I've got a little girl who is 14 weeks old.
We had the hang of feeding for a while, but lately it seems to have gone downhill.
She'll latch (mostly right, but nipples are a bit sore again ) and suck for a little while and then scream. Then latch and scream. It's starting to become a rarity when she'll latch and feed without the hysterics.
It's very upsetting and frustrating. Sometimes even when she see's the boob she just screams at me.
Another thing that concerns me is her weight.
Birth - 3585g
1wk - 3560g
2wk - 3760g
4wk - 4220g
6wk - 4460g
13wk - 4850g
She put on just under 400g in 7 weeks. I know its better than none, but it seems so little.
She poops 2-3 times a week. Is exclusively breastfeed on demand. She sleeps longer stretches at night and seems to feed better. During the day it can range from 1hr to 4hrs.
I just dont know whats going on. I'm admist an interstate move as well, so I dont know if that could have any bearing on anything.
Plenty of wet nappies?
Slow weight gain aside (and it does slow down a fair bit from 12 weeks or so) the other signs seem alright. The pulling off/crying could be an age thing - DS had some issues around this age. He was becoming more aware and didn't want to be stuck at the breast when there were interesting things around to look at.
Where do you feed her? Nice, quiet, darkened room might help. Is she better feeding overnight than during the day?
It sounds like you have a lot going on at the moment. Having a baby is one of life's biggest events.....and so is moving....interstate. (Yet we have a crazy tendancy to want to do these things at once.
Tell me, how many feeds is she having now in 24hours? Does she have both breasts or just one? In the early days one is enough for them, but over time they will come to want both breasts at every feed. Most babies need 8-12 feeds in 24 hours. When they are screaming at you it is common to want to stretch out feeds - but the more they feed the more they tend to want it.
She is still gaining weight, which is great. You are probably not as far off track as you think and some simple measure will help her feeding and weightgain
Nappies seem okay - but we're still at my parents house and using disposables instead of our usual cloth nappies, so I'm a bit unsure if its less or more than usual.
Being at my parents with my toddler makes it hard to feed her in set locations - theres a lot more stuff Munchkin can get into so I've had to feed Nao wherever we happen to be. Used to be in a glider in the bedroom predominantely.
Yeah, she feeds better overnight and usually after any long stretch of no feeding.
The more frequent the feeding is, the more cranky she gets at my breast. I thought at first maybe I was offering her something she didn't want but shes showing the normal feedme signs.
Used to be one - but now its both for most feeds.
Definitely withint the 8-12 sometimes it can be more. Occasionally she'll demand the boob every hour late afternoon/early evening, but she wont drink much. Just latch and then yell at me for a while.
Thanks - I'm not quite sure if this is all normal. I lacked support with my toddler and never made it this far. So I apologise if I'm asking silly questions.
I don't really have advice, but just want to tell you that my 20wk old DD goes through stages like this every 2 weeks or so! (Possible exaggeration, just feels like as soon as things go back to normal, it begins again) Am yet to figure out the reasons, I'm starting to think it's just a baby thing.
The trick is not to worry too much and ride it out, it always goes back to normal.
One theory could be a slow letdown? Coz I think sometimes babies are more impatient some days than other. I have found that wearing a tight singlet, and pulling it up over boobs when feeding helps to compress and make it come a lot faster. And then if it seems to be too fast, I just wedge my hand in to reduce the tightness of the singlet, IYKWIM?
Hope this helps! Regardless, don't stress, these things seem to just resolve on their own.
No stupid questions! How do you know if you don't ask anyway?
Being in a different setting could do it too! But yeah, my guess would be distraction - which means it's a phase that will pass. Also possibly slower letdown or something like that. But it sounds like you're doing well.
Either way, the best thing is to just calmly offer the breast when she wants it, just like you're doing, and calmly put it away if she's fussing and carrying on. Try when you can to find quiet spots for feeds (appreciate that must be hard with a toddler!) or focus your feeds on times when you know she'll feed well. But try not to stress about it or force her to take the breast - it will make it worse. And keep an eye on her - she sounds like she's fine to me, but just watch out for signs of dehydration or anything like that just in case.
Oh, and call the ABA too! They actually know what they're talking about (unlike me) and will know the right questions to ask you too
I gave her a few days and tried to feed her in peace when I could and aside from a shocker of a night last night, she's been a bit better.
I tried using the pressure on boob like mentioned and it's helped so far.
I think it could have been stress/worry messing with my letdown.
I guess my only concern now is her weight.
I know I shouldn't compare her too much to her sister, but they were same weights at birth and followed the same path up til this point. To think, they used to tell me Munchkin wasn't putting on enough and she was 5.3kg at this point! (I stopped seeing them after a while.)
The only difference is that Munchkin was formula fed.
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Few problems..
) and suck for a little while and then scream. Then latch and scream. It's starting to become a rarity when she'll latch and feed without the hysterics.
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