first time mum - wants to breastfeed and not bottle feed!

[JK123]

Please help!My baby daughter is 10 weeks and a few weeks ago I started bottle feeding as I wasn't eating properly and thought by giving her the bottle would then give me more breast milk for each feed, how wrong was I! My milk has virtually stopped although I have hired a hospital breast pump to get my milk back up but my daughter is refusing the breast. what can I do??? I am desperate to breastfeed. I seem to get on the breast in the morning and for a couple of feeds but by the afternoon, she won't have any..gets frustrated and just cries and then I give her the bottle. Has anyone had a similar experience? What do I do?

hijk123,my daughter is 10 wks old ,and like you ,i am combining breast and bottle.I fed her for 6 wks on breast,its really hard to know how to fit bottles into the breastfeeds.I 've found a balance by giving a feed mid morning,then one at 5ish,then one at 9ish,then the rest of the time giving breast.which seems to be a lot still,and thru the night ,coz its so convenient and lovely.I've found that my milk hasn't dried up.Like everything in life,find a balance,and I'm sure it will work out for you.If you can't carry on with the breastfeeding then you've tried your best,and that counts for a lot.well done

What about not giving her bottles? She won't starve. She';ll have no choice but to take the milk from yuou and may be feed say every 2 hours until your supply builds up., You rest a lot, sleep a lot, drink a lot of water and eat good food and it will come back.

She'll just suck more and make more milk for you. Some adoptive mothers can get milk going so a mother already breastfeeding can get more going. Look at how my supply must have adapted as my twins grew and took more and more.

hijk123,my daughter is 10 wks old ,and like you ,i am combining breast and bottle.I fed her for 6 wks on breast,its really hard to know how to fit bottles into the breastfeeds.I 've found a balance by giving a feed mid morning,then one at 5ish,then one at 9ish,then the rest of the time giving breast.which seems to be a lot still,and thru the night ,coz its so convenient and lovely.I've found that my milk hasn't dried up.Like everything in life,find a balance,and I'm sure it will work out for you.If you can't carry on with the breastfeeding then you've tried your best,and that counts for a lot.well done

another idea,fennel tea,boosts milk production,supposedly.give it a go.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I still can't figure it out - is there an issue with my milk production or is the issue that my baby juts doesn't want to be breast fed? I think it is that she doesn't want to be breastfed because she knows she'll get milk elsewhere (bottle) and a lot faster without having to make the effort. I like the idea as suggested by Xenia of not giving her the bottle. She won't starve and will eventually have to give in. Do others agree with this before I go ahead and do this tomorow morning?

Krimbo, today I gave her about 7.5 oz of breast milk and about 15 oz of formula. That's the most amount of breast milk she's had in the last couple of weeks. I have expressed some milk and stored it for tomorrow - around 3 oz. I've only managed to express around 4/5 times today and should've done more. I always offer the breast first but she's not interested. I haven't tried having a bath with her yet...wil do tomorrow and I hope things improve.I don't think I'll starve her as she would only get upset. I agree I have to lure her back to my breast. My let down has happened yet so maybe I need to work on that also so that the milk is available immediately as soon as she touches my breast. Thanks for your help.

i also think it is not a good idea to go cold turkey from formula and you need to lure her to the breast. try the bath esp. later in the day when she is more likely to be fractious. it will be calming for the two of you and will encourage her to feed. remember the more she stimulates you, the less you will need to express.

JK - you asked what the issue is....I suspect it's just that your baby prefers the productive bottle, and is less confident the breast will supply what she needs to fill her tummy. Building up the breastmilk supply so it is abundant and responsive is the only way to counter this.

Please don't go cold turkey on the bottle. Two reasons : your baby needs the nutrition, and you can't instantly replace this much (15 oz) formula with breastmilk, and starving a baby into submission is not a good way to establish the closeness and confidence you want to nurture in her.....ok, I'll say it: it's unkind, and I think you agree as I see from your later post you don't plan to do this

I said before this is going to take time - it will not resolve itself in a couple of days, and you do need to express more often, if you can. Continue doing more of what you are already doing

Morning Tiktok. This morning, as I was expressing, my baby woke up and I put her straight away on the breast. She started sucking and drinking. But after a few mintes, she became frustrated. I suspect the milk slowed down. So I gave her the expressed milk for af ew minutres and then put her back to the breast. Again she started to suck. So every minutes I was changing between the bottle and breast and she was fine. I'm trying to trick her into thinking that there is no difference between the bottle and breast. She's absolutely fine and I'll continue to do this all day. Will email later on today. Still haven't tried the bath but will do later on today.

JK - that sounds like great progress

Gave babay 2nd feed around 11am and I'm back to square 1. She wouldn't take the breast. So I guess another day of fighting the boob.

mornin jk,its so hard to get this right.switching from breast to bottle from formula to breastmilk seems very confusing .you hav to make a decision because it seems you are getting more anxious.obviousely,breast is best,but please dont be too hard on yourself if u decide to stop.if you put dd on bottles it might just relax you both,its a hard decision to make i know .once you've made up your mind either way you will feel better.dont get too stressed,its really not worth it,going cold turkey with a tiny baby who is not established properly on the breast is bad advice-I think.

red - but JK has made up her mind...see the thread title

JK - just as we predicted, it won't happen straight away and progess will not be consistent.

Think in terms of a week - what do you want things to look like in a week? You will have made measurable progress in a week, with ups and downs within that period. That's ok, normal, and to be expected.

Just given 3rd feed and again she wanted bottle. However, towards the end of the feed just as she was falling asleep, I put my breast to her and she sucked on it for a while. However, as soon as she woke and realised what was in her mouth, she started moaning. Well at least, I'm able to get my breast to her mouth, even if only for a few sucks. I'm giving myself 2 weeks and then if things don't work as I want to, then I'll just express always and give that to her. I really hate expressing but maybe that's what I'll just have to do!

I seem to have made some progress with breatsfeeding. Last night my baby took my breast and fel asleep to it. This morning, she had her 1st feed from me. I was really happy when I heard her burp afterwards:-) However, since then, I can't get her back to my breast. Well she does latch on but then a short while later starts to cry. Again I think the milk is running out and coming out slowly. Shall I keep on expressing so that I can produce more milk? Not sure where to go from here?

JK123, I would continue to express. It will help keep your supply up and even if you produce too much you can always freeze it for a later date. When my ds1 was small I always imagined that you could "use up" your milk supply. You don't. The more you feed/express the more milk you will make.
You sound like you're making great progress! Don't get disheartened now, think how far you've come since you first posted on here!

Glad you're still persevering JK123. Keep following Tiktok's advice.

I just had a phone call from the BFN and it was suggested that I use a supplemnatry nursing system or get holdof some gastric tube. Can anyone recommend where I get the tube from? I think this is a good idea and would get my baby to take the breast as he would be both stimulating the breast and getting a feed:-)

JK123, Medela do a supplementary nursing system. Re the gastric tubing, they're not suggesting the tbing that goes from the nose down to the stomach, are they???

SNS

supplementary feeder here. i have bought products from this company before. they have v good customer service.

Hi JK. Just managed to get round to reading this thread. I've no advice to offer you as I've settled for mixed feeding rather than struggle to re-establish full bf, but I just wanted to say how much I sympathise with your situation. My baby has also been a complete nightmare to feed from day one. But to offer you a word of hope - although I am still giving large formula top ups, DS is now 16 weeks and has been much more cooperative on the breast for the last few weeks. (Now he's reached the age when he's getting bored after a few sucks but that's a whole other story!!) I really admire your perserverance - keep up the good work!