Not Enough Fat in My Milk

I agree, don't give up! My son didn't reach his birth weight until 3 weeks later and he is growing and eating like for two now :). I think what saved me was a great lac. specialist and my midwife. Had I gone to the doctor we would most likely ended up on formula. I had very hard time breastfeeding for first 3 months and then it got better and we never needed to use formula. Try to give it few more days and feed often. My lac. specialist told me that the fat come after few minutes so try to feed at least for 10 minutes (from one breast and 10 from other if you or baby is awake). I hope this helps and be strong :)

The advice that some people give is odd. Only in recent history did we start doing things like pumping milk, extamining it, weighing it, etc. Before we did things like this, babies grew at their own rate and in nearly all cases thrived. Weight charts make people nutty! If your child seems full and content, then you're fine! Nurse her on demand and she'll be fine. I have a feeling that your milk for your son 4.5 years ago was the same, but no one stopped to examine it. Your body will provide for your child. Keep nursing, it's the most important thing you can do for her. Good luck!

Also, it's really hard to pump that fatty part of the milk out. Pumps don't work that well compared to a babies mouth. The fatty part comes last.

I checked for information on kellymom.com because that site is like a breastfeeding mom's mecca for questions and answers and support.

I found these two items might be helpful in your situation:
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/milk/change-milkfat.htm...
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/weight-gain_i...

Best info seems to be to increase frequency of nursing since an emptier breast will have higher fat and calorie milk than a fuller breast and to make sure not to switch breasts until baby is has had all she can from the first one.

Don't give up! Nurse, nurse, nurse. :) It seems odd that the lactation consultant said your milk isn't fatty enough, but didn't give you any tips to resolve the situation. I would say do more research on how to fix the fattiness, honestly I have no idea what to suggest other than eat more fatty food. But the one thing I do know is that so many nursing moms give up earlier than they should because they worry so much about whether or not baby is getting enough, and that's really unfortunate. I think if you hang in there and keep nursing you two will work through this.

I agree with others, that you should get a second opinion.
What the lactation consulant has said seems very odd to me (especially without analysis of the milk) and as you said yourself, the weight loss in the first two weeks is not unusual.
My daughter lost a little more than 10 % of her birthweight the first two weeks and needed until about 4 weeks old to catch it up.
Once she started gaining weight, it was very steady but slow - my pediatrician even suggested that I should not be worried as long as she was eating well, seemed satisfied after feedings and gaining steady.
Turns out she is just long and lean, the entire last year her weight hovered between 5-10 % while her height is into the 60% (just like dad...).
Every child is different, speak to another lactation consultant and try to find a pediatrician that is supportive of breastfeeding!

And then nurse, nurse, nurse... I pretty much did nothing but breastfeeding for the first weeks, every two hours for about half an hour....

It seems so strange to me that the lactation consultant would already "know" if your milk wasn't fatty enough. My daughter lost over 10% of her body weight in the first few days and didn't get back up to her birth weight for about three weeks. Since her two month appt. she has been in the 97th percentile for height and weight! I breastfed her (and still do at 8 months!) and the lactation consultant did the whole weigh before and after thing. My baby was so skinny after losing that weight, but they never mentioned anything about my milk not being fatty enough. I don't think I would turn to formula just yet as long as your baby seems happy and satisfied and isn't losing any more weight. Good luck!

See a different lactation consultant. Are you offering one breast for as long as she wants. The longer she nurses on one side the fattier the milk gets. The second side should be like dessert. The baby can get a lot more milk than you can pump too.

Are you eating enough for yourself? As long as she acts healthy the weight shouldn't be as big of a deal.

Check out this page:
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/growth/index.html

HTH

H.

If you are worried about her weight right now, give her a supplement bottle of formula every other feeding until you are sure about your fat content.