Switching to 2 sides

[Wei]

My LO is going on 9 weeks and weighed 11.8lbs at an appt a week ago.  I am thinking of switching to 2 sides...but not sure if there is some way I should be going from 1 sided feeding to 2 sided feeding.  The reason I am switching is because she seems to be emptying my breast after 8-10 min now and gets frustrated with waiting for all the slower milk.  Would this usually be a valid reason to switch to 2 sides?

Also, how does dreamfeed work with double sided feeding?

Thanks
Wei

[RachelC]

Is she satisfied after one breast?  If you are going to offer the second side, I would make sure she has completly emptied the first side so she gets all the hind milk, otherwise she will be getting a double dose of foremilk and not the good stuff.  8-10 minutes is not unusual for a feed.  See https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=65904.0 for more details.

Are you concerned about weight gain?  Is she producing 6 wet diapers in 24 hours?  Is she content and satisfied.  You may find she needs both sides, but again, please make sure she is empyting the first side.

The df won't change, just offer the other side, or maybe she only needs one side for the df.  I found that my left side was a better producer for dd and If I started on the right, I would have to offer the left as well. But, if I started on left, she didn't need more.  Hope that made sense.

HTH, let us know how it goes 

[Wei]

'thanks for the tip.  I just find she bobs on and off quite a bit now and likes to smile at my face.  I can't ignore her, she is just tooooo cute.  I'll try just letting her be after 10 minutes of feed to see if she does get hungry.  Maybe that is all she needs after all.  Just a bit shocking when a week ago she needed 20 min.

Wei

[RachelC]

Effciency kicks in quick!

[Wei]

One other quickie... my question is that my LO normally feeds every 4 hours after her dreamfeed but last night when I accidentally slept through the dreamfeed...she didn't wake up till 7 hours later and I did the bad thing and fed her even though she wasn't complaining.  I was just soooo engorged to point of pain that I had to feed.  I was away on a trip and didn't bring my pump.

If my LO starts sleeping through the night, howwill that affect my supply?  Should I still be pumping once each side throughout the night?  I feel I am gonna have to.... the engorgement is tooo painful and my dr warned against getting too engorged and getting mastitis.  That almost defeats the purpose of having a full 8 hours sleep at night!!

Wei

[RachelC]

If she starts sleeping through the night (yay!) then she is dropping a feed.  Your body will adjust to the change.  I would suggest pumping just to relieve the pain, not to empty.  This way your body will learn to produce less milk at that time.  You can also just try to relieve the pain by using some tips here:

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mom/engorgement.html

I was lucky in that my body adjusted immediately to dropping a feed.  I would be engorged one night, leak, and then be fine.

HTH