Breastfeeding problems

[Hungrybaby]

I have a 2 week old baby and at our 5 day appointment she had lost a lot more weight than expected so we were told to supplement breastfeeding with formula and that I should use a breast pump after every feed. Last time she was weighed it had started to increase again so hopefully she's on the right path. However, breastfeeding followed by bottle feeding followed by expressing and doing it all every 3 hours takes up so much time, it almost feels like as soon as we've finished it's time to start again!

Has anyone else been through this and did you manage to get back to exclusively breastfeeding? Or any tips on how I'm supposed to get chance to eat or sleep myself while doing all the above?

TIA

Not exactly the same, I was told to combine formula on my youngest DDs second or third day- which we did for a couple of weeks. I did a lot to keep my supply up - lots of water, pumping and oats- then dumped the bottle and she wouldn’t take a bottle for 4 bloody months- lol.

Just breast feed as much as you can. As soon as she’s back to birth weight I’d stop the formula and just do skin to skin feeding as much as she will accept. She needs to feed more for your body to make more milk. Keep going, it’s bloody hard but the benefits outweigh the rubbish bits. I’m now 10 months into bf baby number 3 and it’s so easy to just whip out a boob when you’re out and about and they’re hungry!

Thanks, just feeling a bit disheartened at the moment, as though we'll never be able to just breastfeed without supplementing. So it's nice to hear it's possible. If you don't mind me asking, how often did you pump?

Thank you. That's what I'd love to be able to do but just feeling like that's never going to happen at the moment!

Have you got one of those Haakaa pumps? I had a similar issue with my DS not gaining weight early on and he had a suspected tongue tie (which turned out to just be a shallow latch which helped when his little mouth got bigger when he was a few months old!). So early on I felt like I was glued to the sofa with him just feeding little and often. Using a Haakaa on the side that he wasn’t feeding from helped increase supply.

Big hug OP it's hard when they lose significant weight. We were also told to supplement much earlier due to a traumatic delivery. DS thrived on a bottle and as much as I expressed and mixed it in within a few weeks he preferred the bottle and gained weight steadily.

Within a few weeks I gave up breast feeding (he had the initial antibodies) he now 9 and I don't regret it one bit. Honestly OP let her lead and see where it takes you be that back to EBF, combi or bottle, fed is best.

Yes, what I found was when he got a bit stronger he fed more effectively and didn't need the top ups I was giving him.

The only way to get back to exclusive feeding now is to be obsessive with it constantly offering the boob. You need someone (partner if you have one) to take over in shifts with a bottle to help you get sleep in and someone needs to bring you all your meals and tidy them. You must sleep.
Up for you. Your ONLY job right now is working in feeding everyone else needs to be your servant. No visitors only helpers and assistants right now.

Ps this also happened to me I felt so worried on day 5 xx

I’ve literally just gone through this.

DS born at 37 weeks and weighed 5lb 13oz. Lost 11.5% body weight and sat there for 3 weeks at 5lb 2oz. Different midwife and HV every time (9 in total) and zero guidance from hospital and midwife’s, just told to ‘feed him every 2 hours’ which I did…for an hour a time. Exhausting. I was distraught. Also clueless as my antenatal classes had been cancelled and then baby came early.

turns out he had a tongue tie and was weak from weeks of low weight. I was finally told to supplement with formula…so feed every 2 hours, top up with formula after every feed, pump after every feed and ‘power pump’ 3 times a day which took an hour a time.

I tried to do it but was barely pumping anything after 3 weeks low demand. My head was in a bad place, exhausted and ultimately I gave up. We’ve had loads of issues with formula but now at 15 weeks finally he’s settling down. I’m still sad about it and seeing women BFing even though it’s not their fault. My DS was an IVF baby after 6 years and likely my only one. However, he’s happy, thriving and caught up big time!

i sit and think I should have tried harder to BF but honestly I did everything I could….and I know you will too…BUT if it doesn’t work out that’s absolutely ok too. You being happy is more important. I missed so many cuddles and just time with him in the beginning because i was hooked up to pumps or expressing and I regret that even more than not being able to BF

I hope you get the outcome you want but please do what’s best for your health and happiness. Good luck

Sounds exhausting OP. If you’re wanting to exclusively breastfeed then you need to boost your supply as much as possible by offering the breast loads. I can understand the need for formula if baby isn’t gaining weight but this is not going to help your supply in the long run as a breast pump isn’t as effective at getting milk than a baby. Lots of skin on skin and snuggle time. Does she spend long on the breast? Any refluxy symptoms? I’m only asking because ineffective feeding can be a sign of a tongue tie. My little boy had a posterior one, despite the midwife, health visitor and GP all telling me he didn’t have one. I was pestered by the HV to supplement with formula however instead I paid to see a lactation consultant who was absolutely amazing. Helped me with the latch, how to boost my supply and also identified the tongue tie. I would highly recommend this if there is anyone local to you. That is if you’re keen on continuing to breastfeed, you’ve just got to do what feels right for you.

I had this too and perserved with the feeding/topping up/pumping/powerpumping for 5 weeks and it nearly destroyed me, the stress had such an impact on my mental and physical health. Decided to just formula feed and baby put on weight and is now happy and healthy -wish I'd done that earlier.

I kept this up for 5m and it nearly killed me. Tried everything, all the supplements, and a prescription. Woke myself up in the night and pumped (baby slept through)! I just never produced enough milk. The relief when I got rid of the pump was overwhelming. I actually started to properly enjoy my baby.

Triple feeding is soul destroying. I had to do it too it was only when I broken down to midwife on day 13 that they took notice of how much it was affecting me. I think sometimes they tell us to top us as it’s the easiest thing to do as they then get to discharge quicker. But this midwife was lovely she stayed with me for ages that day asked me what I wanted which I said was to EBF and she was like well that’s what we will aim for and I stopped the formula top up carried on giving his the breast milk top up and put on 10oz in that week then stopped that and put 15oz the week after. Had to accept he would be on the boob constantly but I just really wanted it I was willing to do it. Really hard but does get easier. He is now nearly 1 and we are still feeding. I have now come to the point where I am ready to stop which I feel fine about as it’s in my terms and not forced upon me x

So sorry OP cannot recall how often I pumped. Idon’t be disheartened. I agree with others once weight is stable full on boob, feed, clustered feed and don’t do much else

I also did triple feeding and it is just brutal and I think there comes a point where the negatives outweigh the benefits. It takes its toll on your physical and mental health.

I did it for a couple of weeks - I can't be exact it's such a blur. My baby had a tongue tie and couldn't latch. I tried to latch the baby which nearly always resulted in both of us crying, my husband would feed him a bottle of expressed breast milk while I pumped using a manual pump. I should have gotten an electric pump on day one. By the time you're finished it is usually time to start again.

To give you some hope - my baby is 4 months now and he is exclusively breastfed. in fact he will no longer accept a bottle so it is possible to overcome.

A midwife encouraged me to stop the top ups once my baby had stopped losing weight and started gaining. This felt scary and I remember her asking 'how brave are you' and we essentially went cold turkey. We just sat on the sofa or the bed and fed. Nothing else.

@Hungrybaby hi lovely, have they been checked for tongue tie? NHS midwives aren't actually trained to spot it so regularly miss it. My daughter was losing too much weight but on day 5 they realised she had a 75% tongue tie! I had to supplement with formula for a bit until I got it sorted (day 9 through a private lactation consultant) then we went back to fully breast feeding.

If you haven't gone private I wouldn't trust the NHS saying they don't have it x

I had this. Feed on one side, pump on the other. Then switch so feed on the other side and pump on the side DC has just fed on. The use that expressed milk as DC’s extra top up. Try not to use formula if possible so you are maximising supply. You can also rinse your pumping kit and pop it in a ziplock bag in the fridge for the day so you’re not constantly washing up. My DC was fattening up nicely within two weeks! We then found he had a tongue tie but we had to go private for that.

Thanks everyone. So what I'm taking from all the replies is that it's possible to get back to breastfeeding but difficult, and to concede defeat at some point so as to not ruin my time with baby. I've also contacted a lactation consultant to give us the best chance. She's been checked for a tongue tie by an NHS breastfeeding team and they said she doesn't have one.

Mine took almost a month to regain his birth weight. It was so worrying! I guess I didn't realize it at the time, but he had (has) an enormous appetite and it takes time to build up that amount of milk. I didn't ever pump or offer formula; we persevered and were lucky enough that it all worked out. I had a pump but there was literally no time to do it because the only time I wasn't feeding was when I was empty.

I accepted that all I was going to do was feed and change the baby. We were having 1.5 hour feeding sessions (45 min each side) with an hour break. All day. He was a good sleeper back then, so I was only up for an hour-ish 2-3 times a night.

Over a few weeks, my supply built up and I was able to keep up with the volume of milk that he needed. It was pretty much feed feed feed for around 3 months before he gradually started doing longer stretches. I'm happy to say that we've not had any more problems with weight gain since the newborn days.

Hope this gives you some encouragement! Some children just have a large appetite and it's increadibly hard work. Just know that you are not alone in this struggles, and they won't last forever.

@Hungrybaby I'm glad you've contacted a lactation consultant :) I'd be hesitant to trust NHS when it comes to tongue tie, I just know so many instances where they've got it wrong. Best of luck xx

any tips on how I'm supposed to get chance to eat or sleep myself while doing all the above?

Sleep/doze while you feed! If you can master feeding in the side lying position (takes a lot of practice when they are tiny) it is a game changer. Check safe sleep Seven to see how to bedshare safely. Bedsharing can also mean more rest overnight and can increase your supply.

Sounds like you’re working seriously hard.

We went through something similar a couple of months ago with our then newborn - feed for an hour (offering both boobs and breastmilk top up), wait half an hour then pump for 15-20 mins, then an hour later feeding again (again both boobs and top up with the milk just pumped). I only managed to do it for two weeks, including through the night and it was honestly brutal. On day 5 or so I dropped a night pump. On day 10 bub was stacking on weight and I dropped a pump every second day until I was only pumping once a day, first thing in the morning.

As much as it sucks and takes more time, waiting even 20mins between breastfeeding and pumping really helped boost my supply. As others have said though, you’ve got to sleep! I found cosleeping the only way through it. Now we’re on the other side and she’s exclusively on the boob, refuses the bottle and is up on the 85th centile for weight.

I would buy/borrow a wearable electric pump so you’re not stuck on the couch every time you pump. I also ate plenty of oat cookies with brewers yeast - meant to be good for boasting supply but also tasty to get through the night!

Good luck OP, you’re doing so incredibly well!

I'm not sure why this has popped up again as it was a while since I posted. Baby is now 4 months and unfortunately nothing worked and my supply never increased (suspected mammary hypoplasia but no way of finding out for certain). Anyway, DD is putting on weight nicely now and thriving. I'm still breastfeeding her before each bottle but I've given up the pumping, and she's happy and healthy enough so I'm trying not to focus too much on my disappointment at not being able to feed how I planned and just enjoy my time with her instead.