Had a traumatic last few days with shiny new DD. On day 5 the midwife weighed her and discovered she had lost 14.9% of her body fat. A max of 10% is acceptable so we rushed into hospital where they basically gave me the choice of 1. Try to breast fed her although I wasn't producing enough milk 2. Expressing bm and topping up or 3. Formula. We ended up expressing and topping up but it's more formula than breast milk at the moment. She is now a healthy weight and guzzling the breast milk and formula from the bottle. I've not given up on breast feeding and I'm seeing a specialist on Friday to hopefully get us back on track but until then I'm expressing and making formula. I've read plenty about the best things for producing more milk - good food, rest, expressing and feeding etc but I wondered if mums out there had been in similar situations. I had a third degree tear so have been on antibiotics and laxatives which I'm sure has affected my nutritional levels and therefor my milk production, I hope we can get away from formula by the end of this week but some advice and experiences would be great.
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Breast milk supplies low and having to "top up" with formula
mamabrownbear · 27/05/2013 20:36
Hi, have you looked to see if you have a local Breastfeeding Support Group? They will be able to help you.
See if there is a Breastfeeding counsellor locally - ring the NCT helpline or one of the other ones (LLL or ABM). You might be bale to see them sooner than Friday.
How old is your baby? The key to upping the milk production is feed, feed, feed, feed and then feed more - it's a supply and demand arrangement, so the more you feed the baby, the more milk you will produce for her. You should be able to drop the formula, which can often be counter-productive to milk supply, but the best way to do it is get comfy in bed with baby, lots of skin to skin, and feed her every time she squeaks. Good luck and congratulations! 
Well done on getting this far and sticking with it! I had 3rd Deg with DS1 so know where you are at right now!
I now have 3 DCs and BF was hard to establish every time. Week 1 - hell, week 2 - bad, week 3-4 uncomfortable, month 2, bearable, after that, a breeze! In particular, day 5 is when your milk starts coming in and you will have a hormonal tsunami around now, it is unbelievable unless you have experienced it! Don't forget to massage your boobs if they feel uncomfortable, hard or lumpy, wierd but it works.
Remember just becase baby is now on the outside, your absolute no. 1 job is still feeding her. Focus on this to the exclusion of everything else.
You need to rest, eat loads yourself, and when you are feeding baby remember to make sure you are really comfy, RELAX your shoulders, and I know it sounds a bit fuzzy but the best way I can describe it is to 'feel the love' this helps with the let down. Honestly you ARE producing enough milk, and as prev posts have said, feed, feed, feed, it is all supply and demand.
Don't do any housework or cooking, get lots of help and focus on yourself and nourishment for you and baby!
Good luck and tell us how you get on!
Has she been thoroughly checked for tongue ties or other things that may affect latch adversely?
Ds's was missed twice even though it was quite severe 
. And I said I thought it was tongue tie.
His latch & suck were poor so my supply suffered, he was sucking for ages but doing very little. It seemed he was doing well as he fed keenly but he quickly started losing weight. Feeding from a bottle is much easier for them.
Otherwise can't add to excellent advice you have had & hopefully will get on Friday.
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