I am working full time, I have a 2 year old and a 9 week old, and we are trying to figure out what is causing the vavy's digestion issues. I chose in the beginning to pump exclusively for reasons that are too long to ezplain right now. I did that w/ my son for 11 month and had no problems. This time I'm struggling w/ supply bc I just don't have enough time and I've had a lot of other problems.
The baby has a TON of gas, moves her head back and forth while eating, she has runny BM and there is always poop in her diapers. She can not be flat on her back for any length of time and only can sleep in her carseat. We are going to try to remove lactose from my diet from wednesday until sunday and see if there's any changes in her.
So I'm exhausted! She's a handful (not terrible but hard to deal w/ some days) and pumping is stressing me out due to low supply and having time to do it all. I just need some opinions on if I should quit and just start her on formula to see if it helps both of us or if I should tough it it even if it cost me my sanity and some serious $$ help!
Added: she has been on zantac for 5 days and no change.
You are tired. When you are wiped out, you can't be the best mom you can be. Something has got to give. Get the kid some formula. Get some rest.
LBC
I had BF issues with my fist and from the start with my second. Put the child on nutramigin It is awesome free of lactose soy all of it and it has more iron and all the good stuff than ANY other formula you will/should see improvement in a day or two
I hear you on the breastfeeding thing! I wanted to pump while at work and breastfeed while at home for the first year of my baby's life. However, he tended to like taking milk from a bottle better since he could look around easier and started to reject me. My supply was low anyway, so I did have to supplement with formula. Eventually, my supply got so low and the stress of the low supply and feeling like a failure just made me say "Enough is enough!" I switched him to formula. I no longer feel guilty for not producing enough and I can see how much my little guy is eating --which is good since he is only the 5th % for weight. Don't let breastfeeding nazi's tell you that you HAVE to keep doing it. No baby has ever been harmed by drinking formula!
As for your baby's tummy problems. She sounds like maybe she might have acid reflux. My oldest son had that as a baby. I think people are too quick to switch to soy formula, always assuming it's lactose intolerance. My son puked for the first year of his life, I never switched him to soy. He has absolutely no problem with dairy at this point. He was just majorly spitty as a baby. Even with Zantac and an over the counter drug (can't remember the name of it). Good luck!
If breastfeeding is stressing you out so much, there is no shame in switching to formula. My children needed to be on formula, and they are all smart, healthy, happy children- as are the millions of other children who had formula as infants. A happy mommy is more important to a child than anything else- both for the baby and the 2yo. I'd recommend starting with a lactose-free formula and ask the pedi about switching to a different medication for the reflux- your baby may respond better to something else.
Hang in there! =o)
S.,
Make the choice that is best for you and your family.
You certainly don't need the *permission* from anyone but yourself!
Good luck!
If she has allergies it will be easier to control your own diet than the diet of the cow that produced the milk,,,,that is dried altered and powdered to make formula.
Thats JMO
I would work with your pediatrician and with a lactation specialist about omitting things from your diet. I also agree it may not even be what she is eating and something else entirely.
I get the whole "breast is best" mindset, but don't beat yourself up if you think she may do better with formula. I pumped for the first 4-6 weeks for my kids because they just couldn't latch on and I didn't produce a whole lot of milk either. My son did have some issues with gas and lactose intolerance, so we put him on Enfamil's gentlease formula. It worked beautifully for him. We even tried Parent's Choice (walmart brand) equivalent of gentlease and that worked great for him too (and about half the price of the name brand). My daughter was on Similac because nothing else worked for her. My kids are 2 and 3.5 now and are healthy, smart and vibrant children. I say try all options available to you and go with the one that works best for your daughter. I would choose formula over breast milk any day if it was going to bring much needed relief to my child. Good luck! I know how frustrating that must be to see your child having discomfort!
A.
I think you should ask your pediatrician before you do anything. He or she might have some good advice. Also, please don't beat yourself up over switching to formula and don't hesitate if you think that's what's needed. Breastfeeding may be the ideal but IMHO it's not worth stressing over if it's not working for you and your baby.
Can you try to BF her now? Maybe mornings, evenings and night? BM is best for the baby and builds a really strong immunity. Also check with baby's pediatrician for other health issues like lactose intolerance etc. If nothing works, you can switch to formula (get organic formula). Don't stress out so much. Are you having postpartum depression? if yes, get some help - support groups, meditation etc. Can you work part-time for some time - say a couple of months? or get someone to help at home with 2 year old, chores etc so that you can focus on your newborn for sometime. Don't worry, this will pass soon and kids grow up so quickly.
I would worry that the formula would be harder to digest than the breastmilk. Hope it gets easier for you and your baby!
I am a full supporter of working through ALL issues with breastfeeding, if you can, but it sounds like it may just not be the thing for this baby, and your body is telling you so. If your supply is low, it's causing you stress, which causes a low supply...vicious cycle. Plus working, toddler, illness with baby, etc...
...if you could get her on an appropriate formula that eased her tummy trouble, what would life look like then? If you think you'd be more relaxed, that baby would feel better, etc...then maybe it's worth it. However, I'd really talk to her pediatrician and try to figure out what's causing the trouble, because it may not be your breastmilk.
good moms are the ones who make the decisions which are best for their baby & for their own personal situations.
Kudos to you for being a good mom! You're looking for answers & considering the bottom line. Peace.....
As Mrs. Lavaillie said, her discomfort may be unrelated to breast milk. I'd try to figure that out before I quit. You can do both which would take away some of your stress. Give her as much breast milk as you have and supplement with formula. Nutrimagen works well for sensitive babies. However it is expensive.
There is no right or easy answer.
We had J sleep in a bouncy seat until he was old enough to start being fussy due to wanting to turn off his back. He sat in his car seat often and never laid down to take a bottle. We added Mylanta gas drops in the water before putting the water in it, we gave him .9ml of Reglan before each meal, and gently swirled his bottle to mix it up. Otherwise he would projectile vomit on everything.
I have 4 girls and did home daycare for 10 years caring for mostly infants. I had 1 daycare baby who was allergic to her mother's milk. The lactation specialist told the mom to give it to her anyway. The mother gave her stool softeners everyday and had to manually stimulate bowel movements every 3 days. When my 3rd daughter was born, I noticed many of the same fussy symptoms. We experimented putting her on formula only for 3days and it all stopped. She got the important stuff....the pre milk as a newborn. She was my only one who had that issue with my milk, AND she is my healthiest kid! Go figure!
My first son was the same way while nursing too! We did do a trial run with Nutramigin for a few days to see if we saw any improvement. There was absolutely no difference, and talk about a struggle he didn't want anything to do with that nasty stuff. He eventually out grew it about 6 months. He was almost 4 weeks early so I think his tummy just wasn't ready yet!
I'd say give formula a run if it works out for him, quit BFing and relax and get some zzz's. I would recommend still pumping during this time just in case he has more problems with formula then you can always revert back.
My girlfriends boys have severe allergies--she tried the whole breastfeeding--and it just wasn't for her. The poor kids had horrible horrible time on formula, but there was no turning back!
Good Luck sure hope you find something that works out for you!
It sounds to me like she has acid reflux... ask her doctor about it and see what they say... They do have medication that helps if that's the case!
~ETA.... My DD did have issues with nursing for the first few months, and I also pumped exclusively. I did have to cut all milk, and most other dairy out of my diet and it helped a lot. When she was 6 months old, I was able to re-introduce the dairy with no problems, and now she is 15 months old and has no dairy issues at all... so that could be your issue too...
What does your pediatrician say? Formula may not be the answer. My dd had reflux and had to sleep upright until she was 3 mo old. She was on prilosec and Zantac. I nursed her and we tried formula with a little rice cereal and that made no difference. As far as the gas goes, maybe try a different bottle. She is probably swallowing excess air from the bottle. Perhaps one that has the bag inserts that collapses?
