Breastfeeding issues

[Anonymous]

I’m wondering if anyone can offer any suggestions for me.

FWIW, I successfully bfed both my other children.

Averi and I had some major bfing hurdles shortly after birth. She refused to nurse for the first week or so despite every effort on my part. When my milk came in I started pumping right away to keep up my milk supply. Finally I saw an LC and we were able to get her latched with the assistance of a nipple shield. We had other issues after that I think mostly due to problems with reflux.

In the last week or so I’ve been feeling as though she is not getting enough milk, whether it be due to her latch or due to my production. She will cry after being nursed for an hour plus. From time to time I have given her a bottle after being nursed and she takes it ravenously. She also was weighed at her 2 mo well check and weighed only 9 lbs 8 oz. Her birth weight was 7 lbs 6 oz.

Yesterday I went to the hospital where I delivered to see an LC. She spent over an hour with me and observed a full feeding. She said her latch was really poor and that it was a wonder she was getting as much milk as she is. She confirmed that I have plenty of milk and that I’m doing my part. After the feeding I told her that many times after nursing that Averi cries and acts hungry. She said she didn’t think Averi was hungry, but asked if she could give her a bottle to see what she’d do with it. I agreed and Averi downed the bottle in about 2 minutes. The LC was shocked and said that until we can determine how much milk Averi is consuming that I should supplement with BM or formula. Tomorrow I will be renting a scale to measure how much breast milk she’s actually consuming.

The only formula we have in the house is the Similac Advanced that we got as a sample form the hospital, so we used a bit of it yesterday. Well, last night and this morning she had a few bad reflux episodes again, and it was the first time in over a week.

I’m so frustrated. I don’t make enough milk to bf and supplement with bm at every feed, but it seems like the formula is making the reflux worse. I really don’t want to spend money on different formulas to try, as it’s so expensive and I have plenty of the Similac Advance on hand. Any suggestions. I’m so frustrated. I swear I spend 75% of my day bfing or pumping and I’m exhausted.

lilsprstr2008-09-14 21:30:24

[hellbennt]

I’m not sure what to say! can a SLP help with latch? I have no clue!

as for the similac advance if you’re not eating any milk proteins then I would think the similac would not be the formula of choice?

can you feed from one breast & pump (at the same time) from the other?

I wish I had more for you! I sent out messages to get you some help!

[Anonymous]

Oh, I’m so sorry you are having so much difficulty.

One thing I can think of is to maybe try some Fenugreek (3pills 3x/day) + Blessed Thistle (3pills 3x/day) to try & increase your supply more so that possibly you can nurse & pump?!

Also keep in mind that your supply should increase naturally if you are pumping after each feeding to stimulate supply…even if nothing is coming out (or very little) you’re still stimulating & within a wk (or less hopefully) your supply should react accordingly.

I’m a bit surprised the LC is having you pump in order to see how much Averi is getting since usually pumping is not a good indicator of supply… it certainly isn’t in my case & every dr. & LC I’ve heard talk about it agrees. But maybe I’m wrong in this particular case.

Is the LC willing to work on Averi’s latch w/ you? That would seem key to me… Is she still using the nipple shield? Are you using a paci that might comprimise her latch?

I agree w/ Laura w/ trying to feed & pump simultaneously. One of my friends was able to do this successfully. It’s challenging but do-able.

I don’t know if you are doing any avoiding (milk or soy or other) in your diet but if you are (& even if you aren’t probably) then the Similac Advance is probably going to be rough on your dd.

Hang in there…

erinntx2008-09-14 21:11:34

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry, I meant to say I’d be renting a scale, not a pump. I already have a pump and am pumping as much as possible, but on occasion I may need to use formula. I just hate to spend a fortune on different types of formula when I have a ton in my pantry. I know, I may not have a choice.

I am still using a shield and the LC said that I will need to continue with it until her latch can be corrected, or my nipples will be torn up. Ugh! I feel like a cow. I’m nursing, then giving a bottle of bm, then pumping. Repeat, repeat…

Oh, and no, we’re not using a pacifier, she refuses it.

Right now I am still consuming dairy. I was eliminating one thing at a time and the reflux was much better last week with the elimination of peanut butter. I haven’t tried eliminating anything else yet.
lilsprstr2008-09-14 21:39:26

[Anonymous]

Is she tired and sweaty all the time??? Or, does she sweat alot when you get her to finally eat like eating is a workout for her to do???? Basically, doe seating in and of itself tire he rout completly??? Do you have a hard time waking her up to feed??? Will she sleep for long periods of time and not wake to eat????

After yo answer I’ll tell you why, I don’t want to scare you with my/Jedd’s story but your sounds familiar to maine as far as BF goes.

[Anonymous]

Jessica,
She sweats on occasion, but I wouldn’t say it is “regular.” Some days she sleeps all day, others not at all. When she sleeps she usually sleeps deeply, and can be hard to wake. Non-sleepy days, there’s nothing you can do to keep her down. Sleeping patterns are still very inconsistent.

[Anonymous]

Blythe,

I only ask because Jedd was very seaty acted as if eating was hard “work” and his lseeping patterns were eratic and when he did sleep he was VERY hard to wake up and keep awake at times. He also had intermittne times where he would scream on ends of course.

Anyways, for us it was a heart condition that was not caught via U/S at my OB/GYNs office OR by my birth hospital.

I had other markers during preg. for it as well and NO one caught it. I had gest. diabetes for the last trimester and my umbilical cord was a 2 vessel cord. The 2 vessel cord was the BEST sign that I was carrying a baby with a heart defect specifically the one Jedd actually had.

A 2 vessel cord means that inside the umbilical cord there are only 2 vessels, 1 vein and 1 artery. Ther are suposed to be 2 arteries and 1 vein. (*it may be the other way around) No matter it’s called a 2 vessel card. The inside of the cord is supposed to look like Mickey Mouse with the 3 blood vessels MINE was missing one.

Without you knowing this ALL U/S tech’s check for this during a reg. scanning…..who would have known.. right…LOL :0)

Anyways, Jedd’s heart defect was not caught until he was 40 days old by his ped. She sent us to a Cardio. becaus enot being trained she thought it was a murmur. Whihc all heart defects are….she did however think his would be innocent due to the fact that is was heard in the front and the back.

However the hol ein Jedd’s heart was just soooo HUGE that you could hear it on both sides…:0(

After all was said and done you could actually “feel” the pulse of the shunt with you fingers when you palced them on his chest, like I said his hole was extremely large. I used to teach and one of my parnts of a student was actually VERY surprised they let us care for Jedd at HOME before his surgery. She worked in a NICU at a local birthing hospital and they had a little girl there with a smaller hole that was NOT allowed to go home until her repair.

Jedd had a VSD. Basically a hole in the right ventricle. His was unusually large. It was repaired with a patch at 6 months old. Until then he required tube feeds to keep him alive. He was too weak to eat. And then when we did feed him with the pump via the tube he refluxed it ALL back up in terrible pain all day and all night long. He was on overnight feeds so that is why he vomitted ALL night long as well…it was horrible.

As far as the sweating Jedd didn’t ever get the chance to wrok up a good sweat as he litterally stopped eating within a coupl eof mins. We resorted to sryinge feedig nhim even before we knew what was wrong with him. I literally had a bottl ein his mouth 24/7.

Nursing for us was just how you described. It was horrid. I was trying to pump and was literally either trying to breastfed or pumping ALL the time with out stoppign and was not sleeping at all EVER!!!!! We ended up going to formula because I was literally going insane. I SOOO wish I had been able to breastfed. It would hae been soo much better for Jedd’s extrmely sensitive belly, but it was not meant to be.

I said that all to say this, just ask about it. It would be worth it. I kept track of Jedd’s intake and on a good day he would only take aobut 12-14 oz. in a 24 hour period.

I have had Dr and nurses tell me that by being soo dilligent in what Jedd was actually eating I actually hleped to sve his life. They were amazed that I was a first time Mom. I KNEW something was wrong.

Anyways, Don’t want to scare you, not in th eleast, but that story just sounded SOOOO much like me and my Jedd at taht age.

Let me know.

[Anonymous]

Just another idea- a friend of mine is going through a similar issue and her baby is tongue-tied. She is taking her to get her frenulum(sp) snipped so she can latch on. (she was able to latch on to a bottle, but could nto get a good latch on to the breast) just another idea. I hope it’s not a heart issue. HUGS & prayers.

[Anonymous]

jilly78 wrote:

Just another idea- a friend of mine is going through a similar issue and her baby is tongue-tied. She is taking her to get her frenulum(sp) snipped so she can latch on. (she was able to latch on to a bottle, but could nto get a good latch on to the breast) just another idea. I hope it’s not a heart issue. HUGS & prayers.

That is SOO TRUE!!!! I have known a MOther who had this issue and as soon as the child got clipped they breastfed WONDERFULLY!!!! I’d def. ask the LC about that as well.

[Anonymous]

I just wanted to chime in that your situation sounds VERY similar to how my daughter would feed and act while/after nursing. I also had plenty of milk, but she just wasn’t getting it.

For us, it was a REFLUX pain issue. She would try to nurse, find it painful and quit trying. She didn’t have a great latch either and the reflux only added to the problems. She would also down bottles, but in her case, I think she was trying to kill the afterburn of the reflux.

I notice that she is only getting 15 mgs once a day and my gut tells me that isn’t enough for her. I could always tell when it was time to up Claire’s Prevacid dose because she would start having nursing problems again.

Marci kids suggests that they get the doses spread out during the day – at least 2 x’s a day and really probably need 3. I would check out their dose calculator and see if it’s time to raise her dose and try spacing it out during the day. Then, maybe she will be more comfortable and start to nurse better for you.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for all the suggestions. The LC did check her mouth and is not tongue tied, her mouth looked perfect, except that she has a slightly high palette.

Jessica,
How awful what you had to go through with poor Jedd. I don’t think that is the case with Averi, but you’re right, it’s worth looking into.

How do I go about getting her medication increased? I asked about it at her 2 mo well check and they said she is on the right dosage for her weight. Since she’s on a solutab I don’t know how I would split it up.

lilsprstr2008-09-15 11:57:54

[Anonymous]

I would work with a ped GI to get meds upped. I know with us the GI was way more wilign to up the doeses than the pedi. The GI just knows so much more about reflux and it’s meds so they are more willing to do it.

Other than that, you can’t “make” them do it…*sigh* even when the child needs it.

I think you can split the solutabs with a pill splitter for different doses. It now th emost exact way but it may work.

Hoepfully someone who has the DS or DD on it will chime in.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for walking through this with me. I asked my ped for a referral to a Ped GI and they said no until I have done all the elimination diet stuff. Honestly, the elimination diet thing is so overwhelming I can’t bring myself to do it. I’m such a creature of habit, I’m afraid I wouldn’t know what to eat and would end up eating nothing. It’s like one more thing to worry about ya know?

I’m going to make a another appt with my ped this week. The problem is that it’s a group practice. The doctor who has started down this road with me is now on maternity leave, so I have to start over with another doc.
lilsprstr2008-09-15 12:59:00

[hellbennt]

I’m angry for you! If you want a referral they should GIVE you a referall. Jeesh!

it’s up to you if you want to get a pill cutter and give an extra 1/2 a pill to see if it helps any?

I would FAX the doctor REQUESTING a referall. this way, it’s in WRITING and G-d forbid anything would happen it’s in WRITING that was what you wanted…

And/or you can fax about the meds:

FAX FAX FAX the dr

dont wait for a call…

start off w/ a THANK YOU

keep it short & sweet

stick to the facts (no feelings and no rambling emotions)

state current meds, doses, symptoms

make request- flat out- short & sweet

THANK AGAIN

follow up by calling office to say fax was sent

call again later to discuss requests in fax, ie: have you called in the increased prescription yet? THANK YOU

sample fax: https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10633&PID=90325#90325

About faxing the doctor (& more): https://www.infantreflux.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2841&TPN=1

[Anonymous]

i had similar problems with bfing in the beginning! What I did ended up working– don’t give up. You are so dedicated and doing a great job!

Did you rent a hospital grade pump? This saved me. I pumped after every feeding for about 2 weeks. Yes, it was a ton of work, but do-able. Do you have help with your other kid-lets? the hospital pump sucks it all out. I was actually able to supplement with breastmilk even though i didn’t have a great milk supply.

I, too, rented the scale. I loved that thing! It will really help you because you’ll know how much to supplement.

For me, what would happen is that Finn would breastfeed forever… and then I would still be able to pump out 3+ ounces after he had bfd for 45 minutes – an hour. we set up appoinments with an OT (the ‘suck consultant’) b/c i was about to lose it. I would bf, pump and then feed finn what I pumped. the whole process took an hour + , and he’d be ready to eat again 45 minutes later!!

We never ended up seing the OT, b/c one day I just decided to take off the nipple shield and he went to town (he was about 10 pounds at that point). I weighed him, and he got a good amount more. I think he just eventually got his suck organized and was able to figure it out. My LC always told me this would happen at some point and i think it happened just in time to save my sanity.

so….hang in there. i really recommend that pump… you’ll love the scale–i wish i owned one! I did (and still do) take a ton of fenugreek capsules, drank mother’s milk tea, took brewers yeast and also a tincture called maxi-milk… but i think the hospital pump did the trick.

good luck!

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