Nursing Larger Babies

Hi E.,

My son was 9 lbs when he was born, so relatively large, and he ate a LOT. I did have to start supplementing but only because I went back to work and couldn't pump enough to feed him. When I was at home and breastfeeding, I produced more than enough to satisfy him. It is supply and demand and if you have a hungry baby, you will produce enought milk to feed him, don't worry!

Good luck!
L.

wow - sounds like you got some very good input. Whomever told you that information honestly knows very little or nothing about breastfeeding and how it works. That info you got is so far from the truth that you can't get more distorted info honestly. It will work out fine and good luck. It'll be great.

Though you got a lot of great responses already about what baloney this is... I had to chime in.

Trust your body- women's bodies have been birthing babies and nourishing babies for centuries... otherwise, the population would have died out!!

You can do it. If you have problems, there are websites, lactation consultants, La Leche League, etc etc etc.... you have TONS of resources at your fingertips on how to increase your supply!

I'm studying for my IBCLC (that's a certification for lactation consultants) and am willing to help you anytime! The absolute best way to start your nursing relationship is to nurse your baby within the first hour of birth.

Also, my daughter was 8lbs, 9 oz, which isn't HUGE, but I had more than enough supply for her and I had to pump days and nurse nights because I returned to work when she was only 3 weeks old. Also, I was able to nurse her until she was 3.5 YEARS old with no problem.

Congrats on your bundle of joy, and don't be discouraged!

Here is a GREAT site for breastfeeding and other natural and attachment parenting: http://www.mothering.com/discussions/index.php

M.

I had a 10.5 lb baby and nursed her till she was 12 months old. It all depends on your milk supply. I was an overproducer and had no problem. But she did eat a lot and never slept enough for me! But she's four now and sleeps like a dream! Good Luck and follow your intuition and listen to your body.

Your body will produce enough milk, especially if you take care to eat properly and get PLENTY of fluids. Breast feeding is actually a demand/supply situation, so as the baby demands more, your body will produce more, rather than a supply/demand situation. The size of the baby doesn't dictate how long you can nurse.

Oh, and about the prediction that your baby will be big...they said that about mine and he was only 6.5 lbs. They can guess, but they don't know for sure and even if it is considerably larger than your first, I'm sure it will not be huge!

Hi E.~
I personally don't think you will have any problem with it at all. I'm a pretty small person, and I had a baby girl back in February, and she was over 9 pounds at birth. I had no problem at all nursing her. It only took me about 3 days or so to get up to her speed. With my son, who was only 7 pounds, it also took about 3 days. I've always been told that you produce as much as your baby is demanding.
Good luck and congrats on the baby to be!!
~J.~

Congratulations on your little (big) one!

I sure hope our expert LCs respond here. No offense but your friends are telling you a bunch of "hooey." :-) YOU are absolutely right, its supply and demand. It doesn't matter the size of your baby.

As I type, I am nursing my 10 month old 20 lb little (big) boy. No problems here as long as I eat right and keep drinking my water.

My first was a preemie and I pumped for 14 months for him and my second was more than twice the size of his brother and we have not had any problems. The PIS is a great pump!

B.

Your friends don't know what they are talking about. My son was 8 lbs 5 oz 3 weeks early and I nursed him till he was 29 months, and I work out of the home. If he wants more, you will make more, he will just nurse longer or more often until your supply picks up. When you first get your milk in you have waaayyyy more than any baby needs anyway, and then it adjusts to your little ones needs, so just may be that your supply may not decrease as much as it did with the previous baby.

Good luck!!

Congratulations on your baby on the way! My son was 9 lbs. 3 oz. at birth and I exclusively breastfed him for 9 months. I never heard that I wouldn't be able to breastfeed him as long as I wanted. The only reason I decided to stop nursing was because I found out I was pregnant again. My second baby was 9 lbs. 7 oz. and he's doing great so far with nursing. I think you will do fine- good luck :)

E.,

My mom BF all of us and we were "big" babies. I was the smallest at 8 lbs 6 oz. Even my brother, at 11 lbs 10 oz and 24" was breastfed and her supply was just fine. She didn't have to pump or supplement with formula to make sure he ate enough. And, my mom was a tiny 5'2" 110 pounds when she got pregnant with my brother.

As long as you are committed to BF and without any unusual complications, I would think you should be able to BF your little (big) guy for as long as you want to.

Good luck on the delivery! Lol.

T.

Hi E.!

One of my best friends gave birth to a 10lb baby boy a year ago and she is STILL nursing him/giving breast milk bottles almost exclusively!!! And she works full time and had to pump most of the time! So - it can definitely be done!!! :)

S.

My 4 year old son was a big baby and I nursed him until his 1st birthday. The more your baby drinks, the more milk you'll produce. It wasn't really difficult to wean him off breast milk because the milk production slowed down the less he drank. My son was also born with acid reflux so my mom showed me how putting cereal in the bottle w/ breast milk kept the milk down and helped him sleep through the night.

E.,

I have two children - a 2 year old boy and a 3 month old girl. I nursed my son and he was 8lbs 5oz when he was born and never had a problem. I also nurse my daughter who was 9lbs 1oz when she was born and have never had a problem. I have always been told by their doctor that my body will produce whatever is demanded of it by my baby and not to worry. So I think you will be fine!

Congratulations on your children!
Jessica

Your friends are incorrect! Your body produces milk in response to the demand from the baby. You may have to feed more frequently to keep him satiated, but you can do it! My baby boy just turned one this week. He is 25 lbs, considerably larger at that age than my first son and I am weaning him off of nursing now. I never had problem with not having enough milk.
Nature is an amazong thing, trust your body and don't let your friends freak you out!
Good Luck

I don't know why someone would give you such FALSE information, but don't worry a bit. You will make exactly how much milk your baby needs! :) How do you think people nurse twins? Or triplets? Or tandem nurse? There is SO much MISINFORMATION going around about nursing, and I am sorry that you are subject to it. But be CONFIDENT that you can nurse a big baby just as long and just as easily as you can a small one. What rubbish.

I just weaned my 20 month old, and I am 6 months pregnant. I plan (hope) to tandem nurse once baby is born, because my son stil is very interested in nursing. I just started having contractions so I had to stop. I have every confidence that my body will be able to make enough milk for both new baby and toddler. So don't worry a bit.

Wow, did you get some bad advice! Breastfeeding is supply and demand. You will produce exactly what your baby needs! However, your frame of mind greatly impacts your nursing success so if you're focusing on NOT having enough milk, you could run into hiccups. Just tell your self you are all your baby needs, nurse on demand and you'll be just fine! Especially if you were successful nursing your daughter.

My 18 month old (30 pounds!) has been sick and not eating much and I am still producing enough milk that he is gaining weight!

Congrats on the new baby!

You're right about the supply and demand. It doesn't matter how "big" the baby is. And besides, the estimations on baby weight is almost always wrong. I wouldn't worry at all. If you want to supplement later I didn't see what would be wrong with that, but if you've successfully breastfed one baby, you'll fine for the next.

Good luck!!

Out of curiousity, how big is "big"?

Hi E.,
I don't know what responses you have received yet but what your friends are saying is absolutely ridiculous!!!! I breastfed all three of my children all weighing in at no less than 7 pounds and had no problems. You are right about the supply and demand. Not enough evidence?!?! My sister breastfed her almost 10 pound baby (yes that was his weight at birth) for a year and I know a mother who breastfed her twins without "running out" of milk. If you really want knowledged information please contact your local LaLeche League. Good luck.
R.

My daughter was 10 pounds when she was born. She nursed until she was almost about 20 months old!! Your body will produce as much milk as your baby demands. Just because your baby may be big at birth, this does not mean he will stay big!! Just nurse him on demand, and you will be fine!!

First things first: I am assuming you say your baby is large from ultrasound. Ultrasound is actually not effective at term in estimating fetal weight. It is considered to be + or - 25% accurate. So a ten pound baby by ultrasound would actually be 7.5- 12.5 pounds. Quite a range! My computer is running too slowly right now for me to find references but please google "ultrasound weight estimation at term" to get the real scoop. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology does not recommend using ultrasound as the determinant of fetal size, nor are induction or c-section recommended for babies estimated to be large by ultrasound.

As for not being able to breastfeed a bigger baby, there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to. Breastfeeding is a supply and demand process. Your body created that baby and also the milk to sustain him. Don't let your friends undermine your confidence. They probably did not receive the education and support they needed to be succesful at breastfeeding and feel that the baby's size is the reason. If your baby is big at 4 months that is because your milk made him that way, it makes no sense not to continue feeding him the same way.

The size of your baby has absolutely no bearing on whether or not you can breastfeed. YOu are totally right, it's all supply and demand. YOur body will make plenty of milk for your big baby. Plus, ultrasounds are only accurate within a pound or two so your baby may not be as big as you think. Also, the size of your belly has no bearing on the size of your baby. Anybody who thinks that a bigger baby eats more than you produce is badly misinformed.
Good luck with his birth.

I'm sorry that you were told that. They are very misinformed. You are absolutely right about supply /demand. Your body will keep up with his needs. I nursed my son until he was a toddler and now I'm nursing my 18 lbs. 6 month old girl. She is thriving and has never been fed formula. I've also never pumped. In fact, I tandem nursed my son and daughter for four months. Don't worry everything will be great. A wonderful book to ease your mind is the Baby Book by Dr Sears. He also has a book on breastfeeding.

Congratulations,
N.

Hi E.,
You really should not have any issues producing enough milk for your "larger" baby. It is a supply and demand system. Don't let people stress you out before hand that you are not going to be able to do it. Go into it with a positive attitude and I'm sure everything will work out fine. I nursed my 8 lb. 9 oz. baby exclusivly for the first year and continued until he was 26 months old. If all is working well, your supply will be whatever the baby needs. Also, everything I have heard is that for baby number 2, if you nursed the first one, you will have more milk the second time around. Good luck and listen to your heart!! It is wonderful that you want to nurse your babies. I'm sure it will all work out great.
N.

E.:

not sure there is anything to add BUT I am one of the "resident" lactation consultants and there is no reason you can not breastfeed your baby exclusively.

P., RLC, IBCLC
Pres. Lactation Support Group, Inc
www.lactationsupportgroup.com

Oh Sweetie!! PLEASE don't listen to those busy bodies!! My first daughter was 9 lbs,1 oz,she nursed exclusively for 6 months,and with baby food,and then table food,until she was 2 years,8 months and 3 days old. My second daughter was 10 lbs,2 oz,exclusively breastfed for 8(!!) months,is now almost 17 months old and still nurses regularly! Neither one of them have ever drank formula,EVER!!! You'll do just fine!

My friend had a 10lb+ baby and she nursed him until he was a year old. Everybody is different and you will probably be able to nurse him without any problems. Your body should be able to produce what he needs. If you can't keep up just suppliment with formula there is nothing wrong with a little help. Good luck and no worries.

I was told I couldn't nurse my little one as well and was told to supplement with formula. Not a chance! I watched his weight and made sure he was not dehydrated but I fully breast fed and he triple his weight in six months. He has a very high metabolism so he still will eat constantly if you let him (I do as long as the majority of it is good foods) and he is skinny. I was able to keep up with him so your milk supply may just keep up with yours. Get a baby scale so you can watch his weight. Weigh him before a feeding and then again after at the same time of day. This way you'll be able to make sure he is gaining and see how much milk he is taking in if you get a good scale that does ounces. Make sure he has the same clothes on every time (just a diaper). If you notice he is not getting enough milk from you then supplement and pump while you supplement until he is getting enough from just you.

I just wanted to add one more voice of support - your body knows what to do! My sister's 11-month old son weighs 28+ lbs (!!) and was exclusively breastfed until he started solids at 6 months - she still nurses him 3-4 times a day. (I still nurse my 14 month old son too). You don't even need to pump - just nurse on demand, make sure you eat and drink plenty, and you'll produce more than you thought possible. LOTS of moms even successfully exclusively nurse twins, and even triplets. Good luck!!!

My babies were both large and both breastfed no problems.
My son was 9lb 12oz and my daughter was 9lb 1 oz. I breastfed my son for 6 monhts and my daughter for 12 months.

It will depend on your milk supply and how much your baby needs.Every child is different. My first daughter was 7lbs and nursing was no problem. My second daughter was 10lbs and I struggled with nursing. I tried everything to up my production of milk but never had enough for her. By 3 months I decided it was more important my daughter was getting the right amount of nutrition then if I nursed. Both my children have done very well, the one I nursed the longest was actually the one that was sick the most. They both are bright and happy teenagers now. Just do your best and I am sure everything will work out fine.

Cheryl

Honestly I would take the wait and see aproach, I have a cousin on my husbands side that has breast fed all of her kids till age two! Not that I would do that but I think your baby and your body will carry you through this. Every pregnancy is diferent. My baby was born at 8lbs 5 ounces and she is doing great at this point nursing. I have friends though that have dried up after a month. Don't worry until you need to. Breast feed the baby and your pediatrician will gage with you your concerns on weight gain etc. I honestly think you will be fine:)

Every pregnancy and nursing experience really is unique, but a general rule is just make sure you relax and rest adequately, and if you are eating well, the milk will come. Every other day, take a nursing nap in the afternoon where he can suck until he is contented and it will assure you regulate well. Lotsa of protein and complex carbs will keep you feeling well and not famished.