WWYD? - Breastfeeding/Expressing/Bottle Feeding

[Itsaplayonwords]

My daughter is 11 days old. She was born at 33 weeks and came home from Special Care 2 days ago. I was adamant that I was going to breastfeed fully this time as I was only able to combination feed my first daughter (born at 28 weeks).

With my youngest being small she was given NG feeds and I expressed milk from day 1 to help my establish my supply and for her to have via NG. I resisted giving her a bottle of expressed breast milk at first but with a toddler at home who I was missing desperately I caved in and gave her a bottle 2 days before she came home. She took it well and it meant she could be discharged home (it satisfies the nurses because they could quantify the about she was getting). We were alternate breast and bottle feeding but they felt she wasn't getting enough from the breast so told us to give bottle top ups afterwards.

The problem is that this isn't sustainable long term. I'm expressing 7 or 8 times a day and the feeds that I'm breastfeeding are taking over an hour because I breastfeed, then give a bottle, then express. At the moment it's doable as my husband is on paternity leave so he either does the bottle while I express or looks after my eldest while I do all of that. But when he's back at work I just don't see how I can be expressing and bottle feeding every three hours with an additional breastfeed every six hours. I did it with my first but I didn't have a toddler to look after then as well.

Sorry this is so long! I just wondered what you would do in this situation? In an ideal world I'd get her fully breastfeeding as then I wouldn't have to express/do the bottle feed. But I don't see that happening because for one thing she's small and doesn't have the energy and the doctors are more concerned about her putting on weight than they are about her breastfeeding. In the absence of full breastfeeding I feel formula is the only viable option but I don't want to give up on breastfeeding either.

Hi again. Sounds from what your are saying that you know what to expect and to look for, but you need the confidence to go for it. I would expect a lot of feeding, formula is harder to digest so tends to conk them out for longer when they are tiny. And yes, wet and dirty nappies are a good way to know if things are going OK.

I would reiterate earlier advice ; you can't go from top ups at every feed to none at all, it'll be a gradual process. Start with the first feed of the day as many women feel ' fuller ' then. Let her feed as much as she wants and if she wakes and roots a bit later put her back on. Switch feeding between success is a good way to increase supply. I would try to express more often to increase supply. Even if you can only manage a few mins by hand , try to squeeze it in. If you can spend a few hours skin to skin with her, go for it. After a few days you could try to drop a second top up.

Make the most of your Sil. I know it feels weird having someone you know doing bf support but she won't think twice about it. Best wishes to you.

Thanks Celtic.

The last few days have seen an improvement. She's had far less bottles and breastfed for most of the day. She's still having bottles in the night and I think we'll stick with that for now as she is really hungry in the night and she would otherwise be feeding constantly. At least this way me and DH can both do the feeds and both get some sleep.

SIL came over last night and I realised I actually don't need much practical help because DD is latching on fine. What helped a lot though was just talking to her about it all and having that encouragement to just go for it and to trust myself. I realised as well that SCBU has conditioned me as well as DD and I'm so stuck on this 3 hourly routine myself. I find that even when I've been breastfeeding her all day I'm still thinking "I need to express", which obviously I don't. I just need to chill out a bit and let her lead the way rather than watching the clock. I feel like we're making a bit of progress now and that's helping me to chill out about it as well.

Thank you again for all of the advice and support (no doubt I'll be back when I'm freaking out about her weight gain or something!)

Wow well done, that is amazing progress

The health visitor came this morning and weighed her - she has gained 80g in 3 days where we have been demand breastfeeding with just 3 bottles per day. She's 5lb now which is exciting as well! Finally feeling like I'm doing something right!

That is absolutely brilliant, you must be so proud. Hopefully you can start to feel more relaxed and confident now. So pleased for you