Mixed feeding and pumping for low supply

[Barnabyagain]

Hoping someone can talk to me about mixed feeding their LO while also pumping lots through the day.

I have been mixed feeding my 5 week old since she was five days old, after we discovered she had lost 16% of her birth weight and had to go back to hospital for a couple of nights. My milk hadn’t come in and she was struggling. We were put on a meal plan, which we have been doing more or less since then: Breastfeed (approx fifteen minutes if possible), then bottle feed with as much milk as I’ve been able to express (normally between 20 and 30 ml) and top up the rest with formula. Recently she has regained her birth weight and then some, and so we’ve been able to get a bit more baby- led. Less rigid on timings and giving her as much as she wants as opposed to cramming a whole bottle down her.

I’d originally hoped to get to EBF at some point but it has become clear that I have low milk supply. I’m pumping six times a day to try and get this up. I know that is two less than the recommended amount but I am struggling to find the time to do it as my partner has now gone back to work and can’t help with the feeds as much.

As many people warned me would happen, I am getting quite demoralised about the pumping, and frustrated at how much of my day it cuts into. I’m not ready to give up just yet, but would like to hear other experiences of this. When did you stop pumping throughout the day? Or how did you manage to do it and have quality time with your baby? At the moment I have barely left the house as the time it takes to get ready and go for a walk means that it would cut into feeding/ pumping time.

Also, can I expect my milk supply to ‘level out’ at some point, meaning the constant pumping would be unnecessary? Or would I need to keep this up just to maintain my supply as is?

Sorry for a long first post.

No experience sorry OP and I'm sorry you've had a rocky start.

I was just wondering if the weight loss was investigated properly? Has she been seen by a Tongue Tie Practitioner?

Thanks so much for your reply. She has been investigated for tongue tie several times by midwives / drs/ breastfeeding support in the hospital, and by a private lactation later.

There wasn’t a clear explanation from my midwives or doctor - there was a general idea that because she was quite a big baby (9lb 4 and I had late diagnosed GD), it was always going to be hard for me to keep her full. They were saying this in the first couple of days before there was any issue with feeding her at all. Another consultant told me this was nonsense though. In general, for whatever reason, my milk supply didn’t come in until day 5, by which point she’d lost something like 2lb. Then with the top ups (which literally every expert told me was necessary, and I accept that completely), my supply never had a chance to develop.

My latch has been checked umpteen times and generally considered ok.

Are you pumping at night?

Are you still feeding for 15mins and then topping up?

If so, I'd try feeding for as long as your baby wants to feed. Don't limit the breast. Then top up if she is still hungry.

Are you pace feeding when bottle feeding? This will make sure that she is only taking the milk she wants.

I would plan a week of absolutely nothing, chilling together in bed or on the sofa with Netflix. Get your partner to make sure you have everything you need before they go to work / food, water, phone charger, nappies. If you want to get away from then endless slog of pumping and bottles and breast, trust me I know exactly how you feel as have been there myself, you just need to feed feed feed.

Have you got a hand pump or a silicone pump? You could use that on the side baby isn't feeding on whilst she is feeding? Definitely pump overnight as that helps to encourage more milk but ultimately the more you feed your baby directly, the more milk your body will make.

It's so hard, I really feel for you. My first was similar with weight loss. We ended up back in hospital and after we'd been forced to use bottles, got nipple confusion and wouldn't latch so I ended up exclusively pumping for a year. It was awful but made me grateful for a slightly easier journey the next time round.

I was exactly like this, my son wouldn't latch on initially and had low blood sugar when he was first born so had to feed him formula for the first 24hrs, he was also a heavy birth weight. So my milk supply was buggared from the beginning but I also think I had a naturally low supply anyway.

Like you I had him to the boob and expressed all the hours god sent to get my supply up and nothing worked, it levelled out and I lasted until 16 weeks. He was extra fussy after his needles and didn't have the patience to work for it at the boob.

I found the breastfeeding, feeding expressed, formula top up then pumping again was taking over my life and literally had no time for anything else. I gave up the expressing about 10 weeks and I did have more time and felt less stressed but my milk supply started dropping again as the formula top up was filling him up more than breast milk so he was going longer between feeds than exclusively breast feeding.

Just do what you want to do, I was so upset that my body wasn't providing for my baby, it was soul destroying. But a fed baby is best and I gave it a bloody good go and wouldn't put me off trying again with another baby.

I’m really grateful for your replies and though I’m sorry some of you have had tough times it feels good to hear from people who u defat and that it can be tiring.

Yes I’m pumping at night - once - and then breastfeeding another time in the night. I hope this will be enough as I can’t do both bottle and breast in all the night feeds or I’d only get an hour’s sleep between sessions.

@bandbsmummy wow, a whole year of exclusively pumping! That just have been so hard, and I admire you for sticking at it.

I’m not limiting the breastfeeding any more, and I’m also bfing her inbetween main feeding times when it seems like she wants a bit. The thing is, she tends to only stay on for a maximum fifteen mins (both sides) anyway, and then she either falls asleep or, in the evenings, fusses so much that I feel the only way to calm her is to give her the bottle. I do breast compressions etc. We do do paced feeding with a size 0 teat, lots of burping etc. In fact this could be a whole other thread as she has recently been eating so slowly that even more of the day is taken up with feeding her. I’ve become a bit paranoid that she isn’t taking in enough milk as she takes such a long time that recently she is asleep or full before she finishes a bottle.

I also have a haaka pump which is great. I use it for leaking milk. though I only get about 10ml at a time, every drop counts!

@MrsMarrio thank you for telling me about your experience, I’m sorry you found it so hard. Did you find that your supply dropped drastically when you stopped pumping? I’m trying to finding out when I can stop this expressing schedule and still bf my baby alongside the formula. It would make all the difference if I only had two steps to the feeding, instead of three.

If you're on Facebook both Lucy Ruddle and Lucy Webber (lactation consultants) have really helpful pages.

Have you seen supplementary nursing systems? It uses a bottle with a thin tube that the baby sucks on while breastfeeding, so gets the supplemented expressed breast milk/formula while stimulating your breasts more and getting whatever milk you have, and avoiding any risk of bottle preference. I'm using one with my 7 week old DS, my milk never came in properly either, so he has the daily recommended amount of formula but it's all at the breast so he gets the small amount of milk I do make. Medela make one, you can also find it on Amazon or their website.