Low milk supply after C section

[ThePeachOP]

Hi all,
I'm 13 days PP after a planned C section due to complications with pregnancy...
My milk hasn't really caught up due to having to combination feed after DS blood sugars dropped dangerously after birth. I'm breastfeeding then formula feeding then pumping to increase supply every three hours and I'm exhausted with no benefits to show.. DS is still constantly hungry and I feel like a failure. It's putting a strain on my relationship too.
Please tell me that other people have experienced this and that it gets better? I'm so tired...

What about joining a breastfeeding support group? If you look on Facebook there is probably one in your area and they could point you to drop in sessions to help you. I think the only way of increasing milk supply is by emptying thr breast regularly and staying hydrated/eating enough.
A hospital grade pump is miles apart from other pumps I've used. I'm renting the medela symphony and it has been so much better than other pumps. Might be worth looking into if you haven't already.

This is a good article from an excellent website on breastfeeding: https://kellymom.com/hot-topics/newborn-nursing/

Breastfed babies are literally always ‘hungry’ because they are trying to boost your supply to meet their needs. Formula/pumping could interfere with this. Prolactin is highest at night so you will find your baby feeding frequently at night to boost supply. It will feel like you are feeding all the time.

What is telling you that you have low supply?

‘Constantly hungry’ breastfed babies are cluster feeding to build up your supply. They are supposed to be glued to you, feeding little and often.

Hello. Reading this while doing a middle of the night feed. It’s really common for milk to be slow to catch up post C Section - happened with both of mine. I had static weight gain with my son for a week. Was told to use formula to top up by the paediatrician and feed every 3 hours. But my son wanted to feed all the time and wouldn’t stick to the schedule - I found it really stressful and assumed there must be something wrong but I honestly think that’s really normal and newborns at that age just want to feed non stop - mostly to boost your supply but also for comfort. If you can, I would just roll with us as much as you can. I found it suddenly got a lot better 2-3 weeks in.
That said, don’t be too hard on yourself if it doesn’t work for you for whatever reason. You need to protect your mental health too. Take care x

You’re doing amazingly, OP. Feeding and pumping at 13 days pp following a c section is no mean feat. I had a similar problem but due to sepsis from mastitis at 2 weeks pp and had to combi feed for a couple of weeks as my supply hugely tanked due to being so unwell. I also had a planned c section.

I found the kellymom website really helpful https://kellymom.com/hot-topics/low-supply/ It’s really important with pumping to have the right flange size, none or very little of the flesh around your nipple should be getting sucked into the flange as you pump. If it does, size down. You can even by nipple measures on Amazon for very cheap to check what size you need 😅 pumping can be very demoralising as your rarely get out what a baby would, but you can’t see what your baby is drinking, so can be led to believe you have too little milk. I hope you’re being well supported by family & a local nhs infant feeding team.

another thing to work through is, would you be ok with combi feeding? Would it help if you said, I’ll continue on for X more weeks but if no improvement I will drop the pumping? Please be reassured that babies get the benefit from breastfeeding regardless of how long they are fed by breast for/how much of their intake is breast milk vs formula. But I appreciate, like me, you may have had a strong preference for breastfeeding and it’s not an easy decision, particularly after c section. Sending hugs, it all gets better OP, I promise X

Hi there I had a section 5 weeks on wednesday.
Has your baby reached birthweight yet? Despite formula top ups and extra pumping from the get go (also had supply issues with DC1) baby didn't reach birthweight until day 18 so we were under midwife led care until then and she's been happy I continue as I am despite taking longer than the govt 10 days.

Just keep on if enough wet nappies, weight OK etc. My baby is SO unsettled 5-11pm but it's normal- infacol seems to be helping too.

Wishing you all the best

I was in that position a few months ago and it was so hard and draining. You're doing great. I start off with a delay with milk coming in and then a very low supply and thought I'd never get to exclusively breastfeed. I used to give myself a timeline to start fully formula feeding just to maintain sanity - I'd tell myself I'll just do this until 2 weeks, then it was 4 weeks etc. I felt like such a failure.

Is the baby gaining weight - I agree with PP, due to cluster feeding newborns seem constantly hungry and it can seem like your supply isn't keeping up with them, but if gaining weight and plenty of wet and dirty nappies you're actually doing fine.

If there's definitely a supply issue, a daily power pump helped me a lot. Ideally at night when hormones are highest, however I also found that my supply improved when I started getting a bit more sleep so don't overdo it at night either. Had tongue tie been checked?

My baby started refusing some of the top ups at about 3 weeks which was my first sign of improved supply. I was able to gradually cut down on formula and pumping and have been exclusively breastfeeding since about 6 weeks, which surprised both myself and the lactation consultant.

Best of luck with it, please don't be hard on yourself it's a hard road and you're doing so well x

Thank you all!
Its really reassuring to hear some of you have experienced the same as me.
I guess we know the supply is low because sometimes he takes over an hour to feed on one breast and he also struggles to latch on at night, so I've been pumping more at night because of that.
He hasn't reached birthweight yet, we have the next weigh in tomorrow so hopefully he will have gained some more weight!
I knew breastfeeding would be hard and having a baby would be time consuming but I just didn't realise how much it would drain me.. Hopefully it'll get better in the next few days!

13 week old baby here, EBF, emergency c- section. My milk actually came in on day 2, reached birth weight by 9 days, no formula top ups/ pumping. He's now a stone. I'm telling you that because clearly I have enough milk.

Babies are always hungry! One of the big reasons people stop breastfeeding. It's knackering, and you constantly question yourself. I used an app to record and one day I breastfed him 22 times! No day was less than 16. Sometimes he fed for 5-10 mins, some days he fussed on my boob for over an hour. It's cluster feeding and normal and just had to ride it out. Growth spurts are hard. He goes back to feeding every 45 mins day or night. First time he did that at 5 weeks I questioned my milk supply out of anxiety, yet in the same week I had to move him up to 3-6 month clothes! He was and still is on 91st centile. Still a very hungry baby.

If you want to solely breastfeed it's a battle to establish. Get in touch with a local charity, get some help with latch, advice etc. Then bunker down for lots of skin to skin, constant constant feeding, constant supply of food and water. It's a lot, you won't get much sleep.

You can decide you're happy mixed feeding and take off the guilt. He is fed, he's fine and happy. If it's making you miserable sack off the breastfeeding! You've gotten through 2 weeks. He's had colostrum, some milk. You've given him am awesome start and going into this amazing time of them growing and learning new skills your baby will be better off with a happy mum that enjoys and engages with him than a miserable one stressing about next feed and pumping.