Breastfeeding after problems at the start?

[Al991]

I am having huge feeding problems with my newborn who is 2 weeks tomorrow.

I had massive blood loss during the birth and breastfeeding was basically never established properly because I was taken to theatre, then she never really latched after that. It seems my milk supply was delayed too. She also had a tongue tie which has been treated.

Currently we are on a feeding plan where I try to feed her on the breast (she refuses) then I feed her with a nipple shield (some success) followed by formula for the rest.

Lots of professionals have urged me to keep going with it and said within a few weeks there’s no reason why I can’t bf. I feel like they have a pro bf agenda which is fine but I also just don’t believe them. It feels like we’ve got so far to go,

I’m wondering

• has anyone ever found this to be true? Can I really establish breastfeeding after so long messing it up?
• is this contingent on me religiously pumping several times a day. They’ve advised a bit of pumping but not loads. Im confused about how it will work supply-wise
• can a baby really go from refusing to latch to actually EBF within a few weeks?

any success stories or anecdotes welcome. I am hating this feeding plan but will keep going with it if there is really a chance of being able to BF.

has anyone else managed to breastfeed after problems through the first few weeks?

Firstly, you haven't messed anything up. Breastfeeding is so difficult in the early days and you've had a lot more to contend with than most mums. If it all feels like too much hassle then it is absolutely fine to make the straight swap to formula!

If you do want to carry on breastfeeding, though, I had a similar experience so I hope this will be reassuring.

I became very unwell after my DS was born and wound up undergoing emergency surgery when he was just a few days old. By the time I came out of hospital he would still latch but he was getting all his calories from formula. My milk supply was really impacted by my illness, the surgery and the time we'd spent apart. My DS is now 13 months old and we're still breastfeeding, so it can definitely be done!

The things that helped me were: power pumping using a manual pump and a properly sized flange (I never got anything out of an electric pump); using a supplemental nursing system at the breast to encourage him to stay latched; and seeing a local lactation consultant. This may be trickier to get, but my midwife also got me a prescription for a medication called Domperidone, which encourages lactation, just to get my supply back up to where it should have been. There are a few Facebook groups for mums who use it if you're interested. My top recommendation would definitely be the lactation consultant - sometimes it's just a small change in position that can make a huge difference.

It took about 10 weeks before we were down to just 2 bottle feeds a day, but if you do want to go for it then I do believe it's possible. And if not, that's a totally reasonable choice and a perfectly good one! It seems like such a big deal in the early days, but now my son makes a beeline for the cat biscuits I can see that how I fed him in the early days probably wasn't worth stressing about.

The standard advice is keep the baby close and keep the milk coming and BFing will come. I don’t think that’s true of all babies though!

I would have thought expressing essential to keep your supply up. I’m expressing for DD (8 weeks) who won’t latch, and it’s hard work!

thanks both. How much are expressing? I can’t believe how much stress this is causing me but I don’t want to give up hope. I will pump away if needed! Have struggled with it so far bevause I’ve been so unwell but starting to feel better physically.

My first DD wouldn't latch at all for six weeks. Not once. She then latched but poorly. But by 12 weeks she was exclusively on breast and fed till past a year. It's entirely possible and probable once baby's mouth grows a bit and they get a bit more head strength and control.

I did pump 8 times a day though during the non-latching phase to keep my supply going.

Meeee

At 4 weeks, it was discovered that my baby wasn't gaining enough weight and I had low supply. She was very sleepy and just didn't feed enough and I didn't make enough milk as a result.

I got a lactation consultant who put me on a plan to breastfeed, top up with expressed milk and then formula. It lasted 10 days and there was day of power pumping too. It was intensive and my mental health was on the brink. I was just about to pack it all in and put the baby on formula when my milk came in.

From that point on I exclusively breastfed and just gave my 'baby' her very last brrastfeed a few days ago, at 19 months old.

Similar time frame to you, and this is obviously not official advice but it worked for me.

I based my 'schedule' on feeding every 2.5-3 hours.

I would make a bottle of formula (or expressed milk if available) and feed around 60ml of that so baby wasn't starving, and then we'd try the breast for awhile, sometimes with a bit of success and sometimes not.

I would pump 5x a day (every 3 hours ish) but not overnight. If we had a successful breastfeed I would skip that pump.

Do you have any breastfeeding cafes near you? The advice we got there transformed our feeding.

Can't believe how much bad information I got from midwives and the infant feeding team at the hospital. Not just bad, totally wrong.

Oh and at 6 weeks we are now EBF!

It's really normal not to get very much at all, especially when you're doing any amount of feeding at the breast. I would get 30ml across both breasts in a 'good' session and sometimes just drops. Some things you can try that might help: renting a hospital grade double pump, massaging during pumping, doing a couple of power pumping sessions a day, and pumping in the early hours when prolactin levels are at their highest. Some women also swear by more holistic things like eating oats and taking fenugreek supplements. Exclusive pumping is hard work and I take my hat off to anyone who's managed it!

Can't describe how much this fills me with hope. It is all worth it if we get there in the end.

I think this schedule sounds feasible for me to work up to. I can't do overnight my mental health is already at a low and I do think that would push me over the edge. Just the sterilising alone!

I have been going to a bf support group and that led me to a supportive infant feeding worker who has helped me establish some bf through nipple shields. Not everyone approves but baby is at the breast and feeding, which she wouldn't be without them. She will work with me on weaning off them when the time comes.

So nice to hear you are EBF now - gives me some hope

Hey!
first of all try not to think in terms of them having a pro bf agenda - as a healthcare professional I have a supportive and compassionate agenda. If a person wants to breastfeed I want to do everything I can do help that be successful. If you genuinely wanted to formula feed then I’m sure they’d be supportive of that too.
you definitely need to pump as much as possible, minimum 8x in 24h to ensure a good supply. Try baby at breast each and every time. Sometimes half way through a bottle is when baby will be more relaxed and happy to go to the breast so you could try that.
also get a double pump to half the time spent pumping !

Honestly, if she's latching with shields then you are off to a really promising start. My DD couldn't even latch with shields at the beginning. Just keep trying her on breast every day and it will just click.

I did triple feeding for the first 3 months after DD spent 2 weeks in NICU and we never really got bf established. She was also 0.4th centile so desperately needed to gain weight. So i would put her to the breast for 30mins max, then top up formula, whilst expressing. (Id use the expressed milk either at the next feed or to slowly build up a freezer stash). At 12weeks, i stopped all expressing and my supply was stable. I never got to EBF but i was happy enough with bf and top ups - we got to 9months bf in the end and i stopped as DD was starting nursery.

Things that made a big difference for me -
Hiring a medela hospital grade pump. It was something like £40 a month? But sooo much better than the home pump i bought when pregnant

Keeping the 3am pumping session going as long as possible. I think i only stopped at 12 weeks?

Loads of water and so much bloody flapjack!! Never want to see one again 😅

Using the kellymom website. Its american but a brilliant resource.