Breastfeeding mothers...help?

Question

I am breastfeeding my 9 week old son. He is having 5-7 soaking wet diapers and stools from 4 times a day to one big one every other day. But is not gaining well. He gained only 0.33 ounce per day for the past 3 weeks. His doctor wants me to give him formula. I tried to use pumps but they are painful. My lactation consultant gave me fenugreek. So basically, I am using my baby as a pump instead. He seems very healthy to me. HELP

Answer 1

Agree 100% with hstngirl. Don't listen to your dumb doctor.  Formula.  Your baby will begin to gain weight soon.  Don't worry.  You're a good mother.  

Answer 2

If baby is eating well and thriving you are probably fine. Some docs are not pro breastfeeding and will encourage the use of formula. Fenugreek should help and you may want to consider a hospital grade pump, one that has adjustable suction and repetition, they tend to work better.

If you seek another doc's opinion and they agree with the first, ask for the bags that you can fill with formula that have a small tube that attaches to your nipple so that baby will still benefit from nursing without nipple confusion.

Keep at it! What ever did we do before formula was invented? We fed those babies like the Good Lord intended!

Answer 3

how much did he weight at birth and how big is he now??

Breastmilk has more calories than formula,  I would keep with the nursing.  Are you seeing a certified lactation consultant?

Answer 4

It could be that he is not latching properly. Have you tried a nipple shield? My little girl was not gaining what they wanted in the begining and it turned out to be that I have a heavy let down so she was pinching me to slow it down and not taking enough milk from me. I saw the LC and I rented a hospital grade pump and started pumping 5 to 6 times a day. I would breast feed her for 15mins on one breast then give her what I pumped in a bottle. Nothing against formula but I didn't want to go that route if I did not have to. Anyhow I now pump 4 times a day and get about 32 oz and I breast feed her twice a day. I still have a strong let down and she is not able to handle it just yet but I am told it might take till she is 3 months old. Either way I don't care because I am able to give her my milk through bottles rather than formula.

This is a good site for breast feeding mothers

http://www.kellymom.com/newman/04enough_...

Answer 5

This just recently happened to my sister. Her 8 week old was a skinny little thing. And she was extremely fussy, so her pediatrician eventually suggested she switch her to formula. She started putting on weight and within a few days got into a schedule of eating every 3-4 hours and even sleeping through the night. Best of all she is now happy and content. If you like your sons pediatrician, trust that he has your son's best interest in mind. I dont see why a doctor would ever recommend formula over breastmilk unless they felt it was absolutely necessary. My sister had such a hard time with this, she really had her heart set on breastfeeding. But it's only been 2 weeks now and there have been so many positive changes that she is obviously very happy with how well her daughter is doing. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 6

Then relax.  Breastfed babies gain differently than formula babies, and the charts were made using formula babies.

In a few weeks, he will gain a whole pound overnight.  Babies don't gain weight smoothly and slowly.  They seem to pack on the pounds suddenly.  It sounds like your baby has lots of wet and poopy diapers (what you described is normal), so just keep it up.  You know you're doing the right thing.  Either ignore the doctor or tell him/her that you will not give formula.  Three weeks of slow weight gain is OK.  He'll take off soon!

Answer 7

It could be that hes not attached properly to the breast, especially if your having trouble with the pump, or it may be your milk is not nutritious enough.

I would go with the formula just as a supplement feed either in the morning or night before bed and see if makes a difference, in his nappy, and moods.

he could just be a bad feeder, i had one of thoses and eventually had to go to formula @ 15 weeks.

Answer 8

I agree with hstngirl. Some babies are just small and slow weight gainers. He might not even do better on formula. I have a friend that went through the same thing with her first 2 kids only to find out after her milk dried up that her kids didn't gain on formula either in fact they did worse.

It sounds like he is gaining, wetting enough, and pooping enough. I would get a second opinion but not worry too much about it.

Answer 9

Get a different doctor! Don't give him formula. Just keep with the breastfeeding and seeing the lactation consultant. (Did the LC check your son's latch?) Offer the breast often and let him suckle as much as he wants. You're doing a great job! Read kellymom.com to see if you really have low supply. It's a great website.

Answer 10

noo clue sorry!!  

Answer 11

I had the same thing happen to my lil guy. He is now 13 months old and weighs about 19-20 pounds. He is fine and very healthy (never even been ill) So your lil one is gaining almost half an oz a day right? I think doctors freak out for no reason at times. Are you small? Is the babies father small? http://kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/...

here is some info.

Personally since all I got was a hard time at well baby visits I decided to trust my instincts and stopped taking my baby to well baby visits since all they wanted to do is harass me over my babies weight and give him shots. cha ching!$$

this may ease your mind too.

http://www.llli.org/NB/NBNovDec05p252.ht...

Answer 12

Fenugreek is good.  So is oatmeal and Mother's Milk Tea/Tincture.  You can also see about getting some domperidone (reglan) to bring in more milk.

You're right, the best thing is to use your baby as a pump.  Babies are far more efficient.  I would offer your b*****s at least every hour to your son.  Let him use you as a soother - no other sucking for him (no bottles, no pacifiers).  Cosleeping can also help as your son will have access all night, and the early morning hours are when your supply is greatest.  

At 9 weeks, your son is still gaining about 2 oz/week.  It's low, but, since he's having enough wet diapers and stools (it's also common, btw, for bf babies older than 6 weeks to go to stools every 4-7 days, even), and seems healthy, he probably is.  Some babies gain weight slowly.  Has your son been weighed on the exact same scale every time (scales are often off by a pound or even more)?  How big was he at birth? How much did he gain from birth-six weeks? Some babies just gain slowly or gain a lot in the beginning and then slow down.  

I would not supplement at this point without any other worrisome indicators, as supp'ing will only undermine your supply.  I would, however, nurse as often as possible, and, although it hurts, I'd pump as much as I could stand after nursing (if it really hurts, you may need bigger size flanges for the pump - that made a huge difference for me).

Answer 13

Try to be sure he is getting plenty of the milk after let down, that milk is higher in fat and can also help him feel satiated longer.  It's richer and tastier, and usually when nursing babies get older, they actually learn to be impatient waiting for the let down.  As for pumping, I found it painful, too, if I was either engorged, or if I wasn't getting a good suction.  Also, if you're tense or upset, it will be difficult to get it going and to get it all--including the hind milk from the letdown.  I had good luck doing some nipple stimulating manually to trigger the letdown (with some deep breathing and calming thoughts for good measure), the started pumping.  So I got the fore milk already present and the fattier hind milk, too.  

When nursing, you can even do some nipple stimulation right before nursing to get the letdown reflex started, then baby is going to get that hind milk sooner.  Keep in mind, he may learn to get antsy for it, though.  And be patient.  If he's happy, sleeping well, alert, responding to people, and doing what he's supposed to do as a baby, go with your gut instinct--he's healthy and will gain weight as he needs to .  Doctors have to go by stastistics and sometimes don't realize that every baby is different.  They SAY the words, but somehow it doesn't register on a deeper level.  I've had to remind my kids' docs of this many, many times.

Answer 14

I have breastfeed two children. One of my children did very well. He gained 7 pounds his first month. My other child was different he didn't gain weight and I was struggling with if he was getting enough or not. I tried doing both. This worked really well for me. I continued to do both until he was 9 months old. I think every child is different and it is hard to judge what is going on. Go with your instincts do you feel that he gaining and being satisfied? If so okay, if not you can do both!

Answer 15

That kinda happened to me. My son was born 7 pounds 10 ounces and lost down to 6 pounds 2 ounces. We found that he could not suck properly because of his lower jaw. He is now 7 months, perfectly healthy and gaining just fine. Never once put him on any formula, I stuck with it and am glad that I did. As some have mentioned before, some doctors are not for nursing, they are more for formula and aren't use to the weight of a nursing child. Formula fed babies are normally bigger than nursing babies because sometimes they are over fed.