Concerned Papa

[@llli*daddydearest]

I think for us - especially as first-timers - it's hard to know. I'm nearly positive y'all are right and the ped is wrong, but I'm also happy that he wanted us to follow up so quickly, and not let the supplementing linger. We're going to see an IBCLC at an open clinic on Monday, I believe, and I hope, hope, hope that will help.

It's so hard to know what's right, and everyone has different advice. Ultimately, we want what's best for our son - and his behavior was worrying us greatly. I'm sure this too shall pass - quickly!

[@llli*rdh2378]

...I'm sure this too shall pass - quickly!

I heard a great quote the other day... "Enjoy your babies while their young, because while the days may be long, the years are short"

[@llli*aprilsmagic]

The only thing with the doctor...if things are not going like the doctor thinks they should, your doc may want you to now do "this" and never do "that," whatever the doctor might have in mind, and those bits of advice just might destroy your chances of BFing this baby. So...take what the doctor has to say with a grain of salt. If baby is growing well, having adequate numbers of stools and wets, the color of the stool becomes more normal over the weekend (bear in mind the formula is going to mess with his stool, and it can be constipating), then all is well.

Run down to the store and buy your wife a wrap. A Maya wrap, Moby wrap or other carrier Then go for a family walk if the weather is nice. And get her an iPod Touch or smartphone so she can read books or surf the net while nursing.

It won't seem like it's passing quickly, but in a few weeks, when baby has a regular schedule, you'll look back and wonder what you all were fussing about

[@llli*mtaa]

I just wanted to add that a baby carrier is a lifesaver! My son cries if I try to lay him down when he falls asleep on me. Now I just put him in the carrier and we are all much happier

[@llli*mommal]

I am glad you're going to see the IBCLC. When you have a breastfeeding issue with a newborn, you want help from a real professional- and unfortunately that does not include most pediatricians. I'd wager that your pediatrician is among those who just do not know what they are taking about when it comes to breastfeeding, and automatically reach for the bottle of formula when presented with a problem.

Green poops can be a sign of inadequate milk intake- when the baby is failing to gain weight. If the baby is gaining at a normal pace and the stools are green, there is another cause for the green poops (generally related to either allergies/intolerances or to overabundant milk supply/excessive intake of foremilk).

Long feedings can indicate a nursing issue. It's probably just the 3 week spurt, but there are other possibilities. Reflux can cause endless feeds (constant swallowing keeps tummy contents down where they belong, and alkaline milk helps neutralize stomach acids). Tongue tie or some other latch issue are also possible culprits: when the latch is off and milk transfer is slow, the baby must feed constantly in order to get enough to eat. Make sure the IBCLC looks carefully at your baby's tongue, and if she does a weigh-feed-weigh test, don't take a single test as the final word on milk transfer, since it is possible to have a better than average or worse than average feed at the clinic. I would ask the IBCLC about renting a professional scale, since that would enable you to do your own weigh-feed-weigh tests at home, and with a few day's worth of data you would have a highly accurate picture of your baby's weight gain and milk intake. Diaper counts are a good way to get an estimate of milk intake, but if you need hard numbers the scale will get them for you.

We love it when dads find this site, but some questions are easier answered by mom, as opposed to being relayed through dad, KWIM? So, would your wife feel comfortable coming to the forum? Maybe we can help her directly. No offense to you, of course!

[@llli*5ofus]

I know that it is hard when it is your first, and you have no experience with bfing. My husband didn't either, nor did I. He has 2 previous children and they were formula fed, so we both kind of freaked out when weird things happened (weird to us). My LO cried all-the-time for 2 months. If he wasn't sleeping he was crying or nursing. He would nurse until he threw up!!! I sought help here, and with a good friend who nursed 3 kids(one set of twins). Even with advice I would receive, from people who had beentheredonethat I still wasn't sure what advice to take. We eventually determined that LO had silent refulx...no vomitting, it came up and went back down before he could vomit. I also beleive I was having a problem with over active letdown.
And let me tell you, when we went through this, I didnt even feel like I could get up to use the restroom... or eat!! My husband would make me a plate and prop it up on somethng next to me so I could eat while LO was on a nursing marathon. The cycle seemed to be... nurse for about 45 min, sleep for 30 min, wake up and nurse for another 45 min. on and on and on.. lol. BUT... we made it through, he is now one and I feel like we are old pros..

Keep up the good work, keep seeking advice, and remember to follow your gut(even if its just saying something is wrong but you have no clue what!!)

One of my biggest concerns when I started was my supply... keep in mind that if you do things to hinder your supply, it will make things more difficult. Its sort of like the simple equation for losing weight - you have to burn more calories than you are taking in.... so with supply, your body will make enough milk to replace what is being used, so if your not emptying the breast, the body slows down production since it things you don't "need" as much.

[@llli*tcole1]

It is so hard when baby is new and things are not going the way everyone said they would! With my first I expected a baby who nursed for 20-30 minutes and then slept. What I got was a baby who never nursed for less then an hour and often would just doze at the breast all day. Baby wearing helped a ton, she never would take a paci
Bottom line is intake equal output. If your baby is wetting adequately then there is likely adequate intake. Especially since he regained his birth weight! There is no way your starving your baby if he's gaining weight
The PP's are right, there is no lactation education in medical school or really much formal training in post graduate training. Doc's need to educate themselves for the most part and some are just not that interested. I hope your visit with the LC goes well. Best of luck and congratulations!

[@llli*faeln]

I had the oddest sense of deja vu reading your post! We've had a very similar experience.
Our DS was nursing constantly, sometimes 4-6 hours at a time in the evenings, but he wasn't back to birthweight by 3 weeks. Our pediatrician suggested we do the same thing and supplement after every feeding (she didn't put a time restriction on time at the breast, though). We tried this and it seemed to make things worse, not better. He got lazier about breastfeeding, and we were using an SNS to avoid the bottle issues! We decided to make one more go of it and cut the formula. We rented a pump to get my supply up. By one month he was back to birth weight and his rate of gain had increased, so our new pediatrician gave us the go-ahead to keep doing what we were doing.
That's when the green poop started. Our pediatrician wasn't too concerned when I called him. He said he sees that frequently with breastfed babies. I decided to do a little research. I read a few threads here and on kellymom and discovered it could be due to a foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, so I started block feeding DS. I figured it was worth a shot, and if it didn't seem to help I'd call the doc again. DS is now nearly 7 weeks and his poop is finally starting to turn more yellow than green. I haven't pumped for 2 weeks. We still nurse a lot (he's usually latched all afternoon/evening) but he's doing fine in terms of diaper output.
I know how hard it is to be stuck on the couch constantly nursing. It still drives me crazy. I eat with DS at the breast, standing at the counter or on a blanket picnic style on the kitchen floor with my 19 month old. I've dug through my college stuff to find my book of easy 10-minute dinner recipies, because that's about as long as I can set DS down in the evenings. We're waiting for the day when things speed up and even out. I just keep reminding myself every baby is different. I'd love to know how they came up with the "normal" nursing schedule.
Oh, the baby-wearing does help sometimes; not always, but sometimes. It's definitely worth trying. When it does work, the sanity break is wonderful!
Good luck to the both of you. I hope things go well! Keep trying!

[@llli*daddydearest]

I just wanted to update y'all, as your replies were so helpful and caring.

We actually saw the IBCLC today, which was great. My wife nursed while there for a few hours and she confirmed, through weighing, that he's getting milk, albeit slowly. She recommended some position changes, gave some strength and advice, and also recommended fenugreek and oatmeal. She also gave us some supplemental nursing tubes and told us to avoid artificial nipples.

She basically said everything y'all did ("nurse, nurse, nurse some more") and that things usually start improving around the six week mark, and as long as he's pooping and peeing, not to worry about it.

So that's where we are! I look forward to providing more updates.

[@llli*jenna562]

I'm so happy for you! Hands on help is so important. Feel free to update or ask any other question you may have.