Not enough milk production - dad writing on mum's behalf

[rrt]

My wife is having trouble in producing enough milk for our 3 week old DS. From the beginning, he was given formula by the midwife in the hospital as my wife was having trouble feeding him (latch was bad). Things got worse when her nipples were in real pain, and so to ensure the baby was fed, was given more formula. Wife was in so much pain with feeding from her nipples, but didn't give up and soldiered on.

In the last 10 days, breast feeding has improved and it appeared that there was less need for the formula. However, yesterday he cried for ages not happy with her milk and wanting formula - having thought that he was almost off the formula, he then drank about 90ml in one go (loads compared to the 30-60 he had previously been drinking).
What to do to increase her supply?
Wife is trying to stay calm and unstressed (difficult she reminds me), has tried to stay in bed as much as possible, and eats well as well as getting a good amount of liquid.
What is a sensible way to move from her milk+formula all the way to just her milk. She is happy to put the work in, just that she is not apparently producing enough to make him happy!
ps. yes, sorry for this not being dadsnet, but wife really would like some help!

Oh I hope things sort themselves out for you. Congratulations on the birth of your DS. I'm sorry I can't help you with the breast feeding advice but keep checking as there are some very good breast feeding advisers on here and I'm sure you will get some great advice

sure someone knowledgeable will be along, but in the meantime

is a great site

she could get in touch with a breastfeeding counsellor through the local NCT or La Leche League or Association of breastfeeding mothers

feeding, feeding and more feeding will increase her milk supply....

help with her latch will make this easier

site is kellymom !!

Lots of people will pop up to advise on this who will know all about it but search for similar threads and there is lots of info. Meanwhile congratulations and well done ...Oops just realised next poster said pretty much same thing, oh well!!

When your wife is in bed with the baby has she tried skin-to-skin (ie stripping off and letting your ds find the milk for himself)? I've heard this helps.

You need Tiktok.

Firstly how dare the midwife give him formula! Where was your wife's support? She should have seen a breastfeeding counsellor at the very least! The baby wasn't latching properly and their answer is to give formula!

Tell your wife to telephone the NCT, their number will be in your phone book. They will send a breastfeeding counsellor round who will examine your wife's feeding position and the latching and she will advise her on position etc. They really are very good and your best bet right now.

Hope you get some answers soon, there is an absolute wealth of information here.... and don't apologise for coming on here being a dad - we have regulars who are dads!

Congratulations, btw

If she is in pain Lanisoh is the stuff to get - you can get it in Mothercare.
To increase supply try not to give nay formula at all.
Someone else with a lot more knowledge will be along soon

The main thing is to just go to bed with the baby and feed as often as possible... the more he latches on and suckles, the more she will produce.

Congratulations!
I'm no expert but if I recall correctly both my babies went through a bit of a feeding frenzy at about that age. What was recommended to me was that I just feed, feed, feed and .... feed!

In order to boost supply your wife should try and feed your ds whenever he demands. Lots of skin to skin contact and basically don't try and do anything else (washing/cleaning and so on) - just concentrate on having what some call a "babymoon" where you rest in bed/on sofa with good book/television/phone to hand and just respond to demands for milk as and when.

I remember calling the NHS breastfeeding helpline when dd (my first) was just older than 2 weeks in tears because she just seemed to be feeding all the time. No let up at all. And I had no problems in terms of sore nipples to contend with. I was actually sobbing down the phone. But I did what was recommended, things settled down and then at about 8 weeks I noticed that we'd settled into a routine of sorts with more decent gaps between feeds. And I fed both dd and ds for about 13months in the end.

Hope this helps and good luck!

Bad latching could be the cause of pain.

Tell her to first get herself into a very comfy position. Then to tempt the baby with the nipple until the baby opens his mouth very wide, make sure that all the nipple, including the outer area, is fully in the baby's mouth. Then try to relax - harder than it sounds I know! The more relaxed she is the easier the milk will flow.

NCT Breastfeeding Line (see bottom of page)

La Leche League

Also yuor midwife/HV might be able to recommend an expert breastfeeding counsellor.

With regard to f/f, I started giving my dd2 formula when I had sore and cracked nipples , and also used it to top up my baby as well.

We went from 2 4oz bottles to one.

I have been able to reduce it so that she very rarely has formula (only if we're out and there's no m&b rooms)

She's 14 weeks now and I would say from about 8-9 weeks I was feeding her on demand which helped the milk supply enormously.

She has fallen into longer stretches of sleeping and feeding at regular time.

I hope this helps rrt- don't give up hope that you cannot b/f just because youy have given formula at the start.

Well done for not giving up, the pain from cracked nipples is excruciating

Hi, glad to hear supportive husband!! congrats on new DS.

As my first DS was in special care for a week after she was born I had to increase my supply myself as she was tube fed formula to start with, she went on to breast feed exclusively for 10 months (unfortunatley she would not take a bottle but that is another issue) Best way to increase milk is to keep putting baby on and use a breast pump to stimulate. The more the baby sucks the more milk will increase. Try not to get too stressed by it, my second DD had both bottle and breast from about two weeks and managed switching between both fine until around 7 months. As long as she is drinking a lot and eating properly should increase fine. Babies also go through growth spurts where they have hungry times and drink a lot. Your midwife should give some support too.

Hi, rrt.

Someone to listen on the phone will help, and you have been given some good numbers. Please don't assume they will be able to visit you - and NCT and other organisations don't ever send people round (sorry, Rhubarb!) Breastfeeding counsellors are volunteers and some of them may be able to visit you at home, and some may not...but they cannot ever offer an emergency service. You can ask the breastfeeding counsellor you speak to if there is a possibility of someone visiting you, or you visiting them...but as there are large areas of the UK where there are no breastfeeding counsellors, this might not be possible because of lack of people.

It sounds to me that there is a crisis in supply because of the early and continued formula use - but this can be turned round. If he's been having 30-60 mls at each feed, this is gonna be quite a big task, but with the right help, attention to how he positions at the breast, frequent feeding, possibly expressing, she will produce more milk.

But do talk to someone about it.

Hope you get the help you need.

welcome! congrats! and well done for seeking help.

You sound like you have the determination part well in place - but do seek some real life help with the latch from a bf counsellor to make sure you have the best chance of success, and to make all your hard work count.

It is normal - btw - to have 'growth spurts' when they feed lots for a short time and seem suddenly unsettled.

The other thing about formula is that it is 'easy' to drink, even if baby wasn't that hungry. If you see what I mean he might have - say - had a sore tummy, then sucked on the bottle for comfort and inadvertantly ended up with loads of milk in his tummy. You shouldn't let it knock you confidence too badly.

rrt - are you in S London by any chance? Kings has a breastfeeding clinic and advice service that your wife could perhaps go and see?

Congratulations to you and your dw, and welcome to MN. There are lots of dads here!

How are things going rrt?

So, an update. The weekend has gone ok - wife has had quite a tough time sticking it out, and DS has really been drinking a lot.

Wife feels that she has got the position right - we have had 2 midwives round as well as the health visitor, who have told her that the position is now correct. She is of course somewhat stressed, but is trying not to be. Nipples are very painful today, and that's not proving fun for her.

As for how much milk is being produced, it depends on which day you ask. Sometimes it feels quite full, at other times quite empty.

She's not quite sure about the best way forward. Assuming that the position is correct, how to encourage more milk? Is this through pumps, or do they damage (conflicting information galore on this one).

Yes, we are in London (North London) - can you tell me more detail about that breast feeding clinic at Kings please "blu"?

We have a health visitor coming tomorrow, let's see how that goes. Tomorrow is meant to be an easy day in bed, lots of skin contact, let's see how that goes.

Wife has tried with NCT, and they have recommended the nipple shield route. La Leche League, not managed to get through to them yet.

Thanks ladies! Support and encouragement are appreciated.

ps. Lanisoh in this house is refered to as "elexir"!!!

hi have not had chance to read all the posts but there is usually a local breastfeeding clinic. i live in the midlands and there was a clinc in both my neighbouring towns, which was good and they had a buddy system. this was not throught nct, but though the childrens information services. good luck

Hi rrt.
Sounds encouraging.
Best way to increase milk production is lots of skin to skin contact and suckling.

i take it you know that your job is to do absolutely everything else so that your dw can concentrate on this?

She needs lots of love,support,spoiling and encouragement too.

[tactful clearing of throat]

you should be aware that, anecdotally, it would seem that hv/mw breastefeeding advice is sometimes not 100% accurate.

in north london there are a few breastfeeding support groups.
You will find one thru the nct i am sure.
There is also one in tomtennham i think, and if your wife gave birth in barnet general the most fabby wonderful bf consellor works there. She is called bella (can't remember her last name, she also has two lovcely support ladies too.

I ahve been there with ds1 and one feels so lost at this point i know.
Give her a virtual hug from all of us and get sorting out some groups nwhere she can talk to other breast feeders.
The barnet one saved my sanity

and congrats on the new baby btw