Re: Please help a first time Mom
- From: Ericka Kammerer <eek@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 30 Mar 2006 15:41:18 -0500
babyb1006@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
My son is 6 weeks old. My doctor has been having me alternate between
nursing and bottle feeding since he was two weeks old because he was
not gaining enough weight just nursing. He has gained well with this
system, however, for about the last week he will nurse and then be
hungry an hour later. (When it is time for a bottle he will eat and
then be ok for about 3 to 4 hours.) I feel like I am not giving him
enough when he nurses. (It is making me consider switching over to
strictly bottle only.)
There are likely two issues going on here. One is that
with so much bottle feeding going on, you are likely sabotaging
your supply. Breastfeeding is a supply and demand system. He's
not breastfeeding as much, so your body isn't making as much
milk. It's a vicious cycle, and the only way out is to wean
him off of the bottles so that your body realizes there is more
demand and starts making more milk.
The whole issue is further complicated by the fact that
this is a common time for a growth spurt, when even exclusively
breastfed babies often go through a period of non-stop nursing
to increase production to meet their increased need.
Frankly, shame on your doctor for not weaning you
off the additional bottle feedings sooner (and unless the
weight issue was really significant, he probably shouldn't
have suggested it in the first place). The first several
weeks are an important time for building up supply, and
abruptly dropping a full half your feeds in favor of
formula supplementation is a recipe for exactly the fix
you're in now.
You *can* get out of it, but it'll mean spending
some time doing little else but nursing and weaning him
off the bottles of formula. It'll likely help if you
time off from everything else and concentrate on just
feeding the baby. Make sure you get plenty to eat and
drink and don't tax yourself unnecessarily. It'll
be a hard slog for a week or two, but you'll get there
and then life will be *so* much simpler.
On top of that, for the last two nights his
sleeping schedule has gone topsy turvy. He is sleeping like he did
when I first brought him home from the hospital (waking and acting
hungry about every 45min. to an hour.) His grandparents visited from
out of town over the weekend and he was held alot. Could that have
gotten him out of his routine?
No. He's too little to *have* much of a routine,
and they grow and change so quickly at this age that as soon
as something starts to look like a routine, it vanishes.
This is just normal and expected.
Any suggestions on how to get him back
to it? My doctor says to continue feeding him as I have been and try to
keep him awake longer during the day to see if he will sleep better at
night. If anyone has any other suggestions it would be greatly
appreciated. I am about at my wits end due to lack of sleep.
Relax. Give in to this. Right now, concentrate on
weaning him off the formula feeds and getting your supply
up. Give yourself at least a week or two where you don't
worry about anything else. Just hold him, cuddle him, and
feed him. It may continue to be very frequent feeds for a
bit, but there will be a light at the end of the tunnel.
When the feeds even out and your supply catches
up, then he will likely settle into more of a routine again.
He may well be driven by his belly at the moment to be
waking a lot, and mucking about with his routine isn't going
to help that. He *needs* to nurse a lot so that he can get
your supply up! That's the only thing that will work. So,
let him do his job and then things will most likely be a lot
better. Remember to nap whenever he does--don't be tempted
to get things done while you can for now. Concentrate on
resting and getting through this challenging time and then
it will get better.
Best wishes,
Ericka
.
- References:
- Please help a first time Mom
- From: babyb1006@xxxxxxxxx
- Please help a first time Mom
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