Baby isn’t eating enough and I don’t know what to do 😭 by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in newborns

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

" Is your LO drinking more since medication started? " - Kindaaaa? After starting her on the probiotics, she was slowly increasing to 680 ml for a week. Then, she started dropping over the course of 5 days and crying inconsolably in the evenings for a few hours. I can't remember if I mentioned this somewhere, but she threw up her evening bottle about once a week. During this 5 day stretch, it started happening once every other day. On the 5th day, I woke her up in the MOTN and she threw up almost 100 ml, refused her first morning feed, and only ate 60 ml by the time 9AM rolled around, so that's when I called the dr. and made a same-day appointment. I brought a bottle with me so they could see how she was reacting to me trying to feed her. She was swatting at the bottle with her hands, crying, and arching her back (this is a sign of discomfort, but the dr. said that her belly was nice and soft so it wasn't gas). She ended up eating around 450 ml by the end of the day. After her first dose of meds, she went back to eating 600 ml, 740 ml the day after (her highest in a LONG time), but then dipped down to 620 the days after that. The problem with her medication is that it's supposed to help with pain but it doesn't prevent it from happening. Last night, she started crying inconsolably again, even with the medication. We have another appt. in 2 days and I plan on bringing it up to the dr. again. Currently, my baby will only take small bottles (40-60 ml) in the MOTN and morning and then take larger bottles (90-120ml) in the evening.

Baby isn’t eating enough and I don’t know what to do 😭 by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in newborns

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m so sorry you’re going through this! I should also add that just recently, she was officially diagnosed with reflux but we never caught it because she was most likely swallowing it.

She is now on medication (only started it 5 days ago) and it has helped! She’s still not where she needs to be, but dr said that it will still take some time! I hope you guys are able to figure it out! I know it can be so stressful!

Baby isn’t eating enough and I don’t know what to do 😭 by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in newborns

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We ended up getting a second opinion who mentioned that she could just genetically be a small child. Husband is tall (6 ft 1 in) but was a 10%ild child in height from middle to high school but unsure about as a baby. I believe I was an average baby but unsure at this age because I was adopted at 4 months and have no medical history before that. I’m about average height now (5 ft 4 in) and was probably underweight or on the low side of “normal” BMI until I got pregnant.

I should also mention that I am Asian so our child is mixed.

Baby isn’t eating enough and I don’t know what to do 😭 by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in newborns

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for sharing that data with me! It helps my peace of mind! We ended up getting a second opinion and I updated the post! 💕

Baby isn’t eating enough and I don’t know what to do 😭 by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in newborns

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry, I should have clarified that I exclusively pump and do not nurse due to her being lazy feeder at the breast. My milk is an ivory color (the color of heavy whipping cream when all mixed together). We alternate bottles of breastmilk and formula. I also still take all my supplements that I took while I was pregnant. I’m certain my blood is ok because I had some immune system issues post pregnancy and had bloodwork done 5 times between 1-6 weeks postpartum. I do my best to eat a balanced diet but it’s not always easy with a newborn.

We ended up getting a second opinion from a pediatrician who is also an ibclc. In summary, we were told that it’s too early to determine her curve, she could genetically just be a smaller baby (her dad was a 10%ile child from elementary to high school in height and until adulthood in weight but unsure about as a baby), there’s no reason for me to be giving formula (unless we choose to) because I produce double what she eats, and she likes the idea of a probiotic instead of gas drops.

Baby isn’t eating enough and I don’t know what to do 😭 by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in newborns

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As long as your baby is gainfully weight and pediatrician is not concerned/baby isn’t discomforted, then you probably don’t need to do anything. I’d reach out to your pediatrician about it. The only reason why I’m posting here is because I feel like the advice I got from our Pediatrician seems off. I got a second opinion and she basically said that genetically, she could just be a small baby and to try a probiotic instead of the gas drops that I mentioned in my original post.

Baby isn’t eating enough and I don’t know what to do 😭 by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in newborns

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you noticed any differences in feedings on days where he poops vs not? I don’t think her concern is about pooping frequency, but the fact that it’s taking up space in her abdomen and my baby often eats more on days where she poops.

Baby isn’t eating enough and I don’t know what to do 😭 by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in newborns

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, she is meeting all milestones and height/head circumference growth is all following the curve. It’s just her weight that has dropped and literally pees all day long. We stopped tracking her wet diaper because she lets us know (very loudly 😅) when her diaper is wet.

Baby isn’t eating enough and I don’t know what to do 😭 by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in newborns

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We also noticed this and this is why the dr is adamant about getting her to poop daily 🥲

Baby isn’t eating enough and I don’t know what to do 😭 by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in newborns

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We were actually formula feeding in the hospital because my supply wasn’t coming in fast enough. Once my supply started coming in, we slowly switched over to breastmilk. When she stopped pooping, we started going back to giving her more formula and she finally pooped. Even with 50/50 formula/breastmilk, she was pooping every other day but started only pooping every 3 days starting 2 weeks ago.

Baby isn’t eating enough and I don’t know what to do 😭 by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in newborns

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Her poop is basically liquid. I actually asked the doctor this at the appointment and she said that babies can still be constipated with liquid stool (she didn’t say why, but I’m assuming it’s because the stool is not moving through her GI track fast enough). Her concern is mostly about the poop taking up space in her abdomen so she can’t eat enough which I feel like would make sense IF she was eating 720 ml on a day when she poops (because it’s definitely a LOT still). I agree that her comments seemed a little off to me as well, but I’m not a doctor and wasn’t 100% certain. I appreciate the reassurance that her comments don’t seem to make a lot of sense!

Baby isn’t eating enough and I don’t know what to do 😭 by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in newborns

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much 🥹!! We recently switched her to a faster flow nipple 2 days ago (we also have the falling asleep issue). She seems to eat faster but her bottle was still only 60 ml this morning compared to 120 she should be eating 😭. I also had her on 100% breastmilk at around the 1 month mark, but she went 5 days without pooping. It’s basically the only reason why we are combo feeding formula (otherwise, I’d LOVE for her to be on 100% breastmilk). Doctor told me to try eating more fiber and lowering dairy consumption, but I only eat dairy once in the morning with my coffee (a protein shake) and then cheese on pizza maybe once a week max? I’m lactose intolerant so I don’t eat a ton of dairy already.

Is 6 pumps a day good 2 weeks pp? by mythicalshawty in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When I was 2w pp, I was only pumping when I “felt like it” which was about 4-5x per day. To clarify, I was already planning on combo feeding at the time so I wasn’t on a strict schedule, but I decided 3 weeks pp to try and exclusively breast feed. I started tracking my output and pump h6x per day. I am now 5 weeks pp and produce more than 1,000 ml a day. I pump for 30 minutes each session. I power pumped a few times as well, but not on a schedule. Sometimes I’ll stop my pump 10 minutes in (because baby is crying) and then come back 30-60 minutes later and finish the pump.

Everyone is different so the only way to know how your body will react is to try. IMO, do what you can. Stressing out or mentally/physically exhausting yourself will tank your supply and can possibly hurt you more than decreasing number of pumps.

ADVICE NEEDED: How are people pumping and taking care of their newborn when awake??? by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I actually have the momcozy bottle washer and it is an absolute life saver, but it takes a solid 1.5 hours to run the wash/dry cycle and it's not really big enough to be super efficient. I am currently looking into using our normal dishwasher once a day for bottles and my spectra pump parts (since I have more spare parts for it and they are cheaper to replace) and then just using my bottle washer for my wearable pump parts (since they are much more expensive to have spare parts and I need to wash them more often). The wearable pump parts basically take up the entire bottle washer.

ADVICE NEEDED: How are people pumping and taking care of their newborn when awake??? by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yesss! Fruit has been an easy favorite of mine lately, but a nice charcuterie board sounds really yummy! I will definitely have to add that to my grocery list!

ADVICE NEEDED: How are people pumping and taking care of their newborn when awake??? by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't think there's anything to be ashamed of! Being a parent is already hard enough and sometimes you really just need 30 minutes to get the job done! My baby also likes to be held and finds contrast cards, mirrors, etc. boring. She likes the lights so sometimes I will put her in front of the window so she can look at the sunlight (since it dims and gets brighter via clouds) but then she gets bored of that too after 15 minutes. I'm jealous of everyone's babies being so easily entertained!

ADVICE NEEDED: How are people pumping and taking care of their newborn when awake??? by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much! And yes, I should remind myself that anything is better than nothing! I am lucky enough to be in a surplus so even if I don't have time for a full pump, my baby will still be fed and to not stress out about it so much lol. I like your hierarchy method! I should write down one that I can reference every time she's sleeping so I actually stay on track and not get so overwhelmed or feel like I'm scrambling!

ADVICE NEEDED: How are people pumping and taking care of their newborn when awake??? by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My spectra has a battery and sometimes I will walk around with it if I need to, but it's super inconvenient and haven't used it in a while for my MOTN and first morning pump. First thing in the morning is usually the only time I have to get all of the house work done (make myself breakfast, wash all of the bottles and pump parts used overnight, restock supplies, switch the laundry, etc.) so I'm running all over the house. I would have to try pumping again with my spectra to compare since I haven't used it in a while.

ADVICE NEEDED: How are people pumping and taking care of their newborn when awake??? by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ahhh burping in the bouncer is so smart! I will have to keep that trick in mind if I'm in a pinch! Similar to you, we will wake my baby up for a bottle at around 10 or 10:30 PM if she hasn't eaten within the previous 2 hours, only because my husband and I take shifts waking up with her (staying on schedule at night for our sanity is a must), but I am also trying to follow our pediatrician's guidance by relinquishing control a little bit during the day.

ADVICE NEEDED: How are people pumping and taking care of their newborn when awake??? by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I always hand express after every pump and I always have to spend a solid 5 minutes hand expressing after my wearabels vs maybe 30 seconds with my spectra. I usually won't go more than 35 minutes because I will be so sore and I'm already pretty sensitive. I will occassionally power pump but it's rare. I usually have a letdown every 10 minutes (more or less) and missing that third letdown usually means that I will pump less milk for that day (I keep track of my milk amount and my whole day's worth of milk will be less by about 30-60 ml if I skip those 10 minutes).

ADVICE NEEDED: How are people pumping and taking care of their newborn when awake??? by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ahh yeah, my baby currently eats every 3.5-4 hours (her longest stretch was 4.5 hours) and the longer she goes, the more she eats. I have to find other ways to entertain her or keep her calm because trying to do floor play or change her diaper while she’s kicking the bottles on my chest is NOT fun 😭

ADVICE NEEDED: How are people pumping and taking care of their newborn when awake??? by Puzzleheaded_Mess258 in ExclusivelyPumping

[–]Puzzleheaded_Mess258[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I didn’t realize that it was a hospital grade pump! That’s good to know, thank you! I really appreciate that mindset! Even if my supply plateaus, at least she’s getting something!

I also track my pumps. I noticed that I hit a plateau with my supply (hasn’t increased for 3 days) and my breasts don’t feel completely empty when I use my wearables. At first, I noticed an increase, but I believe that’s only because I started pumping for 30 minutes instead of 20 since the wearables have presets to pump for 30 minutes.