Dear Geraldine,
I have just found your website and hope you can help because I just don’t think I can continue breastfeeding. My baby is 6 days old. I thought he was feeding well because the midwife said ‘he looked fine’ but now he has lost 12% of his birthweight and they want me to give him formula. Jack just cries the whole time and seems to be permanently fixed to my boob. I can’t understand why he has lost so much weight if he is feeding all the time! Please can you help me?
Sharon Mills
Hi there Sharon,
I am sorry that you are having such a tough time but this does happen quite a lot, so please don’t think you are the only mom who has somehow missed the fact that your baby is not getting food. You were told he was feeding fine.
Let’s address the weight thing first. Jack is 6 days old, we don’t know if he lost 15% and has regained some weight or whether he has just lost weight gradually over time. Either way, I agree with your midwife about offering small top ups after each feed.
Feed from both breasts for 15-20 minutes on each and then offer him 30ml of formula.
I think the reason he is crying all the time is that he is hungry and probably exhausting himself too. So with a little help, you can turn this around and get rid of some of the pressure you are feeling.
See if you can express a little after each feed, so that you can start substituting formula with expressed milk.
I would also strongly recommend that you get yourself a copy of the Low Milk Supply eBook so that you can properly understand if you have a low milk problem or whether it is a milk transference problem. You will also see that there is a whole section with diagrams to teach you how to position and latch your baby properly.
Moms tell me all the time that they know the ‘theory’ – but believe me, you don’t! The theory you have been given is 99% irrelevant to your situation or simply incorrect and out of date.
Come and see me at my practice too, just so that I can make sure you are on the road to recovery. You can do this, breastfeeding is so simple when you have the correct information and support, don’t give up on it just yet.
Much love, Geraldine
