To ask if it possible to start breast feeding again at 4 weeks??

[TheHermitCrab]

Strange one this....

I was in hospital with my baby for a week. First couple of days I breastfed exclusively.. My baby was on antibiotics and poorly and tongue tied and struggling somewhat, giving up, fighting, falling asleep without eating.

Hospital decided to send the BF person with the expressing machine to me without discussing it first, I was that tired/confused/ill/uneducated that I went along with everything they suggested - which was hook up to a machine, express, bottle feed (they initially suggested THEY feed her with a cup, but she spat everything up so they "let" me bottle feed) and then asked me to top up her feeds up to 50ml every 2 hours with formula (they followed me up on this every 2 hours recording feeds, how much breast milk, fomula, nappies...etc) I didn't even ask why they were keeping track of all this!! (the anti biotics were for an infection she likely got from my waters breaking 2 days before birth they said)

I didn't really ask questions (was she dehydrated? I don't know!!), was on another planet after traumatic birth, but once I got home and continued to express I noticed my milk was drying up, and I was having to use more and more fomula! (formula was always second option and I tried to express every 2 hours) I had bf support and they suggested a million things to increase milk flow... nothing! In the beginning I was infront of her with milk, but then less and less

Was bloody angry I didn't persist with BFing and that the hospital somewhat led me into a situation that wasn't ideal... but like I said, I was stupid... and poorly and doing everything they said.

Anyway... I dried up to the point of a few ml and there was nothing but formula to feed her. Ended up completely stopping, had no engorgement and my breasts were "empty" which pissed me off no end, because I was wearing breast pads from about 20w pregnant - I had more milk then!

Anyway... after over a week of just formula feeding, my boobs have started leaking again?!. I'm so tempted next time she roots/cries that I try putting her on the breast again....

Should I? I don't know. She still probably won't latch properly, but she's much better now, and stays awake for longer, so have more time to persist

Am I just asking for trouble trying again?

I don't want to express again, it was so time consuming.


I probably made a lot of mistakes... but first time mum, and always envisaged I'd be a breast feeder. She is thriving and happy on formula. So don't shoot me down! Need advice, so no breast feeding brigaders or guilt trippers. Not here to judge on how anyone feeds their baby as long as they do :)

[k4yb33]

Yes u can. Contact la leche, local nct bf groups, latch ur baby on, first few times wont be much but the more she latches the more boob is stimulated to make milk. Fenugreek is also known as methi. U can go to most Asian stores and buy dried methi leaves (make a tea add honey and drink) methi seeds (I crushed teaspoon of them 2x a day and swirled in hot water and gulped down. These can be cheaper options to buying the pills. Eat hearty oat porridge or make oaty biscuits? I found these helped. When I've asked my fb bf group for more info and ill come bak to u. I fed my ds up to 20mths and now feeding dd who is 12mths.

[Jenny70]

The other thing is that when you first breastfeed your breasts over supply (in case of triplets etc) for a week or so. Then they settle into producing what you need, they feel less full and generally make the milk near when the feed is due, rather than maximum supply all the time. Sounds like when your body dropped back supply, it went too far the other way (maybe the pump wasn't as good at getting the milk etc)... try the suggestions and report back... mothers often search up threads, so nice to hear if you went OK with it.

[TheOddity]

Hi thehermitcrab, hope it has gone well for you today and you are not getting too stressed out about it all. Lots of brill advice above. My only other thing to say is, sometimes my boobs feel like there is no milk in there, but my son talks now and tells me there is. Sometimes they feel engorged and baby drinks nearly nothing, I could hardly express anything, even 6 months in, but baby now 3 and there is still milk coming. I guess my point is that how your boobs feel or how much you express out are not signs of how the baby is doing on the breast, the only sign is normal amounts of wet nappies and baby is healthy and happy. Worst case, you stick to formula and your baby has had an excellent time snuggling up to your boobs! Basically every baby's favourite place! A good chunk of the breastfeeding benefit is the time cuddling right next to your skin so you are already doing a brilliant job. Those tube things mentioned above are available from some hospitals. I would really push your help visitor to get you in touch with the breast feeding expert in your area for a home visit to discuss options and free help.

[wobblyweebles]

I relactated after a week of formula feeding (and not pumping). My boobs felt completely empty at first. Within a few days my baby was only having one top-up bottle each evening, other than that she was fully breastfed.

You've had loads of good advice above. Good luck!

[PeppermintDrop99]

Hi OP. Sorry, I might be relating what someone else has already said, but I haven't read all the previous posts.

Have you tried talking to a post-natal doula? Google 'Doula U.K.' or 'Nurturing Birth' ... Established Doulas can give loads of advice from extensive experience with new mothers. I would echo what others might have said about constant skin to skin for a while, allowing your bubba to nuzzle as much as possible. I may be going against the grain, but would suggest you don't use a pump. It's 'artificial' and doesn't actually give good gauge of amount of milk that you body is capable of producing. The natural hormones your body will release during skin to skin / nuzzling from bubba, should be enough.. It's intensive, time consuming, and can be disheartening, but can work with time and perseverance.

Also, have you heard of 're-birthing'? I once read about it and know two mothers who tried it... One after 6 weeks of bottle feeding and went on to exclusively breast feed It's usually used to recreate the natural birth experience, for mothers and bubbas that may have had a traumatic birth experience. It needs someone to guide you, who knows what they are doing, but basically, it's about a warm bath, calm environment, and you and baby in the bath. A recreation of the birth - brining the baby up though the water ( between your legs) and gently bringing them up onto your tummy and on to the the breast, to latch on. I'm probably not really explaining it properly, but an experienced doula should be able to work with you on it; and you can read up on it fully, yourself.

It sounds like you're trying to have the best experience for you and bubba. Pls don't stress too much about what works and what doesn't. At the end of the day, it's all about having a happy baby and for you to have a good experience of however motherhood turns out for you. There's really no 'right' way to do any of this. Just YOUR way.

Have fun!

[JsOtherHalf]

I used the medela supplemental feeding system too. I didn't produce much milk (not uncommon with ivf pregnancies apparently). With the system I fed DS up to 9 months. Ok so he didn't get much calories from me, but he got the benefits of some of my milk.

[PrettyPenguin]

OP - the Medela contraption was about £20 if I recall correctly. There's not actually much to it. Some hospitals sell them in their shops. I don't know if you consider £20 to be expensive or not but I thought it was worth a shot so didn't mind stumping up the cash for it. If you don't have a great deal of spare cash to be risking on something that may not work though, £20 might be a lot to spend.

Good luck to you though. I hope you do manage to reestablish Bf if that's what you want to do. But certainly don't feel bad if you can't! Way too many lactation warriors out there trying to make mamas feel bad about themselves!!

[microferret]

Definitely try. It's possible to lactate without even having been pregnant, so you're certainly in with a good chance. Wishing you the best of luck!

[violetbean]

I had a similar experience but after 2-3 weeks of ff managed to get supply back up and am still breastfeeding him now at 14 months. To get supply up I:

1. Phoned the national breastfeeding helpline for support
   
2. Read all the articles I could find about reestablishing supply on kellymom
   
3. Rented a hospital grade pump for a week and expressed 6-8 times a day including between 12am and 6am.
   
4. Used nipple shields and breastfed baby in the bath to encourage him to latch.
   

It was annoying at the time, especially as it was over Christmas, but now I feel it was totally worth it as after a couple of months I started to enjoy breastfeeding and still love it now, especially how calming he finds it e.g. if he's not well. The first 6 weeks or so were painful though and I constantly felt I was doing everything wrong.

Anyway, whichever decision you make is the right one, your health and sanity is just as important as the baby's. I was ff as a baby and turned out fine.

[Hesalovernotabiter]

And what twiglet2015 said!!

[Hesalovernotabiter]

It's absolutely possible but does take a little time.

The Kelly mom site has some great info on relactating. The advise I received from a specialist feeding midwife was to start with lots of skin to skin, wear your baby as much as possible, try to express around 8 times per 24 hours to stimulate supply. Between 1 and 3 am is a killer but is the best time to do it as your hormone for producing breastmilk is highest then.

Then, it's just a case of trying to latch. Nipple shields are useful for this and then you gradually wean off them. When ff baby hold them in a breastfeeding position and try to do all ff yourself.

I relactated at around 4 weeks and managed to get back to ebf by 12 weeks.

Good luck

[Hamiltoes]

My experience of being readmitted to hospital and seeing many women come and go in my ward was exactly this.

I have no idea why they push breastfeeding so much in pregnancy and then it hospital they're literally clambering over themselves to get formula into your baby.

I had been discharged, DD hadn't lost any weight for the first 2 weeks of her life, feeding was established brilliantly and I found out the nursery nurse had taken her for a walk and given her a bottle of formula. Wtaf.

Twice I was given bottles "just incase she needs topping up".

The woman in the bed oppisite at one point was being advised the most awful things by the breastfeeding lady. Her nipples were very sore and she was told to give baby a bottle and rest them. I went over after with some lansinoh and the next day she said it had worked brilliantly. The mind just boggles at it all.

That said though, I went out on NYE when baby was 2 months and the next day my milk had totally dried up! So i do think its hard to maintain or reget a supply but i've heard its not impossible.

[Twiglet2015]

Also a pump is a terrible indicator of supply. The best breast pump is actually your baby. You can buy baby scales and weigh them before and after a feed if you're really worried. The pump was probably taking your excess milk. I've fed three babies to 3.5, 2.5 and still feeding my youngest. I've never been able to pump after 3/4 weeks more than 2ml. Yet I exclusivly fed them all for the first 6 months.

[Twiglet2015]

You can 100% start feeding again! Is she your only child? If so snuggle in bed topkess together for 24hrs. Feed her as soon as she starts rooting or grunting. Use formula only if she starts crying after bf. You will be feeding very regularly about every 20 mins at some points but it is doable! Check out the kellymom website.

[partypigeon]

Was going to suggest Asian for shops for fenugreek too...you can also buy dried leaves which you can make tea out of, mix with some fennel seeds and it doesn't taste half bad (and is very cheap). Good luck xx

[milkpudding]

Here is some great advice on re starting breastfeeding
kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/relactation/

The most important points are putting baby to your breast frequently and having lots of skin to skin, both lovely activities for you and baby in themselves. Don't underestimate how long baby needs at your breast- at birth each feed took an hour for me, by six weeks she was down to around half an hour, by three months around five minutes! Also night feeding is really really important for boosting your milk supply so I would try to keep offering your breast regularly overnight and try to limit how much formula you give before bed.

Do you have a local breastfeeding advice service where a lactation consultant can assess your baby's tongue tie?

I would really recommend joining some Facebook breastfeeding groups as there will be mums who have successfully re lactated and can give you advice from their experience. Two are 'UK Breastfeeding and Parenting Support' and 'Breastfeeding Yummy Mummies'. If you say your area their members may be able to recommend local breastfeeding support services.

Do not judge your supply by how much you express, babies get far more milk out of a breast than a pump. Judge whether baby is getting enough milk by the number of wet nappies.

Also it would be helpful if your husband is on-board as he can support you. If you explain that this is really important for you and baby do you think he will support you?

If you are going to re lactate I would recommend starting now, as you are producing milk and leaving it longer will get baby more into the habit of feeding from bottles.

I'm sorry to hear about your hospital experiences, it certainly doesn't sound like the breastfeeding adviser helped, a De brief sounds helpful.

You sound like a really lovely dedicated mum.

[petalsandstars]

Oats are good for increasing supply too. Also have you tried speaking to a la leche league peer supporter? Some of the bf groups on fb can be amazing too

The baby will get far more than a pump and yy to getting baby to suckle even if you offer a bottle later.

[paxtecum]

Drink fennel tea. Available in all large supermarkets and health shops.
It dies wonders for increasing Breast milk supply.

[TheHermitCrab]

Thanks Loletta for going against the general consensus, it is really appreciated.

TheOddity Maybe I wrote something that didn't come across right but I didn't only do skin to skin for a week. I have been doing it since birth and haven't stopped.

PrettyPenguin That contraption looks amazing but I'm presuming will also be very pricey :(

Jenny70 My milk came in well at the hospital (I only had baby on breast for 2 days, I was still pumping colostrum when I started) I was doing so well I was saving up extra bottles in the hospital fridge and they commented how good my milk supply was. That's why it's odd it just disappeared over a couple of days (and has now come back!) I still don't feel engorged or anything. I remember when I was getting the most milk out If I didn't pump every 2 hours my breast pads were soaked and heavy, I don't know what went wrong because I definitely wasn't replacing breast with formula, I only used formula when I pumped and didn't get enough, I'd still then pump again at the next interval.

chestnutmare your story is very reassuring thank you! I can't afford the shields until friday but I am going to try and put her to the breast every other feed or so to get her in a routine without damaging my nipples!

[chestnutmare]

Oh, also meant to say, good luck! :)

[chestnutmare]

Definitely worth trying. My DD had a rough delivery and ended up in the neonatal unit after she was born. She wouldn't breastfeed, I tried at every feed to get her to latch on. So I expressed around 6 times a day and she was fed EBM by bottle. As that wasn't enough for her, about 50% of her milk intake was formula. The volume of milk you can express isn't an indication of how much milk your baby will be able to take from you, they are much more efficient than any breast pump! :)

Anyway, I continued to try her at the breast at each feed. I bought some nipple shields and after about 5 weeks I was able to bf her with those. She was nearly 7 weeks old when she latched directly onto the boob for the first time.

As soon as she did, I was pretty much able to stop expressing right away, I had enough of a supply to feed her just breastmilk directly from me!

She's now 8 months old and we're still breastfeeding :)

[Jenny70]

The pump isn't as effective for some people in keeping supply, baby is much better.

I suggest bringing baby to breast as often as possible, staying in bed all day with them if needs be and just give baby feeds every hour, and formula only when you think they are getting too hungry. Your supply will come back in within a day or two, so obv your baby will need some formula, but the more you give, the less your body will think the baby needs... it's like the magic pudding, the more you take the more you make - every time the breast is drained the body will "refill" and possibly with extra. Every time baby is filled with bottle, your breasts don't "know" about the feed and think baby hasn't needed a feed and stops production.

You certainly can reestablish supply at 4w, try and if it works woohoo, but if it doesn't then give away the guilt and be happy that we have safe alternatives for feeding.

[GhoulWithADragonTattoo]

Drink loads of water, get lots of rest and bring baby to breast frequently. It sounds as though you could establish breast feeding now.

[PrettyPenguin]

There's a thing you can buy that I used for my eldest DD when she struggled to latch and I was in agony so my HV told me to stop BF at 3 wks. So I did but felt really awful about it. I phoned my hospital lactation lady and she came out with this marvellous contraption that you fill with formula (or breast milk if you have been expressing) and then you hang it aroung your neck and there are tiny tubes that you attach to your nipples with tape and the baby suckles but doesn't get frustrated because your breasts aren't giving her anything because it gets sucked out of the tubes instead. The suckling stimulates your breasts to start producing milk again and you gradually start putting less milk in the container as you start producing more milk yourself.

Here's the one I used:
www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/products/51/supplemental-nursing-system-sns

[avacat]

Fenugreek seeds should be very cheaply available at South Asian grocers. They are also known as methi seeds and can also be purchased from online spice shops such as itadka for £2-3 for a kg.