random but need help, men look away breastfeeding problems.....

[aaronandterri]

hi
lol the men like to leave now .... i was wonderin g about breastfeeding and premature babies or both, Isabelle is feeding beautifully during the day but in the evenings shes getting fussy, and very colicky, i cant put her down and shes constantly feeding i feel like shes surgically attached!
she has her days and nights very muddled, from being in one enviroment in the hospital im sure
i think my milk supply is ok, but sometimes i do give her a bottle just so i know what shes had, im finding it very hard and stressful, last night she didnt settle till 1am then im shattered, i ended up giving her more by bottle (expressed) just so i knew what she had taken, but i think then she may have had too much as she was soo fussy and her belly was huge, im at a loss, im not sure if shes having too little too much has collic or just wasnts the comfort, but its driving me nuts.
Has anyone combined bottle and breat im thinking of doing this more just so that i know what shes taking in the evenings, my problem there is that im not great at expressing now, since ive been feeding her my body seems to know when its a breast pump or a baby and wont play ball!, so im thinking about formula, but havent used one before...any advice please, im soooo tired.
It took ius so long to get here i just want to enjoy her but im soo shattered that isnt happening.......

 

[BRobson]

Sending you a big

I didnt breastfeed but do know how babies can be soooo exhausting.

Haven't got much advise I am afraid - have you got a midwife coming in that you can talk to?

You have already done a fantastic job of feeding whilst she was in hospital so you could try her with formula at night and let Dh feed her and she may settle better.

I am sure others can offer more advise

 

[aaronandterri]

thats just it *** she was in special care we see no one, no midwife no visits nothing other than out appointments at the docs *** of her heart but there pretty clueless about the whole breastfeeding thing.

 

[natalielongstaff]

Ask to speak to your health visitor Terri , im afraid i failed to BF either of my two

 

[PoppyAnna]

hi
lol the men like to leave now .... i was wonderin g about breastfeeding and premature babies or both, Isabelle is feeding beautifully during the day but in the evenings shes getting fussy, and very colicky, i cant put her down and shes constantly feeding i feel like shes surgically attached!
she has her days and nights very muddled, from being in one enviroment in the hospital im sure
i think my milk supply is ok, but sometimes i do give her a bottle just so i know what shes had, im finding it very hard and stressful, last night she didnt settle till 1am then im shattered, i ended up giving her more by bottle (expressed) just so i knew what she had taken, but i think then she may have had too much as she was soo fussy and her belly was huge, im at a loss, im not sure if shes having too little too much has collic or just wasnts the comfort, but its driving me nuts.
Has anyone combined bottle and breat im thinking of doing this more just so that i know what shes taking in the evenings, my problem there is that im not great at expressing now, since ive been feeding her my body seems to know when its a breast pump or a baby and wont play ball!, so im thinking about formula, but havent used one before...any advice please, im soooo tired.
It took ius so long to get here i just want to enjoy her but im soo shattered that isnt happening.......

Firstly
I breastfed my eldest DD with no problems, she was 8lb 9oz at birth and most of the time fed and slept beautifully. When younest DD was born she was 5lb 11oz and got her days/nights mixed up for three months, I was exhusted.
Every thing you describe was Poppy to a tee. She would feed constantly, which was tiring enough itself without the upset sleep pattens etc. By the evening she was "collicy" drawing her legs up all the time, she was never a contented baby. In the end I swapped her 6pm feed to a formula bottle but after trying a number of milks she finally settled on a cow and gate formula that was then called "Omneo comfort" I think the name has since been changed but it is still available. There are a number of "settled baby" formulas on the market, the milk is really thick and sadly, it's more expensive than the regular milks, but you'll pay anything, won't you?
Swapping this feed also meant DH could give it to her and I could bath and read a story to my toddler (who was getting little attention) then have a bath myself and relax before I was back on duty!
Mix feeding worked well for me, occasionally I would have to express to keep my feeds going, I know midwives don't recommend mix feeding but you have to find a balance for your life and your baby's satisfaction. You shouldn't feel guilty about the situation you're in.
Good luck.

 

[Dimplenose]

It's years ago (DS turns 18 next week) but I used to combine breast and bottle (formula). He used to feed for an hour and a half at a time and by the evening I was exhausted so it was a good compromise (for me) to give him a bottle. He had one bottle every evening but DH had to feed him because DS wouldn't take it if he knew I was around.

It worked for us.

DS also used a dummy during the day time - I didn't want to but it was the best advice my HV gave me.

 

[mandymouse]

Sending you lots of hugs Terri. I agree with the advice of everyone else - have a word with your health visitor

I hope Isabelle starts feeding better at night soon

 

[KayleeUK]

Hi Terri

When I was breastfeeding, I found this message board http://messageboards.ivillage.co.uk/iv-ukpbbreastfd Which was great

 

[buzz for boys]

Hi terri,
All 4 of mine were a nightmare with colic. The things you describe are all symptoms of colic you can get a prescription for relief remedies for colic 2 of the best we found we colocynthis powders which were cucmber powder in sachets it bought wind up fab !! The other remedy has to be added to the milk and is called colief - I called it sanity in a bottle !! Both can be prescribed by either your health visitor or GP.

I think you have done wonderful to breastfeed for this long and swapping to formula is not the end of the world however it wont help the colic - sorry.
" of mine were small babies and were a nightmare to feed always wanting more the bigger 2 would latch on and have agood drink and then at regulaur intervals want more !!
have you tried a dummy ?? just to make sure its not comfort feeding ??

The other small thing I would like to add is that if baby isabelle is having a growth spurt she will want more milk from you this normally happens at several intervals and it will settle !!
I really do hope you get something sorted pm if you need anything else.
Louise x

 

[Clare D]

Hi Terri
Hopefully you will find some support here as it is very difficult when you have a baby and have little support from the 'professionals'. I just wanted to say before I start on my ramble that if you ever need someone to talk to you can always pm me to get things off your chest. I know what it is like when you are the mother and everybody assumes you know what to do.

With Joe (6) I didn't intriduce a split feed until he was 5 weeks old but with Owen (9 months) I was advised by my midwife to introduce one when he was just over a week old (breast and a bottle of expressed) as he had lost 9% of his birth weight due to being in the IBCU at our local hospital for his first 2 days.
I use Aptimil First as it is very close to breastmilk. My advice is if you want to try formula to buy the cartons if you can to find the brand that suits Isabelle.
Thankfully neither of mine suffered Colic so I can't recommend any products like others on here but all I can say from friends whose babies suffered is that by 3 months it tends to disappear.
You may find that it isn't your milk supply that is being affected by a pump but how stressed you are, I was in a very similar situation, and it is sometimes made worse by the fact that you sit there and express for 2 hours for the grand sum of an ounce!
You may not like the regimental routine but I do find that Gina Ford 'The Contented baby' worked for me. She gives guidelines on a routine and it has helped me both times. I didn't use it to the letter otherwise I would have felt that I was being ruled by a book but as I say I did follow her routine somewhat and it meant that the boys were both in bed by 7.30 ish so that I could have my tea and a bath, express at about 9ish and then Steve or I gave him the expressed milk for his 11pm feed with a b/feed top up. Once this was established I replaced the express feed with a b/feed and formula to get him through the night.
You will find something that works for you but I understand how frustrating it can be especially in the early days and with a prem baby.
My friends had their baby at 27 weeks and the advice they were given was to assume that she was the age that she would have been full term initially rather then her prem age for development and feeding and for them it has worked.
Anyway sorry for the ramble but sending you and you know where I am x

 

[dbriggsq]

Hi
Congratulations on your new baby!
Breastfeeding is usually not as easy as it's made out to be - especially with a first baby - but if you can stick at it through the first 2 or 3 months you will then have a further several months of very satisfying mothering.
Our first had terrible colic for the first 3 months and used to spend the whole evenings comfort feeding (sometimes to the extent that he would throw up gallons of milk) - he eventually settled down and fed happily till about 12 months.
By our 5th baby I was so busy with the others I was really concerned that she was getting enough milk (the insecurity with how much they're getting doesn't get any easier!) - so my answer was to express just after the first feed of the day when there is usually a lot left over, and then give her that in the evening which would usually settle her.
Do stick at it because it will get easier. The problem with giving a bottle of formula is that she will be getting milk which she is not 'demanding' from you so the 'demand/supply' system will get disrupted. Get as much rest as you can - don't worry about doing anything else at all for this time (it's such a short time in your life - enjoy it!) , eat as much as you want and drink plenty and your milk supply will be fine.
Enjoy!!

 

[Ware Bears]

Hi Terri

I'm going back 16 years now and my eldest wasn't prem but she had an operation at birth and was tube fed with expressed milk until she was 10 days old so we then had to both learn from scratch. She was exactly the same as yours, fed beautifully through the day then was surgically attached to me from early evening until the early hours. My local HV was absolutely useless and kept telling me to put her on a bottle but I got back in touch with the hospital where she was born as I knew they had bf counsellers there and they were marvellous. They advised me not to do mixed feeding as it would affect my supply but just to keep on demand feeding even if it meant sitting there all night and reassured me it wouldn't last long. Well, it didn't, within 6 weeks I was able to put her down by a decent hour and she was going all through the night. It really is only a very short period in your life if you're able to bear with it and just take an opportunity to have a rest in the day when you can. However, if you can't, then don't feel guilty about turning to bottle feeding, you've got to do what's best for you as well as Isabelle and you've done brilliantly to have bf for so long.

for you all

 

[craigs bride]

i have no advice on the feeding as i have always bottlefed my babies but for the colic i have been using infacol which is very good..i was advised to put the required amount into Jaidens mouth about ten mins before feed is due then feed as normal it does take a few days to take affect but it works.

 

[buzz for boys]

Just another thought Terri but the nct have breastfeeding councillors if you google it you will find one and they are fantastic couldnt praise them enough they will come round to your house and offer invaluable support !! Its a bit strange making the first phone call but I promise u wont regret it !!

 

[aaronandterri]

hi
Thanks for all the replys and advice

She seems to be a little more settled now, maybe it was just a growth spurt, its so hard with her *** i think well is she 3 months or 3 weeks?, it drives me nuts.

I did try her on a bottle of 1/2 expresses milk and 1/2 aptimal formula and she seemed to be ok on it, even slept a bit longer than normal.
Ive worked so hard to keep my milk in pumping for her then learning to breastfeed a premature baby is hard work, espically in a room full of people!, im determined to not give up but think i may have to learn to be a bit more flexible with it.
She does take a bottle well, after all i couldnt be with her for every feed so im sure whes not too fussed, it juat makes me feel soo bad.
shes feeding about 90 % of the time by me and the odd bottle it seems to be working .

my health visitor is a bit rubbish, pointless asking her anything!


terri x
and for now a contented Isabelle

 

[aaronandterri]

i need to find out if im ok to use colic rememdies as shes still only 5lbs so im not too sure....

 

[GlendaONeill]

You are doing so well Terri! You have achieved a huge amount in such a short time.

I didn't have any preemies but I breastfed my 3 kids. DS1 is 5, DD is 4 and DS2 is 3 (Yes I know I should have realised what did it quicker.... ) When I had my first DS he was quite a normal baby but I thought he was a monster feeding machine! It took a little (about 2 to3 weeks) while to establish feeding into a real routine where he could go around four hours between feeds. I was determined to feed him even though he was up all night and sleeping during the day. I used to sit and cry to my DH every night saying I was going to bottlefeed the next day but I persevered. When he was a month old he slept 6 hours one night. It was the best feeling! I nicknamed him the Hungry, Hungry Hippo. He was colicky when very small and I found if I ate foods with garlic in them it made it a lot worse! So did spicy things.

My DD used to want to suckle ALL THE TIME. She made me feel like a Friesian cow. She used to feed so much it overloaded her stomach and made her sick. She just wanted comfort and I gave her a dummy. She still breastfed til she was a year old. She sucks her thumb now though

DS2 was fine til he got teeth and drew blood. Then he used to nip and laugh at me squealing in pain. (I think Stewie in Family Guy was based on him)

I'm trying to think of any other things that helped. Expressing milk for DH at night helped a little to get a bit of rest. Growth spurts are the worst cause they just feed like they did at the beginning bu they get through it quickly.

It's hard when there is no one round you to give you hands on advice. I just had to muddle through as no one in my family did it.

I think you are doing brilliant