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 .

Adding my voice - you are doing sooo well, and don#t forget to call the helplines if you need real time support!

Hi from me too... this is really impressive, it's fantastic that you're doing this, particularly since you weren't feeling ok about quitting bf. How are things going now?

hiya,

well done still!

hows it going today?

Ive been to see a BF counseller and DD latched! Ive got a hospital grade pump from her too.

Hopefull i can achieve what you have!

Hi there. I am still doing ok. Doing lots of hand expressing at the moment as I get more milk out than the pump does. Also had 2 successful SNS sessions yesterday. I think I collected about 5ml milk yesterday compared to about 2ml on Thursday. Will see what today brings.

Best of luck disenchanted. It's great that DD will latch.

im thinking of doing some hand expressin in place of a few pump ones as nipples feeling a bit tender.

wow thats such an improvement! well done you, do keep us updated its so exciting!

im ever so pleased for you xx

I am struggling a bit today. Got a bad cold and haven't managed to pump in the night for the last few nights. Also DS is very grumpy (maybe teething) and won't latch. Feels like it is all going wrong again. I'm still hand expressing, but don't think that will be enough. Oh well. pumping at the moment, but nothing coming out.

Keep going Dizzee.
More stimulation will mean more milk.
And you know you nedd to at night don't you?

Don't worry Dizzee - I'm sure it's still ok. Why don't you and DS go and have a nice long bath together. If he doesn't latch on - try using the pump in there too - it will help your let down and (I know this is hard! ) try not to stress about it because that will make it harder to pump! You're doing such a good job - this is just a minor blip and it will pass.

Feeling a bit more positive today. I'm getting a bit more by hand expressing - maybe almost half an oz. And I'm finally getting a bit with the electric pump . Also got DS to latch on and nurse twice today .

That's brilliant Dizzee.
Have you thought of using supplemental feeding system?

Things are definitely (slightly!) improving. 11 days ago I could only get a few drops when hand expressing. Then it improved to single sprays and now I have a few multiple sprays. Also I can get a little bit with my electric pump now. I think the night pumping is really helpful.

I thought I'd keep updating this thread with my experiences. Maybe it will be useful for others who want to relactate either now or for future MNetters.

I do have a supplemental feeding system, but my experiences with it have been mixed. Sometimes DS will nurse really well - giving me 30 mins stimulation and him about 4oz formula (+ whatever breast milk he gets). Other times he hates it and screams hysterically. I don't think he's too keen on the plastic tube. I think if I get the tube in the right position first time he doesn't notice it. But if the tube is too much longer than my nipple then he hates it. If the tube is too short it seems really difficult for him to take the supplement through. It's definitely tricky and requires a bit of practice.

I'm so impressed that you are doing this - well done. I really hope that it works out.

Dizzee you are doing fantastically, brilliantly well Keep it up, I'm rooting for you (rooting, geddit? Sorry!)

I'm getting almost an ounce a day now. I think really frequent hand expressing seems to be the key for me. Will try and persevere with getting DS to nurse this week - hopefully that will improve things further.

Overall it's taken me 2 weeks to get from just a few drops to 1oz a day. So, it's slow progress, but it's better than no progress!

Very frustrated this morning. I can usually get DS to nurse in bed for a bit each morning. Today he just did not want to know. So I washed out and sterilised the SNS. He still wouldn't latch and then started crying hysterically. Tried lying down - more hysterical crying. Tried sitting up - more crying. Tried without the SNS - he became hysterical. Gave up. He just will not take my nipple into his mouth and in fact screams if I put it anywhere near him. I just do not know why he will sometimes nurse (with or without the SNS), but sometimes he reacts like this.

Dizzee, it is brilliant! Hang in there.

Maybe just too hungry to patiently wait for the slow trickle?
Why don't you feed him a couple of ounces from the bottle, then play and cuddle back to the breast?

Good luck.

I tried giving him a couple of ounces from his bottle and then re-tried the breast with or without the SNS, but he still rejected it. He has a cold and a blocked up nose so I suppose that isn't helping. We both seem to have constant colds at the moment. I might try nipple shields. Maybe that would be less of a shock to him than going straight from bottle to breast.

blocked noses make it hard to feed even for avid boob fiends

try clearing his nose with saline drops

Yes my DS is struggling to feed too as he has a cold - lots of screaming - so it doesn't mean your DS doesn't want to BF, just that it is too hard for him ATM. Definitely try nasal saline drops, we gave some yesterday and he fed well within a few minutes.

You are making great progress

yes saline drops work well.

Saline drops didn't do a thing for me, the only thing that cleared DS's nose was having a shower together. So when he was sick we were both quite clean!

Congratulations on all your efforts dizzee, you're doing so well. I'm sure this will be a really useful thread for anyone else who wants to re-lactate. I don't know if this has been recommended (if it has and I've missed it, I'm sorry) but apparently domperidone really helps with milk supply. I personally find I get fabulous milk when I eat oatmeal every day.

I tried domperidone when I was bf full-time. DS was always screaming with hunger so I was convinced I had a low milk supply. However I was concerned about weird side effects I was having. I had AF-like bleeding very frequently (1 week on, few days off) from when DS was 6 to 12 weeks old. This was one of the reasons I gave up bf at 10 weeks - I wanted to go on the pill to see if it would clear up. It didn't work which is why I regret giving up bf now. Anyway the domperidone seemed to make the bleeding worse, although of course it may have been a coincidence. Things seem to have settled down now, but I don't want to risk taking the domperidone again - although it is tempting.

My boobs are weird! Left one responds better to hand expression. Right one is better with the pump.