Increase a diminishing supply at 5 wks..rallying support for BF!

[Capitaltrixie]

DD was 5 weeks old on xmas day. I was ebf for first 2 weeks but started to introduce a supplementary ff just in the evenings at first, but this has increased. A week ago she was having 70% bmilk, 30% formula, but last few days this is now the other way around..gutted as she has been latching on well, I just felt like I wasn't producing enough, though I probably was. She also seemed bit less colicy and more settled with a bit of formula (though this may be coincidence, too many confounding factors to say!)

DH seems happy(happier) for me to ff her. Think I've probably been influenced by my MIL who is a midwife (!) and also my mum who have both been surprising keen on formula feeding (maybe because they both did??!).

Just hit me today that I'm giving up too easily! Do feel crappy and annoyed with myself that I'm potentially not doing the best I can for DD - should've ignored the little voices around me (everyone has their own opinion on this eh?!)

SO..the question is, does anyone have experience of getting a dwindling supply back up? Very hard to say but guess I'm only producing 40-60mls from each every 6 - 10 hrs. Bfed DD1 but stopped at 6 weeks, similar experience really.

you could try going to bed with your DD and having lots of skin to skin and just feeding her all day - get your DH on side first by telling exactly what you want to do and why, and ask for his support.

What they drink formula wise has no relation to how much milk they have just had from the breast. Remember that a breast is not like a bucket that you can empty, more like a river that just keeps flowing as long as the baby keeps sucking (I found this a really helpful thing to remember).

Also you could try phoning a breastfeeding helpline and they will be able to give you proper advice on what to do.

Best of luck - remember that if you want to keep trying that you have the right to expect support from those around you!

ok well the first thing i would do is see if you hav e a local breastfeeding counsellor/group. LLL or something?
they should be able to advise on increasing the bm and decreasing the formula.

how do her feeds go at the moment? what times and how does she take it>

Thanks for the great advice Humphrey Cobbler - I suppose I was thinking of breasts like buckets that become empty! will try more skin to skin (which I enjoy anyway for bonding). Will also talk it through with DH today about the plan. My HV gave me some numbers for helplines & support, so I'll have a look for those.

thisisyesterday, thanks, I'll checkout groups. She feeds every 2 -3 hours (but sometimes 4!) so it's demand at the moment. I'll usually try to bf but then give her formula & she ends up having 12oml formula! Last few days I've been giving formula straight away though

Are you drinking enough liquids yourself? I always made myself a whole teapot of fennel, aniseed and cumin tea (specially designed to prevent burpy/reflux problems) and tried to drink several pots a day. If you don't like the tea (it's an acquired taste - i could only bear it with sugar and by treating it as medication - then water or any other liquid will do, although fizzy drinks are not great.

When I had supply problems I got some sort of 'natural energy drink' recipe from a BF group. Can't remember the details now - this was 13 year ago - but it involved milk, bananas, and god knows what else. Again, I tried to drink a few litres a day. Perhaps a local group has some recommendation for you. And best of luck with it - it's genuinely tricky in the UK because so many people are anti-BF. I BF both of mine in Germany and it's so much easier in a society where there is general support and recognition for BF.

Capital, it's a supply and demand situation, quite simply.
The more you breastfeed, the more you make.
You have lost confidence in yuorself and your body. It's easier for a baby to drink from a bottle also so no wonder she is getting throguh the formula. If you want to get back to full breastfeeding, you need to commit to a lot of time breastfeeding.

Introducing that bottle of formula so early wasn't a good idea-it has messed up your supply when it probabl hadn't been properly established. Why did you do this I wonder?

trixie - it's not too late :)

You can build up and maintain a fine milk supply but you absolutely have to work at it - you are rescuing it and need to apply 'first aid' measures.

You may not be able to stop the formula quickly - but you need to reduce it, and at the same time increase the amount of stim. of breastmilk production, just as we are saying here.

Energy drinks and extra fluids are fine, but there is no real evidence for them - the main thing has to be frequent, effective milk removal, and 2-3-4 hourly is way not enough.....more like 2-3-4 times an hour!! Seriously. This frequency will rescue your milk supply (obv you will not have to do this forever, and some of these feeds will be be v. short, and you won't be feeding this often all the time). 'Cluster' feeding like this, switch nursing (google it) and breast compression (google again) and loads of skin to skin - and start today :)

PS speak to someone knowledgeable about reducing the formula gradually. You can't just drop it.

Sorry for delayed reply - rellies over today.

Thanks so much for all your replies, it's a huge help I have lost a bit of confidence in my body..for some reason I just didn't think I could produce enough, but I do understand the supply-demand situation.

I probably haven't been drinking enough water, forget to when running around after a demanding toddler! but no excuses. And I'll try that tea Tenebrist, not heard of it before, but willing to give it a go! Interesting about Germany..quite a few people in my family & other people I've spoken to recently seem uncomfortable when I mention breastfeeding, not sure why!

The first day back on it has gone well, we've had tons of skin to skin and lots of little feeds too (even when rellies were over, but not in front of..I didn't feel comfortable enough for that yet!), just one small formula feed all day & that was after a long bf. I do definitely need to speak to a bf counsellor, will try the helpline tonight or if no luck, will try & speak to someone tomorrow.

Tiktok thanks - you've given me a boost! DD1 has just gone to bed so I'll do a bit of research into switch nursing & breast compression.

In answer to your Q moondog, I really regret introducing formula so early, DD seemed so hungry & I listened to my MIL (midwife) who was encouraging regarding giving formula.

Sounds good.
Such a shame your MIL has given you bad advice but lack of training about realities of breastfeeding a very serious issue, to the detriment of countless women.

Forgot to specify it is midwives I refer to with ragards to poor/non existent trainnig regarding b/feeding.

Hi there! I took a course of mega-steroids when DD was 4wks, supply had previously been great but went down to zip over 5 days (at the time we were doing a bottle in the evening of expressed milk and previously I'd been expressing about 100ml, went down to 60, then 30, then 15, then...). DD was screaming with hunger and I felt devastated. I hadn't even thought I was enjoying bf at all but faced with being forced to give up I realised how much I was getting out of it. Lucky for me I only actually had to use formula for 2 days.

Anyway, gp told me "once it's gone it's gone"... Useless man. I refused to give up, read loads on LLL and kellymom websites. Summoned maternity support worked from local breasfeeding group and surestart centre to give me moral support. What I did was to start from scratch as though newborn. Took to bed for 2 days and spent a lot of time skin to skin, drank litres of water, ate loads (esp cake ;-), took fenugreek pills from holland and Barrett - for me they really worked - I could smell the fenugreek coming through the milk and it really seemed to boost my supply.

I think the biggest piece of advice is not to panic or worry - for me I think th stress caused as much problems as the steroids. You want to Bf - you go for it! Stick at it and enjoy the cuddles with your little one while relaxing and looking after yourself. You can do it - DD is now 9mo and I haven't used formula since, except for on cereal in earlydays of weaning, until these last week now I'm going back to work, so I know you can do it! Peer support groups can really help too, pop along to your local one for some personal moral support!

Good luck!

Thanks Fififrog, really helpful to hear your experience & you did brilliantly to get your supply up & feed your DD for 9months. It has taken me a bit of time too to realise how much I get out of bf on top of how DD benefits & I'm definitely not ready to give up! All set up at home with lots of choccy biccies & will get some fenugreek.

Feeling really positive after a good night and morning with very little formula
Also called the national breastfeeding support helpline this morning & spoke to a lovely volunteer, was reassuring to hear I was already doing the things she suggested to increase my supply (after I'd got some valuable MN advice above!). There's also a local bf group that meet thurs afternoons so I'm off to that tomorrow & also the childrens centre this afternoon.

Thanks again everyone

Fantastic news!!
Well done!