Breastfeeding questions.......

[Urban Cowgirl]

Do breastfed babies ever sleep for longer than 2 or 3 hours? I was not able to breastfeed my oldest. I am BF Anya, and I am just exhausted. I mentioned to her doctor about supplementing with formula in another 2 or 4 weeks and she acted mortified. Just not sure how long I can do this exclusively...KWIM? Any tips? Plus my acid reflux is way out of hand and I cannot take meds for it while I am BF.

Finding it hard to decide what to do. I want to do whats best for Anya, not to mention my pocket book, but ...............

[pepperpot]

Don't beat yourself up. If only BF is really taxing on you, then go ahead and supplement in between. I'm not sure how old the baby is but I supplemented from day one b/c I felt the baby wasn't getting enough and continued as much as I could for 3-6 months.

Knock on wood, my kids have been pretty healthy. My youngest brother was formula fed from day 1 b/c my mom needed meds and he's healthy too.

My advice, do the best that you can without really making yourself crazy. Having a sane mother who is not falling asleep all the time and at her wit's end is healthy too!

[ladybugva]

ITA do what you can. With my 3rd I supplimented also. At night though I did tend to doze while he nursed on and off just so I could sleep.

[Freebeemom]

Hang in there. If you are only concerned about the sleeping, it will get better. You should never just feed a baby because they wake up. Perhaps the child just wants to be comforted? Some are like that. I breastfed all my children and after a few months, they do sleep longer than 2 to 3 hours. What is your diet like? Are you eating sugary foods? Caffiene? This could be affecting your breastmilk.

Check with lalecheleague.com or your local branch if you need help. I personally am not big on supplamenting. I know it can be tough, and people may be upset, but I really am not a fan of putting chemicals into a newborn's body.

[ang in NC]

Do what only what you can do! If you need to suplememt it is ok, Ask you doctor if she was breast fed.lol If you aren't getting any rest it is not good for your baby either. Plus formulas have came a long way.

[KitaKat]

I breastfed. I eventually had to supplement and later on added cereal too. When DS came out(CC) he was screaming... for food. Thats what we say. LOL I was in labor with DS for 48hours and all I could get was icechips. Plus hadn't eaten for 12hours before that. He was starving! I was beggin for a coke. LOL

Later on, when it came to BFing, I couldn't keep up. My doctor told me to wait but my instincts told me different. I think it is different with every child. Do whats best for you. I do know DS slept longer once I started doing this. The cereal was the major difference.

With my severe MGs, I sometimes had to take something for it and wasn't allowed to BF for 48 hours. Pump and pour... what a waste. :P But, supplements were my only choice. We used "good start"? It was in a large can and it was power. I received $8 coupons on them all the time. It was very gentle on his tummy and we had no problems.

I felt guilty at first, but DH let me know right quick that there was no reason to feel this way. He said, "you'd do anything for DS to be happy and healthy, right?" I said, "of course". He said, "then how can that bad"? :)

[Unicornmom77]

Hang in there. If you are only concerned about the sleeping, it will get better. You should never just feed a baby because they wake up. Perhaps the child just wants to be comforted? Some are like that. I breastfed all my children and after a few months, they do sleep longer than 2 to 3 hours. What is your diet like? Are you eating sugary foods? Caffiene? This could be affecting your breastmilk.

Check with lalecheleague.com or your local branch if you need help. I personally am not big on supplementing. I know it can be tough, and people may be upset, but I really am not a fan of putting chemicals into a newborns body.

ITA!! Please don't give up! It is not as easy as many women think, but it is so worth it! You can do it!! They grow up so fast it won't be long when you will miss the closeness and everything, I honestly miss nursing! I wish you the best of luck! Please feel free to Pm me if you would like to chat!

Edited to say : I do agree with using your instincts about your child getting enough and continuing to thrive.

[Memedav]

I breastfed Fiona for 15 months and while I loved it........it was a struggle at times. I'd be lucky if she ever slept longer than 3 hours. It's a fact that breastfed babies do digest breastmilk faster than formula, so if she's waking every 2-3 hours then she probably is hungry. However I also noticed with Fiona that she was a "booby girl" and just really loved that closeness of being held against my breast. LOL Sometimes she would just hang there, open mouthed and stare into my eyes.

I do agree with the other posters though and you should go with your gut on this one. If your worn out all the time and needing more sleep, then maybe you should consider supplementing? I feel like bf'ing should also be something you enjoy and I know for a fact that at times it does seem more of a chore than anything. My body would just get so tired that I would fall asleep sitting up.

I'm due again in May and hopefully will be able to BF again, as of right now I won't because of the blood pressure meds I'm on. hopefully I'll be off these bp pills by then or on something more mild. Good luck to you!

[Willow]

I didn't breast feed so maybe I shouldn't even be posting in here, but on the Today Snow this morning the female doctor that was on there (I can never remember her name) said that babies that are breast fed exclusively are more apt to have a vitamin D deficiency so there may be other benefits to supplementing.

[Freebeemom]

Nothing that a multivitaman, that everyone couldn't benifit from wouldn't help.
Sure beats allergies, obesity etc. and more that are found.

There are arguments on both sides. I would say that the OP should just do what is right for the OP.

[JKATHERINE]

I didn't breast feed so maybe I shouldn't even be posting in here, but on the Today Snow this morning the female doctor that was on there (I can never remember her name) said that babies that are breast fed exclusively are more apt to have a vitamin D deficiency so there may be other benefits to supplementing.

This is what I was told by my pediatrician as well so with all three children she recommended giving them Vitamin D in a liquid form. It can be found at Walmart under the name TriViSol.

[JKATHERINE]

Bobbi, can you or do you pump? If you can build up your supply, you can pump milk to keep in the fridge and either you or DH (DH in my case) can feed the baby the pumped/bottled milk for the nighttime feedings. It has made a world of difference for us. I can get some sleep and Ahren can still get the benefits of breastmilk.

[dcut4]

How old is your baby? For the first 2 months or so yeah they will nurse every 2-3 hours but after that they should be getting enough at each feeding to go longer. Sounds like she may be wanting comfort and not really hungry. When you feed her make sure you put her down to bed AWAKE and let her go to sleep on her own. It may be that she is used to falling asleep while nursing and when she wakes up (like everyone does) she can't put herself back to sleep but needs to nurse to do so.......happened with mine this way. Try and not to let her fall asleep while nursing, that way she may take more and stay fuller longer. If she is steadily gaining weight and she must be if the doctor thought she was doing good she is getting plenty of nutrients from you

[karefree]

I feel your exhaustion. I hope you get more rest soon and hope the baby sleeps longer so you can too. Being a mom is really hard but it sounds like you a doing a great job.

[Urban Cowgirl]

Anya is just one month tomorrow, so I have a way to go.

As far as pumping, the hospital gave me a manual pump, but Anya's doctor says I probably won't have much luck with that. I have not tried it yet because I didn't want the bottle to confuse her. But i could probably try soon. I held off on buying an electric pump to see how BF went. Plus I have heard the electric ones are very expensive??

[buglebe]

My niece is breast feeding. She pumps when she isn't available to feed because she works. Why couldn't you pump during the day and let someone else, hubby for instance, take a night feeding. There's nothing quite like feeding a baby for bonding. I know it makes bonding easier for dad when he gets to give a feeding.

[JKATHERINE]

Anya is just one month tomorrow, so I have a way to go.

As far as pumping, the hospital gave me a manual pump, but Anya's doctor says I probably won't have much luck with that. I have not tried it yet because I didn't want the bottle to confuse her. But i could probably try soon. I held off on buying an electric pump to see how BF went. Plus I have heard the electric ones are very expensive??


I hate manual pumps! Lots of work for little milk! Yes, the electric ones are expensive, but they're worth it. I have the Medela Pump in Style double breast pump. It works amazingly. I've been able to build up enough supply that I can feed the baby and freeze 4-9 four-oz bags of milk a day. Hell, I could be like that lady who sold her breastmilk on Craigslist! lol I got my breastpump in the hospital when I had Aiden. They added it to my hospital bill and the insurance covered it! :) You can check ebay for a cheaper (usually) new pump. They also have used ones on there as well and you can also check our Maine Craigslist (http://maine.craigslist.org/search/sss?query=medela&minAsk=min&maxAsk=max). If you buy a used one, you'll need to invest in new "cups" and tubing because you DO NOT want to reuse ones that someone else has used.

[dcut4]

The Medela pump is GREAT!!! I had the same one and I bought it new for about $250 but like JKatherine said check about getting one on EBAY. I never could pump using a manual one but with the Medela it took me about 10 minutes when I went back to work and filled the bottles for the next day. Well worth it if you plan on breast feeding for any length of time. Sure beat the cost of formula.

[Memedav]

Anya is just one month tomorrow, so I have a way to go.

As far as pumping, the hospital gave me a manual pump, but Anya's doctor says I probably won't have much luck with that. I have not tried it yet because I didn't want the bottle to confuse her. But i could probably try soon. I held off on buying an electric pump to see how BF went. Plus I have heard the electric ones are very expensive??


The pumping thing was my problem also, I had a manual pump that I had zero luck with. At the time we had just moved 600 miles and I couldn't even begin to afford a good quality electric one. I hope you find a solution that works for you, I can totally relate to your situation.