Lying down feeding is awesome, lovely for Mum and bub. You can put a face washer under baby's head if you need to make it a bit higher (and it will catch any drips).
Not sure if you are allowed baths after a c section, but when you are they are really good if bub is unsettled or has a bit of breast refusal. Jump in the bath with bub and have cuddles and often they will snuggle in and have a feed and also calm down.
Well done Hun on persevering sounds like you are getting there.
We used the nipple shields up until DS was 5 month or so. Just worked better for us for getting him to latch on. My LC would try to get me to slip it off half way through a feed once he had got the hang of things but looking back I probably wasn't that game to try - hell it had been difficult enough to get him to feed why was I going to risk not being able to get him back on lol! I'm trying to think now how we ended up stopping using them and think it was just that his mouth eventually grew into the size of my nipples and eventually got the hang of it. Once on wasn't a drama though minor pia making sure they were in place before I attached him. I used the medela ones as these were the ones recommended by my LC.
Lying down never worked for us but there are heaps of comments / possibly threads on here about how good being able to feed like that was. Was very envious reading about those who could feed that way as would have been a lovely way to while away the day!
Yeah for the feeds without the bottle - all your hard work is paying off! Bit by bit you will get there and you know what even if you don't and you end up comp feeding in additional to BFs so what! She will get all your special Mummy milk and then a little bit extra if she needs it from elsewhere. MadBs advice is good. Call ABA when you are feeling down and stressed about what is happening. There are wonderful women at the end of the phone who are there to listen and give advice and suggestions on what can help. Sometimes that is what we need when it all gets too much.
you are doing a wonderful job
Last edited by Now we're 3; November 19th, 2011 at 07:38 PM.
Well most of the feeds today she settled after. Except the 12:30 feed, she was cluster feeding all evening and at the 12:30 feed she was really hungry so my husband gave her formula. It irritated me to do it but she wasn't settling and seem really hungry.
Least we made some progress today, fingers crossed for tomorrow.
Thanks for the kind words appreciate it.
Last edited by Lolpigs; November 19th, 2011 at 11:30 PM.
Are they sure it isn't a tongue tie? I only say as some people (even LCs) are better at spotting them than others. Just the slipping off the nipple and sore nipples sounds like my experience (as well as the fussiness, cluster feeding, being unsettled after feeding etc) There are all sorts of tongue ties, not just the classic frenulum (sp?) one. Posterior, upper all sorts that cause havoc with feeding even if the attachment might start off well or is good some of the time.
You are doing a great job!
I'm going to get the MCHN that is due to visit to have a look at her mouth, and also the LC when I see her again. Just to be sure. The slipping seems odd.
We did our first try at a lying down feed just now and it was good The extra rest I got was awesome. Took a little bit of getting used to with positions but once there was fine, and she went down without a bottle Yay!
First of all, you are doing an awesome job. Well done for taking great care of your baby.
I had very similar problems with both my babies. Very low milk supply after caeareans.
In then end what really worked for me was homeopathics. I have a veru lovely homeopath I see who is gentle and kind and gave me Lactucca to increase my supply. She was also able to give me remedies for nipple thrush and mastitis and also a remedy to help me relax. I had a lot of trouble letting down.
I hope things keep improving for you.
xoxoxo
Thank you for all the support means alot So far we have done one BF and one Comp today so things are a bit better. Hopefully this is the start of weaning her off the formula
Great work!
The cluster feeding & unsettledness can be quite normal for babies and doesn't necessarily mean they need extra milk (sometimes they do - that's for you to figure out I guess ). Often they don't feel so good - and it's common for them to be like this for several hours at a time, and commonly at one particular time of day - and they want mum & boobs and nothing else will do. If you then give a bottle they can guzzle it like they're starving and fall asleep, but sometimes it's not so much that they were actually hungry, but that they took the milk that was offered then had to sleep it off. Just something to bear in mind if you find her behaving like this at times - even mums with no supply problems at all will find their babies doing this.
In any event, you are definitely getting there
lolpigs,
You could be me writing. My precious little man is now 12 weeks old but our story is so so similar. I too had an early c/s (due to a stillbirth previously and because my little Harry prefered to have his head up not down.......even after being turned twice by the OB!)
I have big boobs and a tiny baby with a really tiny mouth who had jaundice and was milk drunk in minutes of sucking.
I ended up feeding him as much as we could manage....I even used damp cold cloths to wake him up. I would then express immediately and give him whatever I expressed as he seemed to manage to drink from the bottle flow easier. Then he'd sleep and I'd express again in about an hour. He'd wake every two hours and we'd repeat.........I was KNACKERED.
As well as all this I had thrush and vasospasm...totally unfun and very painful.
You are doing an amazing wonderful job. More power to you for keeping going.
I did not have a supply problem as such but I like to think of it as a "tap" issue..........couldn't get the milk effectively from my tank to his!
The good news is as he's got bigger things have really really improved and taking medication for thrush helped with the breast and nipple pain too.
I did not use motillium but I wasn't expressing much more than you seem to be either.
Hang in there it is so so worth it. Get as much help as you can and remember that you know your little bubba better than anyone so do what you think is right.
Little Harry lost weight and my GP told me I had to wean onto formula. Luckily I ignored him and now I have a chubby healthy exclusively BF baby.
The best thing I did was buy a dual breast pump....saved a lot of time from the single hand pump I had.
good luck to you
Kate
Yeah last night we had about 5 hours of unsettled ness however after booby, bubs would sleep for an hour and then wake, we eve had a 2 hour break and then she woudl wake.
However after the 12:30 feed the pitch of her cry changed and she was very hungry and I didn't seem to have enough, and was much happier after the comp.
We just had another feed without a bottle I've started leaving her on me for 10mins if she comes off for being asleep. If she is still hungry she wakes in about 2 mins and starts crying again. If she is satisfied I can carry her to her bassinet and put her to bed without her waking. Least that is the theory I'm trying anyway. Yeah I'm hoping once she gets bigger it will be easier with her mouth size.
I think I have venospasam, I was paying attention to my nipples this time and they were white on the ends when they came out and I got stabby pains when it started to pink again. The whole nipple dosent go white however. I'll have to get the MCHN or LC to take a look and see what they think.
Baby steps!
Last edited by Lolpigs; November 20th, 2011 at 11:36 AM.
Try and get more nipple into that little mouth - if they are getting folded because they aren't in to the soft part of bubs mouth then the ends can go white and be very sore.
good luck!
Just thought I would update, things are getting better and better each day.
Our attachment is great now most feeds, soreness is ever decreasing which is nice! Bubs is activley draining the breast now instead of just fiddling around.
We only had 1 comp feed yesturday and only 30mls!
None so far today My LC is proud and I am too.. can't believe it! I'm going to wait a few weeks before weaning off the meds.
Community nurse came on monday and munchkin has put on 280g so is back to just over her birth weight and passed all the developmental tests
Hooray!
Thanks for the supoprt guys
Last edited by Lolpigs; November 23rd, 2011 at 10:12 AM.
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you are doing a wonderful job
The extra rest I got was awesome. Took a little bit of getting used to with positions but once there was fine, and she went down without a bottle
Yay!
). Often they don't feel so good - and it's common for them to be like this for several hours at a time, and commonly at one particular time of day - and they want mum & boobs and nothing else will do. If you then give a bottle they can guzzle it like they're starving and fall asleep, but sometimes it's not so much that they were actually hungry, but that they took the milk that was offered then had to sleep it off. Just something to bear in mind if you find her behaving like this at times - even mums with no supply problems at all will find their babies doing this.
Yeah I'm hoping once she gets bigger it will be easier with her mouth size.
Thats awsome! Well done hun
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