FTM is my baby getting enough

[AnnaAtkinson8990]

Hi all
Need some advice
I started breastfeeding straight away. On day 2 baby was getting restless and couldn't sleep so I tried giving one of those pre made formula bottles and he ate the whole 70ml and calmed down. I have been breastfeeding every time since but also topping up with 30-60lm formula and he is happy eating that. I want to only breastfeed but not sure if it's enough when to stop with the bottle? Day 5 today so milk should be there . He is latching for 25 min each time. Today i put him down after that but cried so I gave the bottle and he immediately ate it and fell asleep.

You're not going to have enough milk OP unless you let him feed more. It's supply and demand so if you're topping up with formula you're not going to produce all the milk that he needs. It's still early days so hopefully he'll cluster feed and bring the milk in. Has he been cluster feeding? That's when he could feed for a few hours or more without taking a proper break in between..for example my most recent experience was cluster feeding till 3/4 am from night 2 to night 5 or 6, then my body knew how much milk to make, milk came in and feeds got less..
It might be worth contacting a lactation consultant to make sure you get your full supply in..

Are you offering both sides? So after the 25 minutes offer the other side or get him latched on again?

You're sabotageing your own milk supply. If you want to give formula so you can get some rest, go for it. But if breastfeeding is what you want, then put the baby on the breast, ditch formula entirely. It's all demand and supply. The early weeks are critical.

Yes, you will be tied to the sofa 24/7 and you will be delirious from sleep deprivation as no one can give you a break. YET.

Better times are coming, they really are. But accept that the early days are brutal, I find being realistic is the only way to go forward. DH should be cooking and doing 100% of everything else.

You wont be able to breastfeed 100% whilst you're giving bottles. You're telling your boobs they need to make that amount less milk.

Get rid of the bottle, have a whole day of constant skin to skin, drinking fluids for you, baby on boob constantly. Offer both sides with every feed. You'll get there but you need to sack off the formula.

Only a very very tiny percentage of women actually cannot make enough milk so don't go down that rabbit hole - you just need to build up your supply with baby's demand. X

You are going to be making less milk if you keep giving him the bottle. ARW you feeding from both sides?

Thanks

I started pumping but I only get less than 30 ml per session so not sure how can I support the baby needs with this really

Yes both but he is still looking for it after and won't settle

I breastfed my daughter til 2.5 and after initially pumping loads in NICU, I never got more than 30ml out at home. She was completely fine. Pumping is not indicative of your supply. Put baby to the breast.

Babies can feed for hours. Try 30 mins each side, then distract the baby for 30 minutes so your supply can replenish slightly and go again! It’s arduous work initially, but drink, eat and rest with your baby.
As others say, formula is going to sabotage your supply and stretch baby’s tummy, making BFing harder. Don’t bother pumping! Don’t overthink it- just sit and feed your baby as much as possible. It can take weeks for your supply to settle and be enough.

😊thanks

Very hard for FTM and I don't even have friends with kids to ask for an advise
Ill try to put him on the breast for longer and repeat until supply is adequate. Hope I didn't ruin it with giving formula for few days - he was just born last Friday

This is a weird tip, but if baby is dozing on the breast, tickle the bottom of his feet and he'll probably start suckling more actively and get more in.

Keep persevering OP. The early days are hard work. Is baby latching and feeding effectively? With my first, he was latching but his feeding method meant he wasn't draining the breast effectively so he was never satisfied. I ended up following every feed with expressed milk which he'd guzzle and still look for more until we addressed his feeding. If you have access to feeding support, it's maybe worth arranging a consultation?

Day 5 is also still early days for your supply and expressing. Expressed milk isn't indicative of your supply, I can rarely pump an entire bottles worth in one sitting but was able to feed both babies to satisfied. It'll just take time so keep offering as much as you're able.

Also, be careful about swapping sides too often. I think there's something about the initial milk being thinner and less filling, and you need to stick with that side long enough for him to start getting the thicker creamier milk. I swapped every 20 minutes at first. Baby was always hungry, and her nappies were explosive! Eventually someone told me I was swapping sides too often.

Looks like he is latching OK- not just the nipple but he is covering the whole areola. He starts and stops for few seconds and starts again and can go.for ages actually he rarely drops the nipple i have to remove him ( not sure this is correct )

No expert but did a bit of research when I had my daughter.

Best advice I read was ditch the bottles. If you’ve got them to hand you’ll use them.

I didn’t use to offer both breasts during the same ‘session’. It’s the tail end of the milk is the fatty/food part, the first part is essentially a thinner liquid just to keep them dehydrated.

Also pumping I felt just confused my body - when baby wanted milk it wasn’t there and then the next day my body would be making extra milk (guess thinking baby was eating more) and if that wasn’t drunk/pumped would cause pain/leak.

Lots of chilling out in bed/sofa, watch lots of films and carry a water bottle around with you.

You've got this momma

Swapping sides often (also called switch feeding) helps to increase supply and intake for the baby. You don't need to worry about keeping them on for x amount of time to 'get to' thicker milk.

• Switch nurse. Switch sides 3 or more times during each feeding, every time that baby falls asleep, switches to “comfort” sucking, or loses interest. Use each side at least twice per feeding. Use breast compression to keep baby feeding longer. For good instructions on how to do this, see Dr. Jack Newman’s Protocol to manage breastmilk intake. This can be particularly helpful for sleepy or distractible babies.

Good info here about increasing your milk supply
https://kellymom.com/hot-topics/low-supply/

Yep, or gently stroke under their chin.

Not sure as his eyes can be closed the whole time but still have strong latch- does it mean he is asleep?

Pumping really isn’t an accurate reflection of how much milk the baby is able to get. I exclusively breastfed DD1 for over two years but never pumped very much at all.

If you want to combi feed, totally fine. But if you want to breastfeed then you almost certainly do have enough milk. Get him weighed regularly so you know there’s no issues there, and if that does become an issue, you can always rethink the formula if you need to. But ditch it for now and do lots of skin to skin and expect to feed a lot. Don’t think that because he’s feeding a lot it’s because he’s therefore not getting enough. Cluster feeding at the start is completely to be expected.

Congratulations! Just keep feeding, feeding, feeding and baby and you will sort it over time, but at the moment it’s the hardest thing imaginable. What you express isn’t to do with how much you are making.

but equally if you want to give some formula; that’s fine too.

You’ll be able to feel if his sucking has stopped. When they sleep it’s just more of a gentle flutter as opposed to more forceful active sucking.

Make sure you try and pump/breast feed as much as you can in early days (even if it's just pump and dump into one of the silicone pumps) to keep a good supply. Did mixed feeding from a few days up til 10 months with my DS, so supply can be restored.

How does it work with more frequent feeds/ cluster feeding and establishing some sort of routine for sleeping if he is feeding quite often ?

You’re in the golden stage of your boobs being able to produce more if you put baby to boob. So just offer more boob and boobs will provide!! Stop the formula if you want to exclusively breast feed

(mum of 3 breastfed babies)