Breastfeeding problems

[Eadie3519]

Hi, I’m having trouble getting back into the breastfeeding after a holiday. My girl is almost 6months and have had a decent balance of breast and formula, mainly breast, before the holiday. But she was so thirsty on holiday I struggled to keep up. And it’s just seems my flow has just decreased since coming back two weeks ago, even though I have tried to get back into our routine. I’m trying to give her the breast as much as possible but I have to them give in and give her formula to fill her up because I can’t. Even though I have been pumping every 2-3 hours for the last 5 days, I’m getting around 10ml at each session. Can anyone offer advice or has my breastfeeding journey come to an end? Thank you in advance

Pumping doesnt necessarily reflect supply, friends of mine couldnt pump any at all but had plenty to keep baby satisfied.

What does she do after feeding which suggests to you she needs formula top up? If she is fussy and wants more breastmilk could it be like infant cluster feeding where they feed a lot to increase your supply?

The only way to increase supply is to feed, feed, feed and not top up with formula... but it's effective, and works pretty quickly!
By 6 months your baby will be a pretty efficient feeder, and it's normal if she has very quick feeds - my DC could take what they wanted in a few minutes by that age... unless they were sleepy and feeding for comfort.
Make sure you're drinking plenty and eating well, and your supply will adjust to suit your baby.
It's also normal for babies to start getting fussy and distracted when feeding at 6 months. If she's fussing at the breast it could be that she's just distracted, or she could be teething.
Is she eating any solids yet?
BI

As above, keep up your own fluid intake and feed on demand. Pumping volume isn't an indication of supply.

After been on the boob, she’s only on for less than 5 minutes then point blank refuses to go back on. Stiff as an ironing board and screams I try to get her back on, I thought maybe if I made her wait for the bottle she’s eventually take what was on offer if she was that hungry but she was getting to irate so had to had to give in.

I have given her small amounts of solids, mushed banana, baby porridge in the morning and puréed fruit, but not all the time or every day. I do think she possibly could be teething as she has been sort of grinding her gums, sometimes with my nipple between them!
I did used to be able to get at least an oz off with the pump, but I wasn’t regular pumping as I didn’t need to.

Lots of skin to skin to encourage supply.
Drop your formula as each formula feed will mean less of your own milk.
Relax and trust your body to provide what it needs.

Thank you guys. X

Hello again, so yesterday went better, she pretty much had breast all day, but today we’re back to point blank refusal. Board stiff, screaming and full on physically refusing to nurse. If I were to let her cry it out just keep offering boob would she eventually give in and take the boob? What about nipple shields so it will feel like a bottle teet? Yesterday seemed to be on the up now I feel like I’m going backwards

I think she would give in eventually. Breast is a bit harder work for the baby than a bottle but don't despair.

Do you have any breastfeeding support groups near you?