Printable View
You just do what you feel comfortable with - some mchns will suggest stretching out feeds but if you and your little one are happy, then keep doing what you're already doing. I think the big benefit of demand feeding is that fussy days can be so much easier to deal with! As they get bigger & more efficient feeds are over so quickly anyway :)
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
I still deman feed my little man but he has started to get to some kind of a schedule. We have morning feed when we wake up (about 7am) and then a feed sometime around 10am then 2ish and then a snack at 430 and bed time feed at 6pm. The 430 and 6pm feeds are more schedule than anything kinda like stocking up for overnight and he will have one feed overnight between 2-4am usually.
He has only just started getting this kinda routine in the last few weeks or so - and hey it could all go out the window tmrw for all I know!! Lol
I couldn't have put him on a routine if I tried - when he is hungry, he is hungry! There is no putting it off until later lol
My girl has her own kind of feeding routine but aside from nighttime it's not number-on-the-clock based but time (as in passing of hours if that makes sense as something different to clock based) and pattern based. As in she wakes up around 6:00-30 of her own accord then if she is content I wont feed her until 7am or as close to it as possible. Them she feeds 2-3 hourly through the day after that, usually after a nap.
I feed her last feed of the day around 6:45-7pm then she wakes up once or twice in the night, usually 12-1 then 3-4.
Her daytime sleep is another story altogether and it drives me a little crazy. She tends to be awake and alert for an hour, hour and a half at a time. But she rarely naps for more than an hour at a time but even an hour is rare and she mostly naps for 20-40 mins at a time.
I have been breastfeeding for 2 years today! :leap: We never fed to a schedule, i just feed when bub is hungry or thirsty or DD just needs some mum time.
Woohoo Hot1!!! Well done to you and your bbs!
Ladylove, up until this week my DD2 rarely napped for more than 40 mins. If I wore her in a sling or wrap she'd sometimes do two naps in a row. She's three mths now and I can now expect one long nap of up to two hours once a day and the others are just short still. DD1 was completely different and slept for at least two hours each time.
Throw "should" in the bin :) Just listen to your baby and your heart, then you'll figure out what you need to do (and trial and error is all good)
Hi gals, mind if I get some advice?
Lately DD has been wanting to feed and trying to take a mouthful, but pushing the breast away at the same time. She does this repeatedly, sometimes managing a few sucks but mostly getting really frustrated - crying out and kicking against me. It's killing my nipples but more making me concerned that she won't eat. It's not every feed but a couple of times a day.
Any idea what could be going on? Tummy ache or over-tired maybe...? I wish she could tell me!
Jennifer yeah, it's surprising how many mums say their babies only sleep for short stints at a time. Problem with DD is she screams before every nap. Doesn't matter if she's just become tired or is overtired or whether or not I've prepped her for bed before or after her tired signs. She will scream hysterically for 5-10 mins then pass out in my arms.
Hotl- that is an excellent achievement!
Buffy1, when DD2 was really little if I waited too long from when she was giving those first hungry signs to actually get to feed her, she'd be quite frustrated, just as you describe. Also, she doesn't like waiting the whole 5-10 seconds for my letdown to happen (impatient little miss). Once my letdown has occurred (and I can feel it very strongly this time around) she settles immediately and sucks contentedly.
If it's a let down issue, you can try putting a warm compress (washer) on your bbs or hand expressing just a little first to speed it up (that may or may not work). Or, just take a deep breath, relax your jaw and your shoulders and wait for her to calm down and your bbs to do their thing. Once I figured out that was what was bothering DD2 I quietly tell her to get over it and be more patient! It doesn't stop her fussing but it helps me stay calm!
Ladylove - that is exactly what my DD2 does, with the notable exception of when I am wearing her on my back. Most of the time up there she just nods off quietly without a fuss. It's amazing the difference and when I've had enough of the OMG-you're-killing-me-I'm-so-tired yelling, I resort to this. Have you tried wearing her in a sling or similar at all?
It might be that she's trying to hurry up the letdown. Or maybe she isn't really hungry?
If it seems like an issue, give the ABA a call :)
Jennifer I'm so glad to hear mine is not the only one that does that! It happened in my mothers group the other day and she was her usual top-of-her-very-high-pitched-lungs self and the other mothers were astonished when I tried to tell them she was just tired and does this all the time. Her cry is VERY shrill.
Buffy hello! I can't help you but waving and smiling from WA. :)
Thanks Jennifer, I thought it might be let-down but my flow has been pretty fast. I wonder if that's it? I do get very tense when she's frustrated, am sure that isn't helping things! Good tips, I have to remember to relax my shoulders.
MadB, you could be right. I might give the ABA a call tomorrow anyway, see what they reckon.
Hi LL! Picturing your LO screaming and then sleeping like an angel 5 mins later :)
Yeah Buffy- she puts a LOT of energy into her pre-sleep antics for a 40 minute catnapper! A lot of trouble for such a tiny sleep.
Random question: if I think my baby has drained a breast will milk still come out if I squeeze/express from it? Or should nothing come out?
there's pretty much always milk ladylove :) sometimes you'll get more out, sometimes out. just one of those things
I thought so, I think I remember you or someone on BB saying the breast is never completely drained.
Yeah I can always get a drop - if I squeeze and there's a stream, it's not drained.
Hmm, it's funny because lately I've been sure she's drained the breast - it feels super soft and DD will take herself off with a drunk milk face or doze off - but if I pinch the breast I do get a strong squirt of milk still, so I'll hand express to see how much is still there and I'll get a few more squirts or a squirt and a steady dribble but then nothing much. So I guess it is at least almost empty?
Watch your baby. If she's getting what she needs - and most of the time if you follow their lead they will - then it doesn't matter. :)
Yes and she's. Not a sleepy feeder as such so usually if she does fall asleep it means she has had enough I think.
Milk coming in here :) after a day of not feeding much, ds2 made up for it last night (didn't want to settle or feed properly) and is feeding well again this evening ;). Hoping tonight he feeds properly and well so I can sleep a bit better tonight (ended up getting midwife to take ds2 out for a bit so I could get a bit of sleep last night. When ds came back a couple of hours, he ended up laying in the bed next to me as ds just wanted to be with mum and not in the hospital cot :) we got more sleep that way even though ds didn't want a feed while laying there
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk so may be slightly confusing :)
Hi leckert :)
DD was like that in the hospy too. Wouldn't have anything to do with the cot. Poor little things, it breaks my heart to think about how lost and vulnerable they must feel in the first days out of the womb.
Hi Leckert!
Ugh, my arms are sore from trying to feed Mr Distractable today. Not to mention my poor boobs!
DD2 has slept at least part of every night with me in our bed since birth. The first night she was a bit snuffly but frequent bfing cleared it all. I slept with one eye open until it cleared I swear! Was so bizarre to be on my own at home (DP sound asleep beside us), but my m/w came in the morning and said bfing was exactly the right thing to do since colostrum would clear it.
I think all the snuggles helped her gain 300 gm in her first week!
CK, DD2 has suddenly taken to coming off to look around frequently. :wall: She's only three mths! Lucky she isn't strong like your DS yet!
Yep, he started doing it at around 2.5 months, but didn't have the strength to really arch back and throw himself around. Now as a 5 month old that is the size of some 7-8 month olds I know, he's really strong. I figure just go with it, let him look and he'll come back to the boob when he's ready. Annoying when we're out in public and everything's on show while he takes his gander though!
Slater has started doing that too! He is such a nosey Parker lol that I tend to have to feed in the bedroom alone while T home with no tv on otherwise everything is just to interesting! Lol and I agree it's tricky when out I have to keep pulling the top back up ao my nipples don't just hang around for everyone to look at!
Often when i fed my DD, noone knew that we were feeding. just looked like we were cuddling. My DS is so noisy, with squeaking and slurping, that there is no chance of subtle feeding. And then he follows up with chucking up 90% of the feed. and the cycle starts again....
Lol Hotl!
Yep Honor, who is just on two months, has started gawking at her surroundings as she feeds too.
So all of a sudden I am feeling my letdown I think- only I feel it in the boob she is NOT feeding off, not in the one she is on. Do both boobs let down while feeding? I guess that's why the other one leaks during a feed.
Also can the breasts let down if she isn't feeding? All of a sudden, at 8 and a half weeks, I get a very tight feeling in my boobs sometimes. Like the muscles are straining. It happens if DD is crying or if i am thinking loving thoughts about her or even if I'm just thinking about when her next feed is due. Plus my boobs have started leaking more than ever!
Yes to all your questions hot1 :)
I mean ladylove!!!
Lol thanks Skybie!
yes, it's a bit annoying :) It's the oxytocin that triggers letdown. That's why stress can inhibit it, as stress hormones inhibit that lovely oxytocin love rush :)
Hey guys! I'm 5w2d today, and do far breastfeeding while pregnant is going okay. My supply has definitely dipped, but for now it seems to at least be holding at this new level itms? DD is coping well, although I think my milk must taste a little different. She also spews once every few days, a stringy, mucousy spew which she never does normally, so I'm putting that down to pregnancy too. I'm just making sure to put her in as much as possible, even though my nipples are getting a little sensitive now, it's nothing I can't deal with feeding wise. I've ordered a herbal supp that's safe for pregnancy for boosting and assisting milk supply, so I'm looking forward to that arriving as I've had great success with herbal supplements in the last :)
Question for anyone who BF through pregnancy...how did you position your little one when the belly started getting in the way? I'm thinking I've only got a few comfortable weeks left before my belly is too tender for her to lie on (I feed her lying on my back when we're at home, cradle or sitting on me knee when out).
Good to know it's going well Pumpkin. Interesting about the different taste.
So DD has stopped biting the nipple which is great but she's developed a new habit of pulling off every time she wants a break from sucking / drinking instead of just pausing. So she will pull off but because the milk is still flowing it runs down my boob and pools into my clothes. I think she pulls off so she can do some sight seeing while taking her mini breaks as she arches her neck and gazes all around her too as she does this.
Oh I hate when they come off and it drips down your clothes - I tend to keep the breast pad in the top folded down a bit to try and catch the leaks lol.
When the little ones start teething I had read u are supposed to take them off and put them on the floor - does it have to be the floor floor or just down like if in bed on bed - or on lounge? Just wanting to get my tactics easy as my little guy is drooling like a champion lately and want to be ready! Lol
same... Or when it sprays all over their face or clothes.:
Sent from my iPhone... Probably while feeding our poppet.
I just put ds away from breast - on floor/couch/bed etc wherever we were that was safe. Sometimes I just took him off me for a bit but still had him sitting on me if I thought he wasn't likely to have finished his feed.:
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk so may be slightly confusing :)
I think anywhere safe is good - some of it depends on the child as well. I tried putting ds on the couch a cpl of times without success but only had to do the floor once. I think the impt thing is to stay calm & try not to squeal (i know it:s easy to say in theory!) - if they get a reaction it can become a fun game. Just a calm "no" & take them off (imo).:
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Hi girls - i don't tend to pop in here often any more. it's kinda weird, but i guess i feel like i don't have much to offer cos i ccan't recall much about early BF days. But i had to share.
DD asked for boob after work tonight. she gave me big cuddles, attached, took a deep breath, then detached, grinned up at me "mummy, you smell like **** **** on your boobie!" it was very cute
(**** **** being the term her uncle taught her for any spray stuff like perfume)
Just popping in because I don't want to start a new thread... what is the easiest way to store small amounts of BM? Say I want to store enough for 4 to 6 feeds? I am the worker, going back to work after about 10 weeks. But I want to pump at work and bring it home, and maybe even pump at home a bit to give her BM while I'm away. Ideas for storage? Can you reuse BM bags?