Switching back to breastfeeding?

[Caldey11]

My daughter is almost 6 weeks old and is formula fed. However it wasn't by choice and I would like to know people's opinion on whether I should try now to breastfeed.

She was born by c-section and there was quite a delay in skin to skin due to fluid on her lungs, I wonder if this contributed to her struggling to latch, she was very sleepy and would only latch sometimes, as a result I was told I should give her formula top ups from day 1 as she wasn't feeding enough. This upset me a lot as I felt like I had totally failed her but that's another story. I spent 3 days in hospital because she suffered with low blood sugar and mild jaundice, when we finally got her home the midwife told us she had lost 12% of her bodyweight (she was born weighing 9lb 13oz which made it impossible for me to get her in the right position to feed without help from the midwives in hospital). We were put on a 3 hour feeding schedule and told to try her at the breast, if that didn't work give her expressed milk and then formula if needed. My milk didn't come in until day 5 and I have never made much, during the timed feeding I was pumping after every feed (8 times a day) which was really unsustainable and only possible with my husbands help.

Sometimes she would latch and feed, some days she almost nursed exclusively but more often she would be predominantly formula fed. The only position I could manage to feed her in was lying down as anything else hurt my scar too much. We decided to call it a day with breastfeeding when she was 2 weeks old however since then I have given her the breast for comfort occasionally and she will still latch. I am able to get her into positions much easier now my scar is healing well. I am still pumping a little milk (120mls/day) but that is largely because I struggle to find time to pump now my husband is working again.

I want to give my daughter breastmilk as I know its the best thing for her but am not sure if I should try to switch back to breastfeeding or if it would even be possible at this point (would I be able to make enough milk). I also know a lot of BF mums co-sleep but we were advised not to do that and I still struggle with sleep deprivation as it is, the idea of waking more frequently doesn't sound like fun. I also struggle generally with finding time to do anything and think this would be worse if she was BF.

Has anyone managed to go from formula feeding to breastfeeding? Do you think I could/should do it? I know only I can make the decision but I'm really struggling to know what to do. I could of course continue to pump some milk so she's still getting some benefit, perhaps I could replace a couple of feeds with expressed milk but then I need to find hours to pump.

Any advice welcome.

I did this, it was challenging though.

My son was in NICU following an operation so I pumped as I couldn’t feed in. Once on the ward with him, I tried and failed to latch him on and breastfeeding support was non existent. He has a mix of bottle fed breast milk and formula as my supply had dropped.

We came home when he was 6 weeks old and fully bottle feeding by then.

I was very lucky to have amazing midwives who came every day and helped with the latch, and tbh, not sure if i would have succeeded without them. Basically I went to bed with him and tried to latch him every time he squeaked, stopped offering bottles and learnt to feed rugby hold and lying down. He never had a bottle thereafter and weaned at 14 months. It was tough, lots of tears but I was chuffed that I achieved it, but I did have help.

Looking back, I put myself under a lot of pressure and I know he would have been fine if formula fed.

Best of luck whatever you decide.

www.llli.org/breastfeeding-info/relactation/
Some information here if you do decide to try.

How about chatting to the National Breastfeeding Helpline on 0300 100 0212 and talking through your options?

I think it would really benefit you to have specialist support. Could you get an appointment with an IBCLC?

Thanks everyone, especially @lots33, can I ask how things were regarding sleeping? I'm very nervous at the idea of co-sleeping, how did you ensure it was safe?

I have had a conversation with someone from LLL, I just wondered if others mums had done it what their experience was like. I think it is unlikely I will be able to commit the time required to get them EBF but I think I will try to pump a bit more so I can give them something.

@Caldey11

Thanks everyone, especially *@lots33*, can I ask how things were regarding sleeping? I'm very nervous at the idea of co-sleeping, how did you ensure it was safe?

I have had a conversation with someone from LLL, I just wondered if others mums had done it what their experience was like. I think it is unlikely I will be able to commit the time required to get them EBF but I think I will try to pump a bit more so I can give them something.

Hi, I didn’t co sleep with him; I was also too scared. I kept him close by me on bed or sofas until bf was established, he slept on the bed in the day but I would stay awake. At night, he was in a co sleeper cot and I used to take him to the living room to feed him because I was scared of falling asleep. I only had him to Worry about then so you may decide ff is the right route for you and fed is best, it really doesn’t matter in the long term.

When I had my second child, she had no health issues and latched on immediately. She was a voracious feeder, and as I was more confident this time, I did co sleep with her from birth as she wouldn’t settle in the co sleeper cot. With her, my partner went into the spare room and I would sleep in layers. I had no duvet on the bed and one small flat pillow. She was in a sleeping bag next to me and pretty soon figured out how to help herself so I could sleep through the night. DS was 2 by then and DP tended to deal with him if he woke at night.

Hope that helps, you just do whatever you have to go get through and you must look after yourself, I didn’t do that and ended up with chronic and long standing PND after DD so really just look after yourself and if that means FF so you get a break , your little one will be fine!

Good luck.

DD lost a lot of weight after birth and was put on formula in the hospital. I mix fed until 4 weeks when I finally had the confidence to ditch the formula altogether and trust DD/my supply to sort breastfeeding out. Up until 4 weeks I’d pumped 7x a day to up my supply and then was gradually reducing the amount of formula.

It was gruelling but by 7 weeks everything was going well and I ended up feeding her until she was 23m.

Give it a go if you want to OP, if you're still feeding occasionally at the moment you're body is still making milk and the more you feed the more your body will produce. As soon as you get the latch right the more they feed the more you will make. Whatever you do though remember to take baby off and start again if it hurts. There is nothing worse than painful nipple feeding...

I did this after a very similar start to yours. DS was fully formula fed from around 2 weeks to about 7 weeks. I didn't exactly intend to start breastfeeding again but I got a terrible bout of flu and felt so ill that I didn't want to get up to make bottles, so I decided to try bfing again and managed to relactate. I'm still breastfeeding now and DS is 2.

I didn't co-sleep but what I did do was have DS in bed with me for a couple of days all day long. I stripped him down to his nappy so we were skin to skin and just let him feed whenever he liked. I did start pumping as well after each feed once I felt better, but I think he was also able to latch and suck better because he was a bit older and it seemed to stimulate my milk in a way it didn't when he was very new.

Best of luck OP, and congratulations!

Thanks @shreddednips, that's really impressive. I don't like the sound of your user name though! It's currently taking me ages to settle my DD to go to sleep so I don't feel like I have enough time to pump, I'm in awe of Mums who manage to pump so many times a day. How long would you say it took from trying to reintroduce him to being EBF?

It's probably time for a name change soon the old nips are feeling much better now. Actually I don't think it took very long, he just took to it much better the second time round. When he was new he had a lot of meconium on his lungs and he was just so sleepy and sort of didn't seem to have the energy for it.

I would definitely recommend taking your baby to bed with you for a couple of days, I think they call it a 'babymoon'. I was in bed with DS for a good 2-3 days just constantly skin to skin and letting him latch whenever he wanted, he pretty much fed constantly when he wasn't sleeping and I think that was pretty much that. I didn't feel confident co-sleeping so popped him in his bed when I wanted to sleep.

Good luck!