RE STARTING BREAST FEEDING IS IT TOO LATE

[dizzyangel]

I am so disappointed i was so looking forward to breaSt feeding my third child as i gave up with my last two for the same reasons i am putting this thread up .. my daughter is 1mth old and i started to bf STRAIGHT AWAY AND MY MILK CAME THROUGH NO WORRIES BUT AFTER THREE DAYS I FELT SHE WASNT GETTING ENOUGH AS SHE WAS BEING TREMELY FUSSY SO I MIXED FEED AND MY MILK SEEMS TO SLOWED DOWN AND MY DAUGHTER WOULDNT LATCH ON PROPERLY ( I THINK DUE TO BOTTLE FEED TOO ) BUT I HAVE NOW GIVEN UP COMPLETELY .. MY QUESTION IS HAS ANYONE GIVEN UP FOR A FEW WEEKS AND THEN GONE BACK TO BREAST FEEDING AS I REALLY WANT TO TRY AGAIN BUT I DONT KNOW IF I HAVE LEFT IT TOO LONG TO TRY AGAIN AS MY LIKE SEEMS TO BE DRYING UP ?
ANY SUGGESTIONS TO GET THINGS GOING AGAIN ?

BF is supply and demand. if you exclusively breast feed your supply will increase. feed often. if youve still got your milk then it will catch up - but you might have to feed often for a few days.

Is anything coming out when you squeeze?

Rent an electric breast bump - a strong one from a medical supplies shop if you can. I had problems bfing my third dc as she had difficulties latching on and my milk supply almost dried up. I rented the pump (it looked like an mini industrial milking machine, honestly) and got pumping. I gave her my milk in a bottle for four weeks as she still couldn't get the hang of feeding. She then did two weeks with nipple shields and at six weeks was totally breastfed. Then I couldn't get her to stop!! Oh and drink lots too.

I think you need support (NCT, LLL counsellor, someone who knows their stuff), determination and luck. I didn't BF my DD1 first two weeks as she was in SCBU on a ventilator but we eventually picked up. Yours will be a more difficult challenge, I think. Act quickly and get in touch with someone who can help.

i had a weeks break-poorly ds2 and with help of bf counsellor and a pump was able to restart.
id ask hv for advise.goodluck!

Hi,I don't think its too late. Like Vicar said, its supply and demand, so if you pump for example, you'll start to get milk. My ds would not latch on properly from the start. So, I pumped using an electric breast pump, I hired one. I fed him from a bottle in the day and at night gave him formula.
Week two I used a bfeeding consultant who suggested nipple protectors. At first he was very resistant and I almost gave up. I began using formula more and more and got sick of pumping (it can be exhausting). But then I bought some nipple protectors. They are a bit weird, but they were easier for him to latch on to. Eventually i would try to remove them so he'd latch on to the actual nipple and one day he began to breast feed! 7 weeks later and I began to phase out formula all together (mainly cos I got lazy and rather fed him in bed at night without having to get up)
So, it can be done! I then carried on till 14 months (happy then to stop).
Just practice and see how it goes, but don't stress over it as its also important to try to stay relaxed.

hI
yES WHEN I SQUEEZE I STILL GET SOME MILK BUT NOT A LOT AT ALL ... YES I WILL GET A BREAST PUMP AND SEE HOW I GO WITH THAT AND I WILL CONTACT HV AND SEE ABOUT BF CLINICS ALSO THANKS FOR THE ADVISE GIRLS !

sunmonkey you're the first person I've ever come across who did pretty much the same thing I did! I used to get sceptical looks if I said that dd started breastfeeding properly at 6 weeks!

dizzyangel seriously an electric pump is the way to go. Good luck and let us know how you're getting on and/or come back for more advise.

It IS possible. You need to express and feed A LOT.

ARchives should have a lot about this. Or maybe tiktok is about?

LongtimeinBrussels - yes I was surprised to see your post too as ours were so similar in what we did!
Having said however 'don't get stressed' its not easy and its frustrating when some thing won't happen that you want/need to like this.
You can do it though dizzy angel, I forgot to add that I also looked on 'youtube' at breastfeeding techniques and 'latching on' it helps to see people actually doing it as well

i will have a look on youtube and see where i am going wrong on the latching on part

dizzy, I would also like to second what sunmonkey says about trying not to get too stressed. When I first got the pump, I cried there was so little milk (dd hadn't stimulated the supply I guess) but a lovely friend of mine who is also a breastfeeding counsellor was with me at the time and calmed me down. In the end I had so much milk, I had a drawer full in the freezer (which I intended to use in a bottle once I'd had enough of pumping but ended up throwing away because she ended up taking the breast). Maybe try the nipple shields too as that worked for both sunmonkey and myself.

Please come back for more advice if you need it!

No, I met someone at our baby group who got her baby back on the breast after 8 weeks. You do need specialist help, lots of family/friends emotional and practical support (not "what on earth are you doing that for?" type comments). If you look at any of the formula websites they make out it is very hard, nigh impossible to relactate. This is not true. Definitely get an electric double breastpump. You can hire one from Ardo Medical or Medela (Ardo much cheaper but some people prefer Medela). Try NCT, LLL, ABM for specialist help. Good luck