Am I too late for breastfeeding?

[45redballoons]

Hello,

I have a 1 week old daughter and my milk is still not in to fully satisfy her on breastmilk alone for a single feed.

In the hospital I tried feeding her but it was never enough and straightaway went to adding formula. Everytime she needs fed I put her on the breast first and she drinks but for the past day she doesn't drink for long before falling asleep.

I had a hand held pump for expressing but found it no good at this stage so ordered an electric one which only just arrived on day 6. I'm getting around 20ml.

I'd love to be able to breastfeed exclusively for most feeds but I'm worried it has been too long now and my milk won't come in. I'm in awe that anyone had a satisfied baby on breastmilk so quickly, it just never happened for me and she constantly screams and chews her hands if I don't give formula too.

What do you think?

Thanks

It must be so confusing for you! Can you keep attending the drop in group and ask them to help you with a plan for reducing formula top ups over time? If the latch it good it'll be hard for you to tell if she's getting enough while you're topping up so much as like you said, weight gain and nappies could be based on the top up. So you need to reduce that to see what's going on and give your body signals to know to produce more milk. I think you basically just need one plan to follow and see what happens.

Erm. Not a lot of sleep! But many babies do start sleeping for longer stretches at night at 2-3 months, say 4-5 hours, maybe even 6. The health visitor with my first showed me how to feed lying down and while I’ve never been good at it - it’s not that comfortable and I doze rather than sleep, it’s been a life saver when I haven’t got anything left in the tank.

She isn't taking less formula yet, and is getting quite cranky now after a while of me trying to feed like she is too tired and hungry so she is pushing me away. I've said I'll give it to Sunday as DH goes back to work on Monday. And I'll stop doing shifts with DH so I don't miss a feed. If there is no improvement I'll reassess because there is no point getting absolutely no sleep if she isn't benefiting.

It might be my imagination though, but I think my breasts feel more full so hopefully I'm getting somewhere. I've sent DH to do the birth registration and Dr registration so I can stay at home to feed her and am cancelling visits so I can nail this.

You sound great OP. Try to remember that it’s a natural process so when the baby grows (or you have been supplementing) the baby won’t be satisfied at the end of that feed and will drain you breast till empty getting lots of high nutrients hind milk. This will stimulate a larger volume being produced for the next feed and the baby being hungrier as the last feed was just too little will feed deeply and again get all the hind milk, but this time be sated. That’s how the supply adjusts to the demand. If she left your breast half full you would produce less next feed. Once you add pumping and supplementing the whole thing gets more complicated. Once your baby is older the volumes produced are much bigger so you can pretty much morph things to suit. The trade off is the nappies really and sleep. A bf baby tends to pop much less (as in once a week/every 5 days) but if you give a bottle in the evening you can go out more easily and someone else can do it if you’re tired.

It honestly took 2 weeks for me to even start feel like things were settling down.

Well we have had a good day. 2 hours if feeding and she fell asleep for 10ish minutes then another 30 mins of feeding and she slept for 3 hours. So we haven't had formula since 11.

G’wan @45redballoons!!! 😁 Well done you!

You can do it!💐

That's really positive! Don't feel like you have to go down to nothing straight away with the formula for it to be a success, just slowly reducing it will help tell your body to up your supply.

I‘m glad op, 3 hours sleep is great :)
I’m a huge bf fan but while you’re going through this do remember formula saves lives, so if you do end up staying on supplementing you’ve really tried your best which is all any mum can do.

Wow! You absolute superstar!! That’s brilliant. Are you feeling all smug? Ou should be.

Yay, sounds good! I combi fed from the start (wanted the best of both) but now just breastfeed unless she’s with someone else.

Don’t worry about expressing the same amount or even close as it’s much less than the baby gets from you (well it is me anyway!) I just did 10 mins 5 on each side for every bottle she had.

I meet lots of people who wish they’d kept
on partially breastfeeding -you it can always build it back up again later.

THIS !:)

Ooh op how fantastic!! How are the nappies looking - all good?

Hi,

I'm reducing the number of formula feeds rather than the amount she gets at a feed as if I've reached for the formula it's because she has got herself in such a state she has started pushing me away. I'm also trying to get used to thr fact I can't get her to sleep in her crib or box unless she has had formula.

Her dirty nappies have reduced to two a day but much more just wet nappies.

Nappies sound great op, newborn poo frequency can vary hugely. Mine poo every half hour or it feels like it but my older brother was once every 5-10 days 😳
Apparently when he did poo, the entire suburb knew about it…

Look up the guidance for safe co-sleeping, it's an absolute lifesaver when baby only wants to sleep on you. I found I could get the babies to sleep on my chest and then roll onto my side so they were on the bed. Or even better, both lie on our sides facing each other (baby's bum down by your tummy button) and feed lying down. That takes a bit of practice but it zonks them out so they sleep and then you can doze or even sleep too.

But fingers crossed, the feeds should get shorter and less involved so you should be able to get bigger chunks of sleep. You're doing so so well. I think it's such a shame the drop ins aren't better signposted. The midwife/health visitor should be sharing that information with all breastfeeding mums, it would be such a simple thing that would make a huge difference - maybe you could suggest this to them or point out that you only thought to look for it thanks to an internet forum(!) the NHS specialist might be able to pass that feedback higher up.

Nappies sound fine :) You're counting wet or dirty at this stage. Fully breastfed babies can go several days without a poo. DS1 did.