A wise woman once said “Look at the baby. Not the scale.” Is he acting like a hungry baby? Or a baby who just had so much to go on from the get go (you had a biggun’!) that he’s got the stores to ride out a small short period of slow(er) growth?

XOXO

Sounds like a normal baby, regulating his hunger, to me. Five weeks is a developmental spurt (can equal clingy and more nursing) and six weeks is a growth spurt. Might be a good excuse to just lie down and nurse constantly for a few days. Hey, it’s lying down!

I was a single side nurser from way back because Miss M was so gassy. It can help with getting more hindmilk into them, as others have mentioned.

Just thought I’d share.

The technique is to keep feeding off the same boob (i.e. don’t alternate as is traditionally suggested). The hindmilk is richer and takes a while to get to esp when you have an abundant supply. I’d feed her on the right, say, burp, then return to the right. If she didn’t want any more then at the next feeding/snack I’d still go back to the right until I was sure it was drained. I’d use ‘breast compression’ at this point (see Dr. Jack Newman’s site/books) to assist as well. This seemed to help alot with the gas as well since too much foremilk makes ‘em gassy.

If the other breast got too full in the meantime I’d express a bit “off the top”.

Anyway, none of this is to say supplementing is any kind of crime: you’ve gotta do whatever’s necessary.

Make sure you cling to the fact that you made it through the hardest part of breastfeeding already, with no intentions of your own to quit, and that you always have your babe’s best interests in mind…..which makes you an awesome mama!!!!

Allow those cleansing tears of defeat (if you need to)….and then, as someone else already mentioned, maybe contact an LC…..or find a breast feeding mommies group (some have child care for older sibs) and share your triumphs and woes with all the other mamas!!! ( I still can’t figure out why my first was SO hard to nurse!! and why LC at the hospital figured my “hold” wasn’t good enuf with my second – even though he was nursing like a pro)…..ugggggg nursing IS hard!!!!! Whatever you do, pat yourself on the back girl!!!

It Ottawa the Somerset West Health Centre has an excellent breast feeding clinic. Diana was there for me and helped sooooooo much.
Don’t be hard on yourself. Sometimes the big babies are harder to please! I went through similar issues with my 10 1/2 lb daughter 9 years ago!

Did you ever find out if your municipality’s health program offers Lactation Consultants? Or if there are any working out of hospital-based or family /pediatric practices so that they are covered under OHIP?

I wish you luck. We had different problems that resulted in the same issues (I don’t make much milk for hormonal reasons and couldn’t get them sorted, combined with a baby who was born at 37 weeks and was a terrible sucker – at about 5 weeks we were declared failure to thrive and went on hardcore supplementation and eventually, at 3.5 months, switched full time to bottled formula) and I know how very frustrating it is to think you’ve got a problem solved and discover a new challenge. You’ve been doing a great job, though. Keep it up.

xoxo

P.S> Hope that wasn’t too ‘preachy’>

http://thismommysjourney.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-boobies-are-broken.html

When I was breastfeeding and the baby didn’t gain weight as fast as the doctor would have liked I was told, and I found it helped, to only feed on one breast per feeding. The thicker, fattier milk starts later in the feeding, apparently. The lactation specialist told me that the milk at the beginning of the feeding is sort of a “thirst quenching” milk – more liquidy, less fatty.