BF experts please help - 18 days old - too late for bf?

[waytoomuchchocolate]

a friend of mine had an emergency c-sec followed by massive internal bleeding, blood transfusions, intensive care etc. to cut a long story short, the baby was latched on by the midwives whilst my friend slept/recovered but was also formula fed in the neo-natal ward.

since then (been home about a week) she's been trying to bf, but was told to top-up by formula after every feed by midwives and HV. she's been doing this, and LO is putting on weight well (just back to above birth weight.)

she wants to exclusive bf but isn't convinced her milk is there, or will come in at all.

i've told her she should go to bed for 24 hours and do skin to skin (which she never had chance to do in the hospital).

will this work? is it too late?

any advice much appreciated.

It is not too late, but she does need to understand not just how bf works, but where to get support from.

Maybe the top up at every feed is still needed, but she needs a plan to reduce this over a period of days, depending on how much formula the baby has had. I mean, if this baby was getting 7 top ups of 100 mls, then it's unlikely he is getting any breastmilk at the moment.

Yes, skin to skin and bed together is a great start. She needs RL support, perhaps on the phone initially, with a bfc; a decent expressing regime, at least 8 x in 24 hours, and lots of encouragement

ok, thanks tiktok. will get her to call a bfc and pass this on