Breast feeding advice needed please?!

[daisyhun]

I wonder if anyone can answer a few questions on bf?! I am a confused new(ish) mum! DD is now 7 weeks old.

I have been combining breast and bottle since she was 4 weeks after excrutiating sore nipples which started as a result of extreme engorgement and latching problems (very poor support from HV also).

I am happy with combining as it suits us fine and DH gets to bond with DD also when feeding. I BF during the night though.

I have a few questions and wondered if MN could help?

1. Will my milk supply slowly diminish over time if I am only feeding twice (once from each breast) every 24 hours (ie night feeds)? How would I know if it was diminishing?

1. Part of the reason I ask question 1 above is that DD seems hungrier faster after breast feeding than formula feeding - would she sleep longer after formula? I don't want to introduce a formula feed at night.

1. This is a bit of a silly question I think.... if I introduce another bf (which I am considering) I will be doing 3 a day - so alternating sides I bf from for each feed. Will my body know that one night I feed at 3am with the left, the next night I feed at 3am with the right?

1. If DD sleeps through (as she did from 8pm to 6am last night ) do I need to give her both sides when she wakes to allow milk production to continue?

1. I don't feel eligible to ask for help from LLL or others as I feel like I will get "told off" for formula feeding during the day... - do you think they (or another source of support) might be able to give me some advice on the feeds I am doing?

[satinshoes]

hi there,

firstly i dont think you'll get told off but cant blame you for worrying. it sounds like you are doing great.

1-I dont think your supply would diminish as otherwise kiddies who drop milk feeds during weaning would run out. not sure though - i'm sure someone else will know.

2-breastmilk is more easily absorbed than formula so not as filling i think which is why b/f babies often feed more often than f/f babies.

1. no idea but if youre not sure perhaps yu could express a bit on the night you are 'not using' then your dc could have expressed milk from bottle too

1. erm, don't know. but the body is very clever.

I'm not an expert so dont quote me on my answers but ist sounds like you're doing really well. I'm sure someone else will be along in a bit to help

[Kif]

1. LLL et al. there to offer support advice on all aspects of bf. I can see why you'd be sensitive, butthey won't find it at all unusual to hear from you.

1. I'm not a specialist - but I'd say more importtnat to drain one side effectively. Try the second if she's still hungry. To boost supply, try feeding your Dd rugby ball style and express on the other side at the same time. For me, poumping as i fed was much quicker.

1. Yes

1. The specialists will say no - in folklore last feed of the day as formula does seem to give longer sleep. however niught feeds apparently v. good for boosting supply.

[tiktok]

Hi, daisy.

Answering your questions:

1. Yes - your breastmilk supply will go. Very long-established milk supplies can keep going on this, but this means many months at least of bf. You will know it is going as your baby will be frustrated at the breast

1. Breastmilk is digestested more quickly than formula, so this might account for some of the earlier need to feed again

1. Breastmilk is not made according to the time on the clock (though there is some evidence mothers make more milk at night - but there's not much in it). The longer the gap between breastfeeds, the slower the milk is replaced. The breasts act fairly independently now, with regard to supply, and if you continue doing what you are doing, and only feeding from one side at a time, your overall supply will plummet, sorry....and your body will not oblige with milk on one side and not the other at 3 am

1. It's always better to offer both sides unless the baby makes it clear she never wants both sides.

1. No breastfeeding helpline will tell you off for using formula - believe me!! All of them should be trained to give you the information you want, but they will also tell you that what you are doing now will not preserve your milk supply and they have to tell you that so you make an informed choice about what to do - which is only right, yes?

[Kif]

1. The longet you bf, the more stable your supply is.

Basically if your baby drinks a certain amount of milk in a day, the body will produce the same amt of milk the next day.

A couple of reasons why you might see bf diminishing.

1) Your baby may get lazy about 'working' at the breast when bottle is easier. I found it prudent to not mix bf and ff at the same feed for that reason

2) Your baby will need more milk as she gets older - you may find that you respond to growth spurts with extra ff, hence your body doesn't get stimulated to build up bm supply hence proportion of bmilk/fmilk will decrease

3) bf is a confidence game, and you may be 'once bitten twice shy' with regards to having confidence in bf.

[Kif]

Didn't mean to Xpost tiktok!

Congrats on lo, btw! & well done for sticking in there.

For what it's worth, we had to bring in 4oz SMA at 6wks. I worked pretty hard at it (and don't thing my experince was typical), but managed to keep bf going for a couple further months.

Def seek some support - it can be lonely. I recomend 1:1 situations with bfc, rather than a larger gp where you may feel intimidated by all the abundant flowing breast milk!

[daisyhun]

Thanks all. Tiktok - I had feared the reduction in supply might happen so this is why I am considering upping breast feeds again. Wish I could continue combining the way I have been - I'm trying to get all the info I need to make an infomred decision about how to proceed.

However, I don't think supply is diminishing at the moment as DD seems very satisfied with the night feeds and falls asleep again almost immediately with no frustration at the breast (I have to wake her to keep feeding after about 3 minutes!). She's always been an efficient and quick feeder but I suspect the night feeds are only small feeds to keep her going through the night and she gets most of what she needs from ff during the day... hence the sleeping right through some nights - she always ravenous for ff when she wakes up even if it's only a couple of hours or less since last bf.

I may give LLL a try for further advice - thank for all the advice so far!

[Kif]

Is she your first?

You could take phone off hook, rent some vids and tuck vup in bed with her for a baby moon. It's the nicest way to encourage a few extra feeds.

[Sterny]

Hi Daisy,

Regarding question 2, my ds slept exactly the same amount of time whether he was given a breastfeed, ebm or a formula feed. The thing that made him sleep longer was when he got bigger and was able to eat more.

I mixed fed for about two months and am now exclusively breastfeeding again. Once you have got latching on sorted breastfeeding is so much easier than faffing about with bottles I found. You could always express and let your dh give your dd a bottle to give you a rest.

Good luck!

[daisyhun]

Thanks! Yes, she's my first.

I think I have got latching sorted now as no pain when feeding any more - but I always feed with her lying alongside me (so much easier for middle of the night feeds).

I might try increasing feeds again to see what happens but not keen on going back to exclusively bf her as ff is suiting us well during the day...

Will try to do a few extra feeds tomorrow and see what happens...

Thanks!!