Relactating?

[lalabaloo]

Hi, my baby is 9 weeks old, we stopped breastfeeding at 2 weeks as I was feeling completely overwhelmed with it, I felt quite sad about it after a little while and still do really. Tonight I noticed my nipple leak milk again, I tried expressing a bit and there was a small amount of milk in both breasts. Could I try to relactate? Would this be a stupid idea? How might I go about doing it?

Hi thanks lala it's so hard as I have a school age dd with sn. I will try and keep my pumping routine when I can though as not to loose supply. I figure whatever I can give him is better than nothing and the rest formula so I didn't starve him

Hiya, am at work so just a quick post. I relactated at 6 weeks. I had a toddler, self employed - finding time to pump was a nightmare!!!!! I used to just hand express in the bathroom into the sink - sorry TMI, even if I could only manage a few minutes, and did that as often as possible. I thought it was better than nothing and I just didn't have time for sorting out the pump, storage of BM etc. i also used a tube to feed ds at breast. Google Jack Newman.

I got back to full bfeeding by 4 months.
Hth and good luck

pombal thanks so much for that post, makes me feel so much better.If you don't mind me asking did you relactate after stopping breastfeeding? Did you have a good supply before you started? Off to google now :)

Hi lalaboo,
Yes I stopped completely for about 3 weeks and when I started relactating I could only express a few drops by hand, couldn't get anything in the pump.
I had a good supply before I stopped but my ds has tongue tie and we've had all sorts of problems.
I never really pumped as it's not possible to rent the hospital grade pumps where I live.
I saw a lactation consultant who showed me how to feed ds using a tube at the breast and I did that .
Everyone said I was mad including the midwife who said it wasn't possible.
No-one can tell you if you will be able to get back a full supply. I told myself I would be happy with 50/50.
If you want to try, go for it. You can always stop again if it's too difficult

Wow you've done really well then, I'm thinking along the same lines of being happy with giving some breastmilk, a full supply would be fantastic but if I get half or a quarter or anything really I will be pleased. Did you use a sns or lact-aid or something different? I was thinking about the sns but its 35 pound and if its not worth it then its a big waste of money.

I bought a lactaid but found it really fiddly. The lactation consultant gave me some nasogastric tubes and that was easier, a Hv, midwife or Gp should be able to get you some.
If you can find a lactation consultant to get you started even better.
I used to bf first, then when ds stopped swallowing I used the tube to give the top up, then I would express for 5-10 mins afterwards. Jack newmann's site explains the technique better than I can.
It's not easy and it's impossible when you're out but I just said to myself I'll do what I can and we got there in the end.

You will get there! I found the first week when I went back to BF (began BF, then mixed fed, then mostly bottle, then all bottle, and then I decided to give BF another go!) really difficult. It was almost like LO was a newborn again - he fed little and lots. I spent a lot of the first few days on my arse watching Jeremy Kyle all day. Within a week though, he'd got the hang of it again, and now feeds for longer, and seems more satisfied after a feeding. I still give him a bottle of formula every few days just so he is able to use a bottle if I ever need to go out etc.

Also, express all the time. In the shower/bath, while baby is asleep and you're just watching TV etc. I kept a bottle handy and would just express by hand into it whenever I had a few minutes to sit still. Then, at the end of the day, I'd have a bottle of milk to offer LO as well.