A bit worried. ** UPDATE**

I'm a bit worried as Kaydi has only put 3oz on in 3 weeks. My HV didn't say anything about it. I think she may think its only been a week not 3.
Looking at it, shes going towards the 0.4th centile . Shes been steadly following the2nd centile till now.
I know she doesn't feed off one side for long enough. Once she has had the fast flowing foremilk she fusses and even cries sometimes. I leave her on the same side for as long aspossible till she can't possibly be getting anything as she's crying. Then i offer the other side. which seems to be what she want and why she is crying.

What do i do?

I'd personally ignore the weight charts as they are about 20 yrs out of day and intended for FF baby.

As long as she is happy and content I wouldn't worry too much.

Tasmin has been fussy for the last week or so but she has been suffering on and off with a cold for about 2 weeks.

I'm sure someone will be along soon who's more experienced than I am

I have the breast fed chart in my book. I asked for one....lol.
I shouldn't worry, i know but you just do don't you.
She is already very small compared to all the other babies her age i know.
She is teething at the moment though. That could be part of the problem.

It just the fussing and wanting the other side after a short feed i'm bothered about. I don't know if she's getting enough hind milk.

Emily always shows as being underweight & for months would only feed on one side in the day ,even now she likes left in the day & i trick her with the right in the night.
I very rarely take her to be weighed anymore that way i dont worry where she is on the chart.
I would say if shes happy & giving wet nappies ignore the charts .

Did you try to express milk before putting her on breast, taking some fore milk off and then putting baby on "prepared" breast: this way even if she'll bf only for a while she;ll get hind milk.
Also: why do you think she likes to bf only short time/ on beginning of session? Is she keen on fast flow? Is your letdown strong? Is your milk flowing steadily or after first few minutes its slowing down? Is she getting tires easy/ falling asleep?
I have something in mind, lol, but need you to answer me on that.

I agree with Katie maybe try pumping a little fore off first so she gets the hind.

I've not tried pumping before. How long do you recomend?
As far as i know she likes the fast flow. I think i have a strong let down. From what happenes when i express I get several streams that are quite fast for say about 3 mins then it slows to almost nothing.
She doesn't get sleepy unless its time for her nap.

I would pump lets say for 3-4 min and then pop her on breast, freeze pumped milk- you'll start solids soon and it will be perfect for porridge or even practicing with sippy cup.
To spead the flow of milk you could try breast compressions, you can find brilliant video with instructions here:
http://www.drjacknewman.com/help/Breast-compression.asp
http://www.drjacknewman.com/help/Breast-compression.asp

Please do NOT get hung up on this foremilk/hindmilk stuff - your boobs do NOT make 2 kinds of milk.

Think of it as a hot water tap. When you first turn the tap on, the water feels cold, but then gets hotter and hotter.

When your baby first sucks at the breast, the fat content of the milk is low but quickly increases in concentration.

Tiny Terror went through a phase at around 5-6 months when he was showing a definite breast preference, it soon pass though.

Have to dash he has just woken up.
Have a look at link

Right I am back.

Expressing does not give good indication of how much milk you will produce. I cannot express at all now - if I try to hand express I might get one tiny drop out, yet I see to have no trouble feeding Tiny Terror. My ds has also dropped a centile, from 9th to 2nd, my HVs are not bothered in the slightest, have put it down to him being very active.
How active is your lo? Is she rolling around lots? Starting to crawl? Is she interacting with the world around her lots? It could be that she is getting frustrated, she is hnugry but she wants to do things as well, hence the fussing at the breast.
Agree with the others re:weighing, if she seems to be content, has got bracelets on her wrists, producing lots of wet/dirty nappies then she is doing fine and you are doing a grand job of feeding her.
Oh and Tiny Terror also failed to gain weight for 2 weeks, when he was about 20 weeks, he made up for it the weeks after though - if he gain has been very good it could be that it is just a blip.

Drusilla wrote:Please do NOT get hung up on this foremilk/hindmilk stuff - your boobs do NOT make 2 kinds of milk.

Think of it as a hot water tap. When you first turn the tap on, the water feels cold, but then gets hotter and hotter.

When your baby first sucks at the breast, the fat content of the milk is low but quickly increases in concentration.

Tiny Terror went through a phase at around 5-6 months when he was showing a definite breast preference, it soon pass though.

Have to dash he has just woken up.
Have a look at link

I kind of agree with you- but making mum understand there is a difference between milk coming out on the beginning and end of bf session is important, otherwise they end up switching every two minutes and baby won't get enough. And this is the most simple way of explaining it to them, keep in mind some mums have not mush education etc and fore/ hind milk terms are widely recognised.

Claire asked what she could do to help LO gain better, and this is what we simply do.

Kasia80 wrote:
I kind of agree with you- but making mum understand there is a difference between milk coming out on the beginning and end of bf session is important, otherwise they end up switching every two minutes and baby won't get enough. And this is the most simple way of explaining it to them, keep in mind some mums have not mush education etc and fore/ hind milk terms are widely recognised.

Claire asked what she could do to help LO gain better, and this is what we simply do.

Noted. But this distinction is an important one and well worth educating people on.

Now im confused!
So are you saying foremilk and hindmilk dont exsist? What is letdown for then?
There is definately a noted difference when i pump for the milk bank - my milk initially squirts fast and is quite clear (which i assumed was 'thirst quenching foremilk') It then stops for a few seconds and then becomes thicker and whiter and drips out as opposed to squirting out. (I assumed this was the 'calorific hind milk')

:help:

See this explanation here, it might explain it a bit better than I did!
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/foremilk-hindmilk.html

It's not that there isn't foremilk and hindmilk, it's just that there isn't a switch between the two. The impression when people use this explanation is that you feed for x minutes and that is foremilk and for y minutes for hindmilk. It is much more gradual transition and this transition varies from breast to breast and also the frequency with you feed also can have an effect - if you feed more frequently then the milk will be higher in fat than in you space the feeds out more.

Thankyou!
That makes it a bit clearer

Glad to help

I expressed before i fed today for the first time.

I feel horrid, Kaydi is fussing and crying whilst trying to feed.
She's grabbing and pulling at me getting really annoyed.
I think its because she is having to work harder to get anything out.

I did seem to have a let down but it was really short, lasting only seconds.
She is now doing an annoyed humming noise while trying to feed. She's getting tired.

When this happens carry on with breast compression, shoudl encourage another let down x

Its all going well now.

Fantastic news hunny :aww:

Kaydi put 10oz on this week.
:boob: :boob: :boob: :boob: :boob: and a little more :boob:!

Thank you for the help ladies. :cheer:

I worried for nothing as usual!

YIPEEEEE!

Fantastic!!!


Welldone hun :aww:

:aww: well done hunny :boob:

WTG!! mama :aww: