I have breast fed twice (with both my babies) with my first I had serious health problems my milk never fully came in (the dr did not expect my body to be able to fully supply my baby due to my health issues) and I was only allowed 6 weeks and then was ordered to stop and let my body heal.
With my second I did not have the same health problems but my milk again did not come in, I followed every trick in the book, my son was feeding literally 8-9 hours a day to get enough milk. I only lasted 8 weeks and the first bottle I gave him he downed in 2 minutes proving how hungry he had been and I had just finished a half an hour feeding.
All you can do is try your best, however my babies also cried at night and would not sleep if they still had a bubble in their belly.
at first its really hard bfeeding. i would allow my son to bfeed anytime he would cry. b/c usually they cry for either food or a diaper change and to be held too. so if his diaper wasn't wet and i held him and he'd cry i would put him on the breast even if he had ate just 10 min ago. if that's what you do and the baby wont take the breast it could be colic? try seeing a lactation consultant. they are the best! :) great job on bfeeding by the way. just letting you know its so easy bfeeding once it's been established. i had the hardest time the first month or so. i promise it gets easier.
oh and if you want to continue bfeeding dont do the bottle... b/c it only ruins the bfeeding relationship if you are just starting. my son loved the bottle b/c milk came out faster and he would cry and cry for a bottle. i was so devastated i almost gave up bfeeding. then i stopped giving him bottles and basically made him work for his food and we got back on track. so just from my experience just keep at bfeeding
The number of wet and soiled diapers. Also, if the baby is gaining weight or not. If the baby cries at night and is not sleeping, you can check and see if the baby is hungry, or wet. Sometimes the baby will need the comfort of nursing. Perhaps the baby has gas.
Using formula because the baby cries at night is not adequate.
How old is your baby? My son is 5mon and wakes up 2x a night to nurse. Some baby's have their days and nights mixed up and it takes awhile for them to learn to sleep at night. I'm sure if you nurse on demand that you have enough milk. Breastfed babies shouldn't really be on a schedule. Nurse them when they want to nurse and you'll have plenty of milk. For the first two months, it seemed like my baby really only slept soundly when he was being held. I would sleep on the couch with him on my chest, or we would co-sleep and I would nurse him in bed. He now sleeps 4hrs at a time at night. Don't give up breastfeeding because baby cries....all babys cry. Just nurse on demand. I was nursing my son every 30-45min for the first few weeks. It will get easier. Just be patient.
Sometimes babies will cry at night and not sleep just b/c they are babies. It really depends on how many wet diapers and poopy diapers they have per day and whether or not they are gaining the appropriate amount of weight for their age. Your dr should be tell you how much weight your baby should be gaining. I would recommend checking out www.babycenter.com. I'm on there all the time and they have excellent resources, community forums, expert articles and so on.
I had four kids all grown now that was breast fed, one important thing you can do is go buy you a breast pump (electric is better ) if your not producing enough milk you can pump in between feedings and your system will realize you need to produce more milk as you pump it out store it in a sterilized container or bottle in the refrigerator !
You will know if your baby is getting enough during regular feedings because the baby will still want more. If the baby is crying at night, he is either wanting food or needing to be change if you keep him tight is his blanket with a good firm blanket as a pillow it might help in the process.. hope this helps !!
As a dad of breastfed kids, you can tell if breastfeeding is enough by looking at the number of wet diapers your baby has per day. You can check the baby's weight and look to make sure color of eyes, nails and cheeks is good..
crying at night and sleeping doesn't always have something to do with what baby eats. a lot of times they just want to nurse because it's comforting- i co-slept so it was much easier
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I have breast fed twice (with both my babies) with my first I had serious health problems my milk never fully came in (the dr did not expect my body to be able to fully supply my baby due to my health issues) and I was only allowed 6 weeks and then was ordered to stop and let my body heal.
With my second I did not have the same health problems but my milk again did not come in, I followed every trick in the book, my son was feeding literally 8-9 hours a day to get enough milk. I only lasted 8 weeks and the first bottle I gave him he downed in 2 minutes proving how hungry he had been and I had just finished a half an hour feeding.
All you can do is try your best, however my babies also cried at night and would not sleep if they still had a bubble in their belly.
how old is the baby?
at first its really hard bfeeding. i would allow my son to bfeed anytime he would cry. b/c usually they cry for either food or a diaper change and to be held too. so if his diaper wasn't wet and i held him and he'd cry i would put him on the breast even if he had ate just 10 min ago. if that's what you do and the baby wont take the breast it could be colic? try seeing a lactation consultant. they are the best! :) great job on bfeeding by the way. just letting you know its so easy bfeeding once it's been established. i had the hardest time the first month or so. i promise it gets easier.
oh and if you want to continue bfeeding dont do the bottle... b/c it only ruins the bfeeding relationship if you are just starting. my son loved the bottle b/c milk came out faster and he would cry and cry for a bottle. i was so devastated i almost gave up bfeeding. then i stopped giving him bottles and basically made him work for his food and we got back on track. so just from my experience just keep at bfeeding
The number of wet and soiled diapers. Also, if the baby is gaining weight or not. If the baby cries at night and is not sleeping, you can check and see if the baby is hungry, or wet. Sometimes the baby will need the comfort of nursing. Perhaps the baby has gas.
Using formula because the baby cries at night is not adequate.
How old is your baby? My son is 5mon and wakes up 2x a night to nurse. Some baby's have their days and nights mixed up and it takes awhile for them to learn to sleep at night. I'm sure if you nurse on demand that you have enough milk. Breastfed babies shouldn't really be on a schedule. Nurse them when they want to nurse and you'll have plenty of milk. For the first two months, it seemed like my baby really only slept soundly when he was being held. I would sleep on the couch with him on my chest, or we would co-sleep and I would nurse him in bed. He now sleeps 4hrs at a time at night. Don't give up breastfeeding because baby cries....all babys cry. Just nurse on demand. I was nursing my son every 30-45min for the first few weeks. It will get easier. Just be patient.
Sometimes babies will cry at night and not sleep just b/c they are babies. It really depends on how many wet diapers and poopy diapers they have per day and whether or not they are gaining the appropriate amount of weight for their age. Your dr should be tell you how much weight your baby should be gaining. I would recommend checking out www.babycenter.com. I'm on there all the time and they have excellent resources, community forums, expert articles and so on.
I had four kids all grown now that was breast fed, one important thing you can do is go buy you a breast pump (electric is better ) if your not producing enough milk you can pump in between feedings and your system will realize you need to produce more milk as you pump it out store it in a sterilized container or bottle in the refrigerator !
You will know if your baby is getting enough during regular feedings because the baby will still want more. If the baby is crying at night, he is either wanting food or needing to be change if you keep him tight is his blanket with a good firm blanket as a pillow it might help in the process.. hope this helps !!
As a dad of breastfed kids, you can tell if breastfeeding is enough by looking at the number of wet diapers your baby has per day. You can check the baby's weight and look to make sure color of eyes, nails and cheeks is good..
when babies not gaining weight or making enough wet diapers and such
http://www.kellymom.com/newman/04enough_milk.html
crying at night and sleeping doesn't always have something to do with what baby eats. a lot of times they just want to nurse because it's comforting- i co-slept so it was much easier
How old is the baby?