Breast milk not as filling?

[rania]

I tried breast feeding in hospital, and really want to do it, but my bub seems to be less satisfied after breast milk?
We did top up bottles in hospital as my milk didn't come in till late day 4, so he was a hungry little man. I am still doing top up feeds as he just doesn't seem as settled after breast milk as he does after formula.
I don't want to give up but bottle is just so much easier, and getting him settled is so much easier.

[onthefly]

Hi rania and congratulations on your new baby.
Breastmilk is the perfect food for your baby and it is normal for the little ones to feed very frequently in the early days. In fact it's really necessary as they take only a small amount each time (though more as they get bigger). It's also essential for your supply to feed frequently in those early weeks.
Formula is harder for babies to digest, and so it sits in the gut longer. You might think this is a better thing, as babies may feel fuller and don't eat so frequently, but it isn't as good for them.
If you want to breastfeed,the best thing is to breastfeed. As much and as often as your baby wants to. Most likely it will be possible for you to drop the formula feeds with a bit of time. Do you have help from a lactaton consultant at all? Or have you been in touch with the ABA - 1800-686-2-686. They can offer advice and support for you. Your local ABA group can also give you lots of in-person support from other mums in your area.
Babies do often feed very frequently, as I said, and they can also be unsettled at times and not sleep well (in an adult sense). It's all quite normal, though exhausting for the new mum. It's also very confusing when you've probalby heard about babies sleeping lots or only feeding every 3-4 hours. (quite unusual actually!) For now, the best thing is to just hunker down and concentrate on yourself and your baby. Let other things go. Get as much rest as you can - your partner and other family members can help lots with this. In time it will get much esaier. remember that your baby is brand new and still getting the hang of life on teh outside. In time, the feeding and everything else will get easier.

[Barb Glare]

Hi, rania,
Congratulations on your new babe. I was wondering, how old is he now? Breastfeeding can seem hard to get the hang of in the beginning, but is worth persevering with, and getting support for as in the longrun things get much easier. How many times is your LO feeding in 24 hours? Many people don't realise that like us, babies tend to feed 8-12 or more times in 24 hours. (count up the number of times you eat, drink, have a cuppa or a glass of water and you'll see what I mean.) The proteins in formula are hard for a baby to digest, so their stomach may not empty as quickly. This is not necessarily a good thing, but may mean baby goes longer between feeds. In a 24 hour period most babies will have a time when they have a longer sleep, (at this age 3 hours is as good as it gets) and another time of the day or the night when they want a cluster of feeds close together - doesn't mean they are necessarily not getting enough - they just want their mum.

[emc2]

There's lots of support around if you are having problems. I am not sure which state you are in though. In Brisbane you can see a lactation consultant through the hospital as an outpatient up to a month after your baby's born.

I had a caesarean under general anaesthetic and a lot of stress so I tried comp feeding for a while, but I've now switched to formula.

What I learnt is breastfeeding is not quantifiable, it's more of a quality food. But formula is easy to measure.

It really is an individual decision to make.

[kelebek]

While bottle feeding may seem easier now I can attest to bf being really easy as they get older. I had a c/section with DS, my milk didn't come in until day 5 and in those early mnths it was really hard but after about 2/3 mnths he was literally feeding for 2 mins he became that efficent at it.
I persisted with bf for financial reasons mostly, bf was free and when I compared the time it takes to sterilise, prepare, wash and keep bottles in a safe manner vs bf I am glad I persisted through my issues with bf.
Either way you go with it it is a really hard slog with a newborn in those early months

[BhoysGirl]

Congratulations on your new bub. With my first, I wish someone had told me that BFing was a learned skill, for both Baby & Mum, and that it can take a few weeks for it to really "click". But it is so worthwhile persisting with it if you are able to, because ultimately it is so much more convenient than BFing - anywhere, anytime, and no cleaning up afterwards . And as others have mentioned, it's the most amazing food for your baby, but it's also physiologically brilliant for you. It's can be really challenging in the first couple of months because it can feel like all you do is feed, change nappies, feed, change spewy clothes, feed... but the fog does eventually clear, and if you stick with it I guarantee that you'll be so proud of yourself for seeing it through.

[rania]

Thanks for the replies, I feel a lot less "weird" now. I kind of thought bf would come naturally, but having a good read it seems I am not the only one who struggles a bit. Little man is just 3 1/2 weeks old, so very new to us both! I really want to stick to the bf if I can, will persevere and try giving him more often feeds (since he doesn't seem to get enough in one go, I think he is lazy and gives up, knowing mummy will get him the easy bottle!)

[PumpkinZulu]

Also, when your boobs are really full, expressing off the watery foremilk will mean that when he latches on he gets more of the fatty, filling hindmilk. The more hindmilk, the fuller he'll be and the more 'milk drunk' and sleepy. If your boobs are heaps full he may just be gulping skinny foremilk then getting full of gas and fussing. Hence why he seems 'hungry' again quickly.
A lactation consultant can help explain the foremilk/hindmilk balance and how to work those boobies

AND expressing first means you get the milk flowing for him, so when he latches on its already ready to go, which really helps when you have an unsettled hungry baby. Express and then when you have a drop on your nipple, go to latch him on, giving him a 'taste'.

Just wanted to back this up and say that it's excellent advice

[emc2]

Child Health the other week they were crapping on we don't talk about foremilk etc anymore blah blah blah.

What BBB is saying is spot on.

[Jellybean29]

Child Health the other week they were crapping on we don't talk about foremilk etc anymore blah blah blah.

What BBB is saying is spot on.

lols thats as bad as the Child Health nurse who told me to take him off after 10min and swap sides

[BhoysGirl]

Rania, you're doing so well to hang in there - 3 1/2 weeks is still so little, and you'll definitely find that as he gets bigger it will all get much easier for him. At this stage, even a week makes a big difference in what they can do.

Just thought I'd add a bit about expressed milk - you can store EBM at room temp (less than 26C) for 6-8 hours, or in the fridge for 3-5 days, or in the freezer (thank you ABA info ). So if you do some expressing and end up with say 60ml in a go (or whatever), then you could split it into a couple of containers and use it for a couple of feeds instead of having to express each time before a feed, if that makes sense.

[Jellybean29]

BhoysGirl, good suggestion, but the other reason I suggested expressing before was so her bubs found it easier to latch on and so the milk was ready when he was super hungry and didn't want to wait/work for it

[Barb Glare]

Hi,

If it comes out of your boobs it's great for your baby - the concepts of 'foremilk" and "hindmilk" are a bit confusing - it isn't as though it stops being one thing and becomes another. If you are having trouble getting enough milk - you just want it all to go down the hatch, not waste anything on a
belief it is watery and not good enough. That's not how it works. I wonder, what have your little one's weightgains been like? is he back over his birthweight? How often does he poo in 24 hours.

[BhoysGirl]

BBB - you obviously didn't hear the conversation in my head . I thought your expressing suggestion was great, and it got me thinking that if she managed to express more she could divide it into smaller amounts that could be used to take of the frantic edge of hunger. But then of course, the other reason to express each time is to soften the nipple a bit if she's engorged, which would make latching easier.

[emc2]

Also ignore advice from Child Health which is to express the same amount as you would feed in formula. Breastmilk is about quality not quantity.

[Jellybean29]

BBB - you obviously didn't hear the conversation in my head . I thought your expressing suggestion was great, and it got me thinking that if she managed to express more she could divide it into smaller amounts that could be used to take of the frantic edge of hunger. But then of course, the other reason to express each time is to soften the nipple a bit if she's engorged, which would make latching easier.

[rania]

Lactation consultant came out today and wow what a big difference. Thanks so much for the advice to get onto them. Really super duper handy. They know so much, and sit with you and your baby and watch the interaction around feeding time and give advice based on what they see, not just what they have been told to regurgetate.
Since she left, we have had the most sucessful BF sessions yet. She did say it could just be a bit of a fluke that it went so well while she was here but he's just finished his second feed since then and it went very well both times.
She was definitely happy with the suggestion of expresing and giving him that just to take the edge off the hunger so he was not so impatient when I was trying to get him to latch. My technique was also alittle off apaprently. I was thinking he just needed nipple in his mouth, but apparently nipple + a good amount of breast is good
So happy