Worried about bonding?

[minibmw2010]

DS is 4 weeks, was born by emergency CS due to being breech. I had real problems BF in hospital due to jaundice making him too sleepy to latch. Had lots of help from great midwives while in but eventually I had to start expressing and also top up with formula as the jaundice was not clearing.

So now we're home and things have not really improved. Have had lots of support from BF counsellor who lives nearby but I can only get Hinton latch maybe once or twice a day and then generally using nipple shields. The rest is a mixture of expressed milk or formula top ups. My milk has never fully come through I think or J guess my supply has always been low due to lack of latching on his part. I'm struggling now with finding time to express during day but manage a couple of times when he's asleep and then at night after his feeds (like now at 2.30am, sigh). I'm not sure how much longer my supply will carry on like this but although he seems to be doing OK on formula and expressed I'm really nervous to make him fully FF led.

I genuinely don't want this to be a FF v BF thread but my worries are: if I stop the 1 or 2 feeds we are managing now (when he still needs a big formula top up anyway) are we still going to bond as well? Ther have been a lot of tears and I really want to do the best for him but when he won't do his bit it's heartbreaking. Second worry, if he does become fully formula fed, how do I avoid constipation as he won't be getting water from breastmilk? Am I allowed to give water .. I can't get an answer from breast clinic or HV.

Thank you.

[tiktok]

Ivor, I think the issue is that it can be easy to derail threads seeking support and information with posts that raise resentments about bf promotion - valid discussion points, but deserving of a thread of their own.