[net.kids] Breast Feeding HELP!!

lauri@fritz.UUCP (Lauri McFadden) (03/16/86)

I am having a frustrating experience with my daughter.  She is six weeks old
and she has decided that she doesn't really enjoy breast feeding.  Her first
feeding in the morning always goes well.  She sleeps through the night so
she's really hungry at this point and I have no problems.  However, with her
subsequent feedings she almost invariably decides that she wants to cry at
my breast.  Sometimes she will feed for about five minutes and then she will
decide to cry, sometimes she doesn't really feed at all.  Needless to say,
this can be very frustrating for both of us...  

What my husband and I have decided to do is to let her cry it out and
really get hungry.  This seems to work eventually, but she really gets worked
up and I'm not so sure that's good for her and she doesn't seem to be
learning from it.

I think it might be our fault because we have fed her out of a bottle when
we go out, so I think she might prefer to eat out of a bottle.  Today she
was crying at my breast, so I grabbed an empty bottle and gave it to her
to see if she would suck and sure enough she did.

I'm torn about bottle and breast feeding.  Breast feeding is definitely
better for her and it's cheaper and I can enjoy it but.... bottle feeding
is faster and my husband can help me.

Also, I have heard that certain foods can be irritating to a baby's tummy.
One of these such foods is chocolate.  Do any of you out there know any
other things I should avoid.

I would appreciate all the help I can get as soon as soon as possible.

Thanks in advance!!  

-- 

	Lauri L. McFadden
	trwrb!felix!lauri

jeanette@randvax.UUCP (Jeanette Haritan) (03/17/86)

In article <419@fritz.UUCP> lauri@fritz.UUCP (Lauri McFadden) writes:
>
>
>I am having a frustrating experience with my daughter.  She is six weeks old
>and she has decided that she doesn't really enjoy breast feeding.  Her first
>feeding in the morning always goes well.  She sleeps through the night so
>she's really hungry at this point and I have no problems.  However, with her
>subsequent feedings she almost invariably decides that she wants to cry at
>my breast.  Sometimes she will feed for about five minutes and then she will
>decide to cry, sometimes she doesn't really feed at all.  Needless to say,
>this can be very frustrating for both of us...  
>
>I think it might be our fault because we have fed her out of a bottle when
>we go out, so I think she might prefer to eat out of a bottle.  Today she
>was crying at my breast, so I grabbed an empty bottle and gave it to her
>to see if she would suck and sure enough she did.
>
There is a small plastic devise that mothers with inverted nipples use
that you may find helpful.  It gives the child the feeling that she is
feeding from a bottle, but in reality you are both still receiving the
benefits from breast feeding.
>
>Also, I have heard that certain foods can be irritating to a baby's tummy.
>One of these such foods is chocolate.  Do any of you out there know any
>other things I should avoid.

You should also avoid oranges, strawberries, cabbage, brussel sprouts,
broccoli, spinach, cauliflower,and anything spicy.  It sounds like alot,
but all these things really upset my baby's tummy. Every baby is different,
so you can try these foods and see if it upsets her before you totally
eliminate it from your diet.

Laura J. Morrison
Guest on this account
-- 
jeannette haritan

yeah sure

mezak@cae780.UUCP (Steve Mezak) (03/18/86)

In article <419@fritz.UUCP> lauri@fritz.UUCP (Lauri McFadden) writes:
>
>
>I am having a frustrating experience with my daughter.  She is six weeks old
>and she has decided that she doesn't really enjoy breast feeding.

<Also, I have heard that certain foods can be irritating to a baby's tummy.
>One of these such foods is chocolate.  Do any of you out there know any
>other things I should avoid.
>

Try getting a copy of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by the La Leche
League International.  My wife has a copy and found that it contains a
great deal of good advice.  She says that switching between bottle and
breast can cause "nipple confusion" for the baby.  

Foods can cause a problem, like garlic, cabbage, beans and other gassy
foods.  The book mentions a mother that had a problem with breast feeding
because the spray deodorant she used irritated the baby.  Switching to a
stick deodorant fixed the problem.

If you want the baby to sleep try drinking some wine before breast feeding!

rosen@exit26.DEC (Barry Rosen) (03/19/86)

Lauri,

Since I'm male, I'm certainly not the expert here but my wife and I 
(yes, the two of us) have been very successful.

I am assuming (not always the right thing to do) that your non-breast 
feedings are not of expressed breast milk and that are probably one of 
the prepared formulas.  These differ widely (you'd find it hard to 
believe how much) not only in their content but in the quantity of 
each of the ingredients.  I can not recall the brand name, but there 
is at least one which attempts to mimic the ingredient ratios in human 
breast milk.  If you are interested, I will try to find it for you.  
Many of the prepared formulas have various sugars added to them in 
some quantity (sucrose, maltose, glucose, etc.)  There is much 
discussion on this, much of it centered on not only the need but the 
quantity and type.  There are some groups which feel that there is 
some "addicting" to many of the formulas.  Understand that there is 
also a very strong manufacturer "lobby" out there.  Bottom line, the 
formulas may "taste" better and create a perceived need for your baby. 

Bottle feeding is considered to be "easier" (from the baby's 
perspective) than breast feeding which requires more work from the 
baby.  Some baby's will switch back and forth more easily than others.

Suggestions: Consider investigating other formulae.  Consider whether 
you would be comfortable in expressing milk for use in a bottle at 
times when you do not want to or can't breastfeed.  This also opens 
some additional opportunity for your husband to participate in feeding 
without utilizing formulas.  Try to use one of the bottle nipples 
which claim to more closely present a contour resembling the human 
nipple.  There were a few brands that did this but the only one that 
comes to mind now is NUK.  A book published by LaLeche League called, 
"The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding," is still one of the best books I 
have read on this topic.  The organization (whether you belong or not) 
is also a very good local support group and can even refer you to 
physicians who are supportive and knowledgeable about such things as 
taking drugs (medicine) while breastfeeding, etc.  The also have a 
wealth of information which I know they will eagerly share with you.

As for foods to avoid, I almost hate to touch this one because I am 
convinced and now the clinical evidence is mounting rapidly in this 
country finally, that little was known about foods, breastfeeding and 
sensitizing babies.  Immunologists and allergists are just now slowly 
beginning to recognize some of these connections.

Chocolate, which you mention, is not only bad for you (I love it) but 
it is one of the most sensitizing foods on the market for babies.  It 
not only can sensitize them to chocolate but also to other things.  
Most of the allergists I know ask their patients to remove this from 
their diet immediately whether tests show allergies or not.  Many of 
the foods which we find gas producing should not be eaten because they 
can make the nursing baby behave the same way.

Some books written for the lay person which I think you might find 
helpful are those written by Doris Rapp, M.D.  She is a pediatrician-
allergist that explains many of the newer findings concerning 
allergies, how they can present themselves, many of the common 
allergins and how early "history" can affect children later.  She is 
very clear and can produce demonstratable and reproducible results.

Barry


Posted:	Wed 19-Mar-1986 14:29 EST
To:	RHEA::DECWRL::"net.kids"

eisaman@ihlpl.UUCP (Eisaman) (03/20/86)

> In article <419@fritz.UUCP> lauri@fritz.UUCP (Lauri McFadden) writes:
> >
> >
> >I am having a frustrating experience with my daughter.  She is six weeks old
> >and she has decided that she doesn't really enjoy breast feeding.  Her first
> >feeding in the morning always goes well.  She sleeps through the night so
> >she's really hungry at this point and I have no problems.  However, with her
> >subsequent feedings she almost invariably decides that she wants to cry at
> >my breast.  Sometimes she will feed for about five minutes and then she will
> >decide to cry, sometimes she doesn't really feed at all.  Needless to say,
> >this can be very frustrating for both of us...  
> >
> >I think it might be our fault because we have fed her out of a bottle when
> >we go out, so I think she might prefer to eat out of a bottle.  Today she
> >was crying at my breast, so I grabbed an empty bottle and gave it to her
> >to see if she would suck and sure enough she did.
> >
> There is a small plastic devise that mothers with inverted nipples use
> that you may find helpful.  It gives the child the feeling that she is
> feeding from a bottle, but in reality you are both still receiving the
> benefits from breast feeding.
> >
> >Also, I have heard that certain foods can be irritating to a baby's tummy.
> >One of these such foods is chocolate.  Do any of you out there know any
> >other things I should avoid.
> 
> You should also avoid oranges, strawberries, cabbage, brussel sprouts,
> broccoli, spinach, cauliflower,and anything spicy.  It sounds like alot,
> but all these things really upset my baby's tummy. Every baby is different,
> so you can try these foods and see if it upsets her before you totally
> eliminate it from your diet.
> 
> Laura J. Morrison
> Guest on this account
> -- 
> jeannette haritan
> 
> yeah sure

My wife has had problems breast feeding our son.  In the hospital,
without our consent, the nurses gave him a bottle.  We didn't know
about it until we left the hospital and called after the next couple
of days because he wouldn't eat.  One of the nurses suggested using
a beast shield and eventually wean him from that.  We tried that and
he ate for a while but it still wasn't what he wanted.  He would take
her milk when she pumped it and put it in a bottle but not from her
breast, even when she dripped it into his mouth.  We tried everything
we could think of to get him to breast feed but he wouldn't do it.
When he was about four weeks old, and losing weight, we put him on
formula.  I think that the main reason is that he was bottle fed several
times in the hospital.  The nurses feed him despite our requests to
wake up my wife and have her breast feed.  Also I don't beleive that
the nipple sheild helped.  I would suggest that you keep trying to
breast feed your baby as long as you can.