To add to the change, Annelise hasn't been sleeping or eating as well the last few days. And last night, we tried really hard to let daddy get some sleep. I'm not sure it worked. She has started eating less each time she nurses. She does about 5 minutes on each side and is done. Which means she wants to eat more often. Help! Any suggestions from you moms that have gone before me? I've tried stripping her down to her diaper to wake her up, burping her in between breasts, changing sides more frequently so she doesn't get bored fast. Nothing seems to help. I would love any suggestions you have!
Monday, January 28
Back to Work - Back to Reality
After a wonderful week at home as family, Matt had to go back to work today. Daddy was a little sad to leave us this morning. Thus, reality sets in. I think we were all ready for a change - or at least looked forward to getting back into a routine. Although, this is definitely nothing like the routine we had before.
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You might consider taking her to your pediatrician for a weight check (they will do it for free) to make sure she's still gaining. If she is, you'll know not to worry too much.
Aside from that, it's different for every baby. With Evie, I would rub her palms to keep her awake. Also, when she wants to eat, you could make her wait an extra 15 minutes or so to make sure she's really hungry and more inclined to eat longer.
Lastly, not all babies eat for the 20 minutes on each side like they say - although they should be able to go 2-3 hours between feedings. Evie does (at best) half that. I think it depends on how fast your body lets down the milk.
If you are worried about your supply meanwhile, you can rent a hospital grade pump. I had to do this with Elise and it was worth the money. It's about $60 a month. When you consider the cost of formula, it's totally worth it.
I hope it works out for you!
Well, there's no question that she's gaining weight. She gained 5 oz. in three days last week! When the home nurse came on Friday, she had gained another ounce. So, I'm not too worried about that. But, I do have questions about pumping. Is it too soon to start? She's only a week old and I thought you were supposed to wait at least 4 weeks? The good thing is, she waits about 3-4 hours between feedings, so I assume she's getting enough. She does cluster feed at night, but that's because she's sleeping 5 hours at a time and I'm sure she's storing up. Either way, I'm probably making it sound worse than it is. I just want to be sure we get her on a good schedule for feeding asap. Do you do the baby-wise stuff?
It doesn't take all babies that long to eat so if she's eating for five - ten minutes and then is able to wait three hours until she eats again, I'd say you're doing good. Especially if she's still gaining weight. Watch for jaundice, but if she looks healthy and your ped says she's healthy, then the amount of time she eats is unimportant. it just means she's a strong sucker! :o)
Babies pretty naturally schedule themselves so don't worry too much about the eating/sleeping schedule. After the first three weeks or so you'll notice a definite pattern emerging (and it sounds like you already have). If after three weeks she's hungry every fifteen minutes, but only wants to eat for two minutes or something then you may have to help the schedule come along, but it sounds like you're doing great so far.
laleche's website can be really helpful for random breastfeeding questions also. Obviously they can be a little extreme when it comes to nursing, so take it with a grain of salt, but their forums are chock full of usefull info.
You're doing great!
We can't wait to meet her! Are you planning a trip down here?
i'll be praying for you about all this nursing stuff. i have had amazing little eaters and am so thankful. i never tried to put them on a schedule and like elly's mommy said, they often create a schedule for themselves. if i was ever worried about them eating enough (and there were a few times) i would offer the breast every half hour or so.
i know it can be scary if they don't seem to be eating enough but, i'll be praying for you.
pretty much when they are first born you want to establish a really good latch and eating pattern. so don't try offering the bottle yet and try not to schedule her feedings. if you can demand feed for the first couple weeks, every time she cries etc, later when you know she is an established nursing pro, you could start changing things up a bit.
hope it helps a little, relax and enjoy her! so happy for you! i'll be praying for you...
renee kuwitzky
I just wanted to chime in and say that I agree with everything the above commenters said. :)
Libby never nursed as long as I thought she was supposed to, but she was a great nurser (uh .. still is) and never had weight problems or anything.
I noticed that you asked if it was too early to pump. I think Kate was just saying to pump .. not necessarily give Annelise a bottle yet. You could just store the milk. I think Kate was just saying to pump to increase your supply if you're concerned about it. I think LLL suggests waiting three or four weeks (or so) to introduce bottles.
You're going to look back on this time and feel like such a pro in a few months. You'll wonder why you ever questioned yourself.
It sounds like she's doing great!
Oh also .. I'm not sure how often she's eating, but I don't think it's unusual to be nursing every couple of hours this early.
A book that really helped me (and is put out by the Le Leche League) was The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. There are cheap used copies all over the internet.
I'm not a fan of the baby-wise stuff particularly. I don't think it does any harm, but as everyone else said it's just not necessary. Babies naturally schedule themselves most of the time.
I was just saying to pump to increase supply if you need to. I like to take advantage of the post-partum time to store up extra milk in the freezer. You will find that you can easily pump extra milk now, but it will be hard to get even an extra ounce one she's 6 or 8 months old. That way I can go away for a weekend or a night and not have to worry about whether she'll take formula.
Hahaha. I've never known anyone from Grace who didn't do Babywise (besides myself). I'm tellllllllin'!
To clarify, we did do it with Jacob and did not do it with Libby.
I know I'm late on this post, but I thought I would encourage you by telling you that Owen only ate about 10 minutes TOTAL during a feeding (If I was lucky). He still gained 5 pounds in 5 weeks.
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