I was thinking about my little blog universe the other day and how awesome you guys all are. I love your comments and all the advice you've given me through my pregnancy and now into motherhood. You're advice on the sleeping was golden: sometimes its still hard to get her to sleep, but now we start the process early and she's slept between 6 and 9 straight hours every night for the past 10 days. You guys are all so great and its hard to imagine trying to do this crazy mother thing without people to turn to who are doing the same thing.
That being said, this clueless mother needs more advice from all you experts.
a) I'm pretty sure Carly has a cold. She is very wheezy and sneezing all the time. Any at home cold remedies or tips? She had been unusually fussy and just not very happy.
b) But here's the big one. The girl is hungry all the time. I breast feed her and she's eat for anywhere from 15-45 minutes. Then 15-30 minutes later she's screaming for more food. I really feel like I spend most of my day sitting on the couch feeding her. I know I'm producing milk because its in her mouth and all over her face (ha ha). But she'll stop eating and refuse to eat more and then be hungry again so soon. And in between she's restless. She never seems calm and content. So I tried to supplement with formula and it must taste as gross and it smells because she wouldn't drink it. I do pump occasionally and Chris gave her a pumped bottle earlier tonight and she guzzled it really fast and wanted more (I was at mutual). Now we're trying to give her a pumped bottle again and she's not taking it. Anyway, I know right now she has a cold, but I've pretty much felt like I just feed her all day for the last 3 weeks. Its impossible to leave the house because she starts screaming for food as soon as we do. It sounds like I'm exaggerating, but Chris will vouch for me. Anyway, any ideas. This is a hard one--our pediatrician's office will likely be getting a phone call soon.
Anyway. I just love Carly so much and want her to be happy. It hurts my heart to think she's hungry and sad all the time. Today at mutual I was gone for only 2 hours and when I got home it was so good to see her--like I'd been gone for days. I'm smitten.
6 comments:
Hey Erin! A humidifier works wonders with Tayden when he gets sick. Also, from experience, if you think something is wrong with your baby, follow your gut. Chances are you will be right. Once I put Tayden off for a few days, not wanting to be a paranoid mom, and it turned out he had a double ear infection. I learned my lesson to never ignore my gut.
And as for her being hungry. It could be a growth spurt? One happens around 6 weeksish. Keep at it!
Hungry Thomas? Sounds about right. I put down a lot of food and so does Michael. Unfortunately the hunger will never end. Good luck!
That's all I felt like I did for the first 3 months was feed all day. Just part of breastfeeding and the best thing you can do is keep feeding her to increase your supply (even if you have a decent supply already) She's going through a growth spurt and needs more! Good luck!
I'm happy to help when I can... as for the feeding- that would drive me nuts! My boys never ate more often than every two hours, and they are fast eaters! (20 minutes or less!) But, you might try burping her in between sides... And maybe if you're not doing this- make sure you feed her from both sides starting with the one you left off on the time before... for example, nurse the right side til she's done, then burp her, then nurse the left side til she's done. Then, the next time she's hungry start with the left side, and follow that same pattern. (You probably already do this.) But, by starting with the one you finished with last she gets the hind milk, which is more fatty and fills her up more.
Maybe this helps, if you're already doing it, good luck with finding something! I hope you do!
So, we had a similar issue but Bean wouldn't gain weight, so the doc figured I wasn't making enough so I had to pump for ten minutes on both sides after she was done eating until my milk fully came in.
First, before you start pumping like a mad woman, ask yourself a few questions
1) How much milk do you get when you pump? At this point you should be getting 4 oz combined, at the very least.
2) Is Carly gaining weight? If she's not, then she's not getting enough to eat.
3) Do you feed from both sides and burb between them (as one of your othe readers suggested)?
4) Does she show a preference for one side over the other? One side may let down quicker than the other, so if that's the case, you'll have to try holding her differently to get her to take the less liked side (E had that issue, too)
5) Have you tried a different type of hold while nursing? She may find which ever hold you use uncomfortable.
6) Does she pop off because she gets distracted? You may need to get a mp3 player and some books on tape and nurse in a dark quiet room (which we tried, but didn't have much success with)
7) Have you tried a different kind of formula? E hated certain types, but would take others and loved Enfamil's gentle ease.
8)(finally :) Is there something that you are eating regularly that might be upsetting her? It may be tomatoes or milk that's up setting her tummy. Heaven forbid that it's milk!
I hope that helps. Be sure to talk to your doctor about it, too.
Your milk doesnt fully come in until about 6 weeks. So you are probably making some, but not enough. So she is about 6 weeks, maybe your milk will soon be fully in and it will get easier. Also, growth spurts. Jenna had one at two weeks and that is why I stopped nursing because she would eat for 30 minutes and be hungry again ten minutes later. Anyway, she just got over a cold too and I dont know if Carly's nose is stuffy, but get out your booger sucker and suck away. Saline solution helps to loosen it up and a humidifier.
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