Do I just give up?

[Mikethenight2good]

My LO is 8 weeks old and bf the past few weeks has been hard. Lots of fussing, & not satisfied after a feed. It feels like I have no milk what so ever.
He was taking a bottle for a eve feed so I could go to bed early, but lately he seems to be taking a top up formula after every feed.
It's making me feel quite down and I start to dread every feed now.
I am going to try a drop in clinic tomorrow plus I have booked a cranial osteopath appt too. If they don't work I think I am going to have to give up bf as I don't know what else to do.
I feel so low I just keep crying, I am not ready to give up yet but I don't know what to do. i
also have a toddler so need to get myself together.

Sounds a great idea to go to the drop in clinic. BF during the first few months is hard work and can be stressful I know.

What you're describing is often typical normal behaviour. Check out this link, which talks about fussing on the boob being linked to growth spurts at 6-8 weeks! Actually the whole kellymom website is v informative so have a browse.

kellymom.com/hot-topics/fussy-while-nursing/

I'm not a professional but I know from experience babies may take a top up of formula without having actually needed it - it's easy to drink from a bottle so they just glug it down. You may have been going through cluster feeding as your baby builds your supply - check that out on the kellymom website too.

Go to the clinic and get all the support you can as it sounds like things are going well and you just need a boost!

I have a five month old and hated the first couple of months of BF but am so glad I continued with it now and it's so easy compared to the early days.

Hope that helps.

Hi Op, I used to run a breastfeeding drop in, but that was a while ago now. I agree with the pp that your baby is probably cluster feeding as they are preparing for a growth spurt. They feed frequently in order to promote milk production. Often new mums percieve this as the baby not being satisfied, so they top up with a ff. This is counterproductive as the baby settles and your milk supply is not being stimulated, therefore the next feed, more formula is needed, iyswim. Do you want to carry on bf? It is perfectly fine if you don't, but obviously you don't need me to tell you that! If you want to continue to bf, try stopping the top ups and tell yourself that the fussing is normal and necessary. Get hold of a good pump, (You can sometimes borrow them from sure start centres). Then pump between feeds and freeze it for when your baby is established on the breast again. This should get your milk production back up. The cluster feeding will settle down soon. Good luck.

Thank for responding.

The other issue I have is he will on take from one side (I have seriously wonky boobs!) If he took from both sides efficiently this may help. But he drops after a few mins.
Pumping for me has never quite worked. I am lucky to get 25mls out from a 15 min session, and that's in the morning on good supply. I will speak to the bf clinic tomorrow about it.

A lactation consultant mentioned the Medela SNS system to me - it's a tube thing that you tape to your boob which is connected to a bottle. Baby is satisfied by the milk in the bottle and the sucking stimulates your supply. If that makes sense.

Not had personal experience of it but seems to be a winner with most people.

I'm having similar issues. My DD is almost 7 weeks and every feed ends in her fussing, screaming and crying. She'll also only feed for 5 mins or less from one boob only so I'm worried she's not getting enough milk and that my supply will diminish with such short feeds. The GP checked for thrush but other than that thought she's just going through a fussy phase. I've tried expressing but she won't take a bottle either. Dreading every feed and struggling with breastfeeding too!!

OP, this sounds hard. But it's not easy to see what's going on without more info.

What has your baby's weight been?

How long has he been having formula? How much formula is he having now?

If you think there may be an issue with supply, then it would be very important to ensure really frequent feeds using both sides at least every time....and consider switch nursing and breast compressions, too.

Hope you can share the extra info.

Hi,

I have been through this not that long ago... Well my daughter is 9 months (and still breastfeeding).

We had difficulty starting as she was prem (35+5). I remember thinking we would never manage breastfeeding and doing skin-to-skin. Pumping expressed milk. Having my girl only want righty (come on lefty!) we got there in the end.

There was a fortnight where I didn't leave the sofa from 2pm to 10pm! That was hard and I could have merrily killed DH one time he had a night out.

Keep going, bring water and snacks to your sitting spot. Cancel visitors. Buy foods which just need opened - m&s prepped salad with m&s poached salmon or cold meat saved me. Also friends bringing in ready made food that needed 5 mins in the micro. Cold food is best though because some will get dropped on baby's head.

If possible try to avoid formula as a previous poster said it actually encourages your supply to drop and you may end up stopping breastfeeding assuming that you don't have enough milk (you do).

The house will go to pot but I promise it's worth it.

I wouldn't change things at all.

I was planning to stop at 6 months, then 9 months now we are here I'm planning to stop at a year! Haha!

Kellymom is an amazing resource

All the best

xx

Also you will learn to go tithe toilet with baby still latched on. I think that is a real skill! Just remember to cover up when you answer the door to the postie ;)

How did the drop in clinic go?

Many women in my antenatal group have told me after 12 weeks it gets so much easier.

My DD was incredibly fussy so I decided to express. It's a commitment but worked for us. We were able to get out of the house and feed without anxiety and I think it's definitely improved our bonding.