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Infant feeding

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

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Original poster

Please help. On the verge of giving up.

39 replies

wafflesmum · 07/04/2010 21:52

Baby one week old today. Has significant tongue tie. I am still producing tiny amounts of milk (maybe 30 ml at most after 40-50 minutes of expressing and have tried electric, hand pump and manual expression). She lost nearly 13% of body weight in hospital and I have no choice but to top up with formula. What the hell can I do to encourage milk supply? I haven't left the house due to the non-stop cycle of trying to BF, giving tiny amount of expressed milk in a bottle, topping up with formula, then expressing again in time for the next feed. At each feed baby is stripped for skin to skin contact too. I'm shattered, frustrated and very upset. Midwives in hospital and community unable to offer explanation as to poor milk supplies and say I'm doing everything I can to stimulate production. Please help.

OP posts:

RubyBuckleberry · 10/04/2010 12:07

hi waffles, glad there has been as improvement this means your body is responding. it will probably keep on responding too - boobs are well clever, as are babies! have you tried biological nurturing - it can really help with babies who fight the 'traditional' cradle hold. this lady has watched babies fight the breast and then had them latch on in minutes using this 'system' if you like.

Original poster

wafflesmum · 10/04/2010 14:23

I tried the biological nurturing approach today but it didn't seem to help - she got frustrated and wasn't able to latch on in that frontal position. She is also still extremely lethargic and spends very little, if any time, actively awake. PacificDogwood - my midwife gave me a leaflet for the Community Mothers network, a volunteer group of breastfeeding mums who can come to your house and give support. The contact name is Kirsty and the number is 01698 714957.

OP posts:

RubyBuckleberry · 10/04/2010 19:12

oh no! sorry waffles! hope you get in person help soon! well done, keep going - clearly a difficult one - good luck ;-))

MissBonpoint · 10/04/2010 21:20

In case anyone hasn't recommended it already - fennel tea can help encourage milk supply.

But... breast feeding isn't for everyone! We all expect it to work out but for some it doesn't. Formula is nutritious too and your baby will thrive on it too. I had huge difficulty breast feeding my now 10 week old & gave up mid week 2. I found it really hard to give up as I wanted to breast feed very much but I haven't looked back.

Good luck & hope you get some rest!

PacificDogwood · 11/04/2010 11:55

waffles, thanks for the phone No. I've been in contact with them as well; they are v helpful IME.

How are things today?

I took 'Motherlove More Milk Plus' supplement in the past - I think it helped. It contains fenugreek, blessed thistle and nettle I think.

Hope you can enjoy the sunshine today

PotPourri · 11/04/2010 13:45

where are you waffle? I'm in lanark and the carluke and bigggar bf groups have been a big support. Also there is a clinic/group in edinburgh on a tuesday afternoon that deals with problems, some of the girls in the group have been helped massively. CAT me and I'll try to find outr the details.

Pacific, whereabouts are you out of interest??

merrymonsters · 11/04/2010 16:27

I'd really recommend getting the tongue-tie cut. I did it when my DD was 9 days old and it made a huge difference to her latch. Before it was cut she was just sucking on the end of my nipples (ouch!) and wasn't building up my supply. She wasn't putting weight on.

It's very quick. Her latch improved immediately. It still took a couple of weeks for the bruising to heal and for my supply to build up, but it really worked for me.

ProudMumofTwo · 11/04/2010 20:47

Just to add - for something thats supposed to be a "natural" experience - its dam hard to get right - but not impossible.

My DD1 was formula fed for two days whilst I was out of in intensive care. There was no choice but to formula feed for 48 hours!

By the time I was in the land of the living, DD1 hadn't needed to "latch on" - and I spent the next week in agony in the High Dependency Unit trying to:
a) Get stronger myself
b) Feed a baby who had tongue-tie and was finding it incredicbly difficult to latch on.

Tongue tie was clipped at 3-4 weeks. I spent every Wednesday for the next 4 months at the BF drop in support clinic at the local hospital (where they said they hadn't seen someone struggle so much before!)

Not sure how - but BF DD1 'til she was 20 months (and I was pregnant with number 2) - but only shere bloody-mindedness got me there. Think my rationale was that if fate had denyed me the first 48 hours of DD1's life - no-one was going to deny me BF-ing her. It was painful, tiring, unfulfilling for the furst six months - but now I can look back and say she only needed formula for 48 hours - and I'm dam proud of myself (though shed buckets of tears in agony along the way)

Good luck

mamasparkle · 11/04/2010 20:57

Hi waffles, another Glasgow mum here. I just wanted to say that I am no expert but I found it difficult too, at the beginning - my wee girl also has a mild tongue tie.

My midwife at the queen mother's told me that it would turn a corner - and it did, though I didn't believe her at the time. You sound like you are doing so well and have really stuck at it so well done, you should be very proud of yourself.

There is a breastfeeding/weigh in group at the West Maternity Centre,part of the Western Infirmary, on Byres Road every Tuesday pm from 2 onwards, it's a drop in clinic, I'm sure the midwives there would be able to give you some advice?

Stick in there, you are doing great to have got this far, and it DOES get easier.x

ArthurPewty · 11/04/2010 21:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Original poster

wafflesmum · 11/04/2010 22:06

Baby now 11 days old. Tongue tie dealt with. Milk supply increased slightly - expressing slightly more and leaking from one side when she feeds from the other. Still unsure about if she is getting enough and latching on properly - sometimes she seems to be actively feeding, other times she appears to just be nipple sucking. Hoping BF support volunteer will be visiting tomorrow to check things over. A small improvement...

OP posts:

crikeybadger · 11/04/2010 22:14

Good news waffles.

If she starts sucking on the nipple, just latch her off and re-latch, otherwise she'll make you sore.

Have you had her weighed since the previous weight loss?

Hope the BF support volunteer comes and can give you some RL help.

RubyBuckleberry · 12/04/2010 08:26

thats great news waffles. i had to be very strict with the latch when my ds was tiny after shocking cracked nipple situation ow! he protested a bit but it did make him open his mouth wider . it also got easier as he got bigger as he could get more in his mouth iyswim. he also had mild tongue tie which probably had something to do with it as i am mildly tongue tied and my mum got cracks with me but not my siblings, and i was the third so she was a bit . good luck, hope it goes well with the bf feeding volunteer!

LaTrucha · 12/04/2010 19:20

Congratulations on sticking in there. Well done. I hope the bf counsellor helps too.

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