't her problem in the first place. Have you tried putting her in bed with you? Most parents get to that point where they put their babies in the bed with them at least sometimes so they can get some sleep. Hopefully you are all sounds asleep now
no advice as you have already had lots what can i add. Just wanted to send you big hugs and tell you your doing an amazing job. I hope things start to settle soon or you find out the problem!! BIG HUGS
If u think she needs it and u are sore then do it. Start with at night only. Once she finished and had a burp and if unsettled put her in bf position and offer a dummy. Sometimes that can work
I really hope you are asleep now hun That sounds like one bad night I think I have mentioned before that my second DS was like that - he screamed day and night for 12 weeks - so I know how truly shattering it is
I agree with the others about avoiding the formula unless you are absolutely positive that she needs more to drink (which from what you have described is not the most likely explanation). This can introduce a whole other set of problems and if hunger isn't the problem (again, my guess is that it's not), it is going to make things worse not better. I know the feeling of desperation hun - when it comes to that, no matter what time it is, you can pick up the phone and call 1800 mum 2 mum. Having someone to talk it through with you can really help.
If you didn't call them last night, you can do it this morning. I'd also keep trying all the suggestions you've had for settling - what didn't work yesterday might well work today. Babies are funny like that. I used to give DS lots of baths - the crying started again soon after he got out but at least I had quiet for a while! The sling was my life safer although I still needed to pace with him in it. Sometimes, just sometimes, it also worked if DH took him so that he couldn't smell milk and he'd fall asleep on DH's chest.
I know this seems endless hun, but it's not. You'll get through this
She is having lots of wet/dirty nappies usually 8-10 a day but yesterday a few times I changed her they were not how they usually are, they were drier.
I had a quick labour, active labour was about 5 1/2 hrs, vaginal birth, gas only no interventions.
We are booked into the GP today so I can get a referral to a paed, I've left a msg at a sleep school & I'm just about to call the ABA.
She was awake from 8:30-5:30, feeding constantly, and crying almost constantly. She would drift off & then start crying again, she finally got to sleep and I slept her next to me until 10am feed. It seems to be anytime we put her down she cries, but last night she was crying constantly & we were holding her.
We saw the mchn last week & she had put on 180 grams in a week and grown 2 cms since leaving hospital, she is 3 1/2 weeks old now.
We don't have these problems during the day, just at night, she sleeps 3hr blocks during the day.
Babyluv
It's really hard when they're like this. I think there could be a few things going on. It sounds like she's doing most of her feeding at night and sleeing during the day - would be nice to get it the other way round. Do you get out much? Where does she sleep during the day - is it different to where she is during the night? Have you tried feeding more often during the day?
8-10 wet nappies suggests she's getting plenty of milk from you, so give yourself a pat on the back for that I would guess she's getting a sore tummy too - extra milk probably won't help that and introducing different milk could even make it worse. I know there's this theory that formula will make them sleep, but it doesn't always work that way.
Does your partner help with settling at night? Sometimes if dad takes baby away from mum to rock, sing and cuddle she will settle without a feed.
I don't let her go longer than 3hrs during the day & if I try more often than this she is not interested in feeding. we put her to sleep I'm her bassinet during the day and try over and over at night to put her to bed there too but she slept with me this morning.
We don't get out much, too tired. We make sure the room is light during the day & dark at night. We have gone on a cpl short walks.
Dh Is up with me all night at the moment, he tries settling her too, walks around the house etc. She settles for a few mins and then cries again even though we are holding her, rubbing her back, massaging her tummy, cycling her legs, shooshing to her, singing, talking calmly, not talking, dimming the lights, we are try ing everything.
I agree with PP's, it doesn't sound like she needs more milk at the moment. It sounds more like she still has her days and nights mixed up, which is very common with newborns. Where is she sleeping at night? If you are not currently co-sleeping then this might help as you can doze whilst feeding and will not have to move her once her feed is over. This might allow her to settle to sleep a bit more. It also sounds like she has a little colic or reflux which will be upsetting her tummy. Hopefully the paed will be able to help you with this.
If you do decide to try formula then remember that trying it does not mean committing to it. You can give her a bottle and see how she goes, but if you are not expressing that feed then it is likely to affect your supply. Also formula is (in my experience with a colicy/refluxy baby) likely to aggravate her tummy a little.
Babyluv, the only other thign I can suggest is rather than both being up together, take it in turns. That way you can each get some sleep - it's what DH and I did when DS was this age. It's not ideal, but it's one way to cope.
I know it's probably not the response you want - you'd like a quick fix for this and I totally understand that. Unfortunately it often doesn't work that way with little babies. We can't fix them, the best we can do sometimes is find workarounds that allow us to survive till things change on their own. My DS was just like yours at night, only he didn't sleep at all during the day. But by 12 weeks things were completely different - he had day naps and stopped screaming all the time.
I hope you can find a way to get through this If you want to try formula then do that - you're best placed to figure out what works best for your boy.
Babyluv, I'm sorry you're still having a hard time I agree with others that it doesn't sound like feeding is the issue.
One thing that really helped my DD was taking her to see an osteopath or chiropractor. DDs birth was quite quick too (4 hours vaginal delivery, no drugs) and the osteo explained that quick births can be quite traumatic. It turned out my DD had tight hips, but stiff necks are often the case too. She was about 5 months old when I took her and wish I had done it sooner. After that first treatment she slept 12 hours straight that night (hasn't done it since, mind you) and she's been so much happier.
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BF bub but I think she needs a formula top up, recommendations?
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what can i add. Just wanted to send you big hugs and tell you your doing an amazing job. I hope things start to settle soon or you find out the problem!! BIG HUGS
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