Baby cries when put to breast but likes bottle

[misforme]

Hello all. 3 month old ds is almost exclusively bottle fed as I have not got enough milk due to seperation at birth and him being in special care for several days. I have been expressing since day 1 but have only ever managed 40ml per session both breasts so tiny amounts. Anyway have now been putting ds to the breast and he latches on really well and has a good suck but after about a minute starts crying and stops. I was thinking that might be because I haven't got very much milk or maybe it is not flowing fast enough?when he starts crying I give up and give him bottle and he feeds with no problem. Wwyd? Would love to be able to stop pumping and just bf supplemented with formula.

Its much easier for a baby to get milk out of a bottle than a breast, it comes out more easily and they have to do less work. So if he is used to a bottle he will probably prefer that now, perhaps he can't get the milk out of the breast as fast as he'd like now hes used to bottle. I think now he is 3 months you will have a difficult time getting him to breastfeed. Also your milk supply will not be very big if you have also been giving formula. Sorry I know thats not what you want to hear. Maybe someone else will have some advice on how to manage it.

I was going to say the same as above poster xx

You could try a much slower teat in the bottle and also giving a bit of formula before breastfeeding so that he's not really really hungry (and it'll hopefully get him to be more patient).

I had a similar issue. I gave up in the end and formula fed. It's not what I had planned but ultimately we were both happier for it and I have no regrets.

I was expressing for an hour at a time and getting 50ml max - sometimes much less. It was soul destroying.

Thank you for your replies. I guess 3 months is a bit late to try to establish bf. A slower teat is a good idea. Have tried putting him to the breast after he has had some formula and it is a bit better but he still gets frustrated.
Pugwallssummer - agree about expressing; it is so disheartening when you don't produce much. I think I probably have another month of pumping In me. When I have finally given up it will be a relief but am also already feeling sad about stopping but could be a separate thread altogether.

It's never too late to bf but it's totally up to you what works best.
He'll be crying because the milk doesn't flow as fast/there isn't as much. Way to up supply is to put him to the boob every 1.5/2 hours when you can and as much as you can at night - only for a short period each time. Do this for 2 days and your supply will be much better - it only takes a few days for supply to go up/down really.
Don't pump - babies stimulate more milk than pumping as the sucking action different
Also drink loads and loads of water - if you want to be feeding him 800ml of breast milk a day then you have to drink this on top of your usual none bf amount!

I am glad to hear all might not be lost!
How long should he be at the breast for to stimulate supply?i only manage 5 mins per breast at a time as he empties them quickly and gets very frustrated and it's painful to watch.

I'm not an expert but id say at this stage it's about frequency of putting him to boob rather than forcing him to stay there and both of you get upset. If you don't want to then pump for 5 mins every couple of hours instead yo increase supply before you try him doing it. Please don't let yourself get run down with this - if he ends up entirely formula fed on bottles you are still doing an amazing job. It sounds like you are trying pretty hard to do the best for him already.
Other thing to say is try a local bf drop in support group - there's usually free ones if google your area. They'll have more advice