The Breast Feeding Support Thread

Bagheera

My son is a few days shy of 11 months. I was planning on feeding him until 12 months, but the past few days he has bitten my nipples to shreds and it is so painful when he latches on at the moment even when he feeds properly. I've decided I want to wean him now but I was hoping to avoid formula. At this age would he be ok on solids and cows milk? He eats plenty and I'm gone all day as I'm back to work, so his breastfeeds have reduced anyway. I just don't see the point of trying to get him used to formula only to take him off it again in a month, but I don't want to do anything that will adversely affect him. Any advice appreciated.

monflat

God I'd go straight onto cows milk.

I stopped sterilising at about 10 months and straight onto cows milk with no issues.

Breastfeeding is great where it's free!
No need to go buy formula at this stage!

madeinamerica

If you wanted to keep him on breast milk you could get a hand pump to pump breast milk. No point forking out for an electric one if it's just for a month or so.

Bagheera

madeinamerica wrote: »

If you wanted to keep him on breast milk you could get a hand pump to pump breast milk. No point forking out for an electric one if it's just for a month or so.

I have an electric pump but I hate pumping and the only chance I'd get to do it is when the kids are in bed. The mornings are manic and I don't have time or a place to pump in work. I think I'll just go for cows milk and hope for the best!

margo321

Hi, my baby is almost 5 weeks and I was wondering do the manual pumps work well? I usually end up giving one bottle of formula per day? Thanks

[qnuote="madeinamerica;93363146"]If you wanted to keep him on breast milk you could get a hand pump to pump breast milk. No point forking out for an electric one if it's just for a month or so.[/quote]

kandr10

margo321 wrote: »

Hi, my baby is almost 5 weeks and I was wondering do the manual pumps work well? I usually end up giving one bottle of formula per day? Thanks

[qnuote="madeinamerica;93363146"]If you wanted to keep him on breast milk you could get a hand pump to pump breast milk. No point forking out for an electric one if it's just for a month or so.

[/quote]

I think it varies from person to person depending on your supply and let down and other factors. I used mine for 7 or 8 months and found it great. If I pumped in the morning I usually had enough for a bottle that evening . Sometimes I'd skip giving the bottle and build up a freezer stash instead. I guess the electric ones are always going to be more efficient but it really depends his much you want to pump.
In short, you could pick up a manual one cheap enough- I think mine was around 20 quid and came with a cool little lunch box style steriliser. Worth a punt. Handy for taking on holidays or if you're staying over at a wedding or the like.

Sligo1

I want my boobs back... Even a wonderbra won't give them back the buoyancy they once had...

cyning

Sligo1 wrote: »

I want my boobs back... Even a wonderbra won't give them back the buoyancy they once had...

And non veiny boobs!

Rosy Posy

My lo is nearly 10 months and is crawling. I amost always feed him lying down on the bed. He's started wriggling about while he's latched on- it's so annoying and painful. Today he was almost standing on his head with his bum up in the air! None of my other kids did this. I've tried gently and firmly laying him back down in a more practical position but if he's in that mood he won't settle but he still wants his feed and gets upset if I try to move on to something else. It's like he wants his booby but he also wants to be tooling around. Any advice welcome.

@Bagheera- we went straight from breast to cup of cows milk at 11, 10 and 13 months with no issue. I personally think that toddler milk is a bit of a con and there was no way I was going to go to the bother of weaning from the breast and then have to worry about weaning from a bottle. I was surprised by how much more they needed to eat once they weren't being breastfed. We did blw so a lot of it ends up on the floor, clothes, face, hair :rolleyes:

73trix

margo321 wrote: »

Hi, my baby is almost 5 weeks and I was wondering do the manual pumps work well? I usually end up giving one bottle of formula per day? Thanks

[qnuote="madeinamerica;93363146"]If you wanted to keep him on breast milk you could get a hand pump to pump breast milk. No point forking out for an electric one if it's just for a month or so.

[/quote]

Manual works well for me. Philip s avent.

73trix

Little man is 10 wks tomo. Still up a bit at nite average 4 hrs. Have had an odd 5/6 hrs so hoping this will be the norm soon. But was wondering how long do you bf during the nite? My chap wakes 1-2 times between 12 and 6 but only for 10-15 and falls asleep. I try to keep him awake to feed longer and maybe sleep longer but he drifts off and it's impossible.

sonners

73trix wrote: »

Little man is 10 wks tomo. Still up a bit at nite average 4 hrs. Have had an odd 5/6 hrs so hoping this will be the norm soon. But was wondering how long do you bf during the nite? My chap wakes 1-2 times between 12 and 6 but only for 10-15 and falls asleep. I try to keep him awake to feed longer and maybe sleep longer but he drifts off and it's impossible.

That sounds very similar to what my little one was doing around that time. Around the 10-12 weeks she started taking shorter feeds (Went from 20 minutes to 10 minutes) but still looked for the same amount of feeds, as in 2 or 3 a night. It would have been great if she simply reduced the feeds so I wasn't woken as often but it was not to be unfortunately.

The good news is that for us, this was the start of her becoming more efficient at feeding so all feeds began to take less time. She still had them as often (mostly every 2 to 3 hours) but it took alot less time and the feed was done.

I remember getting frustrated thinking "ah here, I'm not getting up during the night so you can have a 'snack'! Take the full feed and be done with it!" I had misunderstood. I assumed that because she was only staying on a few minutes she wasn't actually that hungry and was only looking for comfort/fun/whatever. I was wrong, she had simply gotten faster at feeding as she too, didn't want to be up at that hour

Hope that helps, congrats on getting to the 10 weeks, you're very near, if not already at, the top of the hill

EDIT just to say, there is additional hormones in your milk at night time which helps them sleep. Will help explain why its so hard to wake him when he's stopped feeding. My little one was similar, it was like trying to wake the dead to get her to wake up and take more. I tried changing the nappy, stripping her down to the vest, etc, etc but when she was out she was out.

73trix

I am stunned! I had to wake up babs this morning as he slept from 10-7! He is only 10 weeks. I actually got a fright when I saw the time. My boobs were agony! This is odd surely! I'm hoping he's not coming down with something but fed well and seems Ok. Poor babba went 9 hrs without feed tho. The absolute max he has slept is 6.5 hrs til now. I can't believe I actually had to wake a sleeping babe!

cyning

Mine always did this occasionally... I used have a flipping heart attack check they were breathing etc... They never did it regularly though just make sure you pump and keep an eye for blocked ducts!

Julo12

God I wish!! Was up from 2 til 7 this morn. Poor pet is passing so much stinky wind and hasn't pooped since Friday. I made a bean chilli on fri don't know if that was the culprit but won't be having it again in a hurry

bovril

Julo12 wrote: »

God I wish!! Was up from 2 til 7 this morn. Poor pet is passing so much stinky wind and hasn't pooped since Friday. I made a bean chilli on fri don't know if that was the culprit but won't be having it again in a hurry

My little one is having terrible wind problems just over a week now. We're using infacol but the wind is still an issue. I read on kellymom that what the mother eats won't cause wind in the baby. I don't know myself but in my case I've been eating different things each day and she still has bad wind problems. I hate seeing her in pain with it.

Julo12

bovril wrote: »

My little one is having terrible wind problems just over a week now. We're using infacol but the wind is still an issue. I read on kellymom that what the mother eats won't cause wind in the baby. I don't know myself but in my case I've been eating different things each day and she still has bad wind problems. I hate seeing her in pain with it.

Yes I read the same thing but also read other articles blaming onions, spice etc etc.
I give infacol too and gripe water the odd time but they only seem to help with burps. Was hoping this farting thing would pass but still at it today. It is awful seeing them in pain

swim

Ladies, I was & still am a bit in the same siuation with wind. My baby is 17 weeks old &still has pproblems bringing up wind or farting. I still use infacol. Have been given so much advice, some great & some didnt help at all.
some things which did work, I don't know if you tried theses..raising the cot at one end, feeding upright.
And I gave up dairy, it took about 3 weeks to see results from no dairy & it is tougg to fur it out. But she isn't as windy. Saying that it could be as she got older her gut was more developed & able to digest milk better. If I have spicy food it affects her. She may not be allergic to dairy, just sensitive to it

swim

Ladies, I was & still am a bit in the same siuation with wind. My baby is 17 weeks old &still has pproblems bringing up wind or farting. I still use infacol. Have been given so much advice, some great & some didnt help at all.
some things which did work, I don't know if you tried theses..raising the cot at one end, feeding upright.
And I gave up dairy, it took about 3 weeks to see results from no dairy & it is tougg to fur it out. But she isn't as windy. Saying that it could be as she got older her gut was more developed & able to digest milk better. If I have spicy food it affects her. She may not be allergic to dairy, just sensitive to it

margo321

My 6 week old is hard to wind then looks like she has terrible wind pain. I started stinging a mug of fennell tea a day and it seems to have improved things, it's early days yet so might be a coincidence but fingers crossed.

My poor baby has a terrible chesty cough and snuffle nose. Hubby is gone for a plug in steam thing. I phoned the dr and they said they're booked out but call at 2 to see if the can squeeze her in. I think this is very poor given her age.

quote="swim;93457411"]Ladies, I was & still am a bit in the same siuation with wind. My baby is 17 weeks old &still has pproblems bringing up wind or farting. I still use infacol. Have been given so much advice, some great & some didnt help at all.
some things which did work, I don't know if you tried theses..raising the cot at one end, feeding upright.
And I gave up dairy, it took about 3 weeks to see results from no dairy & it is tougg to fur it out. But she isn't as windy. Saying that it could be as she got older her gut was more developed & able to digest milk better. If I have spicy food it affects her. She may not be allergic to dairy, just sensitive to it[/quote]

Fagashlil

margo321 wrote: »

My 6 week old is hard to wind then looks like she has terrible wind pain. I started stinging a mug of fennell tea a day and it seems to have improved things, it's early days yet so might be a coincidence but fingers crossed.

My poor baby has a terrible chesty cough and snuffle nose. Hubby is gone for a plug in steam thing. I phoned the dr and they said they're booked out but call at 2 to see if the can squeeze her in. I think this is very poor given her age.
]

My little fella was terrible for bringing up wind, he would literally stretch out completely ridgid and scream. Gripe water is the only thing that has made a massive difference, you can literally hear it breaking down the wind as he swallows it.

He has that cough too, we've a 24 hour nurse line with our insurance, called them and they said unless he develops a temp, or starts bringing up mucus, to just keep him warm and feed as often as he wants, it's heartbreaking listening to them splutter. Hope your LO feels better soon

Whispered

Hi. Neil was born by section on Saturday night and I had intended/ do intend to bf. However on Sunday night his blood sugar levels had dropped, he was screaming, I was very emotional seeing my baby so upset etc etc. So I decided to ask for a bottle top up. He immediately settled into a sleep and I got an hour myself. Midwife explained that it can sometimes take a bit longer in the case of a section for milk to come in.

Since then I have been "topping up" but in reality it's been mainly bottles. Now I know I've more than enough milk to feed but the little fella isn't interested now.

Today I had to wake him after four hours for a feed. I tried breast but he was just trying to go back to sleep. So I changed his nappy, let him kick about naked for a bit, played with him and tried again. This time he was hungry and awake but got very frustrated very quickly. Because it was over four and a half hours I gave him his bottle.

Now I am grabbing a few hours sleep. Bottle sterilised and ready to go but I would much rather not use it.

Any advice or tips? It's like he is thinking "wtf are you shoving that in my face for?!" When he's hungry.

Marz66

Congrats Whispered. Well done for persevering, it's so hard at the start. Few things I tried:

To keep him awake, strip him down to nappy as you are. Rub face with wet cotton wool if you need to.

Sometimes it can work if they're sleepy but not too sleepy.

Try putting your baby finger in his mouth to get him sucking properly on that, then try the boob.

Get help with correct latch if you need to.

Would you consider expressing milk into a bottle for when he won't take boob. I know u said u have enough milk for a feed but expressing will keep up that supply for anytime baby takes formula. It's very hard to do when you're tired though.

Marz66

Also skin to skin, he may root around looking for boob.

Whispered

I think you're right about help with the latch. Health nurse calling tomorrow. Would she be the right person to ask?

If she is, would he be better off say an hour or two after a bottle feed, so neither too hungry or full?

Thank you

Marz66

Afaik, health nurses are not trained re bf but hopefully you'll get one who can help. Otherwise you could ring a lactation consultant to come out to you. My one charged €50 per visit. Some hospitals have a free feeding clinic.

I used this link re how to latch.
http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75:when-latching&catid=5:information&Itemid=17

Ya, neither too hungry or too full sounds good. Or you could feed him some from bottle and then try boob when edge is taken off his hunger. May not work but you could try it.

Finally, have you heard of nipple shields - small plastic shields you put on to make it easier for baby to latch. I would only use them if you're desperate though - they're not recommended for long term use and it's hard to wean baby off them.

Marz66

Oh and express few drops of milk first to give him taste for it.

Sorry for all that - I had terrible trouble starting off and had to try all the above.

Whispered

Really appreciate it. Thanks

tinkerbell

Whispered, I'd suggest getting a Lactation Consultant. Also, at this age don't leave 4 hours between feeds and offer the breast first. You would be best off hiring a hospital grade pump for a month (it's a monthly rental as a minimum) to keep your supply up and build it up to make up for the formula feeds. Then express. If hospital tell you to top up then do with your own expressed milk. After a few days they'll give you the go ahead up drop the top ups.

But the best advice I can give you is ring a Lactation Consultant now. You'll prob get one out tomorrow. But I would ask advice from the LC first before you go hiring pump etc. Your baby is only a few days old - baby will learn to latch onto breast, it's all a new learning experience for you both.

Congrats btw!

Edit: regarding nipple shields - they are only supposed to be used under the guidance of a LC.

Whispered

Thank you.

Where would I hire a hospital grade pump? And can you tell me what other equipment would be needed.

I'm in Kildare so if anyone has any recommendations for a LC please lemme know.

Thanks