Hi,
Am facing the same issue with my daughther who is now just over four months. On day four she was hospitalized due to poor feeding and was immediately put on formula, which she happily took till she was about two months. Post that she has been refusing bottle and wants to feed only on the breast. We have tried different bottles, teats, milks but all in vain. She at four months has gained less weight then what she should have. I am trying to feed her now through spoon and cup but she hardly takes 5ml. I have also increased the no of feeding so that she gains weight. I was also planning to wean her, any advice. When did you wean your son?
Vibes, hope everything will go well for you with feeding. Seeing that your daughter only 4 months and prefers breastfeeding ( which is great, you will just need to work on increasing her intake and calories for weight gain), I would suggest to concentrate firstly on increasing your milk supply, and breastfeeding her more often and for longer if possible. You can get great ideas on that at
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/low-supply.html Another thing is if your daughter has good feedings, sufficient rest and activity periods and no health problems ( like heart defects, etc.), even if she is on the lower side of the scale for her age, it can still be normal. Each baby is different and they do not grow and develop om some universal schedule. Look at the people around us, -- some are big, some are small, some are short, some are tall
I would not worry much about it, and will just continue with good solid breastfeeding sessions. Supplementing can cause your milk supply to go down, and overall your baby can get more nutrition and healthy calories from your milk. You can also try to up your personal intake or healthy foods, -- try supplementing your diet with coconut oil ( its excellent for you!), do not extreme diet till you are finished with BF. These are just some ideas. And remember, your baby is unique, and many things would not happen on schedule or on chart, just do your best and provide baby's needs. Hope it helps and good lack.
Oh, and on weaning, World Health Organization guidelines, is breastfeeding till 12 months is very important, and till 24 is good. My first one stopped at 11 months though, since I was pregnant again and she did not like the taste of the milk at that point
Self weaning in my opinion is much gentle way to do it... Planning to do that with my # 2.
Weaning at 4 month is pretty early, it can be traumatic emotionally and also not so good for the immune system, so I would suggest weighing out pros and cons, doing your research, and following the baby's lead. Hope it helps! Good lack to you.
Digg
