Bf, cup feeds, Advice, success stories, tips

[Chloetay]

Looking for anything, advice, tips, success stories...
My 4 week old DS is still on top up formula feeds, he lost too much weight so we had to go on a 3 hour feeding plan of bf, cup feed and pump. 3 weeks on he's gained weight (still not up to birth weight) but that's ok, mw not worried. Big baby, traumatic delivery, got stuck, broke one arm and temp loss of use in other arm, jaundice and a gestational diabetes baby.
latching struggles and sleepy at first so had to express and syringe feed colosseum.
Really frustrated that we are still on top ups, I tired a few days with no cup feeds but he didn't have a dirty nappy the next day and he didn't do full wet nappies, dark, strong smell... etc
In terms of latching and what he does on the breast he's text book, had him checked at baby cafe.
I understand that cup feeds effect my supply but we had no choice, I've tried expressing I can't even get 1 oz! Find it too stressful so I put him on the breast instead, will feel 24/7 and I let him.
Keep losing hope that I'll ever be able to ebf. Any help is very much appreciated

Love a random autocorrect - the colosseum might have been a bit much for first feeds...
Anyway, less dickishly...
I was the same at the start- mix feeding to top up baby who wasn't good at latching. Initially she was only taking a bottle (expressed and formula). We're introducing solids but now the only milk she gets is from me. I still express and at the start only got tiny little drops (once milk was in- not talking about colostrum). Over time this ramped up somewhat.
Don't worry about mix feeding if it is working for you- though I completely get where you are coming from.
Feeding feeding feeding is the best way to get your supply up.
In terms of expressing - if you are full time feeding it's not unusual to not get much out.
Every little drop you take out helps - both to shove into baby and to tell your body to make more.
Like breastfeeding, it's also a skill that takes a bit of practice (as well as being a massive pain and time consuming). If you wanted to give it another go, have a look at kellymom for tips and also this:
med.stanford.edu/newborns/professional-education/breastfeeding/maximizing-milk-production.html

It's a video that shows techniques for getting the most milk out. I found it really helpful.
Expressing is a time-consuming faff though so don't feel guilty if you don't want to do it anymore!
Check you are eating and drinking enough. I use a nursing tea (neuners) (but there are others available) and take fenugreek tablets. No idea if it really makes a difference but the tea isn't horrible (though a bit weird) and if nothing else it's a warm drink that gets fluid into you. There are lots of websites about galactigogues (obviously be careful with herbal supplements if you are on medication of any kind) but many of the things (like what the american sites call "oatmeal" -porridge) are basically healthy foods that anecdotally increase milk production. Much like the tea I felt that making sure I was getting a big bowl of bircher muesli in in the morning because it might help milk production wouldn't hurt and also meant I remembered to eat.
You sound like you are doing really well after a difficult start!

You don't say how much he's taking from the cup of whether the quantity is increasing. Perhaps going cold turkey was too much for either of you to catch up and reducing the volume going for a second bf after would be a good start.

I agree with previous poster that if he's feeding all the time you're unlikely to get much out. I'm not sure this is advisable but one option is to express at the end of a nap so you're expressing the easy milk and feeding baby the harder to get fattier milk. But also I'm of the opinion that if expressing isn't easy for you then don't bother.

Finally, if he's really feeding 24/7, and it's not the odd growth spurt or a figure of speach, then he hasn't got the hang of it yet. And if that's the case it's a demand problem not a supply problem. But he's clearly enjoying it so given time you should both get there.

Thank you both for the reply's

I'm new to this app so you'll have to bear with. The kelly mum video was really helpful for the hand expression. So thank you for that I think I might have actually got more out since trying massages. In fact the Kelly mum website is really good in general I'm thinking of changing the cup feeds to bottlefeeds and there is a post which helps how to do it which is handy. Cup feeds wise he has anywhere from 60 ml to 200 ml but he's never fully satisfied and then I'll put him back on the breast afterwards, and he has anywhere from non to 3 a day rather than a set schedule I try to only give them necessary.
I he was weighed again on Monday and he'd lost 20 grams, which is very little but now I'm beginning to think combination feeding is the best solution for us.

I combination fed my baby from birth as struggled with the pain despite getting lots of help with latch etc. We cup fed at first but then I got mastitis and told my DP to just bottle feed her formula. I didn't feed her for 24 hours, DP then went out to get a pump and I started feeding her expressed breastmilk and formula top ups. Now we're at 14 weeks and I ditched the formula at 11 weeks for good. I put her on the breast as much as possible and also expressed a couple times a day even when I couldn't get anything out. Just anything to keep stimulating the breast so your body gets told to make more milk!

As in I didn't breastfeed her for 24 hours, not starve her for 24 hours...