Hi, I'm looking for some advice regarding breastfeeding my 5 week old. We had a bit of a rough start as I was quite unwell with covid when I went into labour so breastfeeding wasn't great in the early days (and had problems with latching) and we've been giving formula top ups. This has probably compromised my supply as he didn't seem satisfied after just breastfeeding. I then started pumping after every feed in hopes of increasing my supply and have been giving top ups through a supplement system (a tube) rather than a bottle to increase breast stimulation that way too while making sure he gets enough.
My concern/question is about his sucking-swallowing pattern. He sometimes gulps the milk down for maybe 20 seconds but after that swallowing is rather infrequent, maybe every 3-5 sucks to a swallow, sometimes more. Shouldn't he swallow more often? He can stay on the breast for an hour or even longer. When the tube goes in, he gulps it down, with much more frequent swallows. So it makes me think that he is not very efficient at sucking the milk out of the breast or my milk supply is still low or my let down is not great.
He doesn't have a tongue tie.
I really want to exclusively breastfeed so any advice would be appreciated!