Reducing expressing....

[BrownSuga]

My PFB 5 week old has not been able to latch so I have been expressing his 6 feeds each day. It is getting on my norks to be honest . I am planning to keep up EBM until he is 8 weeks old, then do a mix formula/EBM. I have dropped the middle of the night express, then plan to drop each of the day expresses one every 4 days until I am only doing the early morning and late evening expresses. Hopefully this will give him at least 1 EBM feed, maybe 2 per day.

Is this the right way to go about dropping off expressing/feeding? Or I should I leave a little longer between dropping off each one?

Also any advice on which formula to go for, on bottle feeding in general, handy hints, what to expect (my DH tells me his poo's will absolutley reek!, the LO not DH's ), will he need extra fluid (water) between feeds etc.

Thanks

[terramum]

Sorry but what does PFB mean?

[NotQuiteCockney]

Dropping one feed per week is the recommended thing, I'm guessing.

Have you tried latching your baby on some more? I'm guessing you've seen BFCs etc? Expressing is such a faff, and BFing is so much easier.

Re: which formula - go for whatever your nearest late night store stocks. Seriously. And they don't need water.

[NotQuiteCockney]

PFB = precious first born

[BrownSuga]

Thanks NQC. I tried those nipple/teat things as a last resort and he just gets on the end of it, then tried on the breast and again, he's only on the end, refuses to open up wide, even with cheek stroking, and will just have a half hearted suck then let it slip out, or he'll actually only be sucking on a bit of skin on the side of the breast! little git.

Labour midwives were fantastic, apart from getting baby to feed after birth. They walked out and left us alone, DH was the one to suggest we try him. Then when he was bawling a few hours later the ward midwife said well feed him, d'oh would if i knew how! but did nothing to help show me and left me with a health assistant who made a half hearted attempt. 2 days later they got a BF specialist in to help, but still no joy, she mainly showed me how to hand express so he could start eating.

[terramum]

Ah cheers NQC!

BrownSuga - Well done you expressing for so long! I excl pumped for my DS for just over a month after he was born as he rejected my boobs. Then I managed with the help of an LLL leader to get him on the boob with shields. He eventually fed without them at around 3-4 months. Was a hard slog but v worth it. He is still bf now at 3 yrs. If you could get him back on the boob would you carry on bf do you think? If you want to then it's not too late to try. With the right help it is very possible to get him back on the boob. Have you spoken with a BFC from one of the bfing org's - ABM, LLL, NCT, BfN?

[NotQuiteCockney]

Are you in the UK? If so, which bit? It would be a pity to give up on BF without trying all advice available ...

Just sucking on the tip is a real hassle - my DS1 did this, but was ok with nipple shields. (We didn't use bottles, although we did cup feed initially.) I kept trying to get him to latch on properly without the shields, and suddenly, at three months, he did it.

[mears]

Well done for expressing this long. Like the others have asked, have you had any help since to get him to latch on? Have you tried breast feeding him in the bath? How long ago has it been since you tried? I don't normally suggest nipple shields but it could be a first step to getting him on the breast if all else fails.

If though, you have tried all that and still wish to reduce expressing then your plan sounds OK. I would probably leave a bit longer between dropping expressings as your milk supply will reduce pretty dramatically, especially as you have stopped the night feed.

How often do you actually express per day? Perhaps rather than dropping an expressing session, you might want to space them out more?

As you express less your amounts will be less as well each time you express. You mauy need to express more often than twice a day to be able to continue EBM once or twice.

There is no one formula better than the other to be honest. Look for the one that is most readily available near you. You could buy some cartons to try first instead of a whole tin. Poos will change to be harder and smellier with all formulas.

Wish you luck with whatever you decide.

He may still latch on yet.

[BrownSuga]

gosh that;s encouraging! I may keep giving him a go. i express every 4hrs, per LO's feeding schedule. I am in the UK. do the BF helpers come to you or do you need to find a clinic and go to them?

[BrownSuga]

oh, yes i am in the uk, in the north-east

[NotQuiteCockney]

You can call a hotline to chat with someone, and they might be able to come to you, or you might need to come to them. You need to pay call charges to call the hotline, but there's no way you end up paying a BFC. (There are BFCs who charge, but they're all shit.)

Ok, I've looked up the BFN, and it's not big in the north east - no drop-ins anyway. The other options are NCT, LLL and ABM. Can you face calling their hotlines, or should I have more of a dig?

[NotQuiteCockney]

Ok, to find out about NCT drop ins, you need to call 0870 444 8707, business hours. Or their support line is 0870 444 8708, 8am to 10pm every day.

[NotQuiteCockney]

Here is the baby cafe map. There are two in the NE.

[NotQuiteCockney]

The ABM's website is broken, grr. Here is the LLL list for England.

[BrownSuga]

thanks NQC, i will persevere for a bit longer before I drop any more feeds, and try to call a hotline for some assistance.

the closest baby cafe to me doesn't open till sept but could try the newcastle one.

[NotQuiteCockney]

The ABM number is 08444-122-949, they will know about support groups near you.

[terramum]

LLL meetings are once a month usually but you can phone the local leaders numbers on the page posted earlier & they can advise you over the phone. Some will do home visits as well. All my support was done over the phone but I also went along to meetings for moral support/social reasons as well. Felt very awkward being there with a bottle of ebm...but it did give the determination to get feeding sorted.

Basically what I did was spend the most of the day after we escaped from hospital on the phone to every one of the local BFC numbers until someone answered (happened to be one of the LLL leaders) & then spoke to her at length about all our troubles. She gave me a few suggestions & we went away & tried them...they didn't work so I called again & she gave me some more... & so on....until we finally got it sorted. Met the leader in question later that year & gave her the biggest hug ever!

Keep us posted how you get on...