Why is my baby still starving after breastfeeding?

[TheBeesKnee]

Baby is 8 days old.

I had a lot of trouble getting him to latch and it was only after getting nipple shields that he started latching and feeding for good periods of time.

However, he will scream blue murder until we give him formula afterwards.

Yesterday he fed for 1 hour on one breast and 10 minutes on the other. Still wanted a top up.

The day before he did 40 and 20 minutes, same story.

I am also pumping but not getting enough to feed him a whole bottle. The most I can get is 30ml, which is basically his "starter".

I was under the impression that babies got more milk from the breast than we can pump?

I'm feeling very confused and down about it all.

@sandberry "Please ignore the advice about just stopping top ups and just breastfeeding. This is dangerous advice in many cases"
Why dangerous?

Because if her baby isn't getting enough breast milk (for any number of reasons) then he could easily end up dehydrated.

OP I’ve been in your shoes and I know how relentless and soul destroying it is, but please know it’s super early days and there’s still plenty of time to establish supply and work towards ebf if that’s what you choose, equally if combi-feeding works for you that’s also a completely valid option.

DD ended up being almost 60% formula fed in the early days. Now at almost 5 months old she’s been ebf for a little over 3 of those months so it is possible to increase supply even after those first few weeks.

A few immediate things that really helped me…

Join a local breastfeeding support group, I cannot speak more highly of the ladies at my group. Categorically I would never have reached the point of ebf DD without them and the endless support they offered.

Get hold of a copy of Mixed Up by Lucy Ruddle (it’s free on Kindle Unlimited). This was an invaluable resource for combi-feeding, protecting/increasing supply and transitioning to ebf. It’s also written in an easy bite size way so you can just troubleshoot on the fly without needing to read it cover to cover.

If you can, borrow or hire a hospital grade pump. I was barely getting anything with my Elvie and was convinced I had supply issues until I hired a medela symphony pump. Now in 15mins I can easily pump more than double what I’d have got from using the Elvie.

As a PP mentioned, power pumping also really helped. If you can I’d recommend power pumping an hour after your first morning feed for a week. You should definitely see an increase in supply afterwards.

I also found having a protein shake a day seemed to boost supply, but this is strictly anecdotal.

Contrary to popular belief I don't think supply issues are that uncommon.......

Given how vanishingly rare it is for any medical investigations to be carried out on women with supply problems I wonder how accurate it is too.