Breastfeeding advice

[bunnieboo91]

Hello everyone!

First time poster and hopefully you guys can help me keep sane!

I was induced at 38 weeks and had a long labour that ended up with me having a forceps delivery and a lot of drugs.

Baby is fine and is the most amazing thing to happen to me! But I am struggling with my milk not coming in and it's now day five. I take hot showers/baths, I massage and express the colostrum with a syringe but still zero milk. Baby is on top ups (cowsgate newborn formula) until milk comes in. I try and get him to latch on but he isn't interested but he did do it in hospital for a short amount of time.

I basically want positive stories or advice on breastfeeding and not to give up hope that I can actually breastfeed my baby boy. I'm worried he will forget or rather have the formula.

Any advice or stories would be amazing!

Thank you!

Hi bunnie You really need to get baby suckling a lot, loads and loads in fact, to stimulate your milk production. Have you got any breastfeeding clinics nearby that could help you to get him latched on?

Breastfeeding works on supply and demand, so your body will only supply what is being demanded. If baby isn't suckling then your body is going to be slow to produce milk.

Have you got a pump you could use?

You need to get him latched as it’s baby sucking that makes your body increase supply. Get your midwife to come everyday to help feed. Speak to lll. Can you afford a private lactation consultant? It will work out cheaper than formula.

What % of weight did baby lose? Is he latching at all? Has he been checked for tongue tie?

First, colostrum may be enough at this point even if it seems like tiny amounts - it’s incredibly rich.

Second, if you are FF him that may mean he isn’t motivated to bother with BF. Hard to tell if he isn’t interested because there is a problem (eg tongue tie) or because he’s full of top ups. Have you had latch checked?

It’s a difficult balance I know, you want to BF but don’t want him to be hungry of course.

Hand expressing lots is the second best way (after baby sucking) to get the milk to come in, sounds like you are doing that so that’s great, keep going. And get latch checked at BF clinic if possible.

Good luck

Agree with suggestions to pump if you possibly can while you get the latch sorted. My baby was intubated in NICU for a few days after birth and I was expressing (electric pump) every 4 hours, day and night, to build up the supply. As pp if you don't actively stimulate milk production your body won't produce it.

Also have you tried a nipple shield? If baby is used to bottles they may latch on to that more successfully.

Hello and congrats. My milk didn't come in until day 7/8 after induction and lots of drugs/interventions.

As others have said it is just lots of sucking and pumping. We mix fed until about 7 weeks when my body was able to take over. I pumped after nearly every feed and in the middle of the night (arrrgghh). Night pumping is really important unfortunately!

We also had help from a local breastfeeding consultant and were checked for tongue tie. My little one just wasn't great at latching. She still isn't but she's so much bigger now (9 months) that it doesn't matter so much.

It is hard work but possible for most women to get from FF back to breastfeeding. Having said that, although BF is great in many ways, don't give yourself a hard time if you have to FF. Your baby will be fine and it sounds like he has a great Mum.

The kellymom website is great for advice. Our health visitors recommended it and I spent hours on there at one point

Good luck x

I had two difficult births that affected the supply of my milk plus a congenital breast defeat on both boobs and I managed. I combo fed; the first time for 6 weeks and the second time for 10 weeks. The best thing I did was invest in a supplemental nursing system which fed artificial formula to baby in a tube taped to my nipple. This meant baby was getting my milk and nursing/sucking/latching on and getting topped up all at the same time.

I had to hand pump and also make sure I pumped it fed between 0200 and 0400 to activate a hormone but can't remember which one.

Having prepped artificial formula and breastfed I know which one I found easier - though it was harder to get established- it paid off in the long run. Fed first child for 16 months and second for 18 months.

You need to be a little bit bloody minded about it, but not to the stage where it affects your health (mental or physical)

Baby needs to suckle a lot to stimulate milk production. Or you need to pump if the baby won’t suckle. Even if you’re pumping and pumping a dozen times a day but nothing is coming - that’s how you stimulate production. I really under estimated how much pumping or suckling was required!

If the baby gets used to formula which comes out quickly and easily with little effort, you might find he gets frustrated on the breast and isn’t willing to put in the effort required to breastfeed. And he might not be satisfied with small amounts of rich breast milk if he’s used to larger volumes of formula. That’s why it’s difficult to revert from formula back to breastfeeding. The sooner you can persuade him to suckle the better.

Ah yes that reminds me. We used medella bottles as they were meant to encourage a similar suck/latch and reduce nipple confusion x

What I wish someone had told me when I had DD is that yes the drugs can affect milk supply but its temporary. My milk came in day 4 but was kind of crap and seemed to really improve at around 2 weeks post partum when I started leaking all over the place but DD seemed happier.

My understanding is that lactogensis 2 is not influenced by suckling. After your milk comes in it is supply/demand, but in the meantime you need to feed the baby. I don't believe there is anything you can do to.speed it up actually - have you seen a qualified breaatfeeding counselor? I also doubt that colostrum woild be enough for a baby for 5+ days...most of the time milk comes in at 24-48 hrs; colostrum is enough for that time period

You're on day five?

Are you home?

Milk does not come in generally until day four.

Are the formula top ups being done on medical advice? If not, I'd stop that and just put him to the breast. Literally for hours at a time. Sometimes he will suckle, sometimes he will just snuggle.

Breastfeeding is demand based- as in the more your baby sucks at your nipple the more milk you will produce.

Google the fourth trimester and get a sling.

I had a bad birth and it saved my sanity, and enabled me to get breastfeeding started and maintain it for two years. Skin to skin is vital for breastfeeding.

Basically, stick your baby on your chest and keep him there 😎

Milk usually comes in between 24-48 hours and is triggered by separation of the placenta, it is not demand based. after milk comes in supply is demand dependent

Spent a day or 2 in bed- as much skin to skin as possible, you might not get a textbook latch but follow babies lead and let them suckle as often as they can, drink lots of water and make sure you are eating enough. Try and get advice on the formula if you can, and the latch. After 24 hours of the above I was advised to offer the breast as much as baby wanted, and pump between feeds to try and help supply along as much as possible.

@Alyosha

You sure? Got a link?

All the advice I have seen states that breastfeeding and skin to skin are by far the best way to establish supply.

I too had a difficult birth (ecs, blood loss etc.) (Weirdly) fortunately I had to stay in hospital for a week but it did mean we got some extra help getting bf started. I think PPs are right about getting the baby suckling. I think I basically had DD on my boobs pretty much constantly. I won't lie - it hurt. my nipples got very sore. Stock up on lansinoh if not already. Keep at it, you're doing amazingly

kellymom.com/hot-topics/milkproduction/ yes. Read the whole thing, very interesting.

From the article "Milk production doesn’t start out as a supply and demand process. During pregnancy and the first few days postpartum, milk supply is hormonally driven – this is called the endocrine control system."

"Although biochemical markers indicate that Lactogenesis II commences approximately 30-40 hours after birth, mothers do not typically begin feeling increased breast fullness (the sensation of milk “coming in”) until 50-73 hours (2-3 days) after birth.

These first two stages of lactation are hormonally driven – they occur whether or not a mother is breastfeeding her baby."

I can't- link won't work. It's probably my phone though.

Interesting. Though given that hormones are stimulated by contact with your baby, I'd still argue that it plays a part.

Anecdotally, everyone I know who has tried to increase supply with a pump hasn't been successful.