it seems the herbs and such have helped~scared to stop supplementing

[koalove]

i have igt. it was a nightmare with ds1. im seriously traumatized by the breastfeedign experience i had with him. i starved him for 2 months without having a clue what was going on. so during my pregnancy with ds2 i decided since i knew the problem, i could tackle it. i took goats rue at the end of pregnancy and it seemed like my breasts grew a little etc. we gathered donated breastmilk during pregnancy so i could be all set to supplement. i bought the lact-aid, and bottles. my plan was to NOT SUPPLEMENT untill day 4. i crumbled on the second night. ds2 was so hungry. i did the lact-aid in the day and a bottle at night since i was feeling sleep deprived and very clumsy with the lact-aid. ds2 is now 15 days old. i feed him with the lact-aid in the day, and at night i nurse, then feed him a bottle. 4 days ago i began fenugreek capsules and domperidone. my breast seem full. they leak! everyone keeps telling me to just take the leap and stop supplementing. im scared to death to do it. ds2 is finally, today, back up to birth weight but still mildly jaundiced. and the thing is, he is never satisfied at the breast. he gets frustrated and pulls and bites at my nipples. i know theres milk in there still though. he does tons of sucking and little swallowing. he gets mad and gives up. i know this is partly because he has gotten used to the ease of a bottle and the lact-aid, but also, hes still hungry when he has emptied my breasts. i wonder if i just sat here and did nothing but nurse around the clock for a few days if my supply would increase to meet his needs, and he would forget bottles ever existed. im scared to do it because i see him doing all the things ds1 did for those 2 months he was starving and it breaks my heart. how can i let him go hungry for a few days when i have a freezer stocked with breastmilk? honestly, i like dh to be able to help as well with the feedings. its also so fast and easy to give a bottle for 5-10 minutes at night vs. nursing for 30 minutes. i wonder if im holding myself back for that too. what to do? what do you all think? should i quit supplementing? im open to ideas. tia!

[Megan73]

How much supplement is the baby getting now? Is he gaining the average amount for a BF newborn – 5 to 8 oz a week?

[bedheadmaestro]

Well, you can always try it. It won't harm your baby, and you can always go back to supplementing. if his diaper output slows on the day or 2 days that you nurse him round the clock w/o supplementing...then supplementing is still necessary. As you know with IGT your supply is physically limited depending on how severe your IGT is. If you are taking herbs and feeding on cue round the clock, maybe even throwing in a pumping session in between feedings, then i would think your supply is maxed out, and what else can you do, really? It's not like you are supplementing for misguided reasons or a bad understanding of breastfeeding. You may always need to supplement, so embrace it and the few little perks it provides for your family! It sounds like you don't mind supplementing.
Maybe try supplementing 1 oz first, and then let him finish his feedings at the breast so he doesn't get so mad. Then pump for another 5-10 minutes. (I know it sounds like a hassle.) Or, gradually decrease the amount of supplement while paying close attention to diaper output.
Whatever you do, don't stop the herbs, especially the goats rue if you are not still taking it! I also have IGT and the day I ran out of goat's rue was the day I dried up almost instantly Dom and fenugreek did not help me as much as goat's rue did.

[justthinkn]

What about experimenting with giving just a little less supplement at the beginning, and then finishing at the breast (without tubes/supplement)? This method helps the baby be more patient with working hard at the breast, b/c some of the hunger has been taken care, and it also lets the baby associate being full and content with the breast.

Here's a link re: finishing at the breast, and it gives details about slowly reducing the supplement you give. The same principle works for the Lact-Aid or SNS - start with one breast nursing with tube, then switch to the other breast tube-less. (I always did yet another switch back the first breast, this time without a tube, to make sure it was completely sucked dry )

Obviously, I don't know how much supplement you're giving, but I would be nervous about making too radical of a step. I hope your story ends much differently than mine, but I too had a great response to herbs, and it seemed like DD was taking less and less from the SNS. So my LC encouraged me to make the leap, stop supplementing, and she only scheduled a follow-up 3 weeks later b/c I was nervous and insisted. Lo and behold, DD's growth had completely plateaued 3 weeks later! I committed to supplementing long-term at that point - was still thrilled that the herbs gave me more milk, if not 100% supply.

I really hope it works out for you!

(Oh, and I have to say, if I were you, nights are the first place I'd look to eliminate supplementing entirely - your supply really should be highest then, pretty good in the morning, and lower in the afternoon, early evening. On the other hand, if you find you have to supplement at night, yeah, I'd definitely go with a bottle and partner help, too )

[alegna]

Kellymom has good instructions for getting of supplements. Slowly and carefully. But sounds like you can do it!

-Angela

[koalove]

right now i supplement every feeding. i put 2 oz. in the lact-aid and 3 oz. in a bottle. today he is screaming each time i try to nurse him, even with the lact-aid. nothing short of a bottle will please him. and im having breast pain. its either a plugged duct or the start of mastitis. i guess ill know when i wake up with the fever. uuuugh i so want to quit. the goats rue is so pricy. we really cant afford to keep buying all these supplements. especially with formula too. i told myself i would not get all worked up this time over this but im definately stressing. thanks for all the advice so far mamas. i dont think ill quit supplemnting cold turkey. im too exhausted a it is, i cant imagine having a crying hungry baby too. i do have to be a mama to my 4 year old too. im off to bed. thaNKS again!

[alegna]

I would stop the bottles first. I think they're causing a lot of your trouble.

good luck!

-Angela

[Megan73]

You're doing a great job, mama
Given the amount of supplement I think you're right to not stop cold turkey.
What I'd do is eliminate the bottles, do all your supplementing at the breast and keep a very close eye on his weight. I'd also pump after feeds to maximize your supply.
When your babe is gaining the average for a BF babe – 5 to 8 oz a week – you can take another look at slowly weaning off the supplement.
Just to add:
You're going to get a variety of opinions about the bottles. Many babies don't appear to have problems switching back and forth, which is great. You can certainly try the "finish at the breast" method which is advocated by many LCs. But it sounds to me like your LO may be developing a flow preference for bottles. This happened to me and I had to spend so much time wooing my son back to the breast and it was just emotionally agonizing for me. For that reason, I'd really consider ditching the bottles completely. I DO know how frustrating it can be, though, and I wasn't trying to take care of a four-year-old, too.

[bedheadmaestro]

Originally Posted by koalove

right now i supplement every feeding. i put 2 oz. in the lact-aid and 3 oz. in a bottle. today he is screaming each time i try to nurse him, even with the lact-aid. nothing short of a bottle will please him. and im having breast pain. its either a plugged duct or the start of mastitis. i guess ill know when i wake up with the fever. uuuugh i so want to quit. the goats rue is so pricy. we really cant afford to keep buying all these supplements. especially with formula too. i told myself i would not get all worked up this time over this but im definately stressing. thanks for all the advice so far mamas. i dont think ill quit supplemnting cold turkey. im too exhausted a it is, i cant imagine having a crying hungry baby too. i do have to be a mama to my 4 year old too. im off to bed. thaNKS again!

I hear you about the price of herbs/pills plus formula. It is disgusting that nothing is covered by insurance/reimbursable by FSA. UGH! That's why I eventually decided to let nature take over for me and went to homemade formula plus donated milk. Mind you, I could only make 2 oz/day tops while taking fenugreek, dom and goat's rue. (I got goat's rue in a huge 8 oz. bottle that lasted nearly 2 months at luckyvitamin.com, it is much cheaper than the pills or smaller vials.) Even with that paltry amount, I made it 5 months until I decided the mental and monetary cost of nursing outweighed any benefit of our nursing relationship. I really hope you have success.