Restarting BF at 4 months?

[Puddlelane]

Ok bear with me here.
I have a 4 month old dairy free formula baby.
Currently it was thought he may have silent reflux which infant gaviscon...it's not really made any difference. He was never sicky or cried after feeds just very mucusy.
So I am now at the stage where we are going to ask to change his formula to neocate to see if it's the
Milk. He is thriving, putting on weight and meeting milestones.
Due to reasons I would rather not get into right now I breastfed for not very long then was moved over to dairy free formula due to history of previous children under medical advice etc.

Could I restart breastfeeding at this stage? I would give him formula until I have milk obviously. Google leads me to believe its possible but google isn't always right!
Am I mad? I really want to do this for him. I'm dairy free anyhow!
Please be gentle I really don't want a bun fight or to be attacked due to decisions that have been made re formula.

No one should judge you for the decisions you've made or had made for you- we don't know the whole story and never will and you don't have to defend yourself :)

Relactation is possible for a lot of women but it is hard work. Your best bet would probably be to chat it over with a breastfeeding counsellor (LLL, NCT etc) and talk about what you want to achieve and why. They won't judge you either! You are certainly not mad for thinking about it.

It may be a long journey for you but hopefully a breastfeeding counsellor will be able to give you practical help as well as getting things sorted in your head.

There's a list of UK LLL groups here, you can search local NCT services here and you can contact ABM here. I'm sure one of them at least will have someone local to you, if not then they should be able to support you over the phone or by email.

Good luck!

Here is some info on relactation, you could also look up adoptive breastfeeding because the process would be similar.

Thank you so much.
I know it will be hard I will read the links and hopefully it can happen.
Would latching him on be a good start?

Yes, you could try that whenever you like. Lots of skin-to-skin might help too. You could also look into getting a supplemental nursing system if that's something you'd consider? I'm not sure if Neocate or any of those specialist formulas have different instructions but with a SNS you may be able to feed him his formula at the breast.

I'll have a read thank you :)

Thank you everyone I was so worried I would get a negative response.
He is on nutramigen lipil 1 seen consultant and dietician who said they was nothing wrong with him other than cows milk protein allergy but he sounds awful, it really affects his sleep and coughs and gags at random.
I tried to latch him on earlier just to get him used to it, he wasn't bothered but he wasn't hungry I'm going to keep going and get some fenugreek as well.
I've a lot of reading today and feel more positive about it :)

(I'm going to see doctor next week about neocate he'll need formula until I get a milk supply) fingers crossed I do get one!

Nutramigen also makes for a very interesting poo!
Thanks for the neocate info, good to know. Seems my little lad is more sensitive to the protein.
I'm pretty nervous tbh will try latching on again at his late night feed.

If anyone did manage to relactate how did you do it?

Hi all, thought I would update.
I was pretty poorly shortly after I posted so have only just started this.
DS won't really entertain the idea of latching on understandably I guess.
I'm pumping every 2 hours that I'm awake 15 minutes at a time.
I'm getting fenugreek, I'm getting worked up this wont work at all and in wasting my time and just need to get over I won't breastfeed.

Can someone pick me up and make me feel a bit better please. I'm beating myself up about this.

Hi Puddlelane, have you been able to go to see a bfing counsellor as some of the other posters have suggested? They ought to be able to help with techniques for encouraging your LO to latch. Are you producing any milk at all yet? As someone said, lots of skin-to-skin may help, and he needs to get familiar with your lovely, warm, milky smell and be able to snuffle around your boobs.

Another thought I had, and this may be something you need to speak to a Dr (or better, a MW) is whether domperidone could help? I was prescribed it for nausea when DD2 was about 6 weeks old, and was warned that one of the side effects is it increases milk supply.

Chin up! You are doing a fabulous thing for your DS.

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Thanks for replying, its good to know im not alone!
I will ring one today, I'm not sure who was best to call. I have ordered some domperidone after researching if it was suitable for me then will call doc.
I'm just worried doctors will in effect laugh at me or tell me it can't be done.
Having lots of skin to skin, not producing any milk at the moment.

Hi, any of the bf lines (LLL, NCT, ABM, BfN, NBH) would be happy to talk things through with you. They are mostly volunteers in their own homes and may not be able to answer straight away, so it may be that you need to try a few before you get through.

I think some drs are more likely to prescribe domperidone than others, so it may depend on who you see. I think there is a BfN leaflet on galactalogues (medicines that increase milk supply) - have you seen it? You could maybe print out a copy to take with you. You may well also find that some drs are far more supportive of breastfeeding than others, so again it may depend on your individual dr.

I've heard of women relactating in your circumstances so it's not impossible! That doesn't mean it will be easy though, which is why finding some support (eg from a breastfeeding counsellor) could be really helpful.

Have emailed NCT breast feeding councillor who is calling me today hopefully. I'm looking at a Medela SNS but worry until he will latch on, would he take it?

Pumping is making me sore is that normal?

Thanks deputy I will google that leaflet now!

I'm aware it won't be easy (I don't believe much is!) I just hope I can do this and hey if I can't at least I tried.

I hope the nct bfc gets back to you soon :)

I don't think pumping should hurt, no. If it's rubbing then a different sized - not sure of the technical term! The bit your nipple goes in - might help. Or you could try hand expressing, which has the added benefit of extra skin contact to increase hormone levels.

My iPod is playing up so I can't link for you, but it looks as if there are two relevant BfN leaflets - one on galactalogues and one specifically about domperidone. They're on the BfN website, under drug info factsheets.

I did try hand pumping I'll do both and hope for the best!
My nipples just feel a bit sore. I'll hunt for that leaflet now.
Thank you so much

Would a mothers milk tea be any help?

Oh and I spoke toy health visitor (weaning visit next month) she said it can't be done it will never happen. Great!
I'm too stubborn to believe her but I'm gutted.
Sorry I have no other outlet but here.

It's not impossible. The bf board on BabyCentre is quite good on this subject.

My advice is domperidone if you can get it, fenugreek (you have to take loads), rent a hospital grade pump to help and maybe focus on certain feeds? I mix feed and DS is much happier to take the breast when he knows it's definitely not bottle time. Bedtime, overnight & first thing in the morning are our best bfs, also I do them in bed so there's no bottle association.

Good luck!