Tips to save my supply! Messed up big time!

[pennyfig]

Hi!
DS is two weeks old today.
I planned to majority formula feed due to health issues (sleep essential) but do this in combination with some breastfeeding for comfort.
However, I didn't do my research, and it appears that you're advised to exclusively breastfeed for six weeks before introducing a bottle, to establish supply.
He's now regularly having five or so minutes of breastfeeding followed by a bottle of formula, as that's all the milk I'm producing. It doesn't take long at all for him to drain both breasts. I'm also a rather small cup size which I suspect doesn't help.
Is there anything I can do to save my supply?
I feel like I've really failed here.
I know you can pump/express, but such little is produced that it seems futile. Seeing just a few drops in the bottom of the hakaa is rather depressing.
Is there anything I can do? Thanks!

If he’s only two weeks old then there’s still time to increase your supply through pumping. Pump as often as he feeds. 30 mins at a time. I was pumping every 3 hours at the beginning (baby premature, couldn’t latch)

Don't give the formula. Go straight onto the boob and your supply will very quickly adjust, especially if you get up and feed all through the night which is when your boobs effectively put the order in for tomorrow's milk. Yes you'll be shattered but in a few days you'll have smashed it! Baby will need almost constant boob and be on and off so much and this is normal.

I also did exclusive pumping and cup feeding initially with one of mine and pumped every two hours for 8 weeks. So I know how exhausting it can be to build up supply through pumping. That is an option though.

As a minimum you need to offer boob as much as possible and taper off the formula massively asap otherwise your supply will dry up.

Night feeding is major in establishing your supply, it's when your milk-producing hormones are at their highest so ideally you need to be feeding every few hours through the night. Lots of skin to skin. Offer the breast often. Wean off the formula.

If you feed your baby and they cry because it wasn't enough, let them cluster feed on the breast, it will signal to your body that it isn't producing enough and your body should react to that.

It might be too late for this, but consider swapping from a bottle to a feeding cup for topping up in the meantime. You don't want your baby to develop a preference for the bottle because it's easier to get milk from!

If you need to preserve sleep, you can prioritise a single night feed between midnight and six am to help keep up your supply (I combination fed and this was advice from midwives and HVs). I found (at five months) that when my baby reliably slept through, my supply really dropped.

The breast size doesn’t really impact the milk production, nor the amount you pump (baby is much more efficient than any pump). Also, ‘empty’ breasts also produce milk, once your supply establishes you rarely have that full feeling. You have to feed throughout the night if you want to keep your supply, especially in the early weeks. I combi fed from 6 weeks with a bottle of formula at 8pm so I could catch up on some sleep. Once the baby regain their birth weight you don’t always have to wake them up for feed in the night, so it might not necessarily be many weeks with lack of sleep.
Are there any NCT classes near you? Your midwife can suggest some breastfeeding support group etc, I’m sure they can help.