Milk supply reduced and baby feeding every 20 minutes

[Nothankyou0]

Hello everyone sorry this is a long read
Breast feeding history - baby is 5 weeks old. As soon as my milk came in I got mastitis and baby would not latch as I was so swollen so I was forced to supplement with formula. Ever since then I have been struggling to increase my supply. Baby will usually feed for ten minutes ish for each side and then be hungry immediately after and will drink maybe 3oz formula. I try to pump after but sometimes It’s not possible if it’s just me at home and I have a two year old also. I will either feed her or give her formula and pump instead. If I pump three to four hours after her last feed then I will get 1oz or 1.5oz absolute tops. If I pump directly after her feed I get dribbles.
I have tried stopping the formula and pumping and just breast feeding on demand even if it’s every ten minutes but this hasn’t helped either And it just means I’m spending every ten minutes feeding my baby which is making me sore.

Anyway, the last couple of days my baby has wanted feeding literally every ten minutes, formula or breast. She’s only able to drink from my breasts for a few minutes then gives up and I have to give formula, which she will only take a half ounce from.
I really feel like my milk supply has completely decreased as even if I’m giving her formula and sticking to pumping every three hours I’m still only getting 0.5oz a time.

The only thing I can think of that’s been done different is that she stayed at her nans house overnight on Saturday while I went out for some drinks. I didn’t drink loads (maybe three). I breast fed baby before she left at 5pm, pumped 1oz just before I went out at 7pm and when I got home I power pumped to 2oz over an hour. Did sleep all night (1am to 9am) but I pumped when I woke up and baby was back by 1 so was back to breast feeding.

I’m taking 9 tablets of fenugreek a day but that doesn’t seem to be helping. I know I need to drink more water but does this make a huge difference to supply? I’m also anaemic and haven’t got my levels back up yet if that makes a difference but I have been on iron for just over a week.
Thanks to any replies x

Sorry that was a bit of a ramble -
To be more clear, I will either breast feed then top up with formula/expressed milk OR give a whole formula/expressed milk feed (when I’ve built up enough for a whole feed in the fridge) and pump instead of breast feeding. When baby only drinks formula for a feed she usually has around 4 or 5oz but for the last couple of days she has only been having an ounce at a time then wanting more ten minutes later until she’s eventually full enough and goes to sleep

Firstly, don't beat yourself up if the breastfeeding doesn't go to plan. You're lucky she's taking formula/EBM, as this can be an issue.

Are you getting much sleep? I found when tired my supply went right down. You've got a toddler as well as the baby, so it's understandable if you're more tired than in your first.

When you mention fenugreek tablets, do you mean fennel? If not, go for it on the fennel tea. Works miracles. I also found copious jaffa cakes were rather good too.

Good luck, but if you drop down to one BF a day, don't stress. You'll still have the snuggles, and you'll have done the best for her in her earliest weeks.

@Ringsender2 fenugreek herb capsules, my midwife suggested them but I’ve done some reading up and apparently they either work or they don’t and they will only work til you get to your personal correct dose so it’s trial and error really.
I will give the fennel tea a go. My doctor is also going to call me tomorrow after she speaks to her colleague to see if there’s anything I can be prescribed.
I’ve just finished my first period since pregnancy if that affects things?

I’m pumping now as baby hasn’t woken up for feed, been going for five minutes and flow has already stopped at half an ounce in my right breast

Hi, are you trying fennel tea yet?

1/2 oz is quite little, alright. More than nothing though.

I can’t pump at all but from 6 weeks DD2 was exclusively breast feed.

At 5 weeks your supply is not fully established and your baby is cluster feeding to increase your milk. For the next week just feed from the boob. 10 minutes is a very short feed for that age, are your winding and then offering the boob again? At that age I would expect your baby to be feeding for the majority of the evening.

I don’t know what the rules are about posting stuff like this but I follow milk making mama on Instagram and she is SO useful. I’d recommend having a browse generally. But she also does online consultations and your situation does sound quite complicated so you may benefit. They’re £30 I believe so it not extortionate (although I appreciate that could be for your financial situation).

Just stay calm I think. Your boobs are never empty, they are always producing milk. You may be confusing your supply with swapping between formula to the extent you are, but I appreciate you are doing whatever you can to get your baby fed and I think that’s the most important thing.

The more she (breast)feeds the more milk you’ll produce. Cluster feeding as PP said. Just check her latch. Make sure you can see her swallowing. Wind her when she gets fussy and latch her back on.

Hang in there! Xx

Oh and remember that pumping is no indication of supply... not getting anything during pumping could be a mixture of a million things.

My milk was delayed coming in so we were topping up with formula. It took weeks to build up my supply and its not immediately obvious its working. Around the 5 week mark I was still doing evenings of cluster feeding, baby on and off the boob for several hours. If he seemed to get bored or fussy or it got sore, I'd switch boob, back and forth. Eventually I would find baby would fall deep asleep OR would not stop fussing, if still fussing I'd top up with formula. I also did breast compressions which seemed to help keep him going at the boob longer. I only got a tiny amount expressing so stopped bothering. I do think my supply dropped a little when I got my period. Somewhere between 2 and 3 months things settled down and now a feed takes 10 - 20 mins. Good luck with things, you just have to see what works for you.