5 week old - ready to quit breast feeding, help pls?

[Bubble81]

Hi

Since my LO was born I have struggled with breast feeding and wasn't getting enough milk to him so topped up with formula. Tried to express to use that to top up and encourage milk flow but couldn't find the time to do it many times. I saw a lactation consultant who found LO was tongue tied. We had that snipped at 4 weeks and I was hoping to reduce the formula (reducing a feed by an ounce every few days) and build breast feeding.

I knew it would be tough by i feel it has got worse and I just want to quit with breast feeding but have the following questions if anyone can help..

• baby feeds from me for about 30 min fall asleep on me and then I go to move him, he wakes, cries and wants feeding again, this can go on all morning it afternoon but if I give him a bottle of formula he is content for a much longer period. I try compression when he eats to get the hind milk, any suggestions?
• I am also a bit worried about satisfying baby's needs with formula. As it is he can empty both breasts and eat 150ml of formula 4 or 5 times a day. This is near recommended amount of formula so without the breast milk how will he get enough food if don't up formula?
• if quit breast feeding, recognise will need to pump a bit to hold off pain but how long till milk supply dried up?

A bit of me want to continue breast feeding but I find my day is all about feeding, I don't get a chance to play/ enjoy him. Any feedback would be much appreciated as struggling to make a decision.

Hi, Bubbles, what a difficult 5 weeks :(

You're right that he is getting a lot of formula. You don't say how much he weighs, but I'm guessing something like 4kg or 8 and a half pounds? This means he is indeed getting more or less all he needs from the formula, and this is why if you want to maintain breastfeeding, you will need to gradually reduce the formula, just as you planned to, as well as working on increasing your supply.

It doesn't sound like your milk has gone. You can build it up but you will need a plan, and you also need someone to check he is transferring milk effectively...and yes, to express when you can.

Is it possible for you to call a breastfeeding helpline and talk it through? It will help to be really frank about your concerns about whether you want to continue bf or not - no one will judge you.

Hope you get good help soon.

Hi tiktok

He weighs about 10 pounds.

Does the breast feeding help line give advice on formula as well?

Thanjs

They can't discuss brands or how much your baby should have - that's for the Hv. But you should be able to talk about the general idea of getting bf back, whether this is what you want, and what in general you'd need to do.

The only way to up your supply of milk is to allow your baby to nurse as much as he wants. His nursing will stimulate your supply. It is normal for a bf baby to want to nurse and be held a lot. It doesn't mean he isn't getting enough. However, if he is also putting away a lot of formula (I don't know how much a lot is) then you will probably need to increase your supply to drop the formula which means breastfeeding him more. If you drop the formula he will naturally breastfeed more and this will increase your supply. Any baby I have fed has fed almost continuously until the supply is well established and has continued to feed for a good portion of each day and night until they were over a year.

sailoratsea is right the more you feed the more supply goes up babies also instinctively know this and can feed and feed to get the supply up. they also feed during 2-5am because that's the time when most milk is produced. I know that at 5 weeks I felt like I was just feeding alot but then when she got a little older I missed it. You could always try carrying on and with formula the odd to give you a break? Whatever you decide it will be the right decision because you have to do what is right for you both. Happy mummy = Happy Baby after all.

Sailor, the op cannot just drop the formula and breastfeed.

Her baby is almost solely ff. 450-500 mls a day is about two thirds of what a 10 pounder would take if not having any breastmilk.

She has to work on building up her bf, and reducing her formula milk gradually.

You've had a tough start op Bf is hard isn't it?? Or at least it was for me.

I had a very similar situation to you, Tt and topping up with f. I wouldn't recommend ditching the f and just nursing, if you are anything like I was it'll just end in tears for both of you. 5x 150ml ff is too much to replace quickly. It helped me to thing of it like this; Imagine your boobs are like a bottomless bowl of rice which needs to be eaten with chopsticks. If you've never used them before it can take time to learn and it's easy to get frustrated but once you know how it's easy. You're baby just needs to learn how (also having tt is like being given one bloody chopstick). It's harder when you're starving hungry so giving a few "spoonfuls" can give you the patience to learn. I used to give one boob, then the other, then 1oz of f then put ds back onto the first boob. If he needed further f I'g give it after the second go at bf. I actually found that the f helped to reduce the frustration (for both of us) and the feeding helps increase supply.
Are you in any pain? I got lots of "just sit on the sofa and feed" advice but at first it really was agony. There was no watching a box set, more gripping the arm of the sofa crying. This got much easier after his Tt snip and my nipples healed. then sitting feeding became more of a pleasure less of a chore.
If you want to stop bf and switch to ff just feed on demand. If, after a bottle he's unsettled, offer a little more. You may need to hand express some milk off to be comfortable but I'd avoid an electric pump if you can. Also have plenty of pain killers and I've heard savoy cabbage in your bra is very good!

OP sorry to hear that you are having a tough time. I was in a similar position to you for the first few weeks trying to BF my DS - he was a big baby and constantly hungry despite following advice to "feed, feed, feed" etc. etc. and we never managed to get the latch right despite support from various sources so it was painful pretty much every time.

To cut a long story short, I decided at 7 weeks to switch to formula feeding and, whilst I felt emotional and guilty about it at first, 17 months on I am happy that it was absolutely the right decision. Decisions around BF are very emotionally fraught especially in the early days but you will know in your heart what is the right decision for you OP. The important thing is to make the decision for you and your family whether to carry on mix feeding, to switch to formula feeding or to attempt to EBF and to try (exceedingly hard I know!!) not to be swayed too much by the views of others either way.

and to keep your spirits up OP!

Thanks for all of your messages guys, it really did help.

After a good chat with the husband and health visitor I have decided to quit breast feeding (although will continue to express and use that milk along with formula). Decided having my sanity in tack will be more beneficial to my baby than him having breast milk!!

You're doing the right thing Bubble. Sanity is a rare and valuable thing with a newborn!

Good luck bubble. Enjoy your DS and your mat leave.