Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Relactation - advice and successes please

3 replies

MeanMrsMustard · 25/10/2013 10:30

My dd is nearly 8 weeks. She was ebf till 4 weeks, then ff, with at least 1 ebm or breast feed per day.
At 6 weeks I didn't put her on the breast for a whole week. I felt it was too stressful for both of us. She was getting very upset at the slow flow and lack of milk, I felt like a failure with a daughter who hated me. I carried on expressing but my milk was slowing down and I'd be lucky to get 40 mls in over an hour.
Last week I decided to try again. If I pick the right moment when dd is neither too tired or too hungry she will suckle for 5 - 25 mins. I have no idea if she gets much milk. Her latch is bad, she doesn't like me correcting it, and she sometimes takes a 120ml ff quite soon after. It seems to make us both more content though.

Now however I'm hoping to do this properly. I would like to aim for at least half her milk to be breast milk, preferably breast fed. I've started taking fenugreek so will see if that helps. If not ill ask the dr medication.

She is keen to breastfeed, but her latch is poor and often ends with just my nipple in her mouth. She seems to get frustrated by the slow flow of milk and possibly the lack of it too.

I'm using dr brown bottles as she was getting very windy. She is still on size 1 teats and it takes her a while to get her milk. If I was planning on sticking to formula I would definitely up a size, but I'm unsure whether to do so when trying to get her back on my breast.

I'm looking for general advice and successes to do with relactation, and also advice on how to make sure dd gets enough formula to keep her fed, without making it too much of an attractive easy option for her. Is it wrong to keep on using the newborn teats?

Thank you for reading.

OP posts:
lemonsherbet · 25/10/2013 10:42

I have no experience of relacation but did have problems with breast feeding at the start. My DS was tongue tied and that was causing problems with his feeding. I ended up calling the NCT once his tongue tie was cut and they sorted out my latch. They had the time to sit and watch a feed and correct it.

In order to boost my milk supply they recommended breast pumping after feeding him. I only did it for 10min after he had fed but it did work and my supply increased enough. In terms of top ups I am not sure what to advise.

My best bit of advice would be to call the NCT or LLL. If I had not done that I doubt I would be breastfeeding now. Also have your DD checked for a tongue tie since my ds was nipple feeding to. If your latch is sorted then they get the milk more effectively. Also look up breast compressions there are youtube videos and that increase the flow to the baby.

pombal · 25/10/2013 19:11

Hiya,
I relactated after a month of of no BF, it took me another 4 months to wean of the formula, but my DS has a tongue tie which wasn't corrected.

I went on to BF until he was 3.

I used a lactation aid and ditched the bottles.

Google Jack Newman and watch the vids on how to do this.

Also get RL help if possible as it's not easy.

Also remember it's not do or die, partial breast feeding or deciding to go back to bottle feeding are valid options.

I wish you all the best :)

MeanMrsMustard · 26/10/2013 04:27

Thanks both. dd did jave tongue tie which was sorted at 2 weeks. she probably never learned how to latch properly after that though.
i went to a bf clinic today but dd had just woken ip and was so hungry she got really frustated at the breast. i gave her a small amount of bottle to take the edge off it and she promptly fell asleep again. I'll go again on Monday and also give some help lines a call too.
Pombal - where did you get the lactation aid from? And did it help his latch at all? I have no odea how it works. I will google jack newman in the morning.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page