We made babyfood for Lela. It was the only time I actually pumped (used breastmilk to make oatmeal and thin down foods). She started eating other foods at 8.5 months, and she only did the mushy foods for about a month.

It was so much fun going to the Farmers' Market and buying food for her. The only thing we didn't do was make her cereal - we used Earth's Best whole grain cereals for the iron. Her iron was slightly low at 6 months (probably because she was induced at 37 weeks, very small 4#15, and her umbilical cord was cut immediately instead of waiting for it to stop pulsing).

On another note, how many grams of protein should I be getting? I have read that I need an extra 10 (per baby) but what is a good baseline for me? 60? 80?. I'm averaging 95-100 grams per day now.

I'd say you need a minimum of probably 70-90 and then how ever it works for your way of eating.

I average about 110-120/day

cj - we do cloth full time too. The only time that we didn't while on a trip was on a cruise. But, we've been other places and did cloth no problem.

I took Charles to the dr's for a weight check. He's up to 6lb4oz. He has a avg gain of 4.5 oz per week. Since that's a little low, even for a bf baby, we have to go back in two weeks for another check. I believe the avg for bf babies is 5-7 oz per week, so he's not doing too bad (DD's weight gain was much worse). I have stopped giving him bottles of EBM, so he's nursing for all of his feedings. I'm hoping that will help him become a better nurser.

With the warmer weather, I've been taking the kiddos out for a afternoon stroll (DS in a sling and DD in a stroller). I think I need a double stroller though, esp as he starts to get heavier!

Our pediatrician said that 1/2 to 1 ounce per day was normal, so that'd be 3.5 - 7 ounces per week. My daughter gained an average of 3/4 oz per day for the first 3 weeks and the doctors were not concerned.

I also agree - if they are gaining at least 1/2 oz a day then they are okay, even if that is the low end. And it's frustrating that babies weighing 4 pounds and 10 pounds are supposed to gain the same - that's silly! They don't even eat the same amounts!

When my twins were born, they both lost a lot of weight. They were 37 weeks and not premature (actually, their apgars were nearly perfect!). Olivia was tiny, 4#9 at birth. She lost down to 4# even, and looked terrible. She was barely gaining anything, and starting to look very gray and was lethargic. The ped that they saw was pushing formula (even though I had plenty of breastmilk) and telling me that I needed to give her bottles - he was not a good doc. I stopped seeing him when they were 2 weeks (and still way below birth weight) and had one of my midwives come for a day to watch the feedings. (She's a postpartum doula and LLL leader as well.) Both babies had good feeding techniques, but were so small that they tired quickly. She recommended giving them syringe feedings (0.5-1 oz) of EBM after they nursed. (I just put my finger in their mouths and gently squirted milk in there when they started to suck.)

It was amazing, especially for tiny Olivia. (Laurel was a chunk - her lowest weight was 4#12.) Within an hour of giving her the first complementary breastmilk, she was alert and actually cueing to nurse. You could literally see her regain her color - within a few minutes of the feeding, she had a pinkish glow, instead of gray. She finally had enough energy to nurse effectively, and stopped falling asleep at the breast after a couple minutes. I did these feedings like this about 5 times a day, and within a week Liv was doing so well that I stopped.

They didn't regain their birth weights until they were nearly a month old. This would be very alarming to most pediatricians, and I would have been under a lot of pressure to give them bottles (so they would know how much they were drinking). But I stuck to my plan and kept my babies in kangaroo care almost constantly, and it worked. By the time they were 3 weeks old, they were gaining the more typical 1 oz. per day. But every baby is different! They are now in the 10-20th percentiles, which is normal for my babies (my toddler is and has always been there).

However, I have to say that if your doctor was REALLY concerned, he wouldn't have waited 2 weeks - he would have said 2 days. He's just following protocol, CYA, you know? Have you thought about doing some weighings yourself (that's what I did to make sure my babies were gaining well)?

I'm glad to hear that he's not getting bottles anymore, and I'm sure he will get better at nursing. Bottles doing require much effort to get any milk. Usually by 6 weeks, most of the nursing kinks have been worked out for both of you. Even though I'd already nursed a baby when my twins were born, I remember being very awkward nursing them at first. It had been almost 2 years since I nursed a little baby (my daughter was also very tiny and had the same problems with tiring out - she did SNS) - I was used to nursing a big toddler!! But by the time they were a couple weeks old, it was old hat again. Now I can nurse them together while lying on my back in the bed.

You can do it - go momma go!!

Jennylou - We do cloth all the time, for trips long and short. We've never been on a cruise though, and I imagine that if we did we would use disposables. My twins were in disposables and cloth for about a week. My mom was there and she INSISTED on using them - no idea why. My husband finally hid them so she'd have to use the cloth ones. It's funny, because she still insists on using cotton balls to wipe them, even though we have perfectly good cloth wipes. I think she just likes to be contrary. She will search high and low for cotton balls, when a wipe is right there. And she's not against cloth either, so I don't know what her deal is.

We did cloth on a 5 day trip to Vermont - plane trip, hotel, etc. Had to go to the laundry mat only once. (This was pre-twins.....my toddler was only 7 months at the time. I don't think I could do a plane trip now!)

I use prefolds and Bummis SWW. What do you use?

I'm not sure what you mean?

Fortunately I found a ped that doesn't push formula. He knows the value of BM and wants to see me continue to BF, even with slow gain in my babies. Like your twins, DD took a month to reach her birth weight too (though she was full term), and he didn't panic then. Basically just frequent weight checks to make sure she was gaining.

That makes me feel better that a 0.5 oz a day is still considered normal. The avgs I listed were from a BF book I own (LLL) and a BF website. My ped didn't give me those specifics, just that it was a little low and he would like to continue monitoring his weight gain.

ditto what has been said, the LC's here want to see 0.5 oz/day gain or 3.5-7 oz a week.


on a side note - they always speak of the gain like that...the RANGE is 3.5-7 oz/week. You know, I never once had anyone say anything about them going ABOVE the 7 oz. (both mine gained super fast after the initial 2 weeks - both were doing 12-16 oz a week)

Why have a top end range at all for ebf? silly.

I have what feels like a silly question...DS is five days old and for the last couple days (since my milk has come in, basically) he has gotten a mad case of the hiccups after pretty much every feeding. Usually they go away on their own after 3-5 minutes, but he just looks so miserable during! Is this something I should be concerned about, and/or is there anything I can do differently to help avoid them?

Dont worry about them...hiccups are normal, some babies just get them.

Yes, hiccups are very normal, as Ennay said. They don't really bother the babies that much, and they've been hiccupping for months in the womb. I can remember with Lela that I was having muscle spasms, but then a friend felt my belly and said, "No, she's just hiccupping!" With my twins, they would sometimes have them at the same time and my stomach was jumping all over the place!

I found that my newest babies got the hiccups a lot once my milk came in. I also notice that they get them the most when my breasts are very full and the letdown is more forceful. It seems like they get overwhelmed with drinking and get a lot of air. To keep them from getting hiccups before a nap or bedtime, I nurse them in an uphill position, so they are in more control of the flow of milk.

Of course, this may not work for you. And it may not work for me tomorrow either.