4 oz 2 days...

Big *fat* sigh of relief when baby tipped the scales at 8 pounds 8 oz
today... almost 4 oz in 2 days.

Just about the time I'm getting the hang of the tube feeding thing... she
gets serious about her suck.

We went to a chiropractor who works with babies and does craniosacral
therapy... the suck was improved almost instantly.

My supply has gone from 1 oz in 20 minutes, pumping, to 2 1/2 oz in 10
minutes, pumping. I'm using a white river pump on one side while nursing on
the other--this is an electric soft-cup pump which is hands-free once I've
got it "latched".

I'm realizing how easy it is to "blame the mom" in this sort of situation...
I'd be freaking about my supply if I didn't know I was capable of packing on
12 pounds onto a baby in 4 months (dd.. But in this case, I am clearly
producing enough... it's getting teh baby to get it out of the breast that
is the issue.

And for this kid, going to bed with baby doesn't work--she falls asleep. I'm
using a kitchen timer now to wake *me* up every 3-4 hours, then I HAVE to
sit up and nurse her or she'll just drift back off because I'll fall asleep
and quit "bugging" her.

Stripping her down to just a diaper helps...but isn't always enough.

Even cold water doesn't always wake her up. Changing her diaper works...but
only if it's wet, and sometimes not for long. And you can only change the
diaper so often in a given feed....

Massaging the breast while she nurses helps. Tube feeding actually helps--it
is "double" stimulation--she's stimulating the breast while I'm pumping the
milk out, then stimulating it again when she sucks the milk out down the
tube at the breast. We're using just a plain 20 ml syringe hooked up to an
infant NG feeding tube--works pretty simply. Plus the extra milk is a little
cold, which stimulates her, and simply getting more food wakes her up.

There's this vicious cycle... baby is sleepy and doens't nurse, supply
drops, baby stays sleepy because blood sugar is low, etc. etc. Getting more
food into baby is the first step. Making sure the suck is efficient is the
second. Keeping up the supply... I knew when I kept feeling pressure and
engorgment that I needed to draw out more milk than she was getting...
because it's easier to keep a supply than to get it back. That's the third
step.

Ironically, getting more food into the baby may mean baby wakes up
spontaneously more often. For us the biggest "problem" time is at night--she
gets warm and being warm makes her sleepy and she doesn't want to nurse...
which would be fine if she gained without supplementation, but I'd rather
get up more at night than have to tube feed.

Jenrose

Jenrose wrote:
Big *fat* sigh of relief when baby tipped the scales at 8 pounds 8 oz
today... almost 4 oz in 2 days.


Woo hoo! Keep up the good work!

Emily

What exactly did the chiro do? I am curious, as DS #2 is a speech
kiddo-always had an inefficient and lazy suck as a baby. Even now, he seems
to barely move his jaw.

Good job on the babaloo weight gain. You are doing a fabulous job with all
the gadgetry.

Warmly,
Kelly
#4 2/15/05

"Jenrose" wrote in message
news:1112249016.2b9d2a5ad44921611fc8ac50433769a7@t eranews...
Big *fat* sigh of relief when baby tipped the scales at 8 pounds 8 oz
today... almost 4 oz in 2 days.

Just about the time I'm getting the hang of the tube feeding thing... she
gets serious about her suck.

We went to a chiropractor who works with babies and does craniosacral
therapy... the suck was improved almost instantly.

My supply has gone from 1 oz in 20 minutes, pumping, to 2 1/2 oz in 10
minutes, pumping. I'm using a white river pump on one side while nursing
on the other--this is an electric soft-cup pump which is hands-free once
I've got it "latched".

I'm realizing how easy it is to "blame the mom" in this sort of
situation... I'd be freaking about my supply if I didn't know I was
capable of packing on 12 pounds onto a baby in 4 months (dd.. But in this
case, I am clearly producing enough... it's getting teh baby to get it out
of the breast that is the issue.

And for this kid, going to bed with baby doesn't work--she falls asleep.
I'm using a kitchen timer now to wake *me* up every 3-4 hours, then I HAVE
to sit up and nurse her or she'll just drift back off because I'll fall
asleep and quit "bugging" her.

Stripping her down to just a diaper helps...but isn't always enough.

Even cold water doesn't always wake her up. Changing her diaper
works...but only if it's wet, and sometimes not for long. And you can only
change the diaper so often in a given feed....

Massaging the breast while she nurses helps. Tube feeding actually
helps--it is "double" stimulation--she's stimulating the breast while I'm
pumping the milk out, then stimulating it again when she sucks the milk
out down the tube at the breast. We're using just a plain 20 ml syringe
hooked up to an infant NG feeding tube--works pretty simply. Plus the
extra milk is a little cold, which stimulates her, and simply getting more
food wakes her up.

There's this vicious cycle... baby is sleepy and doens't nurse, supply
drops, baby stays sleepy because blood sugar is low, etc. etc. Getting
more food into baby is the first step. Making sure the suck is efficient
is the second. Keeping up the supply... I knew when I kept feeling
pressure and engorgment that I needed to draw out more milk than she was
getting... because it's easier to keep a supply than to get it back.
That's the third step.

Ironically, getting more food into the baby may mean baby wakes up
spontaneously more often. For us the biggest "problem" time is at
night--she gets warm and being warm makes her sleepy and she doesn't want
to nurse... which would be fine if she gained without supplementation, but
I'd rather get up more at night than have to tube feed.

Jenrose

"Kelly" wrote in message
...
What exactly did the chiro do? I am curious, as DS #2 is a speech
kiddo-always had an inefficient and lazy suck as a baby. Even now, he
seems to barely move his jaw.

Hard to say... it's all very gentle and subtle, but on babies, that's all it
takes. Mostly it looks like the chiro spends a lot of time rubbing baby's
head while letting baby suck on a finger, then just "feels" baby's back,
neck and head, but nothing that looks like a regular adult adjustment. But
it totally helped--she said that while she was doing the head adjustment,
Shiny's suck went from stronger on one side and weaker on the other, to
balanced and strong on both sides.


Good job on the babaloo weight gain. You are doing a fabulous job with
all the gadgetry.


It's a royal PITA...it would be so much "easier" in the short run to use a
bottle for the pumped milk, but while it would "win the battle" it could
lose the war.

But hopefully this way we won't do it long-- one of the subtler things I did
when feeding supplements was to give her extra "squirts" when she sucked
strongly... this tended to get a rapid improvement of how often and strongly
she sucked.

Jenrose

sounds difficult, but I'm really pleased there as been some progress

Anne

Hmmm, interesting. I've always thought that massage or chiropractic could
help people with TMJ. Glad it worked for Shiny's suck. I may look into it
for Nathan, as there is definately something in his jawline that is impeding
his progress in speech (other than sheer laziness)

One thing about the weak suck, introducing the bottle would most likely lose
the war for you as you stated. She'll get it-the supplemental nursing
system works for most and it sounds as if it is helping.

warmly,
Kelly
#4 2/15/05

"Jenrose" wrote in message
news:1112251629.1b0e6316820076b015bb49e5668246fb@t eranews...

"Kelly" wrote in message
...
What exactly did the chiro do? I am curious, as DS #2 is a speech
kiddo-always had an inefficient and lazy suck as a baby. Even now, he
seems to barely move his jaw.

Hard to say... it's all very gentle and subtle, but on babies, that's all
it takes. Mostly it looks like the chiro spends a lot of time rubbing
baby's head while letting baby suck on a finger, then just "feels" baby's
back, neck and head, but nothing that looks like a regular adult
adjustment. But it totally helped--she said that while she was doing the
head adjustment, Shiny's suck went from stronger on one side and weaker on
the other, to balanced and strong on both sides.


Good job on the babaloo weight gain. You are doing a fabulous job with
all the gadgetry.


It's a royal PITA...it would be so much "easier" in the short run to use a
bottle for the pumped milk, but while it would "win the battle" it could
lose the war.

But hopefully this way we won't do it long-- one of the subtler things I
did when feeding supplements was to give her extra "squirts" when she
sucked strongly... this tended to get a rapid improvement of how often and
strongly she sucked.

Jenrose

Good for you! I hope you'll be able to ditch all the extras soon.

Leslie

Jenrose wrote:
Big *fat* sigh of relief when baby tipped the scales at 8 pounds 8 oz

today... almost 4 oz in 2 days.

Excellent news!!

You know, my mom drank tons of hot tea (with caffeine) and I wouldn't
sleep more than 45 minutes at a stretch - I wonder if you increased
your consumption of caffeine, if you could perk her up enough to eat
more regularly? It might take a few days for the caffeine to pass...
Go get yourself a few lattes and see what happens!

Amy (on the phone with the long distance company that slammed me, and
about to lose my f(*&ing mind)

Glad to hear that she's gaining some weight. I remember having to
constantly keep DS awake during feedings. It got very fustrating but
also got better after he got a little while. Keep up the good work.

Shelley
mom to Jacob (3 yo)
edd mar 30/05

"Jenrose" wrote in message ...
Big *fat* sigh of relief when baby tipped the scales at 8 pounds 8 oz
today... almost 4 oz in 2 days.

Just about the time I'm getting the hang of the tube feeding thing... she
gets serious about her suck.

We went to a chiropractor who works with babies and does craniosacral
therapy... the suck was improved almost instantly.

My supply has gone from 1 oz in 20 minutes, pumping, to 2 1/2 oz in 10
minutes, pumping. I'm using a white river pump on one side while nursing
on the other--this is an electric soft-cup pump which is hands-free once
I've got it "latched".

I'm realizing how easy it is to "blame the mom" in this sort of
situation... I'd be freaking about my supply if I didn't know I was
capable of packing on 12 pounds onto a baby in 4 months (dd.. But in this
case, I am clearly producing enough... it's getting teh baby to get it out
of the breast that is the issue.

And for this kid, going to bed with baby doesn't work--she falls asleep.
I'm using a kitchen timer now to wake *me* up every 3-4 hours, then I HAVE
to sit up and nurse her or she'll just drift back off because I'll fall
asleep and quit "bugging" her.

Stripping her down to just a diaper helps...but isn't always enough.

Even cold water doesn't always wake her up. Changing her diaper
works...but only if it's wet, and sometimes not for long. And you can only
change the diaper so often in a given feed....

Massaging the breast while she nurses helps. Tube feeding actually
helps--it is "double" stimulation--she's stimulating the breast while I'm
pumping the milk out, then stimulating it again when she sucks the milk
out down the tube at the breast. We're using just a plain 20 ml syringe
hooked up to an infant NG feeding tube--works pretty simply. Plus the
extra milk is a little cold, which stimulates her, and simply getting more
food wakes her up.

There's this vicious cycle... baby is sleepy and doens't nurse, supply
drops, baby stays sleepy because blood sugar is low, etc. etc. Getting
more food into baby is the first step. Making sure the suck is efficient
is the second. Keeping up the supply... I knew when I kept feeling
pressure and engorgment that I needed to draw out more milk than she was
getting... because it's easier to keep a supply than to get it back.
That's the third step.

Ironically, getting more food into the baby may mean baby wakes up
spontaneously more often. For us the biggest "problem" time is at
night--she gets warm and being warm makes her sleepy and she doesn't want
to nurse... which would be fine if she gained without supplementation, but
I'd rather get up more at night than have to tube feed.

Jenrose

You should be proud of yourself, you have real determination - that's one
lucky baby.

Andrea (UK) mom of 5 and edd 15th October.