Where can I go from here?

[TobleroneBoo]

Hi all,

Little one born on 16/4
Have been breastfeeding since and felt as though milk came in yesterday
Little one was constantly from one breast to the other with seemingly no result - screeching and crying but wouldn't be winded and wouldn't go to his dad. It was my 7th night of no sleep thanks to a traumatic birth build up so we gave formula - and my son slept for the first time away from me

He's also had more formula this morning, an amount he definitely wasn't receiving in breast milk
Can i continue to include breast and formula or have I set the way?


Thanks

[whitehousemum]

Hi! I had to supplement with formula at the beginning and it does not mean the end of breastfeeding. My daughter is now four months and although we 'officially' combi feed she mostly has breast milk - one bottle of formula every couple of days when it makes life easier for us/I'm working or I'm concerned she hasn't had enough breast milk, but at this point I could probably exclusively breastfeed, which is a point I thought I would never get to. At the beginning when we gave formula (we were topping up after every feed with formula and expressed milk for a couple of weeks), I pumped to increase my supply. I was supposed to do this at every formula feed but it was exhausting doing 'triple feeding' so did it 2-3 times a day. She lost a lot of weight at the beginning and I was in a lot of pain. Seeing her gain and be satisfied on formula saved my sanity, and allowed us both to learn to breastfeed. She is now very healthy and doing well on her milk mix and gaining weight well, I know it seems bleak now, I remember how awful it was being so tired, in pain and unable to feed my baby the way I wanted to; it will get better!

[FusRoDah]

Hi, my LO has had formula top ups since day 5 due to weight loss/jaundice/milk coming in. He's now 13 weeks and doing really well - we still top up a couple of times a day as we like the flexibility and he's thriving. Equally, I know others who have built their supply up and got back to exclusively bf, and also mums who have gone over to FF. Babies are all thriving! Just decide what works best for you and your baby and go with that.

The advice I was given for successful mix feeding, or if the aim is to get back to ebf, was to only ever offer formula after boob, not instead of boob. I've been very strict with that and we haven't had any nipple confusion or bottle preference.

[whitehousemum]

Also a difficult birth can delay your milk coming in. As can various other factors such as losing a lot of blood, being tired or poor nutrition/hydration as pp said. The midwives didn't tell me milk could be delayed for various reasons but it can.