does she only take 2 oz when I feed her?

[marimul77]

Hi,

Just a quick question. I have introduced a bottle recently as I will be going back to work in a few days. The thing is, DD2 only takes 2  oz from the bottle at bedtime and dreamfeed. She is only small, 11 lb 130z at almost 6 months, but surely  for her age she should be taking more? The thing is, when I breast feed her she finishes in a few minutes, constantly pulling off and fussing. Is it likely she is only taking such small amounts from me too? When I pump a missed feed I get 3-4 0z per breast.  That makes a day total of only 15 -20 oz oz, that cant be good, can it? I am worried about her weight as she is below 0.4th centile and she is having a good amount of solids as recommended by pead and HV. I feed roughly at these times: 7 am, 10.30 am, 2.30 am, and 5, but offer in between whenever she roots around.  She then has formula at 7 pm and 10.30 and breast feeds once or twice in the night. During the day She pulls away before the flow slows down as it still drips when she finishes. At night I struggle getting a letdown and she gets frustrated. Am I worrying over nothing here and is it just because she is easily distracted, she is super lively , or is it her teeth, 2 bottom teeth are just breaking through or a combination of both?

Marianne

[clh]

Hugs, Marianne!  It's hard when it is a struggle.  I'm going to try to address at least some of the items in your post, so bear with me. 

Has she always been small?  Has her percentile changed significantly since birth?  Are you and/or dh small?  If she's sticking with whatever percentile, or even varying up or down by one, she's probably growing OK for her.  It does mean that most everyone is bigger than she is, but that's not necessarily bad.  (Someone has to be smallest... or biggest)  If she has been dropping percentiles consistently, then there probably is cause for concern, but sounds like doc/hv are trying to address that.

Speaking of, did they ever suggest trying to feed more rather than or in addition to solids?  Milk has much more calories per volume than solids, so I was surprised to read that they wanted you to use solids instead of more milk/formula. You could try going back to more of a 3-3.5 hr EASY instead of 3.5-4 to try to get more calories in.

Please don't use how much you pump as an indicator of your supply or how much she is getting from you.  It's not a good indicator.  All it really tells you is how well you respond to a pump.    Most likely dd gets more from you than you pump, as they are much more efficient at getting milk from you than a pump is.  And lo's really can be done in just a few minutes.  When Isaac was your dd's age, he fed in ~5 min per side, tops. I've heard of lo's taking less time than that. 

I don't know what to tell you about the bottle quantity at bedtime and df.  Could be that if she took a full feed at 5 then she's not really hungry at 7.  At 10:30 she may be too sleepy to eat.  Like I said, I don't know.  Just trying to throw out some ideas. 

Do you pump between 5 and that first nw?  When is that first nw?  I'm thinking that may be a long time to go without some sort of stimulation for your breasts. 

You say she pulls off before the flow slows...  Do you have overactive letdown?  That sort of sounds like what you're describing.  If so, she may be trying to "drink from a fire hose" and can't get settled.  Will she settle after the flow stops?

Is she spirited?  I know it's awfully difficult to get a lo to sit still for a bf at this age, no matter their temperment, but especially so for spirited ones.  Are you feeding in a quiet dark place?  If not, that may help cut out any distractions.

And yes, teeth can have something to do with it.  Have you tried giving her Tylenol or baby orajel for her gums?  Sometimes doing that 15-30 minutes beforehand can knock out enough of the discomfort so they can latch better. 

Hugs again.  I'm afraid I have more questions than answers for you at the moment.

[marimul77]

Hi,

Freya was born at 5 lb 130z, just above 9th centile. She never lost weight after birth and followed her curve till around 2 months old. She then gradually fell to 2 nd centile, then 0.4th and now is not on the chart anymore. She has been treated for reflux as she showed some strong indications of it but the meds never made any difference to her feeding better or getting more settled. She has a heart murmur that is being investigated and we have been told that in some cases this can be a reason for poor feeding and slow weight gain.

She settles quite easily at bedtime most of the time  but wakes around 10 pm every evening. Could she be waking out of habit rather than hunger?

I pump at around 8pm  and will continue to do so when i go back to work. She then has the dream feed, even though she is actually awake  for this most of the time  She then wakes at any time in the night from between 1 and 5.3o once or twice. I feed her and she settles back to sleep really easily.

Not sure about her settling after the flow slows down, we never really make it that far. The thing is, night feeds are never aproblem, providing I get a let down that is

Oh yes, she is really spirited! She is really sociable, smiles at everyone but she cant sit still. AT ALL! She throws herself out of bouncy chairs so we got rid of those, she hates car seats, but LOVES standing on my lap and just bouncing. I find it hard to put her dow, she hates tummy time and cries unless I carry her around. Whats with that??? Even in a dark room I cant get her to feed properly, she will find anything interesting, and will seek out the tiniest bit of light in the room.

Teething gel and baby paracetamol have not worked to improve feeding either.

Thanks for your help!!

[clh]

I'm sorry I only suggested what you've already tried.    The only other thing taht comes to mind is maybe pump to letdown, let it spray in a cloth/towel/etc & then try to latch her?  She'd get quick gratification since letdown had already happened, but wouldn't have to deal with the forcefulness of it.  Need to run, but will try to continue to think.  (BTW, ds1 was very spirited, too.  I understand. 

[legend_018]

Just wanted to let you know that Chaunda who just turned 1, wouldn't drink much more than 20oz at the most in a 24 hour period. I couldn't believe it. She was on neocate and I guess the don't exactly like it as much as other formula's. I mean some days it would be more like 18oz in a 24 hour time. She was always only drinking 2-4 oz at a time. Sometimes she's just refuse and occasionally she'd drink a 6oz bottle. She was a GREAT SOLID eater. I mean GREAT!!.

I put her on milk early (11 months by my choice) and all of a sudden she started changing. I couldn't believe it. Now I'm frustrated in a different way "lol". She's being picky with her solids and drinking way more milk than she ever did prior to whole milk.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Oh and chaunda was very distracted, especially with 2 year old around. I mean I had to (and still have to sometimes), bring her upstairs into her quiet room AND put a blanket over her and my head with the bottle underneath.