please help - but milk drying up my tiny baby needs my milk

[lou222]

i've expressed my milk for nearly 3 months for my premature 2 lb boy
and about a month ago started b feeding him
he's been home a couple of weeks now and my milk is drying up
i've just expressed for 40 mins and only got 20 mls
i've been expressing a little as really sore but mainly breastfeeding
i am desperate to keep going but i know he is really hungry
what can i do to up my supply?
i really don't want to give him formula but the midwive is saying we should!!

I fully BF but couldn't ever express more that 20 mls! Maybe you are getting so much less because you're feeding him now?
Is he still gaining weight ok? What makes you think he's hungry - is it that he want to be fed often?

babymoon

take to your bed with him

lots of skin to skin

let him feed when he wants

relax. if you can get someone to bring yo food and drink

your milk will increase

btw, what you can express is not an indication of how much milk you have. I'd ease off on the expressing for now; feeding (nipple stimulation by your baby) is the best way to increase your production

MrsS makes good points- is he gaining weight/ filling his nappies?

He may just be "hungry" because he's having a growth spurt

giving him formula won't help your supply at all....

hunt down sparklygothkat, she is a bit of an expert with premmies, breastfeeding and icnreasing supply.

is your ds well? pooing weeing etc? alert?

is the hospitakl concerned about weight gain?

he lost weight last time he was weighed
i had been topping him up with my frozen expressed milk but that supply is running low so i wanted to see if he would gain with just bfeeding and he hasnt
i can tell he's still hungry after a feed and it feels like he's not getting any more milk from me and is still rooting and crying with hunger
i don't want to put him on formula to increase my supply it's just the nurse from scubu said that is what we would have to do if he didnt gain weight this time

What do you do when he is still rooting and crying? DO you put him back on?

also my nipples are so sore cracked and bleeding that yesterday i used nipple shields
will that affect my supply?

silly questions, once he has finished on one side, do you offer the other, then back again?

IME you are never fully empty, and there is always milk there.

yes i put him back on but i don't think he's getting any so then i get some of my expressed milk which he gulps down so i can tell he was still hungry

but when i squeeze my nipples nothing comes out

Lou, do you have a breastfeeding support group at the hospital your baby was born in? If so, go there tomorrow, and if not, call your HV and the midwives and ask who is providing breastfeeding support in your area. Cracked and bleeding nipples are sign that your latch isn't good (ignore any HV who says it is, as they tend to know nothing about breastfeeding). If the latch isnt' right you will be in pain and your baby won't be getting milk efficiently.

Don't squeeze yoru nipples. Totally pointless!

they have checked the latch and he seems to be on correctly

I'd see if you can get a breastfeeding counsellor either on the phone or out to see you. I fed my prem DS1, a 29 weeker, and found that once he started to feed I found it much harder to express.
However if he's loosing weight and you are worried it's worth getting someone in who is trained to help. I needed lots of help but we fed successfully for until he was 15 months adjusted age. The NCT and La leche league have phone numbers and depending on your area someone may be able to come and see you and check his latch, if you have sore nipples he may not be sucking effectively.
You have done an excellent job to express milk in these early days, it is very hard without the baby to stimulate the flow and you should be really proud of yourself (I don't mean this to be patronising, sorry if it comes across that way!)
Skin to skin is great, did you kangaroo cuddle in SCBU? see if you can find a sling that you can do this with, I loved my hugabub, or else just lie in bed with him on your chest.
Take care and goodluck

sorry x posted, missed the bit about the latch. Was this a bf counsellor that said the latch was ok or a midwife / HV. I would push for a proper counsellor as often midwives / HVs miss these things, especially in a tiny baby.

I think you need to see a bf-ing counsellor, so they can check your latch again.

When you give the ebm do you give it in a bottle with a teat or in a cup/syringe? He may be getting nipple confusion.

Try the breastfeeding helplines - the numbers are down the right hand side of this page.

who is 'they'? HOnestly, if your nipples are cracked and bleeding he can't be on properly.

It's around this point that your supply often starts to regulate and you're no longer as engorged and leaky as you may have been -- this also often means that you won't be able to express as much as you could in the early weeks. Please don't judge anything by what you can express. If he feeds at the breast often enough then your supply will almost certainly adjust (if it needs to) to meet his needs. Someone on here once described frequent nursing as like leaving out an "extra pints, please" note for the milkman.

If you are worried about your supply, feeding lots and getting lots of skin-to-skin contact is the best thing. If you can, taking your baby to bed for lots of skin-to-skin contact and feeding for 24 or 48 hours is an excellent idea. Also, make sure you always offer at least two sides, or even three or four (i.e. offer side A, then side B, then side A again).

That brings us on to your painful nipples (because feeding that much can take a toll on them if you don't have a good latch going). I strongly suggest you try to see a breastfeeding counsellor to check your latch, if your nipples are in that state. Using nipple shields as a short term measure can be invaluable in some cases, but used long-term they can cause problems. Again, a breastfeeding counsellor could give you advice and support in using them and then gradually stopping using them again.

I breastfed DS for 3 years and have been exclusively breastfeeding DD for 26 weeks, but I've never managed to express more than about 30ml even at my most leaky (and it would normally be about 15ml). It really isn't a guide.

yes i did kangaroo and i have a close sling now which he is in alot of the time
he tends to sleep on my chest so i think i am doing things right
but i have been dreading feeding him as it is so painful and worry if that has affected my supply
will nipple shields affect supply?

They might do. Breastfeeding really shouldn't be this painful, and it certainly will not make your nipples crack and bleed if your latch is right. Please call the midwives desk at the hospital he was in and ask about any breastfeedign support from a PROPER breastfeeding counsellor.

sorry crossed posts
i look alot to see if he is latched on
his mouth is wide and he sucks well
what else should i look for?
i will def ring the helplines tomorrow

scubu's answer just seems to be whack him on formula which i really don't want

yes i give him ebm in a bottle but again i was told that once bfeeding was established it doesnt confuse him!

Nipple shields won't affect the supply (I think I'm right in saying that!) Worry won't affect your supply at all! However if you are worrying instead of eating, drinking and resting that may be another matter!

A big pointer about having a correct latch is if you can see his bottom jaw moving at the point just underneath his ear. This shows he's moving everything properly and really sucking the breast and not just the nipple. However a bf counsellor will know for sure.

i am eating and drinking but the resting is difficult as i am sometimes feeding him every hour mostly every 2 or 3 hours throughout the night so i am exhausted.