Help! Please share your success story overcoming a BF problem... I'm sad

[julia.north]

Would you consider "block expressing" (expressing but keeping one breast full to keep reducing supply) and bottle feeding him EBM for a few days to give him a chance to heal his gut and not have to deal with the OALD? I'm sure that's part of the massive quick improvement I saw with DS.

I am a bit worried about nipple confusion TBH and I'll try to fix this with one bottle a day only for another week , if not consistently better by then i will try!

[becj86]

Fair enough, seems like you're making good progress Best of luck!

[julia.north]

so... (I thought I'll keep you posted just in case you're interested or anyone else is following this)

nursing worked a lot better today!
he was still screaming at the 3-4min mark (up to 20min!) but THEN he would go back and nurse for 25 min (10am), 40 min (2pm) and 36 min (5pm)! So he was actually comfort nursing - so nice! and afterwards, he had rosy cheeks and a lovely sleepy smile and one hearty, big burp but no spit ups.

Seems like we are getting somewhere! I actually really enjoyed BFing today for the first time in weeks.
Poos are also improving. Instead of having 3-4 a day as he did over the past weeks, he had one tiny yellow one this morning and one just before bedtime at 7pm. And between feeds, he was really content.

Who knows, maybe the screaming after the 4min mark is a habit of his, as he has been doing this for almost 8 weeks now. Just now at the last feed I turned on the vacuumer as the noise distracted and calmed him. He doesn't seem to be screaming because of pain, it seems more like a mood swing now that the OALD has lessened.

I think wonder weeks are also a part of this. He is learning to turn around! And practising to sing and chatter.

[becj86]

So glad BF is improving for you both

Just watch the comfort nursing doesn't increase your supply - not saying don't do it, just observe its effect on your supply and reduce/stop if you need to in order to keep your supply low enough that feeding still works well. It will get better as he gets bigger and more able to cope with the flow, etc.

[julia.north]

good point with the comfort nursing - I guess I didn't think of that!
Thanks for pointing it out I will observe this carefully

[becj86]

You might as well learn from my mistakes Easier than doing it on your own xx

[julia.north]

Hi everyone,

so when I was BFing today I realized that I intended to keep you posted on how things developed, so here I am! LO is almost six months now and I am still BFing! Seriously, two months ago I did not think it was possible, but things got sooo much better now that he is bigger and more capable of handling the flow!

we are so efficient now! he feeds for 10 -12 min a time, quick and easy, two big burps in between and then he is good to go for 3,5 -4 hours. I also started him on solids and things are going really well. Also we replaced the dreamfeed by formula and he goes from 11pm to 8pm without needing to feed! it is amazing!

I am feeling so blessed right now.
Thank you ladies! Without the support, I would have quit in December, I am sure.
Now I am even considering BFing for a year, in addition to the solids and the formula DF.

So anyone who is struggling with a similar problem - there is hope!

 

[michaeljacknnugg]

That's wonderful news! Well done you!!!!

[Erin M]

Hooray!  Nice job!

[*Ali*]

Yay! Well done you. Thanks for updating us.