How long to increase milk supply?

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I breast fed for an initial 2 days then stopped for six days. I was too tired and couldn't cope.

I decided to restart. I've been partially feeding her for a few days now. There is milk there, I can express a little with a cheap manual pump and it gushes in the bath. However I don't know that it's enough for a fortnight old baby.

My husband tops her up with 4oz bottles, which I know will affect my supply but I don't know how good the supply is having stopped.

I fed her every 2hrs last night and she was fine. Today however she had two 4oz bottles so hasn't wanted to feed. What do I do?

I had a similar situation due to my DD being in SCBU for a couple of weeks.

Basically every time DD was hungry I would bf first, then if she wasn't asleep I'd offer formula. Once she was back on the centile she was born on I stopped the daytime formula but closely monitored wet nappies and also kept giving her a bedtime bottle just to be sure she was set up for the night.

It was quite an intense couple of weeks to build back up and I basically lived on the settee but it did only take that long.

Thanks @llamapolice. This is sensible advice and reassuring. I think I just needed reassurance topping up right now is ok.

Thanks again. I will count nappies when I cut the top-up.

Sounds like you are doing great. I would also pump when your daughter has formula to keep the demand going, milk supply is all about demand, so if you are pumping and feeding more it will go up to match her needs. You can then freeze the milk for exhaustion backup!

Night feeds are very important for establishing supply - they stimulate a hormone that helps milk production; I did a breastfeeding support course a few years back.

Also if the manual isn't cutting it a good breastfeeding counsellor will have a super duper pump that will really kick start pumping for you and often good plans on how often to pump for great results. Often hospitals can lend these too.

It sounds like you're doing great x

There’s a lot of good info on this page, and LLL have online support groups most days, which would be a good place to get support from a real expert.

www.laleche.org.uk/relactation-induced-lactation/

You could consider medication to support/re-establish your supply. Domperidone (may have a different name where you are) was great for me when my supply fell. It took a couple of days to take effect but it got us over the hump. I did have to ask for it though, and it helped that I had a sympathetic GP who believed in supporting breast feeding.
Once my supply was established I came off it and it's been fine since.

Having been in a similar situation, I'd say just make sure you BF loads and top up after. I used to wait till baby was getting really fussy on the boob and I'd switch sides a few times first. We slowly reduced how often we gave top ups. I think it took 6-8 weeks for me to feel confident we could ditch the top ups altogether.