Dear all
my little boy was born on the 2nd of August, at 36+1 weeks, with a birth weight of six pounds six ounces.
Unfortunately, he lost too much weight during his first week and his jaundice levels got too bad, so we were back in hospital the next weekend for blue lights. We also needed to introduce formula to flush out his jaundice and for him to put on weight.
Since Saturday morning now, we have been on a strict three hourly routine of breast, formula and expressing milk. The expressing of milk was supposed to get my flow going, but frankly, it had little effect - I never managed to express more then 10 mill, despite doing it religiously every three hours. The routine also meant that I and my husband slept in 1 1/2 hour bursts, because the whole routine in itself took 1 1/2 hours each time. This will be absolutely unsustainable once my husband goes back to work - I really don't want him to have an accident on the M25 due to fatigue.
The midwife visited today to weigh the little one and luckily, his weight is now on the up. She also suggested that I stop the expressing, because it seems to have little effect and just tires me out.
I would like to keep up the breastfeeding though, but am worried that I won't be able to as he will get too keen on the formula. He still takes the breast, but only for a fairly short time. Plus of course, all the advice says that you shouldn't supplement breast with formula before six weeks.
Does anybody have any experience with introducing formula early on? Were you able to continue breastfeeding? I'd like him to get as much of the good stuff as possible! Should I offer him less formula so that he stays on the breast for longer?
Any advice, opinions and experiences are welcome!
Doris