Mixed feeding

[Annevl]

Hi all, first post here!

I’m a new mum to a lovely little boy who is just over 9 weeks old. We established breastfeeding early on although it was painful due to a tongue tie and shallow latch. DS has been very colicky and has reflux which is why the GP has suggested trying a dairy free diet as well as Aptamil Pepti to see if he might have CMPA. As breastfeeding was quite sore I was happy to give my boobs a break and start mixed feeding.

We are a week on and I have been breastfeeding at nights only which has massively helped with the pain. However I have noticed that my milk supply seems to have diminished. During the day this is logical to me due to the bottles however could this have diminished my nighttime supply too?

Ds currently seems to fall asleep on the boob at night but starts crying when coming off whereas before he would fall asleep and stay asleep. Is he hungry? Hope someone has any advice!

Just wondering if you had the TT divided?

Yes had the tt divided at 6 weeks which helped my pain! We started mixed feeding afterwards which is when I noticed the milk diminish. DS is squirming while feeding and doesn’t settle afterwards which he didn’t do before. So upsetting!

I’m trying to pump after each feed to increase my supply but wonder if DS isn’t actually sucking as effectively anymore...

I'm not really sure on this one if I'm honest. If you do want to continue with the mixed feeding, I'd give one of the BFing Helplines a call and speak to one of the BFCs. Have you got the numbers?

Yes I was thinking that as well, will give them a ring tomorrow, thank you :-)

Hi Annevl,
Sorry to hear you're having difficulties. You are misunderstanding how breastfeeding works I'm afraid...it's just not possible (at least not this early on) to only breastfeed at night and to expect to maintain a supply.
You are going several hours throughout the day without breastfeeding at all and so the body is being "told" to stop making milk. Maintaining a supply means milk has to be removed from the breast frequently - the long gaps you're leaving will be seriously impacting your overall supply and it will continue to diminish unless you act quickly.
You can turn this around if you want to. A regular pumping schedule alongside much more frequent breastfeeds will help turn the tide and rescue your supply.
It would be best if you had some qualified bf support to help you do this. Good luck.

Thank you, that makes sense with my experience and I’m a bit upset with my hv who told me this would be fine. I’ve been breastfeeding during the day now as well as pumping after every feed, I’m hoping that will help!