Had to give up breastfeeding - tips! Avoid masitis?

[Lanzy]

So a week later after new born, my milk supply really hasn’t happened. Today when midwife checked with pump there was very little, baby had lost weight too on day 2. So I’ve been formula and BF and mentally and lack of sleep I’ve found it a lot. I was so keen to breastfeed due to benefits and because my immune is weak, I wanted to build babies.

I’m now switching baby to formula but worried that’s whats been making her bring milk up too. I’ve been using cow and gate infant ready made.

Any tips! I have MAM and tomee timpee bottles, will there be benefits still?
also anything I should do now that I’ve stopped today don’t want infection :(

any advice at all thanks x

It's normal for babies to lose weight in the first few days OP- did the MW say this was an issue?

Ex MW here.

Every single baby loses weight after birth!

Every single one.

Up to 10% of weight loss isn't unusual.

Stick with the breastfeeding if thats what you want to do, get as much sleep as you can, stimulats your breasts as much as possible and absolutely do not skip the night feeds.

They said normal but that it was 12% so then needed to top up with formula (30ml) and breast.

They reviewed weight and she gained but then when I expressed after 10/15 mins there was so little roughly 5 spoonsfuls in total from both breasts :(

because of that then felt guility so have been moved to plan of 60 ml formula only

What you can express doesn’t equate to what your baby can obtain from breastfeeding. If you want to breastfeed I’d really recommend seeing an infant feeding team or local support group before moving to formula.

Expressing isn’t a good indicator of how much milk you have. I could never manage much but I exclusively breastfed for 10 months. Don’t be so quick to give up if it isn’t what you want.

Using a pump doesn't always give a clear indication of how much milk a baby gets from direct sucking. Some boobs get spooked by the pump, basically! It's like how some people can't wee when other people are around.

You don't need to feel guilty, it's fine to not breastfeed but equally don't give up on the say so of midwives and health visitors who might be well meaning but totally uninformed (their training on breastfeeding is not extensive!) Contact La Leche League for help www.laleche.org.uk/get-support/

My first lost 13% after birth and I got in a right tizz with feeding, pumping and topping up. I got to being ebf in the end but it was really stressful.

There's nothing wrong with combi feeding so the baby has some formula and some breastfeeds. I knew a friend who fed once a day as she didn't have that much milk but wanted the closeness and immunity benefits.

Weight gain is important but it doesn't have to be the end of breastfeeding if you don't want it to be. Get advice from people who know what they're talking about!

With my second baby I could never pump more than an ounce, not even when feeding was well established and she was a chubby breastfed 6 month old. It was bizarre because I'd found pumping very easy with my first baby, but it just goes to show how wide a range of experiences can still result in adequate milk for a breastfed baby.

Nothing wrong with formula if that is what works for you, but if you do want to breastfeed is there any way you can spend a few days on the sofa or in bed with your baby, lots of skin to skin and putting her to the breast whenever she cries or looks like she might want feeding?