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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Is there ANY point in my half-assed bfing habits?

11 replies

Rosieeo · 15/04/2009 21:46

BFing hasn't worked out well for us again. It's the sleep deprivation and the bloody awful stabbing pain of having my (adorable) ds attached to my poor aching boobs for about 20 out of 24 hours. For all those who grin and bear it, you have my utmost admiration and respect. I thought I was actually going a bit bonkers after three weeks.

Anyhoo, ds is now having regular bottles but I haven't given up bfing entirely. He's probably having about 3 feeds a day, none are very long (20-30 mins and so the pain has stopped) but although he is very happy latching on, he gets frustrated quickly and starts kind of pulling at the nipple, which I assume is either because there isn't much milk there or because he's used to the quick fix of bottles.

Is there ANY point in what I'm doing? It seems so little, he's obviously getting the bulk of his nutrition from formula. Now that it isn't agonising and we're all sleeping, I quite enjoy it.

Will my supply continue as it is atm or will it gradually decrease? I've had no pain or discomfort so I'm not sure if there was even that much there in the first place.

Sorry, bit rambly..

OP posts:
littlelamb · 15/04/2009 21:49

How old is ds?

Original poster
Rosieeo · 15/04/2009 21:56

Sorry! That is important. He's 5 weeks old.

OP posts:
GreenMonkies · 15/04/2009 22:03

To answer your basic question, yes there is a point carrying on, any breastmilk is better than no breastmilk. But, yes, your supply will tail off and ultimately you'll end up 100% formula feeding.

You can rectify this by boosting your supply, perhaps a Babymoon of a couple of days, or some galactogogues to get your supply going, and obviously, reducing the amount of bottles you give.

Don't go cold turkey obviously, but reduce the amount in the bottles and spend as long as you can nursing him. The problem with mixed feeding is that the sucking technique used for drinking from a bottle teat is totally different to the one used to feed from a boob. If he sucks your boob the same way as he sucks on a bottle he will not be feeding efficiently, so he won't get much milk and he won't be stimulating your supply. It's a viscious circle, but you can turn it around.

Are there any Baby Cafes or BF Support groups near you that you can go to for support and help with his latch? Basically if his latch is good he won't hurt you and will be getting plenty of milk and prompting your boobs to make more. So, the fact that he was hurting indicates that his latch wasn't good and needed some fixing, which a good BF councellor can do for you.

Hang in there......

Tryharder · 15/04/2009 22:10

I stopped bfeeding DS1 after about 4 weeks and then ff for about another 4 -5 weeks after that. I then started bf again and mixed DS1 again and ended up doing about 3 - 5 feeds a day until he was about 14 months old. So I was probably in a similar situation to where you are now. And, it wasn't ideal - I would have loved to have exclusively bf but the way i saw it, 3 breast feeds a day is massively better than no breast feeds so I would say keep going!

I was able to increase my own milk supply as time went on so by the time DS1 was 5 months old or so he was hardly having any formula at all so no reason why the same wouldn't happen for you. I found bf incredibly hard at first but it got easier as time went on and I gained more confidence.

HTH.

littlelamb · 15/04/2009 22:33

Yes, I would carry on. At that age you will be sleep deprived and feeling fairly wobbly and tbh I don't think that ff rather than bf would make a difference in that respect. I would get a good stretchy wrap sling like a Moby or Kari Me and let ds feed when ever he wants- those wraps really do cover everything so at home you wouldn't even need to wear a top underneath. The more you let him feed, the more milk you will have.

ObsidianBlackbirdMcNight · 16/04/2009 00:26

Do it as long as you can, it's all good. I did the same and let it tail off naturally. It's always worth carrying on

Original poster
Rosieeo · 16/04/2009 20:28

Thanks to everyone for all the advice. There are BF Cafes here but to be honest, I'd feel like a total fraud.

If I get my supply up etc, will it just be as nightmarish as it was before and will I end up packing in again? I'm so unsure about it.

OP posts:
GreenMonkies · 17/04/2009 09:28

Go to the Baby Cafe, you are NOT a fraud!! That is what they are for, to help and support bf mums, and that is what you are, a bf mum in need of help and support!!

It won't be as nightmarish as before, get some help and find a solution that works for you, but please go to the bf groups, they will really help you.

OrmIrian · 17/04/2009 09:33

I don't agree that you supply will dwindle to nothing unless you start to reduce the number of bfs you give. If it isn't hurting anymore why not increase the number of feeds. I was a bit like you with no1. It hurt a lot, he kept losing weight and I was embarrassed to feed in public, so I was giving a few bottles as well as feeding him myself. And it worked fine when I went back to work - ff during the day, bf night and morning and weekends. I had plenty of milk and the supply altered to feed him as I needed. I kept on feeding at night until he was 17m.

GreenMonkies · 17/04/2009 13:06

OrmIrian, you were very lucky, for most people mixed-feeding ulimately results in such a low supply that the baby rejects the breast and prefers the bottle.

OrmIrian · 17/04/2009 13:08

I must have been. I did it for all three - less ff for the other 2, but still mixed. Thankfully they all seemed to prefer the nipple.

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