***HELP - breastfeeding two months

[nikimom]

have been feeding my girl every three hours, but she sleeps on my breast everytime so i have to top up with a bottle of expressed milk, i find it very tiring, and not enuf milk for her.... now i try to feed her very four hours....i will feed her directly but she probably falls asleep after 10 to 15 mins and then i express milk from both breast then i give her a bottle of 5 oz to her

my worry is (a) is she having enough, 5 feeds of 5 oz plus a little bit direct feeding b4 the bottle of expressed milk. (except for the midnite feed, which i wont top up);
(b) i usually start at eg. 10.30 and then she finishes on the breast at around 10.50 or so, then i express and i finish expressing at arojnd 11.25 then i give the bottle to her at 11.30. will that be too long to finish one feeding...
(c) am i risking to let me milk supply diminish if i only feed every four hours now

thanks

 

[kashismum]

nikimom
you may be worrying unnecessarily.
If your baby is falling asleep after a feed, she must be satisfied. IMO, there's no need to feed her additional expressed milk. The more she sucks on your breast, the more milk you will produce. But I'm a little confused how you express if she's sleeping on you...?

Are you offerring her both sides?

c) Why be so strict on a schedule - you can consider feeding her on demand.

As always, you can seek professional advice from LLL.

 

[joannek]

if she falls asleep you can try waking her up with s little push, pull her slip or whatever. my baby used to do that. but everytime i pulled away, she'd start sucking again. one more thing, you might have plugged duct, that's what happened to me, i finally had my lactation consultant (very very good) came to help me & solve all my problems. the difference between a lactation consultant is, she can come to your place to help you out (but you have to pay). whereas LLL, you can call them anytime & they're friendly & nice & very supportive, but unless you're willing to bring your baby to the meeting, they can't help you in person.
plus i'm sending you the no. of the lactation consultant rhu pm. pls check. & good luck.

 

[Wee Kean]

It happened to me too when my daughter was young. I just woke her up or changed to another breast. I found feeding her on schedule was really stressful and tiring. After one or two months or three months, I can't really remember, I changed to feed her on demand, ie. whenever she cries or tired, I will feed her (of course, after checking her nappy to make sure that she was not crying because of wet nappy) I really enjoyed it since then.

I agree that you may want to call LLL's leaders for advise. They helped me a lot too.

Good luck.

 

[asiababy]

My first child was a hungry boy but very sleepy. The nurses told me these ideas to keep him awake for a feed:
1. rub his earlobe or toes, not too softly (apply a little pressure) while nursing.
2. unwrap his blanket/clothing so he is a liitle cooler, not cold though. - warm babies sleep easily
3. if he falls asleep, take off his diaper, this may wake him up again
4. burp him often.

I also think expressing is giving you unecessary work, but I am no expert... your baby may be effecient at drinking, my new baby girl is, she feeds for short periods only but is growing and pooping very well. i find feeding on demand much easier than fighting to keep a schedule that doesn't suit the baby.

 

[nikimom]

thank you all for your prompt reply, so surprised to see all the advice just after lunch.
You are rite, I've been suffering from plugged ducts, and I actually have an independent lactation consultant visit me, but my plugged ducts dont seem to be any better.
I was also experiencing low milk supply due to plugged ducts, so I've tried to feed her on demand without topping up with expressed milk. But she would slept on my breast after 5 to 10 mins...and she hasnt even empty the first breast. sometimes when (but rarely) she's reli hungry, and she seemed to have empty both my breasts, she still appear to be very hungry. Thats why I have the habit of giving her top up.
Another reason is the several days that I didnt give her the top up , she didnt poo for 3 days. So my husband and I decided that she wasnt taking in enuf.
Now when i breastfeed her on one breast, the other leak (half to 1 oz) so I develop the habit of expressing with the medela style pump on one breast, while feeding her on teh other.
But now, she seems to be hungry again after 3 hours..even I top her up with 5 oz...am I giving her the right amount...does she need more?

 

[nikimom]

I tried all methods to wake her up, tickle her, unswaddle her b4 a feed, rub her ears and cheeks, burp her...but none of those works.
And if I feed her on demand, she feeds so frequently that there's not enuf time for the breast to make milk. they are so soft adn empty if she feeds every 1.5 or 2 hours.

 

[joannek]

i don't know which consultant you are calling in to help, but there aren't many choices in hk. i went thru one before mrs chee. the 1st one was terrible. brought me thru a lot of pain, agony & tears. then i called mrs chee cos the 1st one (i don't wanna name names here) was out of town. mrs chee is god sent. call her right away.

 

[joannek]

nikimom just sent u a pm, pls check

 

[jools]

Hi,
In actual fact the breast never stops making milk, the supply is always there. Your breast only starts to feel hard when it is becoming full, but as I say the supply is always there. Your breasts become engorged when the milk has no where else to go. A soft breast is one that is breastfeeding efficiently.

Different babies feed in different ways. My first child used to feed for 45 minutes at a time, take both breasts, but only need to feed every three hours. My second child used only take one breast, but feed more frequently; she would also only feed for 10 minutes at a time. My third baby feeds for 10-15 minutes at a time and usually takes both breasts. If you feed on demand then the baby will get what they need.

If she is gaining weight and having the right number of wet/dirty nappies in the day, then personally I would worry about topping her up with expressed milk. Remember that she can get much more out of your breast than any pump can and she is therefore, probably getting alot more than you think she is.

I hope this helps.

Jools