So, how was this done? LOL

[dache]

Pregnancy brains+ time and I feel my mind is blank about the whole things.

I`ll be rereading BW when I find the time, atm I`m a bit busy, so hoping you can refresh some things.

With dd, I bf only on one breast because I had very little milk on the other. If I have milk on both breast this time, do I offer both breasts at every feed or do I alternate them?

I`ll start with feeding whenever she wants and then move feeds to every 1,5 than 2h, right? When do I start that?

I cant remember much about food, except one pasta dish someone brought over for us, that was delicious so much so that I still remember lol. I dont think I minded much what I ate, except dairy because of dd. Google is a black hole about this, there is a long list of things you can eat that if I follow I`ll starve-no onions, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, berries, citrus fruit, nuts...I`m a vegetarian,if I follow  this there wont be much I can eat. Did you follow any special diet while breastfeeding?

Night feeds, just follow baby`s cues? Feed to sleep when she wakes?

I`m telling you, this pregnancy brains is making my brain so cloudy, I cant remember anything, honesly I feel stupid at times.  When does it go away?!

[*Ali*]

The breastfeeding advice now is to feed on demand so I wouldn't recommend trying to schedule feeds by the clock. I'd just follow your baby.

 I normally just feed from one side until lo starts staying awake at the end of feeds,  then I started offering the second side once they came off the first side themselves. I'd alternate which side baby started on still.

I didn't follow any special diet whilst breastfeeding.  In the UK we aren't advised to avoid any foods when breastfeeding.

[Erin M]

Agree with Ali about the sides.  I didn't follow any special diet either. 

[mulvia]

Just had DS2 and also took a bit to get started - I followed Tracy's advice from the book (feed on demand first, then try to space feeds a little to get started on EASY) although it's a little tricky with newborns because it's all adjusting, so I'm following the 'rule' very loosely. I find however that if time between feeds is a little longer my LO seems to have less digestion troubles. I would not avoid any foods (except I did cut down on dairy a bit hoping to reduce air in the tummy) as the LO can taste all the foods in the milk and grow accustomed to a wider range of flavours. I think some suggest to avoid certain foods because they give your milk 'a different taste'...but who's saying your LO won't like it?? 😊

[dache]

^ You know, this reminded me that when I was pregnant with dd I a lot of fries and bread, and after she was born we were preoccupied with her reflux, time in the hospital and still ate mostly bread and guess what? That's what she mostly eats now

I'm asking about special diets because dd had was "tummy issues" lol. Thinking that we can go trough something similar again gives me anxiety

When would you start spacing feeds?
 I remembered that with dd when we went to the hospital, they told me to start feeding her at 2h mark to check see if she was sick from over feeding. But I know that was too early.

 

[mulvia]

I guess it depends on your supply and how your LO eats, so maybe wait until milk comes in and see how the new baby latches and feeds. I remember thinking that the suggestion from the book seemed way too soon for a 2 hr spacing, and I certainly could not have followed that with DS1 as we had some issues starting BF properly, however DS2 has taken to it quite well from the get go and was on 2hr or even more after a week or so. About any diet recommendation for soothing tummy aches I'm keen to read too as DS2 is going through it now. Brrr.

[*Ali*]

If baby is signaling for a feed then you need to feed then. I wouldn't try to space feeds at all. Just try to pay attention to the cues and see if you can tell if it's hunger or tiredness or something else like needing the nappy changed or hot/cold etc. Even Tracy said you must always feed a hungry baby. The recommendations from WHO are to feed as much as baby wants day and night. Withholding feeds can affect your supply.

[LaraAndrea]

I found that I could still follow the EASY routine (eat, activity, sleep etc.) Just not specific times. Sometimes it might be 2h, others may be 2.5h some more, some less.

My LO naturally clustered in eve with only 1-1.5h between feeds, with slightly longer at night.

[dache]

I'm close to the end now and I noticed a few drops of milk on one breast and it reminded me of this.
If things go same as before and I have little milk on one side and a lot on the other, do I always offer the low supply one first?

[*Ali*]

I'd wait and see what happe s first. Just treat them the same and see how it goes.

[dache]

Hello everyone. Thanks for your advice. DD2 is 4 days old. I'm sure these are questions all moms ask around this time so I just want to run some things with you to see if they are normal.
So she is feeding on both sides. I ofer her one side, she feeds 10-15 minutes than she falls asleep. Sometimes she continues sleeping for an hour and than wakes to feed on the other side. Rarelly she wakes up after I remove her from the breast and I'd feed her on the other side. She has done a few hours stretches between feeds, but only 2-3 times, and I topped her off with 15ml formula for one of those and she fell asleep asap after that.

At night she doesnt fall back to sleep after feeds. Last night I ended up bringing her in bed with me and she was on the breast most of the time because if not she wakes multipule times.

In the past 3 days she has had only 3 dirty nappies. Two were yesterday, one the day before. Nothing today. She has wet nappies, just no poop.

So after all this wonder, is she hungry?, is she snaking instead of taking full feeds and that's why she is feeding every hour? Is she waking at night because she is not getting enough milk during the day, or she has days and nights switched or is it normal a baby this old to wake so much? 

I sound like a ftm but with dd everything nothing was "normal" so I dont know where we stand now with this lo.

I should add, she is VERY gassy from day one, even in the hospital, she has hiccups and farts all the time and I can hear and feel her tummy growlin. She is a bit jaundiced since yesterday

[eva026]

Welcome baby 😀
It’s normal for them to nurse all the time at the beginning. I remember sitting there for hours in the day while she fed and napped on me. Nights I was a human dummy. It’s exhausting but normal. She’s establishing your milk supply and needs comfort and mommy too.
Do you have to top off with formula? They sleep longer after because it takes longer to digest but can hurt your supply.
Burp a lot, even when you switch sides. DD2 is super easy to burp, one pat and it’s up but for DD1 we had to google burping methods, eventually we did a funny leaning forward wiggle thing.

[cath~]

Hi dache

Everything you said sounds v normal to me from my experience with my DDs.  It's still so early atm I'd just keep feeding whenever she wants to (day and night).  Like PP said, I wouldn't top up with formula so early on as it could hurt your supply, which you are still establishing.  If you are concerned about "snacking" (which I think really is pretty normal in these early days as they fall asleep so easily when BFing), then maybe try rousing her a bit at the end of each feed to see if she'll take any more?  It will prob get easier though when she's a bit older and less sleepy.

However, TBH, frequent feeding, day and night, is really to be expected at this age and is probably a good thing for establishing supply.  IIWY, I'd just keep going and see how things are in a couple of weeks before thinking about any changes.  xx

[*Ali*]

As pps said, all completely normal. Feeding frequently is how they bring your milk in. My DD2 wouldn't go down for the first 5 days. It's exhausting but doesn't last forever.

Formula is constipating so that could be why she isn't pooping often.  Keep an eye on that as you'd expect more like 3 soiled nappies on day 3 and 4 on day 4. Or even more tbh.

If she falls asleep quickly I'd put her down and let her wake up looking for the breast again as you said she does. Then feed her off the same breast again. Switching breasts too frequently can mean she doesn't get to the fatter milk that comes latter in the feed. That can also lead to more gas.

What do the midwives say about the lack of poops and jaundice?  How are they treating the latter.

How is her latch? Are feeds comfortable or painful for your nipples?

[dache]

It's easy to read but can't replay when you have a baby in your arms all the time☺ Thanks for your advice, it's very helpful.
The midwife said she is yellowish but doesn't look like she has jaundice. And her nappies are good now. She has 3-4 dirty and a few more wet nappies. Her advice about feeding was to feed her for 30-45 minutes,  even if she stops, wait a bit put her back on the boob (as you said Ali on the same breast so she gets the fatty milk) and to make sure there is 2hours between the end of the feed till the start of the next one, so that the milk has time to digest and to help with the gass.

I gave her formula that time and she was asleep within a minute, that's why I wondered if she was hungry, but I have more milk now.
 My breasts are sore and feeding can be painful but I adjusted position and there is improvement.
She still wants to be on the breast all the time when she is not sleeping.
At night she doesn't sleep unless she is sucking. I gave her 3 different pacis, she's not interested. I end up putting her in bed with me. She was up from 2:30 last night till the sun came up and I couldn't stay up any more. I don't feel comfortable putting her in bed with me because I worry I'd squish her or something. But I need to go on and see how it goes.