Am I too late to increase my breastmilk supply?

[sonta8]

My baby is 6 week old now. I initially didn’t get a lot of breastmilk and the baby’s weight had dropped above safe range - so the doctors asked me to give top up formula.

Now in the initial period I didn’t pump to keep increasing my milk supply. So my breastmilk came and baby is having it but I am in a bit of top up trap where the baby is having a lot of formula and very little breast milk. I do want to start pumping now every time he feeds formula. Am I too late too start now? Can I still move from mixed feeding to exclusively breastfeeding?

Did any of you managed to move to breastmilk from mixed feeding so late?

I wouldn't focus on exclusive BF but on increasing BF and supply. Basically, the more you BF the more you will see supply increase. Have you been on Kelly Mom?

kellymom.com/hot-topics/low-supply/

@MrsTerryPratchett Thanks! Looks very useful. Hadn’t checked it before

I was never off there when DD was tiny!

Listen, it might not be too late, but ultimately it’s also not the most important thing in the world either - for you or your baby. When your baby is wee and you are sleep deprived, every tiny thing is totally vital. Looking back and from the outside, knowing your baby is fed, safe, loved, warm, dressed, cuddled and clean is what matters. Sounds simple, but the practicalities are not. Speak to your doctor about the feeding. Don’t start and stop too many things and get yourself worked up and exhausted. You won’t enjoy the parenting bit. (I am speaking from experience here.) Do what works best for you both.

6 weeks is not too late to increase supply but it will be hard work as you will need to be either feeding or expressing more frequently. I would do lots of skin to skin and offer the breast whenever baby seems even vaguely interested, including at night. But also you need proper breastfeeding support to make sure your baby is able to feed effectively and get a bit of advice on how to reduce the top ups. The original issue might not have been low supply, but your baby wasn't effectively transferring enough milk for some reason.

This from La Leche League might be worth reading too:
https://laleche.org.uk/how-to-increase-your-milk-supply/
Finding a group like La Leche, or help from the Infant Feeding Team might be helpful too.

I think it would be very hard work to get to exclusive breastfeeding, it's very hard to get out of the top up trap. But I would focus on just increasing supply and take it a day at a time. Power pumping is a good way to increase milk supply - you can look up how to do it and the schedule to follow. You can also trying putting baby on the breast for feeding first then follow up with formula.

If you're on Instagram, check out Lucy Webber feeding support. She is a midwife and lactation consultant, saw gives amazing advice. She saved my boob's!

It took me a good 10 weeks to get feeding established. Once we were over that and a horrid bout of mastitis, it was smooth sailing.
Good luck

Do you have an infant feeding team in your trust? I would go to one of their clinics or get a referral from your health visitor so they can support you. You'll need to express every time your baby has a bottle. The skin to skin, putting baby to the breast frequently an power pumping are all good suggestions. Six weeks isn't too late. You're supply regulates around 12 weeks.