Breastfeeding help

[Strawberry06]

DS is not even a week old but had to spend the first few days of his left under photothreapy as he was badly jaundiced.

So while in hospital I had to introduce formula as a top up but I'm determined to drop this.

So we had our first night at home last night and I'm not joking he would have fed all night but after an hour between breasts I caved in and gave him the formula top up. He went down for about an hour and then we went through the same scenario twice till 5am where he slept till about midday today. I was concerned so woke him up and pretty much all day he's been feeding. With the exception of a 2 hour window after he had a bottle. I'm now realising this could be cluster feeding and is normal?

In hospital he was very sleepy during the day and not interested in the breast but since we've got home that's changed!

I'm assuming he's getting enough as he's only 1% under his birth weight but I said to the midwife could that be due to top ups.

When he's on my breast he's very lazy and needs constant nudges/blowing on face etc to continue but when he's off he screams, tries to eat his hands and grunts massively.

Aw congratulations op.

We had formula top ups but managed to stop them altogether after a month or so. It was a much harder process mentally because at some point you just sort of have to jump ship and trust your body.

Supplementing with formula will affect your supply so it's a vicious cycle.

How is little one's latch? Are you comfortable?

I went to breastfeeding classes at our local sure start centre which were a game changer for us. My friend also showed me a side lying feeding pose that really helped too.

Also even if you've been checked for tongue tie it's always worth asking again if it's not going well. My friend's kid was checked twice but from what she was saying something was wrong. I urged her to go back and turned out LO was TT. It was dealt with and she was able to continue. There's so much conflicting advice.

I found breasting babies Facebook group invaluable .

One of my kids was an elective c -section and could stay awake on the boob for the first few weeks (hands formula top ups) - they didn't eventually come round I always felt it was a bit like a corrected age thing where they just weren't quite ready really.

So called fussing at the boob can be a way of baby upping supply before a growth spurt but probably not this early.

As your body analyses baby's saliva and your milk adapts to their needs (antibodies, thinner to rehydrate etc) a bit of boob fussing is great too.

My youngest was permanently attached to my boob until they were on solids.

There is a great amount of bonding, regulation and comfort through breastfeeding - it's not just an active 10 minute feed and poo them back down so don't worry about faffing.

Keep an eye on heavy nappies. That and weight are the best indicators baby is feeding enough.

Good luck. Formula tops ups really sorted out our baby but I was so happy we managed to stop.

Mine was also feeding round the clock, like 22 hours a day including sleep, and didn't ease off for a couple of weeks. No top ups (terrified of allergies as my first had cmpa), and no lack of milk supply. It's entirely normal, sounds like weight is no issue. Like pp, wet and dirty nappies and you're golden :)

So far I've resisted any evening top ups but I've noticed he's not had any wet nappies this evening despite feeding on me all evening.

I'm just wondering if he's getting anything from me at all or is he just comfort suckling.

Are you meant to see the milk when you pull your nipple away?

I can squeeze and I see it, some times more than others

Sorry didn't see this. LO could easily have been comfort sucking or fussing to up supply.

How are yo getting on now?