I had my baby girl August 27. She was a healthy baby and I was producing plenty of colostrum. When we left the hospital, we implemented bad advice from a book teaching how to train your baby to sleep through the night. We had no idea that was horrible for both baby and mother because of skipped feedings. My baby lost tons of weight and I lost my milk. We have sought professional help and they informed us of the dangers of that book and put us on a strict diet plan for her weight gain and to try to produce milk again. She has gained weight with formula but my milk still won't come in plentifully. I produce barely enough to feed her 15% of her needs. Please pray for my milk and baby and for my sick husband (stress induced) and my surgery recovery!!!

Lauren, you and your family will be in my prayer. :)

Yes... bad advice!! Much better for both of you to just feed on demand. Pump as much as you can and as often as you can to try to reestablish your milk supply. Try not to stress as that can diminish milk too. Get plenty of rest and fluids. Please Pm me if you need to. I have had lots of practice and lots of different scenarios I had to work through. I will pay for you!!

Awww, I am so sorry to hear that, prayers sent....

Lauren, were you able to read my post to you on Rita Now before it went down, on the troubles you were having at home after your baby's birth?

I have a copy of it if you missed it and would like to read it...?


Blessings, Rocki

Praying for you and your baby, Lauren.

I will be praying.

Praying. Pump and hydrate does seem like good advice. As well as relax and trust God. Stress doesn't help anyone in anything.

El Shaddai, flow Your Spirit over Lauren as a cascade of living water. Restore her flow of milk to an abundance for her baby. Make Your provision for them tangible and manifest. And restore both of their health as a testament to Your glory. And we thank You that You do all things well.

Email: TxThom@raptureintheairnow.com

I will be praying for you and your baby and husband.Dont feel bad about it because becoming a new Mother is a learning experience!When I had my first son I thought everything would come naturally...boy was I wrong.I had surgery too and could not breast feed well...I didnt know the hospital was not feeding my son anything for days because they thought I was breast feeding!
Anyway,I will say a prayer for your little one.God bless.Roses

I'm praying for you both.

I have been praying for you guys and will continue.

It looks like doctors could get that book removed from the shelves!!

That wouldn't happen to have been the book by Dr. Spock, would have been? If so, not good advice.
I agree with TX Thom and I know it's easier said than done, but stress doesn't help the situation. You and baby and hubby WILL get into a routine and get back to normal. Right now, you don't think so and it sure soesn't feel that way. You are stressed and recovering, hubby is stressed and sick and as a result, baby is stressed too and it's a vicious cycle. I've been there as many others have. Is this your fist baby? Don't worry about things that aren't urgent. It will all work out. It always does. You are all in my prayers, Lauren. Try to keep activity to a minimum and do things when you feel like it. I know it seems like an eternity but it isn't. You will look back on this and think, "I never thought we'd be normal again. I know you both (and we all do) want to do everything perfect. There's a lot of things that are trial and error but just think about the 3 of you right now. Rest, eat, rest, eat, hydrate, hydrate..and just love your baby. Don't expect a whole lot out of yourselves right now. You are going through a major change but it DOES get better. I wish I would have had someone to tell me to just relax instead of worrying about everything else. If you all relax and just take your days one day at a time, you will be faster on your way to recovery.
Sorry, looks like I started writing a manual there. Praying for you all, dear one.

What is your daughter's name?

These little ones can bounce back quickly. Don't worry. You'll all come through this experience and someday look back and even laugh over what you all survived together in those first weeks. Much is learned through trial and error anyway. Soon you'll have a routine everyone can live with that works just for the three of you.

What you need above all is a good night's rest. Remember the baby senses your stress and reacts to it. It's very important that you remain calm for the both of you. A calm mother makes for a calm baby.

I know it looks awful right now but this isn't a permanent state of affairs. This will all straighten itself out. If breast feeding doesn't work out in the end--praise God for formula! Blessings dear one in Christ. You will survive this crisis. Praying for you and baby.

Email: victorychanter@raptureintheairnow.com

Website: Rapture In the Air Now

Praying for you and your little one and family. I have a tender place for babies in my heart I work with them. You might have to do 1/2 breast milk and half formula some moms have too when they don't produce enough milk. Praying God gives you the wisdom and strength to do what needs to be done and praying your milk comes in and your husband would be well. God bless you all.

Bless your heart, that would have stressed me out big time, too. You are under enough stress as it is getting very little sleep and healing up. God will intervene on behalf of your little one.
Blessings,
Mom of 2

Praying for you.

Ditto what everyone else is saying. Gets lots of rest, eat well and drink lots and lots of fluids. Listen to relaxing music. Nurse your baby often.Tickle the bottoms of feet to awaken to nurse longer if needed. Get a pump if you don't have one or see if you can go the the hospital to use theirs frequently. The greater the demand on your body, the more milk you will produce.

Congrats on your new bundle of joy! May Abba bless you and yours abundantly!

Hi Lauren Brooke,

My family is praying for yours.

I'm speaking as a dad who has only two children, but I will tell you quickly about our first, who is/was also an awesome, wonderful baby girl.

When Molly was born there were complications with my wife. I didn't realize how bad until they started wheeling her out of the birthing room to an ER, and said "Would you like to give her a last kiss before she goes?"

Because of the surgery and other complications, she didn't get a chance to nurse--or even hold--Molly for about 12 hours. At that point the nurses had started giving Molly formula, and she started taking a bottle.

We had planned on nursing our children naturally and not using formula, and now Molly was "spoiled" on the instant gratification of the bottle. We tried for weeks, had several therapy sessions, and Molly never learned to nurse. She was always hungry, and because of the nature of my wife's complications, she was never feeling well enough to pump very much.

After weeks and weeks of trying we finally realized something: God is still in control of everything.

You see, there are well-meaning people on both sides of the nursing/formula issue. The "scientific" evidence pendulum swings back and forth every few years.

You know what? There are millions of happy, healthy people running around. Some of them were nursed, some were bottle-fed.

In the end we realized that trying to do things the way we had planned was causing all three of us more stress than we needed. It was all based on an ideal that we had made up in our brains, and based our plan around it.

Molly will be turning 7 in October, (if we are all still around on this planet,) and she is the happiest, healthiest, most affectionate, and smartest kiddo around. She amazes teachers, doctors, and our friends. Most people mistake her for a ten-year-old because she is so tall and her vocabulary is amazing.

Three years later her brother came along. He nursed like a champ.

I don't think the nursing/formula issue matters very much at all in the long run. I know that God made things to work together perfectly with the milk, colostrum, and baby's needs. It is absolutely amazing.

But that same God sees the sparrow when it falls from the nest, He clothes the lilies of the field, and He feeds the birds of the air. When someone asks Him for a fish, He won't give them a snake, and if they ask for bread, He won't give them a stone.

I pray with assurance that your beautiful baby girl will gain weight and be healthy, no matter how God decides to do it.

God Bless you and your awesome new family!!!

Hi Lauren,

My heart goes out to you. I had a similar situation with my daughter. I had a c-section and could not produce milk or get enough sleep to recover properly. Your baby is not going to sleep through the night until anywhere from 2 to 6 months, but you MUST try and sleep as much as you can. Sleep and feeding (for you and baby) should be your highest priority. Everything else can wait. You will probably only get 2-3 hour chunks of sleep, but take them while you can... even during the day. If the baby sleeps... you should sleep too. That's the only way you will get better. Let your husband worry about the chores.

Do not stress or worry about breast feeding... keep trying though and supplement with formula until you can get your supply up. You are not a bad parent if you use formula. You need to do what's best for you and your baby right now. It will get easier I promise. Just make sure you sleep so you keep a clear head. After 2 months it will be so much easier.

If you are looking for a good baby book I recommend the baby whisperer. It helped me a great deal with my daughter as I knew nothing about taking care of babies.

I am praying for you dear sister. I pray you get lots of rest, healing and bonding with your baby. Please take care.

<3

vto

PS don't drive your self crazy with pumping... SLEEP is more important right now. Keep breast feeding though and supplementing you will have time to increase your supply once you are recovered.

Wonderful and encouraging example for many out there, CSF. I am so happy that I had the doctor I did back when my kids were babies b/c I was never made to feel like a failure about not nursing. In my neck of the woods, it was always a "status symbol" like potty training. It was a competition to see who could potty train their kids first and I never fell into that game. Everyone would boast about how their kids were potty trained at 9 months old while mine were in diapers until about 2. Well, all their kids started wetting the bed again and mine transitioned just fine when they were ready and never wet the bed. It's in a sense the same thing with nursing. Many were into the La Leche Club. Remember, you can't spoil a baby. When they need attention, they need attention. When they cry, there is a reason. They call the shots and are the boss as babies....and it works.
Don't let anyone pressure you into feeeling you should be able to do this or that. CSF is absolutely right. Millions of babies are happy and healthy who have been raised on formula. I have 2 who grew up very well-adjusted and happy.

Prayers going out for your family.

I breast fed my first born with no issues. My second child was delivered by C-section and I got very sick. He had to be supplemented with formula and I was very disappointed but he turned out fine in spite of this.

Agreeing in prayer with all the family here Lauren. Rest in the Lord He will restore your milk, don't be anxious He has it all under control. Blessings dear Sis.

Hi Laren, you need to do what we in Canada call a nurse in. You and baby stay in bed, skin to skin for at least 24 hours. Nurse as often as you can, have hubs bring you all the food and water you need. I took blessed thistle and fenugreek to increase my supply. My 9 month old still does not sleep thru the night. Sure I feel tired some days but he's worth it. :) don't feel bad if you have to suppliment. Baby's health is most important. It's early days yet, never too late to reestablish supply if that's what you want to do. Praying for you. :)

Lauren, I too have agreed in prayer with you and the rest of the saints here per your request.

May you and yours Have a Blessed Eve and day tomorrow as you rest in His peace><>

Your brother Joe