Hubby bought me this rocking chair with ottoman for feeding baby. Best gift for me now as it really nice to be on a comfy and soft rocking place, especially with the pain I am having. This chair is placed inside my bedroom as baby is rooming in with us at this time.
Baby Brandon is very demanding when comes to food. He doesn't get content with just breast milk [most of the time], so we have to supplement with formula [Similac Advance]. We are giving him about 2-3 ounces [60-100cc] formula if he cries after nursing. If we don't then, he will cry and cry ... with his mouth open and close [indication of need more food].
I think the breast milk doesn't fill him enough as its consistency is too thin. BM passes thru him rather quickly. MIL has .been making a lot of soup [green papaya, peanut chicken] for me to enhance the BM. Have been drinking a lot of liquid too. Any other suggestions?
9 comments:
Demand = Supply. You should try to offer your breasts first instead of opting for formula supplements. Formula supplements are usually not necessary. The breasts are 'intelligent' enough to supply the right amt of milk to Baby Brandon.
When the baby needs more, the more he suckles, the more milk you are going to produce. If he is hungry, and u supplements it with formula milk, then the breasts might not know that you have not enough milk for him and hence, didn't produce more. BTW, ... Every few weeks, the baby will be in growing spurts, which means he will demand for more milk (e.g. he would asked to be fed earlier or more often like every 1/2hrly or 1hrly instead of the usual 1.5/2hrs feeding - err.. this is based on my previous experience. So you probably have different feeding timing). So, could your baby is in growing spurt now? If so, just offer the breasts to him anyway, even if he has just been fed an hour ago.
I read that true milk nsufficiencies are rare. So, I am not sure if you are really having low milk supply. I would call the lactation nurse for help, if i have doubts. the lactation nurses in US are really helpful and kind and they will be able to offer you ways to boost your milk supply.
crazymommy: i always offer the breast first. the nurse at the hospital told me to give him 15 mins each breast. should i increase to 20 mins? becos, after 30 mins, baby still cries and wants more milk. some ppl told me to give him water instead. i am not sure if is OK.
i am not sure if i have low milk supply either. i can't really tell how much he is drinking from the breast, so i tried to pump it out to see how much i got. usually around 40-50ml/cc from each breast. i am not sure if that amount is sufficient.
as far as I know... if you eat healthy and take in calcium...your BM will increase by the day one :)
What crazymommy said is right..
Demand=Supply.
If you can pump out 40to50ml per breast, it means your baby is taking about 3oz the least if sucked from both breasts. This should be enough, as he's still a new born.
Let me suck as often as he wants, and as long as he wants.
When Zara was younger, I was also under the pressure to supplement her with formula, esp from the confinement lady. I checked with lactation consultants and they said I shouldn't, because when
1) baby may get nipple confusion, then will prefer bottle over nipple (since bottle flow is more consistant and faster compares to breast)
2) this will give your brain the signal to produce less milk since your baby is not taking his usual feed FULLY from your breast.
So try to let him suck for longer period, more frequent, and do away with formula.
Zara used to spend like 1hr on the breast. The best method for feeding is lying down, that way, mummy can rest too.
I managed to breastfeed Zara 100% for the 1st year. Only giving her formula recently as my milk supply is dwindling and I'm trying for 2nd one.
Good luck in your breastfeeding journey.
totally agree with crazymommy and zara's mama. howeverv, for me, I've only BF for 3 months. Good luck!
egghead: been taking prenatal vitamin and eating the regular ginger vinegar and confinement food. no vegetables. i am thinking of taking some milk, not sure, but may be that will help.
zara's mama: the problem is i let him suck until he is content (closes his eyes and smile) and we lay him down to sleep, but then 1/2 hr later he started asking for milk again. so should i give him breast milk again after?
well, i did try to feed him again immediately when it happened and manually squeeze the milk out (to check supply) but there was nothing. it must be frustating for him to sucks and nothing is out. poor boy.
mom2ashley: sometimes it hurts me seeing him not having enough to feed on, that's why the doctor told us to supplement him with formula.
You definitely have enough BM, dear. I could only expressed out 30ml from both breasts during 1st/2nd week. :)
I dun thk he is hungry if he cries for milk after 30mins. he is probably just started to take you as his "pacifier" becos the smell and the taste of the BM reminds him very much of the environment he is used to for the past 9 mths. If u don't mind giving him pacifier, try giving it to him. Just limit the use of pacifier to calm him down or soothe him to sleep, should be fine. A pacifier is a great tool for high need baby (like mine) which keeps the baby's mouth "occupied" and mommy's sanity.
As for feeding time, if he is a slow drinker, it may takes about 20-25mins per breast. I read tat the first 10-15 mins of bm is usually more watery and the next 10 mins of BM usually is high fat content milk - which makes the baby more chubby. So if u limit him in drinking the milk for only 15 mins, he may end up be like my gal - the not very chubby baby who gets hungry faster.
Water is not necessary for the first 6mth i thk, for BF baby.40-50ml per breasts is a lot of milk. That is definitely enough for him. U don't want to overfeed the baby too. A newborn usually takes only 30ml per feeding.
What i will do now, is to give let him drink as long as he likes, but i will not let him fell asleep during the BM, becos it is a very bad habit for them. 20 mins -25mins shud be fine.
crazymommy: i expressed the most amt in the morning about 80ml for both. other times, i think i have less, may be half the amt.
i tried BF baby until he stops, but most of the time he falls asleep while BF (in about 10-15mins). what can i do to keep him awake? i tried stroking his hair, mouth but yet he still sleeps so well. but then when i put him down, he will wake up and asking for milk again.
my baby doesn't take the pacifier, may be he is still too young for it.
it is the night time feeding that makes me so tiring as he can linger on BF for about 1hr or more but yet not filling full after 30 mins and didn't want the pacifier.
My gal didn't take pacifier too when she was a baby. Like nipples or bottle, young baby needs time to get use to it. So, my advise for u is to keep pushing the pacifier back to his mouth. BTW, does he keep quiet when sucking the pacifier or he is totally against it? if he sucks, then spit out and suck again when u push it in, then he just needs something for him to soothe him, so pacifier is the right thing for him now. Just keep holding the pacifier and keep it in place for a while. that shud do the trick. But if u don't want to make it a bad habit, remember to remove it once he falls asleep.
To wake him up, there are a few ways...
1. touch his cheeks.
2. make him sit upright and burp him.
3. use warm damp cloth to wipe his forehead (though i wont do it). hehe..
For night feeding, if he didn't ask for the milk, don't wake up to just feed him. If u don't feel comfortable, then stretch the feeding time as long as u can. Try using the lying down position to feed him, tat way u can rest while he takes his time to feed.
Btw, if u can always write to me at crazy.sahm[at]gmail[dot]com if u need more queries.
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