Weaning off of supplements...

[momtomany]

 Hello!!  I am going to attempt weaning my 10 week old son from the supplements he is receiving.  We have had issues with low supply from the start.  I ALWAYS have issues with low supply in the beginning.  I have always thought it was because of my very large and long nipples.  Well, I was correct ;)  This is the first time I called an LC for help, and she said the size of my nipples could be an issue.  Once she saw him latch on, she said it was a good latch.  To me it looked shallow, and still does at times.  I don't think he was able to get a deep latch in the beginning to stimulate a real good milk supply, or to maintain one for that matter.  By the time the LC came, he was only getting about 1/2 oz. at a feeding (after 4 hours of not eating :(  So, I spent lots of time pumping, and using an SNS (which by the way I threw out after a couple of days d/t extreme frustration).  I still don't have a full milk supply, but I'm tired of pumping, and would like for my son to be the one to stimulate a larger milk supply.  Right now he is getting about 19 oz. in supplement daily.  He is gaining well, actually too well :)  He is in the 60th percentile for his weight.  I know he's not gaining that well on the 19 oz. alone :)  He is nursing VERY well now.  He is like a vacuum!!  I truly can't believe how strong his suck is.  But once the milk is slowing down, he becomes very frustrated.      

I have purchased a weight scale to monitor his weight during this.  I plan on taking it VERY slowly for him, in order to reduce any frustration.  My question is, how often should I weigh him to ensure he is gaining?  Should he still be gaining about an oz a day at this point?

I appreciate your help. I would love to be able to exclusively nurse him. Hopefully I can build up a large enough supply for him. Then again...maybe I'll never have enough.

Thank you so much in advance for your help!!

[Thandiwe]

Have you asked your pedi?  I have never been in your situation, but is it reasonable to weigh him weekly and then monitor his wet/poopy diapers every day in between, making sure he is remaining hydrated?

Have you seen this link about adequate weight gain? 

[Megan73]

I think you're right to move very slowly and make sure your little one keeps gaining steadily. The average BF baby drinks 25 ounces of BM a day so he clearly gets the bulk of his nutrition from formula. He should be gaining five to seven ounces a week at his age and until about four months when average weight gain goes down a bit. Kellymom.com is a great resource for infant growth.
I'd STRONGLY suggest dusting off that SNS (which may be less frustrating now that the two of you have the hang of nursing) or, better yet, investing in some Lact-Aid supplementers. It will keep your babe at the breast instead of giving up in frustration when the milk flow slows, stimulating your supply - especially important if you want to ditch the pump. It was also important to me when I had to supplement my first nursling that while he wasn't exclusively breastmilk fed he was exclusively fed at the breast.
Good luck!

[momtomany]

Thank you both for your replies.  We go for a well check this afternoon.  I am going to begin trying to wean this weekend, when hubby is home.  I am actually very  nervous about it!  I don't want him to feel hungry ;)  I have devoured kellymom.com's site regarding weaning, and actually may take it a little slower/gentler :)  I have considered ordering the Lact~aid for SNS.  I fumbled alot with the Medela short term one, but I'm not sure if the Lact-aid would be any different.  I'll let you know how it goes :)  I wanted to say to that I truly find this site so encouraging and helpful.

Thank you again for your replies!!

Added :)  I also wanted to say that I have started giving him supplements only when he appears to still be hungry, and only beginning with 1 oz at a time.  He also doesn't require a supplement at night feedings.  Last night he didn't even finish the second breast (and I tried ever so hard to wake him up to empty it :)  I haven't added up the supp. amt. in a few days, so it's actually probably less than 19 oz.  I don't think he needed that much!  He was gaining WELL over an ounce a day ~ he went from 7.6 # to 10# even in 21 days!!  I also used a formula in a breastfeeding book I have, "A Nursing Mother's Companion", to estimate the amount of milk I am producing using a breastpump.  I have seen this formula else where to.  I followed those instructions, and according to that formula I am producing approximately 17.9 oz. of bm in a 24 hour period.

Edited by momtomany - 6/23/11 at 5:01am

[momtomany]

Well, we went to the Dr. and my little guy had gained 2 lbs. 7 oz. in a 21 day period!  Well over 2 oz. a day. 

I'm so excited because we are continuing to decrease his supplement and he is still gaining!!  I am weighing him every 4th day to ensure he is gaining.  The weaning is actually going faster than I expected, all by his initiative :)  We are currently down to only 10 oz a day, and I weighed him this morning and he weighs 13 lbs. ~ on this past Tues. he weighed 12# 12oz.  So, we're doing good :)

Thanks again ladies for your input!!

[Megan73]

Awesome!

[khaoskat]

Just seeing this for the first time.  My son was older and the needs for suppliment came about for different reasons..but basically I started watching his cues.  I would nurse him first and let him nurse till he was done.  I started dropping suppliments shortly after we started them because he was gaining well again, and with just pumping I was getting out 20-26 oz a day plus he was nursing..so..

We dropped him down from 7 to 6.  We spaced these about every 4 hours...and were about 2.5 oz each.

after a while, I could tell he wasn't interested in them that often.  He stopped taking the one all together that I was sending to childcare at the YMCA while another child and I was in karate.  From there, I just followed his cues...if he went to the fridge, I would get him a supplimental feed.  But even that stopped.  I ended up throwing out about 100 oz of expressed milk because I always had it in there just in case.

So, basically my recommendation is to just drop out one feeding at a time...and just to let him nurse to his hearts content.  If he seems like he wants more, offer it to him.  If not, then skip it.  I think once we really started weaning him off after a few months (we had medical reasons for the suppliments, and it wasn't due to low supply), it didn't take him long at all...

Good luck..

and btw -- a weight gain of 4-7 oz a week is the acceptable range for a breastfed infant.