Finn is about 5 days old now. Anyone else have a baby who will nurse for a bit and then conk out -- tight lips and all - and not need the 2nd breast at every feeding? I have been pumping the other side when this happens for comfort occasionally. But now of course I'm antsy that he's not nursing enough. Thoughts? Diapers are good, but I'm not sure about his weight. I don't have a good way to weigh him.
Finn is about 5 days old now. Anyone else have a baby who will nurse for a bit and then conk out -- tight lips and all - and not need the 2nd breast at every feeding? I have been pumping the other side when this happens for comfort occasionally. But now of course I'm antsy that he's not nursing enough. Thoughts? Diapers are good, but I'm not sure about his weight. I don't have a good way to weigh him.
Cate generally feeds on just one side each feeding, my Finn did the same. DS gained quite slowly, but nursed constantly. DD eats once every few hours, for less than 10 min, and has gained like crazy. If the diapers are good, and he seems to be gaining (are his tiny clothes getting out grown, are the diapers needing to be done up a little less tightly ... those are clues if you can't weigh him yourself accurately), then I'd just let him stick to what's working for him!
Finn is about 5 days old now. Anyone else have a baby who will nurse for a bit and then conk out -- tight lips and all - and not need the 2nd breast at every feeding? I have been pumping the other side when this happens for comfort occasionally. But now of course I'm antsy that he's not nursing enough. Thoughts? Diapers are good, but I'm not sure about his weight. I don't have a good way to weigh him.
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olivia does this. she is a cluster feeder, which my boys never were. and there is no coaxing her to nurse just a little more to help momma out. i don't have a pump, so i try to coax her sometimes. lol she definitely has the tight lip thing happening. i feel very lopsided all of the time these days. i just assume she is getting plenty since she has a lot of wet and poopy diapers. as long as diapers are good i wouldn't worry about his weight.
Erica- thank you for that thought! We've already done the Feed Him to Death bit, but we'll start taking Charlie out in the sun.
I actually don't mind the nursing on one side thing we're apparently going to be doing (now that I am cleared to just nurse! (pending a weigh-in today to be sure) because then he clears out that one boob more and it feels SO good! But I do miss him being awake :P
Definitely something I was thinking about! Right now he's nursing about every 2 hours ( though last night he gave me 2 4.5 hour stretches) and just this morning had both bewbs twice AND some alert time. I'm just going to keep an eye and try hard not to worry and just trust that we are doing well. These first few days/weeks are so touch and go! It's crazy how you forget how stressful it can be if you let it. It's nice and sunny today so I'm going to get Finn back out in the sun (it rained yesterday, boo) and hopefully that helps. I've decided not to take him for the bili test until at least day 8 or 9 if I feel like it's getting worse and not better. It peaks at days 4-5 right? Or so? It seems to me it would be silly to have his level tested now when it would be at its peak.
Oh Jill I can only imagine!! That's too funny!
Good luck with the ped! We are all having such blah luck around here with baby doctors, hopefully your appt is quick and simple and to the point. KUP!
I have a "one boob at a time" feeder. DS was like this, too. She went to the ped today - 10 days old and went from 6lbs 8 ounces at birth to 7 lbs 7 ounces. So try not to worry. Some babies are very efficient at draining a single boob each feeding and don't need more.
And my husband keeps calling her "little guy."
Took Anton to the ped today and he is now 7lbs 11oz! Up from 6lbs 10oz at birth almost 2 weeks ago. So that's good. What's not so good is that he's had bad gas issues a couple of times, and the ped thinks this is due to my eating too many legumes and spicy foods. I am a vegan...legumes are my main source of protein! Gah. So I'm going to try to get creative and get more protein from grains, I guess. The ped started trying to ask me why exactly I won't eat meat. I didn't really want to get into it with him. But I haven't eaten meat for about 15 years and really don't want to.
Also, I feel guilty about this, but I'm finding breastfeeding to be a pain in the butt (or boob, I guess). I'm hoping it gets better soon. People tell me it will. It's just...I hate feeling like I can't move or do anything for so many hours of the day. Also I have some soreness when he first latches on. So I kind of dread the feedings. Then my mom keeps telling me he absorbs my negative emotions or whatever, and I feel guilty about that!
And the ped told me to feed him in an upright position due to the gas issue, which sucks because I like the side-lying position at night. Sometimes I can even fall asleep while he's nursing that way.
Finn is about 5 days old now. Anyone else have a baby who will nurse for a bit and then conk out -- tight lips and all - and not need the 2nd breast at every feeding? I have been pumping the other side when this happens for comfort occasionally. But now of course I'm antsy that he's not nursing enough. Thoughts? Diapers are good, but I'm not sure about his weight. I don't have a good way to weigh him.
I had this same thing happening. For the first 5 days he was the best nurser in the world, but now he won't latch right and gets so frustrated and ends up only nursing one side at a time. I go back to the ped tomorrow for a follow up, so we'll see about his weight then.
Also, I feel guilty about this, but I'm finding breastfeeding to be a pain in the butt (or boob, I guess). I'm hoping it gets better soon. People tell me it will. It's just...I hate feeling like I can't move or do anything for so many hours of the day. Also I have some soreness when he first latches on. So I kind of dread the feedings. Then my mom keeps telling me he absorbs my negative emotions or whatever, and I feel guilty about that!
I'm with you on this! River just started having problems with bfing the last few days, which makes him get all cranky and upset, then I get all cranky and upset.... I hope your mom isn't right about absorbing the negative emotions, otherwise my poor little guy must be so upset!
Also, I feel guilty about this, but I'm finding breastfeeding to be a pain in the butt (or boob, I guess). I'm hoping it gets better soon. People tell me it will. It's just...I hate feeling like I can't move or do anything for so many hours of the day. Also I have some soreness when he first latches on. So I kind of dread the feedings. Then my mom keeps telling me he absorbs my negative emotions or whatever, and I feel guilty about that!
And the ped told me to feed him in an upright position due to the gas issue, which sucks because I like the side-lying position at night. Sometimes I can even fall asleep while he's nursing that way.
Are you still having a lot of pain with latch? It stops once the milk starts flowing, right? If not, you might want to get that latch checked.
That dread is kind of normal - especially when you're still having pain. It gets so much easier. And when you think it's not ever going to get easier, think of it this way -- this is the hardest part. As Anton gets older, it's going to be so super easy to run out of the house, feed during the night, etc. Switching to formula now to make it easier means that until he's 1 or older, you'll always have to prepare bottles, clean them, buy formula, etc. So, it might seem super easy NOW to switch, but for the long run, sticking with nursing will be LOADS easier. I try to keep that in mind when I'm frazzled, at least. This is the hardest part. I think by week 3-4 you'll have it down pat and won't even be thinking about it. It'll just be second nature. Hang in there.
I too love sidelying. Technically, extra milk/air should be dribbling out when he nurses that way, so I wouldn't stop doing that. Just make sure daytime feeds are semi-upright. I'm doing the same thing b/c I basically firehose Finn every letdown and he chokes and sputters and then spits up. Every time. JOY!
I just wanted to double check.. I don't mind having milk dripping down to my knees (or maybe I'd try to find a bra that fits..), but..
My boobs can't -actually- explode, right? Because lefty seems to want to try.
(His jaw isn't on quite right and my left nipple is smaller, so that one is a much harder nurse. We're getting his jaw adjusted today so hopefully...!
I don't think it's possible but mine are definitely at the brink as well. I am loving my pump when the porno boobs get too out of hand, lol!
Thanks for the pep talk, Carrie! I needed to hear that!
Yeah, I still have pain with the latch. I worked with several nurses and LC's in the hospital but none of them actually saw him successfully latch because we couldn't get him to at that time, except while using a nipple shield (due to his being given a bottle and a pacifier in NICU). When I got home with him I was finally able to get him to latch on ME after several attempts. That was about a week ago. After about 30 seconds when the milk is flowing it doesn't hurt anymore. But I do have soreness between feedings, too...I have been taking showers with my back to the shower head because it hurts when the water hits my boobs 
Thread-crashing the sore nipple discussion, but has anyone mentioned Soothies? The gel pads saved my life with my first baby who had a barracuda latch. (I suspect he sucked so hard because of his difficult birth---vacuum extraction---and things were better after some chiropractic/craniosacral work for him.)
Anyway, gel pads are the best thing ever for really sore (cracked, blistered) nipples!
http://www.amazon.com/Lansinoh-65005-Soothies-Gel-Pads/dp/B002KGHUL4
Cate is gaining weight like crazy here ... so different from early days with DS! As of last Thursday & her 3wk M/W appt, she was up to 8lb10oz, from her birth wt of 6lb9oz.
She's sleeping fairly well, we had a several night pattern of 9p-1a-4a-6a, up for 90min, back to sleep from 7:30a - 9a or so. It was a really nice pattern, then we went away for the weekend, and got out of routine, the last couple nights have felt like she's been up every hour, but I know that wasn't really the case, I'm just tired from the weekend away & wishing for more sleep!
She's fitting in her cloth diapers now, but is definitely a super soaker. DS was not, so I don't have a lot of doublers/soakers that fit in my little diapers. I'm going to be digging out my diaper fabric stash soon & making some new doublers. She's being changed about 10x a day and a infant size PF is soaked to every single corner each time. If for any reason it's got a dry corner to grab to get it off her, she'll pee on me while I'm changing her! It's crazy, she's only eating for 10-15 min at a time, every couple/few hours, but must be taking in a LOT as she's both a super soaker & gaining weight rapidly.
Does anyone else feel like they are doing laundry constantly? I'd forgotten how much laundry one small person could add! Between her clothes, the blankets I keep using to wipe up the tiny bits of spit up, diapers, and my clothes not surviving more than one day either from spit up or milk leaks ... it seems like we're at 4-5-6 extra loads a week!
I have the Medela Harmony & have been really happy with it. I used it for the first year or so of DS's life to pump 2 - 4 bottles a week so he could have them when I was at my night classes. I dropped it on the floor when he was 2.5 yrs old and it broke (so don't drop it on stone floors ...), and they were really good about helping me find a local seller to get the replacement parts. I never did buy them as DS was still nursing but not needing pumped milk anymore at that point.
I had DH pick up the new version of the same one recently, but had him buy it in the US, as it was 30$ more in Canada! Now I use the parts that weren't broken onmy old one as the spares for my new one.
I briefly used a Avent manual pump when Finn was little, but really didn't like it. I find the Harmony easy to operate even if I have to do it one handed, while also nursing on the the other side.
My ds is now 10 days old. He's a generally calm baby compared to his other brothers and sisters. He nurses and falls back asleep. That's been his pattern so far all except for the day I ate beans at night and I will never do that again. LOL!! He was fussy all night.
I don't know about his weight gain but he is pooping alot so I guess that's a good sign.
Dd who is almost four has been having a hard time with less attention but Im sure she will be okay. Dd who is fourteen is the biggest help in the world. My other three kids are very happy to have a new brother and are holding him every chance they get.
I haven't been out at all yet and not up to it as I still am trying to get over a case of mastitis/plugged duct. I'm not sure which one it was...I had high fever for 24 hours and then a low grade fever for a morning and then it was gone....the redness is still not gone and I could swear I still feel some knots in my breast that I'm still trying to massage out.
I kinda spend all my time in my room and don't feel like venturing out. My fourteen year old has been helping with everything from feeding the other kids to diaper changing the new baby. I don't know what I would do without her. She is gold.
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