This baby is eating SO MUCH

[maisiedotes]

I can't even believe how much this girl is eating. I get her to latch on for about 15-20 minutes but as you all know, we are having nursing problems and she gets almost nothing from the breast. She is eating about 4 oz at each feeding. Is there a growth spurt going on? She will be 3 weeks tomorrow. I am stunned- I read that her tummy is the size of her fist so I don't know how it can hold so much! We have tried other things that may be the issue when she cries- changing her, cuddling her, rocking her, pacifier, etc, but food is the only thing that pacifies her! What is your experience with this?

[sorteep]

nurse nurse nurse.. it will slw down eventually... promise

[renaissanceed]

There is a 3 week growth spurt but it's always amazing how much they can eat. Just keep on plugging away at the nursing and feeding.

IME babies tend to know what they want, so if nursing/eating calms her down, then that's what she want.

[*Lindsey*]

Sounds like a growth spurt. They typically have one at 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months.

We're starting the 6 week growth spurt, and boy is it draining! Luckily it usually only lasts a few days. Hang in there!

[Curlita]

Yup, yup. Conrad ate about every 45 minutes during his three week spurt. : The good news is that it only lasted about a day. Part of what she is doing is increasing your milk supply... once your boobs catch up, she will calm down.

But yeah, 4 oz is a lot! Conrad ate 3.5 at the Lactation Consultant yesterday, and he is 8 lb 10 oz and a week older than Mairaed. The LC said he needed about 2.5 oz (75 cc) per feed, so he is getting more than he needs.

Nothing makes a breastfeeding mama feel more accomplished than little fat rolls on baby's legs and arms. You might start seeing those soon!

[maisiedotes]

Originally Posted by Curlita

Nothing makes a breastfeeding mama feel more accomplished than little fat rolls on baby's legs and arms. You might start seeing those soon!

Her head is already about twice the size it was when she was born (thank goodness she had a small head for childbirth!) and she is definitely growing alot.

How the hell do you make 3.5 oz of breastmilk? I am lucky if I can get an ounce and a half into her at the LC and I can only pump 2 oz...

[Curlita]

Originally Posted by maisiedotes

How the hell do you make 3.5 oz of breastmilk? I am lucky if I can get an ounce and a half into her at the LC and I can only pump 2 oz...

What Mairaed eats at the LC is a function of how efficiently she sucks at the breast, and pumping is not a good indication of how much milk you can produce. If she is getting time at the boob right now, you'll probably be producing even more milk in a few days, after her growth spurt is over.

[Undercover Hippie]

Originally Posted by maisiedotes

How the hell do you make 3.5 oz of breastmilk? I am lucky if I can get an ounce and a half into her at the LC and I can only pump 2 oz...

I've been told that what you can pump is only about 1/3 of what you are actually producing, because the pumps are not very efficient. So you are probably producing a lot more than you think mama! Once Mairaed gets a little bigger and gets the nursing problems sorted out, she will be able to get out so much more than any pump can...

[pixiesmommy]

I'm just the opposite... I was thinking "ONLY 2 ounces??"

When we had the LC here and Peri was only comfort nursing at less than one week old, she took 2 oz from each breast in about half an hour total. I can't imagine what she takes now that my milk is all the way in and she is GULPING down milk for half an hour on EACH SIDE!!
Of course, we have some reflux issues too, so she's spitting probably a tablespoon of it back up each feed, but STILL!!! I do tend to have oversupply too and it's easy for me to pump- I can easily get 6 oz without much effort from each breast with a small hand pump, so if that's only 1/3 of my actual supply, than DANG!

We're at 3 weeks today and she's seeming to get more sleepy, but I think we might have a little bit of a bug going around at my house, cause we're all really tired the past couple of days with not much appetite for any of us.

Manda