Please excuse the essay, will try to keep this as brief as possible!
Had bf problems with DS1 a few years ago. Traumatic EMCS meant my milk only came in one side after 6 days by which point DS had lost weight and we were sent back to hospital. A brutal 3 hourly feeding, topping up and expressing regime followed which didn’t last long as DS never latched properly and my poor nipples were severely damaged. We lasted about 10 days before switching to ff and we were all much happier all round.
Fast forward and DS2 is now here & almost 3 weeks old after a much calmer ELCS. My milk again took its time and came in around day 6 by which point again DS2 had lost 12% of birth weight and was dehydrated despite me putting him to the breast every 3hrs and topping up with syringes full of colostrum as often as I could. I preempted us having problems again this time around so arranged to see a lactation consultant on day 4 who was great and corrected a bad feeding position and put in place a plan to get DS2’s weight and strength back up.
This means that since day 4 we’ve been topping up with formula after each feed. I tried pumping but got such pitiful amounts and it brought back awful memories of first time around so knocked that on the head quite quickly. The topping up has been fine whilst I’ve had help at home but as of next week I’ll be on my own with a newborn and a VERY active 2.5yr old so breastfeeding for 30/40mins and then offering a bottle at each feed just isn’t practical.
Has anyone had success with mixed feeding after a similar situation? In an ideal world I would like to bf first thing in the morning and in the evening/night but whilst I am out and about with the toddler during the day at groups etc I do not have the time to bf and then do a bottle so would like to replace these bf/top ups with a full bottle feed.
Just to add that we tried to get rid of the formula top ups but DS2 became very weak, dehydrated and lost weight again so it seems he has become used to the extra calories. I have started taking Domperidone to up my supply but im not sure I’ll ever be able to catch up and a babymoon/pumping for hours on end isn’t an option unfortunately.
He is not yet up to birth weight but hopefully should be after a weigh in later today.
If you’ve got this far then thank you, I’d really like to continue giving some breastmilk for as long as possible so any tips or experience would be most appreciated.
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Infant feeding
Long term mixed feeding?
14 replies
WineandDine · 23/02/2018 14:18
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