Not enough milk? Ridiculously hungry baby.

[Lorna1234]

Has anyone been here? I'm totally struggling with breastfeeding. My 5 week old just doesn't get enough from me so I'm feeling like i'm failing. She'll be on the boob for 2 hours and then she'll come off and sleep for about 5 mins and cry with hunger. She'll then put away a full bottle of formula. It's like there's no breast milk at all going to her....but I know there is; I've damn well seen it!
I also think my milk is drying up as she's not sucking enough up because she keeps falling asleep. I'm now expressing to try to get the milk going again but I can only get 2 bottles (120ml) out per day.
Can anyone help? Any suggestions will be good right now :(
Thanks!

Have you had her latch checked?

I think yu need some feeds observed ...

Sounds like there might be something stopping her feeding effectively if feeds are taking 2 hours. Has someone checked your latch? Or checked the baby for tongue tie? Are you comfortable?

Hi, she latches on well and a midwife saw her go on the boob back in the early days when it was hurting like hell. No one has checked for tongue tie though. Who would check this? A health visitor? Thanks for the amazingly quick responses.

Are there any breastfeeding groups you could go to? A breastfeeding counsellor will be able to give you a better idea of latch/positioning/tongue tie.

If you look in your baby's mouth, is her tongue kind of heart shaped at the front? Can she stick it out?

2 hours seems quite long on the boob? 10 mins on a full boob then swap to other side, my son was a piglet fed every 1 1/2 hours !!
keep at it, try not to worry,
dont have any experience mixed feeding as i only breast fed, but as long as weight gain is ok, nothing at all to worry about

Thanks so much. Does anyone know how to find a local breastfeeding counsellor? My google skills are failing me. All I can find are mum2mum support groups and I think I need a professional breastfeeding counsellor to observe the feed.
thanks so much for your help!

To RitaMorgan: I looked in her mouth for Tongue Tie and she seems to be a-ok.
To everyspring: Yes, she has PLENTY of wet nappies. Loads and loads ;-)

Contact the NCT, La Leche League or Breastfeeding Network to find a local bf counsellor.

If you are giving lots of bottles of formula, this will be affecting your milk supply. Sounds like you need a professional though (what RitaMorgan recommended)

Breastfeeding helplines

* National Breastfeeding Helpline
  0300 100 0212
* National Childbirth Trust
  0300 330 0771
* Breastfeeding Network
  0300 100 0210
* La Leche League
  0845 1202918
* Association of Breastfeeding Mothers 

08444 122949

i felt like this during the 6week growth spurt - he sucked so hard practically my whole body ached! i just had to let him keep sucking as often as possible and a couple of days later there was so much milk he was choking and gagging on it! so long as there are plenty of wet nappies then i don't see how there's a problem. i started with a dummy after a couple of weeks when he started wanting to suck for hours.

Lorna, horrible to feel confused and worried like this :(

You don't give enough info to be sure what this is or if there is any real underlying issue like latch or TT - either could be a factor, but the other more simple explanation is that your baby is feeding fine and just needs to feed more often :) Being on the breast for 2 hours - assuming this is more like on and off with tiny weeny catnaps and then more feeding, and clear objections to being taken off - could be normal 'cluster' feeding.

Putting her on the breast again without giving formula is better for your milk supply - expressing is not needed, as far as I can see....but yes, a call to any of the helplines would be good.

If her weight and health have been fine on breast alone, then you can be reassured - not sure when you started giving formula.

My (surprisingly wonderful) HV told me that if an EBF baby is putting on weight properly, then you know they are getting about 25oz a day (what they need).

If you've got issues with supply, you need to drop the formula. If your LO's weight gain is good, I'd just go for it. Pumping is very useful but is no where near as efficient at getting milk out as a baby.

Pumping doesn't really tell you how much you are producing. I know I have loads of milk could easily feed twin's (I think this just comes from confidance and not actually knowing how much I producing), but Have never been able to pump more then 2oz. So in comparision your pumping loads.

A pump is no where near as efficent as you DC. I know you said a midwife observied your lactch but there could still be a slight problem with that only a trained BF cunciler could spot so it is really worth seeking more profesional help.

Are you sure baby is actually hungry and not just wanting to comfort suck? Or baby might have wind....they tend to mistake pain for hunger?

I would not keep giving formula on top of your breastmilk. You know you are producing and so you dont want to be overfeeding.

I agree with the other suggestions re getting your latch etc checked again.

Hope things get better for you x