IVF Pregnancy Information

1. TVandenbosch
   
   

   My ds is 7 weeks old and I've been breastfeeding and supplementing with formula since birth because of low supply. I've been taking domperidone for 3 weeks now and it's helped but not enormously. I really want to stop giving baby formula completely. For the last 2 nights ds hasn't wanted to breastfeed. He cries and screams until I give him a bottle. I don't think it's a supply problem because he doesn't even want to try to latch on. DH thinks it's nipple confusion but he's latching on during the day. Any thoughts or suggestions??

3. carriewalczak
   
   

   It might be a flow problem, in that baby isn't wanting to feed because things aren't coming out fast enough for him but this doesn't explain why daytime feeds are going ok. What are you doing differently at night?

   I battled back from low supply and eventually I got off supplements. The book, the Nursing Mothers Guide to Making More Milk is great.

   lowmilksupply.org/

   You may be able to offer a little bit of supplement and then do breast then the rest of the supplement and nurse to sleep at the breast. The authors of the book suggest to always finish at the breast so that the baby associates breastfeeding with happy times. My routine was to nurse both sides twice (switch feed) for about 10 min each then give supplement, then bundle baby and nurse her to sleep then pump. It took a lot out of me .I crashed with PPD/exhaustion at 4 months in after I got DD completely onto BFing. At that time she got supplemented to her eyeballs and I was able to wean her again back to the breast. Once we introduced solids things have been great and she is still nursing at over 2 years. The journey was so worth it.

4. ettore
   
   

   Do your brests get very engorged at night? If so it might be harder for the baby to latch, depending on the shape of your nipple. If this is the case you can try to pump a little before giving breast to the baby.

5. pilma
   
   

   i'm thinking he's tired at night and doesn't feel like bothering with the more challenging nursing when the bottle just kind of drips right into him. i don't know how much you mean when you say you have a low supply. can you just drop the bottles cold turkey and step up your nursing schedule for a few days to build supply? cause it sounds like he could be working up to having a bottle preference that could ultimately undermine your nursing.

6. TVandenbosch
   
   

   Thanks for the replies ladies. I think it is low supply because I give him 4 oz of formula at night and he sleeps 4 to 6 hours when he wakes he usually takes one boob for 15-20 minutes and sleeps for 3 hours, next feeding he'll want both boobs for 20-25 minutes and for the rest of the day he stays on longer and longer until night time he will stay on for about 1 hour per breast. Then he'll scream until I give him a bottle. Last night when he started screaming, I had dh give him a 4oz bottle while I pumped both breasts and all I got was half an ounce!! Tonight I gave him 4 oz of formula and pumped and got 1 oz and a half which I fed him after the 4 oz and he was still crying for more. How much milk should an 8 week old baby be getting anyway? I'm getting really discouraged and feel like such a failure - I can't even feed my baby while taking domperidone 8 pills a day for a month now.

   Jenny, my breast get engorged in the morning after 4-6 hours of not breastfeeding and he latches on fine then.

   pilma, what do you mean step up my nursing schedule? I feed him as often as he wants for how long he wants. When he cries, refuses to latch on and shoves his fists in his mouth that I give him formula. I can't stand to see him hungry and suffering so I give in. What could I do differently?

7. ettore
   
   

   Here is some info in how much total EBM a baby should have per day:

   The research tells us that exclusively breastfed babies take in an average of 25 oz (750 mL) per day between the ages of 1 month and 6 months. Different babies take in different amounts of milk; a typical range of milk intakes is 19-30 oz per day (570-900 mL per day).
   from kellymom.com/bf/pumping/milkcalc.html

   Our pedi recommends consumption of 5 oz per kg per day

   not sure what else to recommend you, it's tough!
   My milk supply is the lowest at 4-5 pm. I am feeding twins, so at that time one baby gets both breasts and the other gets a bottle of EBM pumped earlier. I get the most milk at night when the BF baby sleeps for stretches 6-4-4 hours.
   I had some struggles with production before they were three m/o and am still on the edge since I have to pump for the baby who would not BF.
   I pumped a lot and took fenugreek - I am still taking it, but it gives me diarrhea, so I go back and forth on it.
   Good luck and let us know how it goes. Even a little breast milk in addition to formula is great, so please keep trying!

8. pilma
   
   

   desperate, i think the only way you'll know for sure that it's a supply issue is to go to a lactation consultant. have her weigh the baby, then you nurse him, then weigh again. and she can definitely give you better advice than we can over the internet. what i meant by stepping up the schedule was that if you decided you ddin't want to do formula, it would just not be an option in your mind- and whenever he seemed hungry, you'd nurse him- for as long as he wanted. giving formula can be a slippery slope- he's had it at night for a while now- and when you pumped you only got a little- b/c your body has been told that it doesn't need to make milk at night. now, one option is to just go wtih that- figure he's going to get formula at night and nurse during the day. and another option is to get rid of the formula (if he has a good weight) and just nurse and nurse to get the supply to match his needs.

   the other thing to keep in mind is that this is a very very fussy age- they are all fussy at this age- and it doesn't necessarily have to do with supply. and it doesn't necessarily have to do with hunger. have you tried swaddling, rocking, other forms of sucking? the happiest baby on the block book has some good suggestions.

   hth

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