5 week old - have I missed my chance?

[M3LL]

I have never really got to grips with BF & am worrying that I've lost my chance now.

DS didn't feed for the first 24 hours due to the side effects of pethidine & by the time the midwife came to visit his blood sugar was so low we needed to give him formula to prevent him from being admitted to hospital. On day 4 still unable to latch I visited my local hospital where a midwife spent 3 hours helping me & eventually he latched on with the help of a shield.

Since then it has been a constant battle trying to get him to latch with me eventually giving him formula, so my supply has been slowly declining. I've probably had at the most 3 successful feeds.

Last week I visited a BF cafe and have been told to focus on building back up my supply using a pump. I've been doing this with the Tommee Tippee electric pump and although I have seen an improvement I still can't get much out. I can feel the milk still in my breasts but no matter how hard I try the pump doesn't empty it.

I desperately want to BF my baby to give him the best. But this is so stressful I'm now worried I'm doing more harm than good. I'm considering buying a new pump or renting a hospital grade one.

Is it too late? Have I missed my chance to BF my son? I never planned to exclusively BF but I want to give him a least a couple of feeds a day!

If its not too late - any tips/advice would be really helpful.
Thanks
Mell

It's not too late and you certainly sound a motivated and determined person, so that will help :)

You're right that your pump seems not to be working. You can try hand expressing or getting a more effective one. You need to be expressing at least 8 x in 24 hours to rescue and then build up a supply.

Have the supporters you have already seen discussed baby-led attacment/laid back breastfeeding/biological nurturing with you? The key now is to make bf easy and relaxed for him, and this starts with no fighting at the breast - first step is for him to like being at the breast, whether he actually feeds or not.

Do call any of the bf helplines, too.

Hope this helps :)

It took us six weeks to get established, now at 8 months it's fine. Not too late!

Don't forget that once you get the latch right, the baby will be better at getting the milk out than a pump. It's also not about volume but about quality so make sure you are eating and drinking enough.

Could you borrow a pump from your local midwives/ health visitors/ breastfeeding group? They are industrial strength and will work much better than a home one.

Definitely not too late, can you try by feeding him whilst half asleep, so he's not starving desperate for feed, but can be encouraged to latch & suck? Good luck.

Suz, happily quality looks after itself. OP does not need to worry about eating and drinking in order to make milk of perfectly fine quality :)

def give it another go as it took me 10 wks to get the hang of it and also i was sooooo sensitive too which i had to bite my tongue till i started to relax......hard going a its not easy.

I no everyone will b telling u this but don't stress ure self out. I had loads of problems and loads of help getting ds to bf and in the end settled for just giving ebm. I'm gutted and often feel I hav failed because I to wanted the best start for him as well as the closeness, ease etc but I decided the stress it was causing us both wasn't worth it. Our first few was were a cycle of trying, crying then expressing! Obviously I really want u to succeed but I just wanted u to know its not the end of the world and ure not awful if u stop, particularly if u still express.
Also hav u tried shells? They are plastic things that go in ure bra to catch the drips which u can then use. It really adds up. I wud recommend trying hand expressing also to see if there is a diff in the volume rather then the pump. Good luck

Def not too late Lots of skin to skin, an NCT bf counsellor and contact details for local bf cafes. Whether you mix or ebf, every bit of BM is worthwhile. Go for it

Thank you for all your advice. I've managed to give him a feed earlier for the first time in a couple of days which has given me a boost & I'm going to BF cafe tomorrow which will gee me up further. Even if its just one feed a day ill be happy :-)