Please support me in restarting bf

[dizzee]

Today I am restarting bf my 3 month old ds after one month of complete ff. I am being realistic and will be treating any milk production as a success. I am not aiming for exclusive bf as I have not managed that since he was 5 days old . He is a happy, healthy baby and is doing well on formula. However I have bitterly regretted by decision to give up bf, so I'm determined to have a good go at relactation. Even if it fails I will know I've tried my best.

The plan:

1. Pump every two hours for 15 mins with double pump. Plus once in the night.

1. DS will still latch and nurse a bit. I've bought a supplemental nursing system which should arrive tomorrow. Hopefully this will encourage nursing.

1. Take fenugreek capsules.

I'm prepared to try my hardest for a month, so please all support me as it is going to be hard work .

No expert on this but I think you will need to do this a lot more at night ie keep up the two hourly. You need to speak to nct or la leche.

Have you tried asking your GP for some drugs to help speed things along?

might be some helpful stuff here

It will probably work out about every 3 hours in the night. Not sure if I could get up twice in the night! Maybe I'll have to if once a night doesn't work.

I have thought of taking Motilium, but it works out a bit expensive. Will a GP prescribe it for increasing lactation?

Porridge oats help me increase my supply - as well as fenugreek, fennel and sesame seeds. There is also a herbal "More Milk" remedy on the expressyourselfmums website.

I am eating porridge everyday. Don't know about the other herbs. I will wait and see how I get on.

I'm currently on pumping session no. 7. One more in the night will make 8. And I've done three nursing sessions too.

Dizzee, have you expert advice from Breastfeeding counsellors on this?
I wish you luck.

Wishing you all the best with this

echo about the advice of a good breastfeeding counsellor or lactation consultant and the fact that night pumping is important. There is some stuff on kellymom on relactation which is worth a look if you haven't already.

I've recently been trialling some Weleda nursing tea which had a marked effect on my supply. Not sure where you can buy it though.

Good Luck.

good luck,! I think you can get the tea from www.ulula.co.uk (or at least something similar) My only tip would also be to nurse or pump as much at night as possible as that will increase your supply more than in the day.maybe your baby would latch on while asleep and you won't have to pump at night,just set the alarm and pop him onto the breast.

I haven't spoke to a bf counsellor. I have read all the info on kellymom and la leche league. I have been told previously that ds has a good latch, so I'm just going to pump/nurse as often as possible. DS will still latch, but doesn't nurse very enthusiastically. I'm hoping the sns (which should arrive today) will encourage him. I managed to do a 15 min pumping session at 3am. I could probably increase that to twice in the night.

Good for your dizzee. I hope it goes well for you. Keep us posted - I'm sure this will inspire many mums who feel the same way about having given up - all is not lost!

Good luck. Hope it goes well!

So I managed 9 pumping sessions yesterday . My SNS arrived yesterday. DS totally rejected it at first, but has taken to it fairly easily this morning and is feeding well right now.

good news dizzee. You sound like one very determined lady so fingers and toes crossed for you.

keep us posted on progress

Hi dizzee

I just wanted to wish you lots of luck

I know just how you feel, it took me 5 long weeks to get ds2 to latch on, i was pumping round the clock to keep my milk supply going, he was mixed fed for a good few weeks and now is ebf , i did give up a couple off times to as i got mastitus twice but the urge to keep trying was not going away.

He is now 21 weeks, it is the best feeling in the world feeding my baby, we both love it i plan to feed him untill he weans, i hoping he never will

Oh dizzee I am so pleased for you (I posted on your other thread last week) It is brilliant that you got DS to accept the SNS. Do you have support in the day to let you express, and some sleep to catch up on what you lose at night? I expressed for DS1 and the hardest thing was finding time to express between feeds/nappy changes/screaming episodes/when he would not nap or be put down.

Do you have an expressing bra so you are hands free? What pump are you using?

I am using an Ameda Lactaline. Unfortunately I am at home on my own all day so I don't have anyone to look after DS when I am pumping (one of the reasons why I wanted the SNS to work). However DS is a fairly easy baby and will (usually) play happily on a blanket on the floor or on his activity gym for 15 mins whilst I pump.

Does anyone know how long it takes for the milk to come back? I only have a few drops at the moment. It will be nice when I can collect some in the pump (even just a little bit) and feed it to my DS.

hi dizzee

i am thinking of trying to relactate, my DD is 6wks and FF.

How are you finding it?

Where did you get the pump and whats an SNS?

Hi disenchanted - I've just posted on your thread!

I have an Ameda Lactaline from the NCT (cost me £85 though!). The SNS is just a bottle you hang around your neck (with formula/ebm in). It has thin capillary tubes leading from it which you tape to your nipples. Then when baby nurses he/she gets some milk and is therefore motivated to stay latched on. It's full name is a Medela Supplemental Nursing System and you can find out more if you google it. I got mine 2nd hand for £10 from Ebay. Baby needs to be able to latch on then and it is tricky to use. I've had 4 attempts - two successful and two total failures where DS became hysterical.

Relactation is hard. My DS is 14 weeks and sleeps through the night so it is hard to get up in the night now to pump. It's also hard to find time in the day to pump - I try to do 15 mins every 2 hours. I think I'm getting some improvement this evening so that is helping to motivate me.

I have not spoke to a bf counsellor about this, but I did read up loads on kellymom and la leche league.

How are things today dizzee?

Still going well. I've managing to get a few squirts as well as drops today (only by hand expressing - I don't get much at all with the pump). And I've managed to collect a few ml which I'll add to DS's last bottle tonight. I know it's not much, but since I had nothing 4 days ago, it's quite an improvement. It's tough getting up in the night to pump though.

Yesterday, I managed 9x pumping sessions, 2xSNS sessions and a couple of short nursing sessions. I've not managed so much today as I've been a bit busier. Must try harder tomorrow.

Well dome Dizzee!

well done dizzee, sounds like you're giving it 100% good for you

wel done you! ive been watching the thread a week, and its great to "meet" someone who actually managed it, you read about these things and think "no way!"

goodluck and keep us posted

Thanks for all your support. It really helps to keep me going.