My baby was born emcs and with early jaundice, so he was mostly formula fed at the start and as a result we've always had issues with milk supply as well as latching. Now 3 months on we're mixed feeding and I'm still trying my best to increase my milk supply. I've been on and off domperidone and trying to pump as frequently as I can, but I can only get 10-30 ml from both breasts each time, depending on when I last breastfed. It can be a struggle to get baby on the breast - he knows he gets more and faster from the bottle (we use Medela to make him work a bit harder for his formula) so he often cries and refuses after a few seconds on the breast. He's much more receptive during night feeds and just after naps when he's calmer. But it's hard to tell how much he is getting from me. After feeding him twice overnight, I think we've done well, only to find an hour later in the morning that he's starving and guzzling formula like he never had a night feed.
We've been to the infant feeding clinic, seen a feeding specialist provided by our children's clinic, been to breastfeeding cafes, hired hospital grade pumps, tried sns, read all the advice on Kellymom and I think I have exhausted all the advice that there is. At the moment, going by what we expect baby should be taking in, I think we're about 70:30 in favour of formula.
I'm making another push now with 30mg/day domperidone plus fenugreek, and offering the breast and pumping as much as I can. Things seemed to be improving slowly - he started latching a bit more willingly as he matured - until a couple weeks ago when baby started having reflux issues. We've seen a gp and started infant gaviscon, but it's made things so much harder - he'll only feed horizontally but cries on pain when I try to lie him down. (He's never liked reclining position, vertically or feeding on top of me - he can't latch and reverts to old behaviours of screaming and head banging in frustration.) I find myself carrying him in my arms or in a sling and soothing him almost constantly all day. He'll nap but for only 30 mins at a time. When I do have some respite, I'm too exhausted to do anything, and am only fitting in one pumping session a day now.
I desperately want to breastfeed more but the infant feeding team suggested kindly that I may have to readjust my expectations, do what I can, and to just enjoy my baby. He is healthy and putting on weight otherwise. My husband is supportive, makes me breastfeeding cakes, but he works all day. How much longer do I keep trying? I know it's an answer only I can give but I would love any more advice or support.
The one thing I didn't do was post on mumsnet about this - I didn't know about this infant feeding section sadly and I wish I'd posted sooner. (I think it's a bit tucked away - wouldn't it be more visible in the Being a Parent section?)