Breast feeding advice

[Fizzl]

Looking for some advice with breast feeding. Baby is a week old so I know it's still very early days. On the whole it's going ok baby seems to feed really well throughout the day. She seems to have a good latch (no sore nippes anyway!), can hear the suck and swallow and she seems quite content after a feed. Have loads of wet and dirty nappies so pretty sure she’s getting what she needs but nighttime’s are already a bit of a nightmare. From now onwards she just wants to be on the boob but she’s not really feeding just suckling and kicks off as soon as she’s taken off 🙄 it carries on until early hours when I normally cave and give her a bit of formula to top her up because I think she’s just sucked me dry 😂 and not getting what she needs anymore. She only takes about 15-20ml of formula but it’s enough to settle her and then she normally sleeps and then I go back to waking her every 2-3hrs. Anyone experienced anything similar?! And what do I do? 😂 I’m happy to keep giving her formula just not sure it’s the solution - I think she's suckling for comfort or cluster feeding but she's clearly not getting what she needs in an evening as she won't settle.

She is probably cluster feeding to build your milk supply. It's hard but it will settle if you let her continue feeding from you. Introducing formula will hinder this.

Totally normal it's cluster feeding and you can be at it for hours as it's when the feeding hormone is highest and it builds your supply. With my DD we were the same and used to give her a bit of formula to top her up which lead to us giving her a bottle everynight and combi feeding. I now have DS and I'm just riding it out as I'd prefer not to combi feed this time around and my milk supply does seem better.
Combi feeding was right for DD as I'd had an EMCS after 3 days in labour and then spent 3 days on the post natal ward so hadn't had any real sleep for a week so I needed the respite of combi feeding to survive or I'd have probably given up breastfeeding altogether. With DS I had a straightforward VBAC and didn't feel like I'd been run over by a bus so I'm more physically and mentally able to ride out the cluster feeding.

Very normal and designed to build your supply. From what you said, it sounds like your baby is getting enough but adding formula will interrupt your supply. It's literally supply and demand and if your body notices a gap in the demand, it will slow your milk production down. I combi fed my first and exclusively breast fed my second: I definitely remember the nights were a lot more stressful in the early weeks with Baby Number 2, but that all eased off and I breastfed her for ages compared to the first. My mantra with Baby Number 2 was 'feed, feed, feed' and it worked.

Thanks for the advice and reassurances that it's all normal. It does feel brutal though with the lack of sleep. We've had a rough week for other reasons (non-baby related!) on top and getting some sleep kind of feels a priority as I'm not sure I can cope with no sleep on top but equally I don't want to fall at the first hurdle with breast feeding. Very tough to know what to do! Would expressing on top help with supply? I have a pump and could express whilst my husband gives the formula top up. We're cup feeding to avoid any nipple confusion

If sounds very normal, although feels brutal at the time! This link may help to reassure you that's it's all completely normal

kellymom.com/parenting/parenting-faq/fussy-evening/

Is there a reason you're waking her every 2-3 hours?
With DD1 I woke every 4 hours and this time round the midwives just said to feed on demand but don't leave it longer than 4 hours.
DD2 is now nearly 4 months old, from birth she has always been a lazy baby but would cluster feed from 7:30pm until about midnight but now she sleeps through the night 10:30pm-7:30am.
The first few weeks are brutal! But try not to get sucked into formula, it can mess up your supply

@GAW19 she started off a very sleepy/lazy feeder- she didn't tolerate labour very well and as I was induced and her heart rate went really high and she didn't get a break in between contractions which came together too quick. After her meconium poops she didn't poo for 2 days so it was assumed she wasn't getting enough. Feeding team told me not to let her go more than 2-3hrs so she didn't lose too much weight once she started to feed. At 5 days she lost 6.9% and midwives not concerned so now I'm thinking maybe I should leave her longer at night as pretty sure she would sleep longer - I normally have to really persevere with waking her!

I let mine go 4 hours from the start because she wouldn’t eat when I woke her early anyway and she was healthy when she arrived (though also with high heart rate in labour like yours). She only lost 1% in 5 days…

I think after a week you can start leaving her longer than 3 hours. She’s cluster feeding which shows her feeding instincts are good, so I think you can trust her a bit more and get yourself some longer stretches of sleep. You’ll have another weigh in a few days so this will give you reassurance that you’re feeding her well or let you know if there’s anything to worry about. If in doubt, you can always call your midwife.

I second others in saying drop the formula. If you intend to mainly or exclusively breast feed for the next few months then best stay clear of the stuff until your supply is well adjusted or unless there’s a good medical reason for you to use it.