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?

Well done JK123. Just read this thread. By all means use Domperidone but remember that it does not replace expressing. It really only should be used when expressing/feeding at least 3 times a day.
I noticed in a previous post you mentioned a dummy. It would be ebtter not to use a dummy while you are trying to get breastfeeding established, as it does not encourage the correct type of sucking. You can encourage more frequent feeds by slowly reducing the amount of formula you are giving at each feed ie. 1oz less in the bottle. As Tiktok has said it will take time and you really are doing well.

Avent have vari-flow teets for mothers who are using breast and bottle (which is what I use). It has three different whols, which you can rotate to simulate breast milk flow.

Another trick is to trickle some bottle milk onto your nipple. (Sometimes it's that split second delay that puts baby off breast and this helped me).

Well done! You can be really proud of all the effort you've put into this over the last four weeks -- it makes positively inspiring reading looking back over this thread. No wonder you are happy

I'm happy with myself that DD will take the breast but I am sad that I haven't been able to express as often I should have....hence milk supply is still low. I think I probably have enough milk for about 2 feeds. I am thinking of purchasing the Ameda Lactaline pump. Does anyone own one of these? Any feed back appreciated.

Thanks for the tip on putting little bottle milk on my nipple. Shall try this and see how I get on

Hi everyone. I have made some excellent progress over the last few days. DD has been breatsfeeding for the last couple of days with maybe one or 2 bottles of formula. However, today she has decided that she does not want my breast. Whats going on? I don't think there is a problem with milk supply as I feel pretty full and have been taking fenugreek and some other herbs. Just when things were going well, she decides she doesn't want me anymore Again, if I put my breast anywhere near her, she screams. Have tried to catch her in her sleep but that's not working either!!! I stopped expressing..could that be a problem? I did express today and realised that it takes abut 10 minutes bfore the milk really comes through. Could this be the issue?

JK - well done. I think this is a blip, nothing more, and if you simply keep offering in a gentle way without forcing it, and keep her close, and do what you have done in the past, it will pass.....

I don't think your performance on the pump is an indication of what happens with a 'real' baby.

Thanks Tiktok. I was hoping you would reply. But in order to keep up supply, I suppose I'll have to express:-(