New mommy!

Hi ladies I just had my first baby 4 days ago and I've been breastfeeding since I had him but he has jaundice and had to stay over night last night though we were discharged so we came home and they gave him formula now when I breast feed I feel like I'm not giving him enough and I don't want to get him used to the formula but I feel like it can give him more than I can :/  how do I know if he's full? When he pulls away and I think he's done I hear his stomach grow but he won't lAtch back on and idk what to do I'm worried

[Gabriel_Charlie]

Congrats! Do you have a mid-wife?

[summero87]

A newborns stomach is the size of a marble so your colostrum / pre milk is more than enough for the first couple days: )..has your baby passed the meconium poop yet?  How many wet diapers  baby having??  It'll get easier just keep up the good work

[mum2beagain]

Newborn babies feed round the clock, usually 10-12 times in 24 hours, sometimes more with only 30 minutes to an hour between feeds sometimes. It can be very tiring at first, make sure you drink plenty and eat nutritious meals and snacks and rest as much as you can.
If your babies jaundice is getting better without supplementing then avoid giving formula as it will in fact lower your milk supply which can quickly spiral into more formula and then even less breast milk. Relax as much as you can and trust your body to do what it was made to do.
Basically with a newborn if they cry or are fussy and don't have a wet or dirty diaper or need winding then allow them to nurse and you won't go far wrong.
Congratulations on your new baby.

[AnnieBrooke]

My son had jaundice, and he was bottle and breast fed.  I would have liked to breast feed exclusively but the choice was taken out of my hands his third day in the hospital, and we did get along fine with bottle and breast.  I always fed him from the breast first, and took steps to be sure the bottle was not easier to s u c k than the breast by using the slowest nipples (I think they are either marked slow flow or newborn).  By the time he was three or four months old, I stopped warming the formula.  He never got tired of nursing, and we nursed for 18 months along with his other intake (which of course by then was food as well as 1-2 year formula).  You should be OK, always feed him from you first, but with jaundice be sure he gets pretty constant liquid.  Good luck.

[crazycurious11]

Thanks for y'all's answers ladies now he's 10 days and I give him formula and breast but I pump for him. I just can't pump more than about 5 oz per day. I rarley eat maybe once or twice a day but I can't help it I don't have an appetite I think it's either from not getting enough sleep or I have an eating disorder but Im not producing enough

[RBarron]

Be very careful here because this is how many women loose their milk. They did this to my baby in the hospital and it took a couple weeks for us to get regulated.
First of all - you will more than likely produce enough milk if you breast feed exclusively. Its very rare that a new mom doesnt produce milk. Breast milk digests faster than formula so babies get hungrier faster. It's normal for a newborn to nurse every 30 min.
Your baby may be used to getting milk faster from a bottle than from your breast. This will cause his to be fussy at the breast. If you want to breast feed exclusively your body WILL make enough milk, but your baby may be fussy for a couple days while the two of you get used to it.
If you want to breast feed exclusively, I recommend seeing a lactation consultant to help you work through this.
If you continue to give your baby formula you might end up sabotaging yourself and eventually your supply will drop. This is a mistake many women make and they think they can't make enough milk. Your milk is produced by supply and demand, so if you supplement with formula your body will stop making it eventually.
There is no rule that you have to breast feed, exclusively or at all, but I just wanted to let you know these things in case you really want to breast feed.

[Diane1003]

My son was jaundice and the dr ordered formula after I would nurse him b/c the dr said the photo therapy could be dehydrating.  I would nurse and then my husband would offer a bottle.  We did this at every feeding while our son was in the hospital (less than 24 hrs).  When my son was released and sent home, we offered the bottle after every other feeding and tapered off from there.  Thankfully my son never had an issue going between me or the bottles from the hospital so we didn't have any nipple confusion and I was never rejected.  I made sure to go first with nursing him, and was persistent. I also insisted that we take my son off the formula as soon as we could.  Best of luck to you.