Has anyone successfully eliminated top ups

[fabangusmum]

Hi, I'm new here and have been thrashing around for the last 5 weeks trying to reduce top ups and breast feed exclusively when I realised that other women may have successfully done it! Please help!
I have an 8 week old who didn't return to birth weight but kept dropping, he was a biggish baby 8lb 14oz, and the midwife told me to give him top ups at about 2 1/2 weeks, but didn't tell me this would affect my probably already low supply. I have always dreamed of breast feeding and was considerably upset for some time. It turned out he had tongue tie which I had diagnosed and released privately at 3 weeks, he was so skinny I continued with top ups, and only now is he starting to fill out although he has grown in length - he is a long skinny baby.
I tried round the clock feeding which did make me fill up, unfortunately I started getting clogged up because he couldn't drain me.
I think his suck is up to it now. He is on 6 110ml feeds and I breastfeed him at night. My plan was to reduce his formula by 5/10ml every 6 days, what do people think? He happily goes on the breast and spends a long time there, basically we have 3 hourly feeding cycle - breast for an hour, formula with a burp break, bit more breast then a break for 1hr - never get a moment....

fab - what a story and what a fighter you are

Good news is your baby is still happy to go to the breast. This makes an enormous difference.

I am a breastfeeding counsellor with NCT and I suggest you'd get some good help phoning our breastfeeding line or indeed any of the others. You do need a proper plan, and a reduction of formula by 5-10 mls every 6 days is prob unnecessarily slow in your case. I think you could speed up

He is having a lot of formula so you will need to reduce carefully and work on your own breastmilk supply at the same time - but you sound motivated and determined, so go for it!

Hi there

yes I successfully got rid of bottle top ups recently. Was topping up with 2-5 Ozs after every feed due to poor weight gain and generally cranky-ness in first 5 weeks. (if I could only rewind time and not do this, but hey)

My DD eventually got nipple confusion so the way I dealt with that and cutting down on formula was using a supplemental nursing system www.babyworld.co.uk/information/reviews/product.asp?id=618

The benefit here was that I could supplement her while stimulating my own supply (and getting her used to working at the breast for longer).

I started with the medium flow tube, went down to the slow flow tube and gradually cut down the amount I supplemented over 4 weeks until she was fully breastfed again. I also expressed after (almost) every feed to stimulate my supply including in the night.

It was super hard work, but worth it and it is soooo much easier now she isn't bothering with bottles (apart from bottle of EBM before bed to make sure she still takes the bottle).

I saw breastfeeding counsellors a few times throughout the process (the supplementer was their idea) and that was really, really helpful. They were able to help me with positions, the latch, breast compression and generally keep me positive about it.

DD has now been breastfed exclusively for 3 weeks and is still piling on the weight and as happy as larry.

Good luck - however you do it, just stay focussed, seek help whenever you need it and you'll be fine

Hi, I too topped up - not as much as you but from 3-6 weeks topped up about 4-8 oz per day. I gradually reduced it to only offering after 1st morning and early evening feed. I also just put dd on as much and as often as possible, also tried techniques like switch feeding. Obviously your situation is slightly different due to amount of formula, so def seek professional advice, but just wanted to let you know it IS possible, hard work, but makes you feel great after! dd is now 21 weeks and growing really well despite a dodgy start, bf is now SO easy and convenient, almost don't want to wean

Good luck xxx

Yes. I did it. Not in a very planned way I have to say, I just offered and offered and offered and when I'd had enough gave formula, but I was quite persistent and had high expectations of myself about when I had decided I'd had enough. I was offering every 20 mins or so though!

Thanks so much for your replies - the thing I get most from them is that there is no one answer! I've been trying cluster double pumping and that has been working - I only gave 470 ml on Sunday as opposed to 660! That was the best day but I think today is going to be 600 The only problem is I get my supply up and he doesn't seem to consistently drain me its as if the latch comes and goes - don't know whether its him or me but I'm working on this now too. Hope to write another message in a few weeks saying we've been succesful.

He is having a lot of formula, sounds right to reduce formula slowly - say by 1oz (overall per day) at a time. And be prepared to let him suck for as long as possible as often as possible.

But I think that you need to decide how much formula you are giving him and make him work for the rest - like a BF baby does during a growth spurt. Increasing the formula again will mean that when he is hungrier he'll get extra formula rather than extra breast milk which he has to work for and it will be harder to get rid of the top ups. Otherwise when you get the supply up he might not drink it.... (if the latch goes better to pump)

I have found I can generally stimulate supply by expressing 3-4oz first thing and then feedly 2 hourly all day and letting baby suck for as long as possible at each feed.

Yup I got rid of them (although in end I did decide to keep nightime bottle formula and one small bottle now and again if trying to get her to sleep in hammock (as she likes to feed to sleep andmy boob won't fit in! But then I had a breast reduction and shite birth with tube fed baby with Tongue tie who I didn't get to cuddle for 24hours and didn't latch on til day 4 so my supply was shite (and she lost 14% birthweight) so wanted to keep a smidge of formula! (she used to get 400-600ml tops (half ebm half formula) then got it down to 120ml bedtime bottle (which is now 200ml as she is older). I probably could get rid of formula completly with a pumping effort but decided am very happy with status quo considering how far we have come!

It was incredibly hard but I was able to get rid of top ups faster as dd had Tongue tie snipped at 7 weeks and she got better at feeding and my supply increased.

Defo recomend hiring a hospital grade pump from nct and getting a supplemental nurser. Sorry that was a blathery post about my story but just wanted to show it is defo possible to reduce top ups. You are doing brilliantly! Keep going!

This is such a learning curve... I think I lack confidence in my breast milk to nourish him because of his weight loss. We just got some photos back of him at around 3/4 weeks and he is so gaunt and I just keep thinking of that loose flesh on his thighs and arms. A couple of times this week DH has been looking after him and lulled him to sleep after BF when I would have relented and given him a bottle, so he has missed out on a feed in my mind. Thing is he seems absolutely happy without it when he wakes up, but I'm so paranoid and keep thinking he's not so chubby. Then this morning I put a romper suit on him that fitted last weekend and now is straining at the shoulder, but I still have a nagging doubt - argh!
I have been double expressing and can get 40 ml in one sitting now as opposed to the dribble I used to get. This has definitely made my breasts fuller. Only thing is he still isn't draining me that well. He takes about 2 hours every morning (between 2 and 4 today) .. he's waking up ... thanks will deffo make him work at it and consider hospital grade pump

sounds like he is not that great at feeding - makes a huge difference -

DS1 was never that good and i never felt full. have you had someone check his latch?

DS2 is a great feeder, and I feel full before each feed and he can drain each side (apart from first thing when I am bursting on each side) - he can't take it all, if I still feel really full I express it as I am doing 2 days at work next month so need a stash!