Combi feeding and expressing

[indecisivemomma]

As the title says I am combi feeding formula and expressed breast milk to my one week old. I am using the electric pump about 4 times a day and thought this would be enough to sustain my supply. Bf didn't work for us due to latch issues and pain. I find pumping a lot better. But I'm noticing that on day 3 I'm not getting as much as I did to begin with. Am I not pumping enough? I am struggling as it is with time (other dc that need me) do I need to pump more to keep my supply going? I don't want it to totally disappear. At the moment baby is having roughly 50/50 formula/breast milk but I won't be able to keep up with that soon as he begins eating more.

Bump

I'm currently expressing as baby has tongue tie. A feeding advisor said I should be expressing around 8 times a day, whenever I get chance rather than at the same time every day and it seems to be working, I usually get around 5oz a time and around 8oz in a morning. Pump once through the night too. Also, after the milk has stopped flowing, continue to pump for a few minutes after and it should increase your supply

Hi OP, I combi fed for 11 months, similar reasons to you. If your baby is only a week old them pumping 4 times a day is not enough to keep your supply up. Pumping needs to mimic breastfeeding as much as you can, ideally you should be aiming for between 8 and 12 pumping sessions a day for around 20 to 30 minutes each time as this age. Now I also had an old dc and found I couldn't sustain this for longer than a couple of week so at around dd being 4 weeks old I dropped to 6 pumps a day which kept my supply steady until I stopped at 11 months.

A few things I found helpful were:
-A pumping bra- you can buy special ones but i just cut little holes in an old bra and stuck the funnels into that. Husband though it looks equally awful and hilarious but it freed my hand up
-pumping while I fed dd a bottle

• a hakka pump- its a little suction cup that when attached correctly catches excess breastmilk and id get an extra 2 or 3 oz with 0 effort

-regular expressing in the evening when older dc was in bed

• joining combi feeding Facebook groups-

You need to pump to mimic breastfeeding as closely as possible in at the first 4 to 6 weeks. Pump both breasts 2-3 hourly for 20-30 mins as a rough starting point. At a week post partum you’d need to do this consistently overnight as well, ie spread the 10-12 feeds out evenly over a 24 hour period.

Ok I'm clearly not doing it enough then :(
Because I'm combi feeding there is no pressure for demand but I do want to keep being able to offer breast milk for as long as I can.
It really is just finding the time and privacy to do it.

Can I get my supply back up if I increase pumping? It's already started to dwindle.

Yes, i think you should be able to get your supply back if you start pumping more often

I combi fed until 9months (although i offered the breast at every feed first as my issue was low supply rather than a preference to express). As pp have said, i pumped 8 times a day for the first couple of months, including the very important 3 am pump.

Other tips:

• are you drinking enough water? I was on 3-4l per day. Sleep is also very important to build supply.
• oats and fenugreek are supposed to help with supply
• my infant feeding midwife told me that there are very few home pumps that will boost supply. Lots of them will maintain. She recommended one to hire, which was the hospital medela symphony pump for £47 per month. It wasn't one you could walk around with as you have to be next to the socket, but i got a pumping bra so i could at least be hands free and would sit and do it infront of the tv.

Look up the Kelly Mom website. Its an amazing source of info, including boosting supply and combi feeding.

Just to echo what @Sunnyshoeshine has said about renting the hospital grade pump. I did this and it was worth every penny for the 4 weeks I had it.

The one I'm using is apparently a hospital grade one actually. Friend is a nurse and knows her stuff.

Planning on doing an additional night pump tonight but still only managed 6 pumps today. Im getting far less today than yesterday and I'm worried my supply has just dried up already. I will keep going and make a conscious effort to pump more regularly but there are only so many hours in the day!

If it dries up it dries up, its not the end of the world and switching fully to formula will be absolutely fine so if it gets to a point where its causing you stress just stop. I tried expressing for 6 weeks with my first, I never managed more then 1oz from both breasts so to make 1 bottle of breastmilk took nearly a full day and id got to a point where I was more focused on increasing supply than just enjoying my new baby. I stopped, moved to formula everything was fine. It was with my second that I found my supply was much better and I lasted until I felt ready to stop.

I had a very similar experience and would echo @Ididanamechange 's advice. Carry on with your plan unless/until it negatively impacts your mental health, then move to formula full time and continue to enjoy your lovely baby. Fed really is best and your wellbeing matters 💐