Just express till it's soft so she can attach more easily.
poos sound fine - very normal for a newborn.
7 minutes may well be enough time for her! How often is she pooing? otherwise doing ok?
Sounds like you're doing well :)
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Just express till it's soft so she can attach more easily.
poos sound fine - very normal for a newborn.
7 minutes may well be enough time for her! How often is she pooing? otherwise doing ok?
Sounds like you're doing well :)
Ok so I kept a 24 hour chart yesterday recording Honor's feed times and wet nappies etc and while I thought I was only getting about 7 feeds into her it actually added up to 11 feeds between 7am and about 6 am. Some of the feeds were tiny - only about 4 minutes if she was restless. These were mostly on my right breast which is the one I'm having attachment problems with. But other feeds ranged from 7 to 15 minutes. One was EBM... I was tired and she was unsettled so hubby took charge while I went to bed.
Rousing her to drink is still an issue, mainly at night. Feeding to a strict 2 hour daily routine isn't really working because it often takes an hour or more to wake her, feed her, change her, try another feed if she was fussy with the first one, then settle her. So a 2 hourly routine would mean she's barely asleep before I'm waking her again. But somehow I got 11 feeds of varying 'success' in- a mix of demand led and manually waking her.
She had 7 wet or dirty nappies.
Oh and if she isn't fussy or not attaching properly her feeds seem like good ones, even the 5 minute ones, as she has a strong and constant suck swallow pattern.
Ladylove, it sounds like you're doing well.
If keeping track like this helps you, then that's good, but sometimes it actually just puts more pressure on you. If she's feeding at least 8 times and doing multiple poos (+some wet ones) then you're probably on track and can let her lead a bit more in deciding when to feed (and for how long).
Great work
I know, it's a fine line. I like to feel like I know what is happening, it makes me feel more in control of such an intense period of learning and experience and responsibility for this new little life. But it does make me a bit tense and obsessive rather than relaxed and able to go with the flow.
I may have had a mini breakthrough- she attached and fed beautifully on my right breast when I positioned her in a sort of seated position. I had no nipple pain at all. Hopefully it wasn't a fluke!
Then she did the runniest messiest poo ever- it was like a waterfall that ran all the way up her back and soaked through her clothes. Oh my sweet bunny!
Oh I remember those special poos. If you're really lucky, you end up wearing it too ;-) I frequently used to end up with both of us in the shower. Ewwww
That's fantastic you've had a breakthrough. DD1 was a brilliant feeder from the start but DD2 was very difficult . Once we got that first good feed or two though it was much smoother going.
If it works, then it's good :)
Hey that's great hope you have more painless feeds!! :D
Ah yes the up the back poos :lol:
Bugger- it worked three times but tonight she didn't latch properly again in the same position. My right nipple is so sore. I'm 50% there, it's just the one breast that's causing issues. I'm seeing a lactation consultant on Monday, fingers crossed she has some new tips for me.
You're making progress ladylove, it'll come together with a bit of time.
Trying different things on the sore side is a good idea. Even moving baby around (ie, different positions) can give the sore spots a chance to heal a bit while you get it sorted.
How are you doing now ladylove? Hope your nipples are feeling better.
It's a bit hit and miss Hotl. She feeds beautifully off the left side but the right side is a bit random. Every time I think 'ah, I've found the perfect position' something will change - maybe in the way I handle her or maybe Honor herself- and she's on incorrectly again. She does not seem to open her mouth wide enough to take in enough skin around the nipple or if she does it's for a millisecond then she chomps down again before I can get the breast in. She also has this odd habit of sort of shaking her head from side to side really quickly when I bring her to the breast and opening and closing her mouth equally as fast... She's like a manic little head bobbing machine and I can't seem to focus her or keep her still enough to position then latch :( she's almost hyper when she does this. Is that weird?
Nah, not wierd. i remember wanting about 4 hands when i first started breastfeeding so i could get everything lined up.
I feel like a bit of a beginner myself at the moment, because DS does things so differently to my first child. My DD helped me to learn that as soon as you think you have worked things out, they will change again so i am a few steps ahead in acceptance this time.
My DD definitely favoured my right side, i think most people have a side that works better for them.
Definitely- what with the bobbing head (she often seems to think she will find my nipple in my armpit), her desire to pull both of her hands, my nipple plus my finger into her mouth all at once, her chomp chomp mouth ... Who knew something do tiny could be such a handful!
I'm seeing the LC on Monday so fingers crossed she can help my forlorn right nipple.
I have another question- my baby hasn't had a big poo since 11:30 last night. Now it's just after 8pm here. Is that odd? She's had one very small poo and about four or five wet nappies.
nah, that's fine. you might get a big one tomorrow.
My DD was very regular, my DS not so much- both were breastfed.
It is really common for bf babies to have a long time between poos. I have known of babies to be over a week btwn poos!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk..... I'm probably feeding my cherub :)
Definitely ok, my ds sometimes went up to 5 days between poos. Just be prepared with lots of wipes when it does hit!!
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Oh how I don't miss the poonamis! Sounds like you are doing a great job. Also it does get easier eventually!:
Ok the drought is over- she did three big ones in a row through the night!
One actually looked a bit foamy. Is this ok or is it a sign of gas/wind?
I've had 24 hours of comfortable feeding on my right nipple! I've been positioning her in a sort of upright but not seated position- she's still on a slight diagonal but it's like a more diagonal/vertical cradle hold rather than horizontal. Her body lies along mine and i sit slightly more reclined rather than bolt upright too. Now that she's almost two weeks her neck muscles are a lot stronger too I've noticed so she's also a little better at helping herself attach.
I have noticed she's a bit wheezy in her breathing after a feed though. Is this wind? I know she drinks a lot in a short time and maybe takes some air in as she often does a simultaneous cough/sneeze during a feed which is a new development. It's really hard to get a burp out of her though and even when she does burp she still sounds wheezy after and is sometimes irritable.
Ladies I am SO happy. The LC from the hospy came today and weighed Honor and in one week she's put on a massive 500 grams! She's above her birth weight now. I also showed her my newly discovered position for feeding on my troubled right breast and she said it all looked perfect and that i'd accidentally taught myself a position that's commonly suggested for reflux babies as its more upright but it's a harder position to master with newborns. I know I must sound like a child bragging about something trivial but it has made me so confident and happy. A weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Thank you everyone who offered me support- you have all really helped me to get to this point. I'm so happy I want to cry, though that could be BF hormones...
Go you and Honor!! You both sound like you're doing a tremendous job.
Thats wonderful! See how awesome your milk is :dance:
I'm just thrilled :dance:
Go ahead and brag it's awesome! :dance: You're doing a great job :D
Fabulous job!!!
:clap: :)
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you're not bragging, you're sharing positive news with us all - that's wonderful!
Establishing bf-ing is the hardest stage IMO, it's not trivial, it's the set up for bf-ing happening at all, let alone, for a period of time.
So. Happy. For. You
fantastic!!!!
celebrate the wins, it will save your sanity.
Yes it has been much harder than I anticipated.
I have another Q- she just brought milk back up which is normal for her but this time it looked sort of separated or curdled? Is this something to worry about? She's unsettled now too even though she just had a feed.
No. ;)
Same as rarely does it matter what colour her poos are, etc. it's probably just been sitting in her tummy longer.
Sounds like you're doing well!
Lol thanks. Last night she was up for three hours crying and screaming so now of course I'm paranoid!
Hi,
Lots of great suggestions from everybody already, so will just add that our first son used to pull off during feeds and wasn't too happy. One side was more difficult to feed on than the other. We ended up seeing a paed chiro (in Melb) who said that his shoulder was really stiff on one side, so when I went to feed him, he was in a bit of pain. I think a lot of bubs in utero and being born can have quite a bit of stress placed on their neck and shoulders. We'd never seen a chiro before, so weren't sure what to expect. When people say an 'adjustment', this meant the chiro just tapped his finger on a particular spot on our son's shoulder and put gentle pressure on a few spots etc. It's really gentle with babies and we walked out with a completely different baby. We had a few sessions over a couple of weeks and it improved his feeding (and also changing his clothes - getting arms into and out of bodysuits). So if all else is in place such as good attachment and good supply etc and your bubs is still uncomfortable, this could be one option to look into (?)
*bump*
I am just revisiting this thread as I'm sentimental tonight. I cannot even remember DD screaming for hours at night or taking an hour to feed!
I LOVE Breastfeeding now, even though DD is being problematic (screamy) and possibly refluxy with random day feeds at the moment. I've had a rewarding work career, high achieving academic history and many personal achievements but breastfeeding is definitely one of my proudest achievements. I love that this tiny raw human is growing plump and developing beautifully through my own milk and nothing else.
That's all! Thank you all so much for your support and help. I'm still asking a zillion questions but the journey has been massive. :)
i love reading updates like this (not the refluxey part, obviously) & i think it's so awesome that you perservered. seeing your baby grow & flourish with your milk is an amazing journey :)
and it's amazing how you forget some of the tougher things or that, in hindsight, you don't think were that bad afterall!
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Yep we mothers are definitely hardwired to forget the hard stuff!