intro and pumping question

My partner and I are brand new mommies to 9 day old Lauren. I am ebf
her and it is going relatively well so far. However, she eats all the
time, sometimes every hour, which I guess is normal for newborns. She
is gaining weight well (is now about 10-12 oz above birth weight after
losing 2 oz), but it is exhausting for me. Our LC is suggesting that I
start pumping so my partner can do one feeding a day with a bottle.
Although I would love more sleep it seems really early to be doing
that. We have not totally resolved our latch issues on one side -
could introducing a bottle now make that more difficult? Has anyone
else started pumping this early? Would love to hear other people's
experiences with this.
One other question - since I bf "on demand" and not according to any
schedule, I just feed her whenever she acts hungry. If she just ate
within the hour, we try other comfort measures (swaddle, rocking,
offering a finger to nurse on, etc), and if that doesn't settle her,
and it rarely does, then I feed. Should I be concerned that she's
eating too much? I'm assuming she knows how much she needs.
TIA!
Rachel & Julie & Baby Lauren

"Rachel" wrote in message
om...
My partner and I are brand new mommies to 9 day old Lauren. I am ebf
her and it is going relatively well so far.

Congratulations!

However, she eats all the
time, sometimes every hour, which I guess is normal for newborns. She
is gaining weight well (is now about 10-12 oz above birth weight after
losing 2 oz), but it is exhausting for me. Our LC is suggesting that I
start pumping so my partner can do one feeding a day with a bottle.
Although I would love more sleep it seems really early to be doing
that. We have not totally resolved our latch issues on one side -
could introducing a bottle now make that more difficult? Has anyone
else started pumping this early?

Do NOT listen to your LC. In fact, I recommend firing her. She doesn't know
what she's talking about. At 9 days of age, your baby hasn't even figured
out how to breastfeed effectively. Introducing a bottle at this stage puts
her at risk of developing either nipple confusion (inability to switch
between the sucking technigue for the breast versus the sucking technique
for the bottle) or breast rejection (because milk comes easier from a bottle
than the breast, she may begin to refuse to latch on to the breast and hold
out for the bottle).

The *minimum* age for introducing a bottle recommended by lactation
specialists is 4 weeks of age; 6 weeks is considered optimum and 8 weeks is
about the latest to try without risking total bottle rejection.

Instead of having your partner take over a feeding, why not have the baby
sleep with you? You can latch her on when she needs to feed then doze right
back off again. You don't need to institute a long-term policy of
co-sleeping to do this, but it's a great cure for sleep deprivation in the
early going.

One other question - since I bf "on demand" and not according to any
schedule, I just feed her whenever she acts hungry. If she just ate
within the hour, we try other comfort measures (swaddle, rocking,
offering a finger to nurse on, etc), and if that doesn't settle her,
and it rarely does, then I feed. Should I be concerned that she's
eating too much? I'm assuming she knows how much she needs.

No, she is not eating too much. Yes, she knows how much she needs. In fact,
I wouldn't even try other measures first. If you think she's acting hungry,
even within an hour, just feed her. You might be less tired if you spared
yourself the effort of trying a bunch of remedies that don't work and just
got down to business from the get-go!

Good luck and HTH!
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [19mo] mom)

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"Rejuvinate your skin." -- Botox ad

Daddy: You're up with the chickens this morning.
Aurora: No, I'm up with my dolls!

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

Rachel wrote:
My partner and I are brand new mommies to 9 day old Lauren. I am ebf
her and it is going relatively well so far. However, she eats all the
time, sometimes every hour, which I guess is normal for newborns. She
is gaining weight well (is now about 10-12 oz above birth weight after
losing 2 oz), but it is exhausting for me. Our LC is suggesting that I
start pumping so my partner can do one feeding a day with a bottle.
Although I would love more sleep it seems really early to be doing
that. We have not totally resolved our latch issues on one side -
could introducing a bottle now make that more difficult? Has anyone
else started pumping this early? Would love to hear other people's
experiences with this.

You are right, it is definately too early to introduce a bottle,
especially if you are having latch issues. Bottle introduction
should occur at 4-6 weeks *if* nursing is well established.
Make sure that you are getting as much rest as you can, resting
when baby does. And make sure you are eating and drinking enough.
It sounds like you are doing great.

One other question - since I bf "on demand" and not according to any
schedule, I just feed her whenever she acts hungry. If she just ate
within the hour, we try other comfort measures (swaddle, rocking,
offering a finger to nurse on, etc), and if that doesn't settle her,
and it rarely does, then I feed. Should I be concerned that she's
eating too much? I'm assuming she knows how much she needs.
TIA!

She's not eating too much. Nurse her as much as she wants. She
may be going through the first of many growth spurts. As your
supply increases to meet her demand, she'll spread out her feedings.
Also remember that she has a tiny stomach, so she'll nurse often.
It does spread out when they get older.

Mary

The *minimum* age for introducing a bottle recommended by lactation
specialists is 4 weeks of age; 6 weeks is considered optimum and 8 weeks is
about the latest to try without risking total bottle rejection.

This is what I thought. The pump intimidates me too much now anyway!

Instead of having your partner take over a feeding, why not have the baby
sleep with you? You can latch her on when she needs to feed then doze right
back off again. You don't need to institute a long-term policy of
co-sleeping to do this, but it's a great cure for sleep deprivation in the
early going.


SHe does sleep with us, either curled up next to us or in a "snuggle
nest" (3-sided box thing that goes between our pillows). But, I'm not
very skilled at bf and have to turn on light and sit on my bf "throne"
with boppy all arranged, feet on stool, etc. I'm hoping with time to
do be able to do as you suggest.

No, she is not eating too much. Yes, she knows how much she needs. In fact,
I wouldn't even try other measures first. If you think she's acting hungry,
even within an hour, just feed her. You might be less tired if you spared
yourself the effort of trying a bunch of remedies that don't work and just
got down to business from the get-go!

This makes sense to me. Nursing always calms her down and once she's
had enough (according to her) she goes right to sleep.

Thanks!

I suggest that you BF at much as you can during the day laying down with
Lauren so you get lots of practice in that position. That way, you can soon
start doing it at night. I nursed both of my older children for two years
and the laying down position is critical if a mom wants to be well rested.
My third child is 2.5 weeks old, and as experienced as I am at night
nursing, I had trouble doing it in the dark laying down when he was first
born. He's so small, and his mouth is so small, and we're just learning how
to be a nursing team. It takes practice. At this point, we are nursing
quite well together at night, but I do have to keep a small dim light
burning at night (I keep it on all the time so there is no change in the
room's lighting) so I can see what I'm doing or the latch on process is too
frustrating for both of us. I also suggest that you keep the lights as dim
as possible while you are nursing at night.

Hope this helps. Once your baby gets some experience with this, you will
love it. Eventually, a baby gets it all worked out and you barely have to
be conscious.

Karen
Nursing baby #3, born 10/15/03

Rachel wrote:

My partner and I are brand new mommies to 9 day old Lauren.

Rachel! Good to see you here! I haven't been keeping up
with my Yahoo groups, so I'll congratulate you here -
congratulations!

However, she eats all the
time, sometimes every hour, which I guess is normal for newborns.

It is. There were times when Caterpillar would nurse for 4
hours straight, stopping only to switch sides. It doesn't
last forever, and the first 2 weeks were the worst for me,
so you might see the light at the end of the tunnel soon.

Our LC is suggesting that I
start pumping so my partner can do one feeding a day with a bottle.

And that's going to be easier how? I don't let down well
for the pump, but even if you do, you're likely to need to
pump as long as she'd nurse to get enough milk, then wash
everything. And you've got a higher chance of nipple
confusion, which means your latch problems could get worse
instead of better.


Should I be concerned that she's
eating too much?

Nope, she'll stop when she's done. Allyson always tried to
stretch Caterpillar's feeds at night, so she'd sleep longer.
Other than that, she ate every time she looked at me.
Now that she's bigger, she nurses every 2-3 hours, but she
was at 1-2 hours until she was about 3 months old. (By 2
months, she'd go 3 hours at night, and by 3 months, I could
nurse lying down and without really waking up.)

The first 2 weeks with a new baby can be unspeakably
horrible (which is why no one warns you about it!). For me,
the next 2 weeks were just really bad, and by 6 weeks, we
were doing pretty well.

Phoebe
--
yahoo address is unread - substitute mailbolt

Rachel wrote:

I'm not
very skilled at bf and have to turn on light and sit on my bf "throne"
with boppy all arranged, feet on stool, etc.

We slept with a light on - first a bedside light, then a
closet light, now a closet light with the door closed. Just
enough that I could see to get a good latch. I'd sit up,
move the pillow under my head back against the wall, put on
the Boppy pillow (I sat cross-legged), adjust top, and
Allyson would hand me Caterpillar.

It took me months to be able to nurse in more than one
position, and now we can nurse pretty much any which way, so
don't feel unskilled. A lot of it is baby skill related, too.

Phoebe
--
yahoo address is unread - substitute mailbolt

Phoebe & Allyson wrote in message ...
Rachel! Good to see you here! I haven't been keeping up
with my Yahoo groups, so I'll congratulate you here -
congratulations!

Thanks!

There were times when Caterpillar would nurse for 4
hours straight, stopping only to switch sides. It doesn't
last forever, and the first 2 weeks were the worst for me,
so you might see the light at the end of the tunnel soon.

Yes, that's it exactly. We will be at 2 weeks on Tuesday, but she's
not showing signs of slowing down yet.

(By 2
months, she'd go 3 hours at night, and by 3 months, I could
nurse lying down and without really waking up.)

She is already going for 1 3-hour stretch at night, and some lucky
nights we get 2 stretches, but we also have a 3-4 hour stretch
(usually around 10pm-2am) of constant nursing. Nursing lying down will
be heavenly, but right now we don't latch well enough in that position
and so it hurts.

The first 2 weeks with a new baby can be unspeakably
horrible (which is why no one warns you about it!). For me,
the next 2 weeks were just really bad, and by 6 weeks, we
were doing pretty well.

This is so true! I was surprised at how hard it was to birth her but
that's nothing compared to hard bf is. The people on this list are an
inspiration to me and so I'm not giving up (yet!).

Rachel

Our LC is suggesting that I
start pumping so my partner can do one feeding a day with a bottle.
Although I would love more sleep it seems really early to be doing
that.

That's correct. How about having your partner take her out just after a
feeding, and not coming back for two hours or so, so you can take a nap? There
is no reason she couldn't go two hours between feeds once a day ;-)

--Helen

Rachel wrote:

we also have a 3-4 hour stretch
(usually around 10pm-2am) of constant nursing.

That must be prime nursing time, because that was exactly
Caterpillar's favorite time. I really don't remember when
she decided that 9-midnight was just as good. I think it
was her 2-week wbv (at maybe 18 days old) that I said she'd
started sleeping from 1am to 4am.

I was surprised at how hard it was to birth her but
that's nothing compared to hard bf is.

But the upside is that once both of you are good at it, it's
really easy.

I'm not giving up (yet!).

I'd like to say eliminate the "yet," but when I was where
you are, I could barely manage one feeding at a time. So
I'll just say that if you keep not giving up, you'll reach
the point where you don't even think about it anymore.

Phoebe
--
yahoo address is unread - substitute mailbolt