Has anyone restarted breastfeeding?

[am3017]

Hi looking to see if anyone has successfully brought their milk back in after stopping breastfeeding…

my son (3rd baby) was born 5 weeks premature and was in neonatal for 12 days, I had been expressing as he was being fed through a tube to begin with however when I started trying him on the breast he was never able to latch properly so I kept expressing/ trying to get him to latch but was getting very sore and was feeling a bit deflated so I stopped when he was around 4 weeks and started giving him kendamil only…he’s now 7 weeks and he’s been very uncomfortable on formula so have been thinking of trying to bring my milk back in as I’ve heard it can be possible however I don’t want to try if the chances are it won’t work and end up in a lot of pain again!

Definitely possible after such a short time stopping. Pumping regularly (including through the night) and bringing baby to the breast / latching baby often will bring your milk back. However I'd really recommend getting the advice of a lactation consultant as they'll definitely have dealt with this before and will be able to help you remind baby how to latch, know how much to pump etc. Good luck!

Yes I did, I mix fed originally as dd was in nicu and then I was in hospital having surgery when dd was 2weeks old, I stopped feeding her for a couple of weeks although did pump in that time.

A nice midwife encouraged me to try feeding her again because I felt sad about stopping so I did and by three months was exclusively bfing.

I offered the boob as much as possible especially over night, I ate and drank loads, lots of skin to skin etc.

It's definitely possible.

Very much so! It’s only been a few weeks, it wouldn’t take long at all. Some things to try

• lots of skin to skin
• plenty of time to relax and cuddle (not easy with 2 other DC!)
• drip drop feeding
• lots of latching, offered when not ravenous but pretty hungry. Trying giving 10ml from bottle first
• nipple stimulation