question about bf & sleep!

[dark_angel]

when i had my DD i bf for 2 weeks and then had to stop simply because i thought she needed more milk and wasn't satisfied on mine. which i learned was true because she went quickly from 1st milk formula to second milk v.quickly.

anyway i am pregnant again and i want to bf nxt one for as long as poss i loved it. So if this one seems the same, is there anything i could do to keep on breastfeeding? maybe top him/her up or something? with last DD i was there for hours & hours and she still wasn't happy...
Also do they sleep through the same as  formula fed babies because i heard they don't?

Any help appreciated

[Samuel's mum]

Congratulations! It's great you want to give breastfeeding another go! It will be worth it!
If your last dd was feeding 'for hours and still not happy' and you felt you were having supply problem it is possible she had a poor latch (wasn't actually sucking on the breast in the way she needed to). This would explain why her feeds were so long and why your breasts weren't being stimulated to making the correct amounts of milk.
I would recommend you try and get some advice before you give birth and after about what a 'good latch' looks like. Have a look at the video clips on this website:
http://www.thebirthden.com/Newman.html#Video%20Clips
Ask if there are lactation consultants/ breastfeeding counsellors available at your hospital or contact your local La Leche League and ask if there is someone in the local area who can support you.

Your body makes more milk depending on how much your baby feeds. If you supplement or 'top up' your body will make less milk and you may find breastfeeding does not get off the ground. If you want to succeed I would recommend BELIEVING you won't need to give any supplements. Every baby is different and every pregnancy is different. A few weeks in, once your milk supply has been established, if you still feel you really want to give formula then your milk supply will be more secure (but it will still decrease with the amount of formula you give.) It is also believed that if you give a baby a supplement from a bottle when they are very young they may become 'confused' and not be able to suck at the breast properly. Breasts and bottles require very different sucking techniques. That is another reason it's worth trying to avoid supplementing at the beginning. There are also proven health benefits for the baby if you're able to just give them breastmilk.

As for the sleeping, breastmilk is digested more quickly than formula milk. Formula milk contains proteins which are harder for the baby to process and therefore it stays longer in their digestive tracts and they feel fuller. In my experience some breastfed babies sleep through quickly, but not all. Women who choose to mix feed do so for lots of complex reasons. I don't know of anyone personally who has decided to sacrifice the benefits of exclusive breastfeeding just to change a young baby's sleep.

Whatever happens know that breastfeeding will have lots of benefits for your baby. Any breastmilk you give them for however long will be valuable. Do come back if I haven't covered anything.

[daisymelan]

Samuel's mom is bang on with everything she has said.

Someone recently was wondering about breastfeeding her second time around.  Although your situations are not the same, you may find some great advice.

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=57324.0

I can't stress enough the importance of great support in the way of a Lactation consultant.  Get a good latch and your lo should gain.

As for the sleep issue.  I do believe that breastfed babies do not sleep as long at night as perhaps formula fed babies, but there are studies that say they do.  My concern is that formula sometimes ends up giving their little one more digestive issues and therefore wakes more at night then they would when just offered the breast.  And remember, you can always pump breast milk and have someone else offer the bottle at night so that you get a longer stretch of sleep.  But at the beginning, when the little one is really young, who really gets any sleep anyways???  Breastfeeding or bottlefeeding?  LOL

[dark_angel]

thanks to you both well i do feel that she was latched on properly but maybe she wasn't. i was talking to someone else about this and they said it could have been i wasn't producing enough i didn't particularly eat much more food and i really didn't drink muchwater(im told u should really od this for a good supply)

I wil certainly ask my midwife or hv if i have any problems

[dark_angel]

also, i'm not sure about expressing because i had a breast pump last time but i was really bad at it and could only get 4oz and that took a long time any tips...?

[daisymelan]

4oz is quite a bit of milk to be honest.  I could never get more than 3.  I will go look for a post that has tips for helping pump and will post the link.

[daisymelan]

https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=57490.0

That one you should find some helpful hints.  Hope that helps.

[jbepko]

I am currently BF my second child. With my first, I made sure there wasn't any formula in the house...that way I knew I was dedicated to giving BF a good try and everyone else was also. To help establish a good supply those first 2 or 3 weeks, nurse, nurse, nurse, nurse. Let the housework, dishes, etc fall to someone else. Just concentrate on you and LO. I was pretty neurotic and set a watch every three hours for the first 10 days or so....but was rewarded with an abudant supply. BF does take work- its a learned skill for both mom and LO. The first week can be rough....but by 6 weeks it will be second nature. I nursed 13 months with DD and at 8 months (heading for 12 mon....maybe longer) with DS. HTH.

[Samuel's mum]

Yes - 4oz is perfectly respectable in fact. Not the low end of the spectrum at all. The advice you're getting about drinking and eating well is true too.

[dark_angel]

thanks to all of you and i will definitely have a look at that link