2 weeks in & can't express, is my baby bring fed?

[justhayley]

Hiya I'm feeling really down about feeding. I really want to breast feed exclusively but it's not happening at the moment :(
My baby is 2 weeks today and started off in special care as he was early 5lbs 3oz & had low blood sugars among other things.
Whilst in SCBU I had to top up his breast feeds with formular until my milk came in. When it did it really did & I was expressing a bottle on each breast in 15 minutes at each feed. I was then able to stop the formular & top up with my expressed milk. (had to feed from the bottle as SCBU were very strict on monitoring the amount of mills baby was getting).
I continued this at home but in the last 5 days I havnt been able to express anything at all.
I'm worried if nothing is coming out when I'm expressing then baby won't be able to get anything when he's feeding off me either??

I'm breast feeding during the day but at night he won't settle and seems hungry so I'm having to resort to formular feeds - especially the 3.30 & 5.30 feed.

Really don't want to do this.

Does anyone have any tips?
And if I can't express does it mean I can't breast feed?

Thanks Hayley xx

Hi
I'm not an expert but didn't want to leave you unanswered. How much you can express is no indictation of how much milk you have and how much milk your baby is getting.
Have you had the baby's latch checked? How many sides are you offering at each feed? What happens if you swap sides when your baby becomes fussy? Is he gaining weight okay and how are his nappies?
My DD would cluster feed in the evening and into the night, sometimes for up to 6hrs. She's be incredibly fussy and would just go from side to side for hours. There is a great online resource on breastfeeding here www.kellymom.com/, definitely worth reading the information here, if only to pass the time whilst you're feeding.
Hopefully an expert will be coming along soon to help you out.

No it doesn't mean that if you can express, you can't breast feed.

Some women can do the expressing thing, others can't. But they can still feed their babies directly.

Do you still need to be expressing now? Can you just breast feed directly or have you been advised to keep topping up? The baby is more efficient at getting milk directly from your breast than the pump will be.

Like pp says, you can keep swapping sides when your baby seems fussy and this will increase your milk supply too.

If you are replacing breast feeds with formula ones though then you may be sending the message to reduce your milk supply.

Can I just add that the night feeds are very important in the early days to establish your supply so giving formula at night is a no no IMO.

Hi thank you for all your replies - feeling much better.
We had a MW visit this morning and she said the same as all of you really. Iv been advised to keep topping up for another week or so as baby's blood sugars are still quite unstable & although are not being tested like in SCBU he gets jittery and his hands & lip shakes when they are low, so really have to monitor how much milk he's getting. hate using formula I get emotional every time I have to give it to him, & feel really guilty .

Dont feel guilty. It sounds like you're doing a great job! With some more dedication in no time you'll be able to avoid the top ups

You are doing a great job. With a bit of planning night time breast feeds are actually easier than formula. Make sure you have some lovely squash or other drink for you - treat yourself to one of the posh brands. Get some pre-wrapped cakes (Mr. Kipling are good) and a banana, and leave them near your bed.

The night time feeds really are important in getting breastfeeding established. In a few weeks baby will be a lot bigger and you will find that you can feed without waking up fully, you may not even remember feeding the next morning.

You are doing really well to have got this far.