How to calculate (donor milk) supplement and related issues

[Isabeller]

How can we calculate how much supplementing a 3.2kg baby needs? He is breastfeeding a lot but Mum (my DD) has a low milk supply/hypoplasia.

Does your DD have some real life bfing support? They would be the best place to start I think. Or call one of the helplines and speak to a bfing counsellor. I'm a peer supporter but wouldn't feel confident to give amounts.

There's been a lot of RL help & advice, baby had a few days in hospital last week (all fine now) & we were told 120ml per kg supplement of ebm as well as feeding directly at that time. DD has been given all sorts of figures which seem to depend on wildly varying assumptions about what baby is getting from her.

I realised this morning we are both tearing our hair out over what to do.

Gosh that sounds very difficult. I would seek further advice from a bfc or lactation consultant who will be much more knowledgeable than the hospital doctors. The best source of online info is kellymom.

I would suggest that being baby led would probably be more successful than having a set number. She isn't likely to get the same amount of bm at every feed. How you supplement is important too. There is a great article on responsive bottle feeding on Best for Babes website although cups are usually better for bfing. Your daughter might also like to think about SNS so baby gets their top up at the breast.

Sorry if I'm repeating stuff you already know! Hopefully someone more experienced will come along...

That is helpful, it's been feeling quite muddled. Not exactly too much advice IYSWIM but maybe wanting to pin things down more than is really possible.

Really grateful for your replies.

You are welcome. Sounds like your daughter is very determined and doing an amazing job. The only thing I would add is to continue bfing as much as possible so as not to compromise her supply any further. That's why SNS could be helpful. I wish you both all the best.

I am in no way qualified but 120ml per kg per feed sounds like a lot to me so I'd definitely recommend getting that double checked by a breastfeeding counsellor or lactation consultant. Good luck

Thank you, I think we will be heading to a bf clinic tomorrow.

I hope there will be a manageable way for DD to stick to exclusive breast milk for as long as she wants.

I believe that DS in NICU was on 180ml per kg per day. So yes 120 per kg per day sounds like a lot. Good luck tomorrow.

I also have hypoplasia and supplemented with donor milk. You and your daughter have heard of Human Milk for Human Babies I hope? We have baby led on supplementing, ie we introduced one 150ml bottle when weight gain stalled and he was clearly hungry in the afternoon, and went up to 2/3 bottles during growth spurts. I made every decision with the support of a lactation consultant. Good luck. It's very stressful and emotional, and I hope your daughter gets the support she needs. You sound like a lovely mum.