New to breastfeeding

melaniejt

Hi everyone,

I had my daughter Lily on Dec 3rd and I have so many questions about breastfeeding, in addition to concerns and challenges! Lily lost 12% of her weight within 48 hours of her birth, so I was forced to supplement with an oz of formula right away. But the last couple of weeks, I have been exclusively breastfeeding and pumping, thanks to my lactation consultant! I've also had to take fenugreek to help increase my supply, in addition to pumping after each feeding, however as of last week I was making enough and my consultant said I only needed to pump a couple times a day now for storage. (Going back to work in Feb)

My first question is, now that my supply is good, I'm going to stop fenugreek. Do you guys think this will cause an issue? I'm afraid all my hard work will go down the drain.

Second, a lot of the time, it takes Lily a few times of latching on and off, a little fussing, to finally latch on and eat for a good 10 minutes...sometimes she'll take the other breast, sometimes she won't. What would cause her to latch on and off over and over again? Sometimes, she even pushes my breast away or punches them. (I know she doesn't have control of her hands, so I'm not sure if this even means anything). I've read that I could be having a powerful letdown. My breasts, especially at night, leak quite a bit right at the beginning of a feeding, but I'm still not positive this is what's happening. If so, what can I do about this?

Third, my lactation consultant ddoesn't seem to have any concerns with me having an over supply and says I could pump twice a day, but how often are you guys pumping while breastfeeding? Again, ill be back to work in feb. 

And last, how do I know for sure that she's done eating? I'm afraid of under or over feeding her, and I just typically feed until it seems like she's done or falls asleep at my breast. Is it even possible to over feed? 

 

Thank you guys so much!