help with breast feeding about to give up?

Question

my daughter is 7 weeks old. at first i pumped and i gave her the bottle because i wasn't to crazy about breast feeding. she was up to 4 ounces every 2-4 hours. then it became crazy to pump and then feed her, so i stopped pumping and just breast fed her but i feel like that is all i do like every hour or so. she never feeds for more then 10 to 15 min w/o falling asleep or she just pushes away i try to offer her more because i am sure that she is not getting enough but she dosen't want it. so i go about doing what ever and then she is fussy and wants to eat 15-45 min later. today i started pumping again because i would like to see how much she is getting and i was hoping she would be less hungrey and go back to that 2-4 hour time period. now for some reason i only pumped 3 to 31/2 ounces for both breast and she only drinks 3 ounces and wants to eat every hour and a half..how come she is drinking only 3 not 4 oh and how the hell can you pump and store i only can pump enough for 1 feeding?

Answer 1

She is only 7 weeks old!
Feed her on demand and don't worry about how much of your time she is taking.
Babies still need a lot of attention at this age.

Answer 2

Oh, please don't give up! Just get some local face-to-face support!!! You are doing a GREAT job, and while it is tiring and a lot of work, it is very very worth it!

Your little girl may be going through a growth spurt. Or she may not be getting enough hind milk. Are you letting her completely empty one breast, and then going to the other breast and letting her completely empty that one also?

I would suggest you find another breastfeeding mom locally to talk to and to get personal advice from, or that you go to a La Leche League meeting in your area. You will get much more educated advice there than you will likely get from Y/A. Not slamming anybody here (because all of the answers I have seen so far are RIGHT ON and GREAT ADVICE), but LLL people are experts in breastfeeding and having somebody watch you breastfeed can help you if you think you might be doing something "wrong".

Also, most LLL groups have lending libraries and you can get loads of awesome breastfeeding support books to read while you are breastfeeding! They are full of loads of good info and examples of reasons why babies do the things they do. For instance, some babies push away when they are getting too much milk too quickly. My oldest always fell asleep while nursing also. It was very hard the first time. But you can do it. I have not breastfed FOUR babies and they were all different, but they all were successful over the long haul.

As for pumping enough to store ahead, what I used to do was pump first thing after the morning feeding and then breastfeed all day. If you do that for a week, then you will have 7 feedings stocked up.

Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 3

OK, this is an easy problem to fix. First, it's important to relax. Your type-tone seems very frazzled, which is understandable. Trust us when we tell you to find a way to unwind. Stress hormones fight with milk hormones, so let's get your body to cooperate instead of fight you. Am I making sense? Do whatever you need to do to relax. For me, it's coffee and home decor magazines. Maybe you like to take a bath and drink champagne instead. (Mental note--buy champagne and bath salts)

After you have have lowered your stress level a touch, then put the pump away. I mean it, you don't need that thing. The pump does NOT tell you how much milk your baby takes at a feeding. We all pump a lot of milk in the beginning, then we level off to 1-3 ounces, if we can pump at all. Some women can't pump a drop, but are able to breastfeed successfully. Forget about bottles, ounces and pumping.

Nurse your baby. Go lay down in bed with her and spend the bulk of the day there, napping and nursing. You have the day off from housework (I mean it, don't lift a finger!). Heck, if you're near Ft Knox, I'll come cook and clean for you. Once you accept the frequent nursing and relax, your baby will probably back off.

Keep going, mama, and don't let anyone tell you to give up! You can do it!

Don't let bitter women get to you! Goldengurl and others like her may have given up, but you are strong and you have good advice. None of us would be here if our ancestors had given up so easily. If they could do it, you can.

Answer 4

I think most people have listed the main differences here. Just a couple of thoughts to add. Breast milk has the fore milk (watery, thirst quenching milk) and hind milk (rich, fatty and satisfying milk) which follows a few minutes later. When I express, that all gets mixed together, so sometimes my baby has to have some water as well to make sure his thirst is quenched. I went back to work when my baby was 3 months, so pumping was the only way he gets my breastmilk in the day time. So from that point of view, it's a real positive. But if I had the choice between breastfeeding or pumping, I'd choose straight from the breast every time.

Answer 5

At 7 weeks, you're still in the early stages, for sure. I remember at that point I was totally in your shoes; I could have given up at the drop of a hat. It was so hard for me in the beginning. But here I am, at 17 months, still going strong. You CAN do this, all it takes is a little knowledge, patience and humor.

It sounds like your little one is going through a growth spurt. They happen at *around* 7-10 days, 2-3 weeks, 4-6 weeks, 3 months, 4 months, 6 months and 9 months (more or less). Babies don't read calendars, however, so your baby may do things differently. (this is quoted from the site listed below)

When baby goes through a growth spurt, they nurse like mad. Mine would sometimes nurse twice an hour, sometimes for 20 or 30 minutes. I thought I was going to die of nursing crazies. But I didn't. And after 2 days baby went back to normal and everything was good. (by the way, sometimes the spurt nursing can last up to a week, but it's usually just a couple of days)

Pumping is also not a good indicator of how much you're making. Baby is much more efficient at extracting milk than a pump.

Building a stash will have to wait until baby is back to a 2+ hour schedule. You also don't need a big stash until you're going back to work. And even then, you may only need 1 or 2 day's worth at a time.

I am a SAHM, so I never had more than 2 bottle's worth in the freezer.

An EXCELLENT site that I've referred to countless times is http://www.kellymom.com Check it out for answers on anything bf'ing. Seriously, ANYTHING. (in regards to your other question, there's a section about alcohol, smoking, etc.)

HTH, and keep at it! You can do it!

Answer 6

I had these same kind of troubles breastfeeding my first, with my second, there was less stress, and it seemed to come so much more naturally. Also with my second, it was the same time the new research came out that said pacifiers were good for preventing sids.

That said, have you tried a pacifier? If not, Id say try it. Babies sometimes just want to suckle. We had no problem weaning my son of it around age 2.

Mine are also only a year apart - and my 1 year old, got a terrible flu bout, febrile seizures, reoccuring ear infections, right after my second was born. So I tried to supplemental pump for him. Id literally sit in front of the tv pumping forever.

Having to pump at work also, I found there was a big tie to stress level and milk letdown, also just being completely worn out because of lack of sleep.

One thing to try, if you're still at home and your husband works, (this worked for us) is Id try to get in an extra pumping at night, and he'd get up early with the kids and do a feeding before work, and give me a little extra time to sleep. If pump right away again when I got up, then was ready for the next feeding.

Good luck, and congrats for sticking it out this long.

Answer 7

ok. Don't give up! Don't pump, unless you have to go back to work and you need to have milk stocked up. Even then, don't pump every time. Try single side feeding. Don't worry about the lenght of time that she is eating or how many ounces you think it is. Try to make sure she is emptying your breast and if she does and is still hungry then switch to the other side. Then when she feeds the next time switch to the full breast. Really, don't worry about her. She will eat when she is hungry. Also if you think you are not making enough milk, eat and drink more yourself too and rest.

Answer 8

Don't give up, she need to be fed on demand. If you want your breasts to produce more milk so you can store it, them pump more often. Your milk operates on a supply and demand basis, if you tell them you need more by pumping more often, they will start making more. That is why your breasts only gave you 3 ounces each, because that is how much she has been taking. Demand more, and they will make more. Don't give up, it is infinitely better for the baby to breast feed than formula. It will get better as she gets older.

Answer 9

many babies don't feed for more than 15minutes and usually breast fed babies feed more often. Pumping and feeding is a bit much so I can see why thats a problem and since she may be use to the bottle if you really want to breast feed take bottles away till she gets the hang of it. With breastfeeding its a on demand type thing don't overly worry about how much she gets now if she appears hungry then you will need to supplement formula.

Answer 10

Take a deep breath, Your baby is nipple confused. Do this pump every 2-3 hours, if you have to feed her first feed her then pump out what you can, date and freeze it. Also if she pushes away then she is done, Take your time. Most breast feed babies nurse every 1 and half to two hours. Things fall back in place.
Good luck
If u have any more questions IM me

Answer 11

remember that babys tummys are only so big and that they eat often because they digest it and are hungry again.
your body only produces milk when the milk in your breast is emptied if your baby eats 3 0z of milk the body make s3 oz more but not more than that so try feeding her and seeing if she completly emptiedth ebreast with a pump if not pump it and the body should make more. but more detail would be in research trythe le leache team or breastfeeding best for babys under a search engine. good luck