I emailed this to my LLL leader, but as I am not sure when to expect a reply, I am going to post here too 
Quote:
| I just got off the phone with my sister-in-law in Kuwait. She's near the breaking point and has uttered those awful words "I think we're about done.". She doesn't -want- to be done with breastfeeding, and wants him off the formula, but feels like she has already been defeated. Apparently when my mother-in-law visited them for those first 6 weeks there was a lot of (unintentional) undermining. If Alex made fussy hungry noises, mom was in the kitchen already making the bottle. There have been times when the baby was not nursed all night, and instead given the bottle. And from what I understand, there are even times of the day now where he just is given the bottle and not nursed first so that Mommy can shower or sleep. Mother-in-law is back here now, and Jenn is left to go it alone, but feels it is too late and the damage is done. I told her that is not true and if she truly wants to breastfeed, she can do it, it just takes some work and patience. He's not even 2 months old yet, so it is not too late. She does want to continue, and she would like to get off the formula. I need help getting the proper information to her, as this was not a problem I had. Some background: C-section, early at 37 weeks. He has colic, and is having issues pooping. Doctor says baby is not using the right muscles, and so he must be stimulated with a q-tip in order to actually to actually poop. This interferes with nursing, as if he tries to poop while nursing (as breastfed babies do), he stops sucking and strains and pulls back, causing some pain to mom. Mom also feels her supply is too low to adequately feed him. I have advised that if he stops nursing and is straining to poop, she should unlatch him until they can help him poop and he relaxes, and then try nursing again. I told her there is no point continuing to nurse if he is not sucking and just causing pain, as that can lead to nipple trauma. Do you know anything about the poop issue? I have not heard of it before... For her supply, I suggested nursing more often, and slowly cutting back the formula and replacing it with nursing. I told her if that doesn't seem to be working, there is also fenugreek and mother's milk tea. She's not sure they have it there, but I can ship it to her. What else can she do? She does not respond well to a pump, she does have one and has tried. She hand expresses more than she can pump. I also explained, roughly, breast compression, so that if he is finicky about fast letdown from the bottle, she can try to mimic it. Will have to send her the videos on it. I feel like I am missing info, and would like to send her as much by email as possible. This is the opposite of the issues I had (overactive letdown and oversupply), so not my strong point. There is no support for her there, most of the women in Kuwait bottle feed with full time nannies.  |
