Formula to breastfeeding?

[user1497453941]

Hi all, would be very grateful of advice. First time mummy, 6 week old baby. Did mixed formula and breastfeeding until 4 weeks- short breastfeed before each formula feed (supply issues). Essentially had c section & was unwell following & told to formula feed baby for several days. Then told by another midwife I'd ruined my chances and I'd need to continue formula feeding which obviously caused some upset.

Baby has been in hospital with issues and my c section wound came apart/infected simultaneously so we've not been breastfeeding at all for about 7 days. Prior to that she was taking only a few minutes before each formula feed-happy at first then clearly getting frustrated at lack of milk. I don't know if my supply will be totally diminished now?!

Her intake has hugely increased over the last 2 weeks in line with growth from 120mls per feed to 170-200mls. Over the last week or so she's been crying during feeds, flailing her arms and legs around. We've burped her for long periods which sometimes helps. Other times she gets relief when she poos during the feed. She's exceptionally gassy, she literally passes wind down below every 10-20 minutes and wakes herself up every time she does so. I've tried infacol and swapped her formula from standard aptamil to one of the ones for constipation & is partially broken down for easier digestion. That seemed to help for a few days but the last 48 hours have been horrific with constant crying & getting uncomfortable during every feed. The only way I've been able to settle her is to try to breastfeed after she's reached the threshold of what she can tolerate of formula (only 100mls at a time today and yesterday) although I know I'm not producing much at all but she takes maybe 2 minutes worth and seems to settle to sleep.

What should I do?! Health visitor tells us to change formulas, paeds doctor says not to change formulas. Current one is partly broken down but still cows milk. Should we try lactose free? Try to somehow increase breast milk supply? I'd be happy to try to breastfeed if it would help her and do anything necessary to increase supply.

I'd be so grateful of any advice. She's waiting for a very big operation for another issue & I feel terrible that she's experiencing so much discomfort surrounding feeds on top of her medical issues.

Gosh it's so hard isn't it. We had so much trouble feeling ds1. Sounds similar to yours with the discomfort during feeds and trouble with bfeeding. Reading your post has brought back the bloody despair I felt! And I didn't have the peripheral issues you have. Anyway he had a cmp allergy. We ended up on Neocate and weaned at 5 months. He now consumes dairy like it's going out of fashion. Best of luck with the op and everything else. X

Oh and infacol, gripe water ,gaviscon etc were all completely useless for us.

I had supply issues and was told that if I hired a hospital grade breast pump I may be able to increase supply by using that. Problem was everywhere had already hired them all out! You could try that. NCT or LeLeche might be able to point you in the right direction. You could try Dr. Browns bottles. They are meant to reduce wind. Friend used them on her windy baby and said it helped. Could it be if baby is crying after certain amount of feed as they are full and then the breastfeeding is giving them comfort and they are then dropping off to sleep? Just a few suggestions. Hope you find a solution soon

Thanks ladies, it's reassuring to know I'm not alone! I'll query lactose intolerance with the health visitor tomorrow and look into the hospital grade breast pump. Hopefully something will work soon! She's probably slept for about 4 hours in the last 24!

Hi, congratulations on your baby

I'm a breastfeeding peer supporter
It is absolutely possible to return to breastfeeding, with the right support.

Get the baby to the breast as often as possible. Lots of skin to skin, and try and be as relaxed as possible - you need to get that oxytocin flowing!
Make sure you're eating and drinking enough, and do breast compressions whilst your baby feeds to help stimulate flow.
Express often too - do you have a pump?

Have a read of this - Relactation

You also need to ask for an urgent referral to your hospital's breastfeeding specialist/lactation consultant. If they drag their heels, or if there isn't one at your hospital, can you afford to pay for a private consultation? It will really help.

Relactation is totally possible - it'll take a bit of work and dedication, but it will be so worth it. Every drop is beneficial to your baby - you've done brilliantly to keep it going through everything

And start straight away. Like now! Get that baby on the breast next time she's awake, and every opportunity you get.

Based on what I've seen with numerous babies previously (I'm a maternity nurse) it sounds to me like reflux may be an issue. What you are describing is exactly what I've seen.
Some babies with reflux (not all) develop reflux seemingly out of nowhere. What I've seen in some situations is babies who 'self limit' their intake. It's as if the know exactly how much they can feed before they feel discomfort/pain. As a result they then refuse to take any more than that limit in a feed.

Consequently, they then feed more frequently because they need to make up the volume.

Generally, babies with reflux feed little & often.

If i was working with you personally, (with medical approval) I'd suggest you try the reflux formula eg Aptimal reflux, but make the feed a 50/50 blend of regular & reflux formula.

• you may need the next size teat as reflux formula is thicker.

You can obviously use the reflux formula 100% as packaging suggests.
I find some babies don't need that level of thickness, so do 50/50. If they do, we do 100%.

If i was working with you personally, (with medical approval) I'd suggest you try the reflux formula eg Aptimal reflux, but make the feed a 50/50 blend of regular & reflux formula

Why would you suggest a full formula diet to a mother who wants very much to breastfeed?

Thank you for your replies! I didn't know a private lactation consultant was a thing so I will definitely be researching this option to get some help as we got very limited input in hospital at the start. She does eventually latch on but takes a while and gets herself worked up in the process so sorting this out might help matters too. It seems after the break while we were both unwell she's forgotten what to do and isn't latching as well as previously so this seems like a really good idea!

Congratulations on your baby op. I had similar emcs and blood loss leading to supply issues then infection in uterus. I went from nearly entirely formula to now ebf. I got a good pump and pumped every 3 hours even overnight for 3 days. It meant a lot of work for my dh because all I did was skin to skin or pump but you can do it. A hell of a lot of support needed though. Good luck.

My DD had silent reflux and a lot of what you've described sounds familiar to me! The fussiness during feeds, flailing about and being uncomfortable and windy. People often overlook SR because people think reflux means vomit. Silent reflux babies don't vomit much but feeding hurts them because the acid shoots up their throats when they eat.

200mls seems quite a big feed for a 6 week old baby in my experience (all babies are different of course) and again SR babies will often either take tiny, very frequent feeds because it's sore and they stop or guzzle large feeds because it can soothe.

Might be worth a second opinion. I found GPs and HVs woeful with DD, they just said she was colicky. We didn't get anywhere until we saw a paediatrician at the hospital who prescribed two different medicines to stop the pain for DD. Immediate improvement but took 16 long weeks. She grew out of it at 7.5 months.

Hope you get on well with the BF, and feel better soon. It can be done.

Have you been managing to latch her on lots OP? Like every 2 hours? And lots of skin to skin

I don't know what has happened over the last 24 hours but she's happily feeding every 3-4 hours and taking full volumes of formula (170-200mls). She even slept 10pm-5.30am last night! So welcomed after the hourly screaming we've had overnight over the weekend. I feel so much more awake today & have actually been able to set her down onto her baby bean bag as opposed to bouncing her all day (seems to soothe her when she's windy). The only thing I have noticed now that a few of you mention it is that this morning she was perfectly happy after a feed, fell asleep sitting wedged up next to me and every time I tried lying her flat, she cried. I'm wondering if she does have a bit of reflux and perhaps buying her one of those baby sleeping pods for her crib with the raised heads might help.

In terms of the BF situation, I've been trying to latch her when I can but now today she's sleeping for 4 hours at a go, when she wakes she gets herself into a state wanting food the second she wakes & ends up getting hysterical when we faff around trying to get her to latch so after a while we give up on it & revert back to the bottle which calms her down (until the wind situation occurs..although for the last 24 hours it's been randomly spontaneously better). Even when she's calmer half way through a feed I take the bottle away and attempt to BF, she tries to latch, seems to get confused and starts licking rather than latching (sorry TMI!) but will latch for maybe 2 minutes on and off with lots of repositioning. She was ok at latching until our window of not doing it when we were both unwell. Not sure if she's forgotten how to do it properly or if supply is rubbish so she's less interested once she does a quick latch and establishes there's not much there but she seems happy doing her on/off latching and slightly odd licking...calms her down when she gets worked up with wind.

Either way the main thing is that she seems more settled...for now! Which gives me time to hopefully look into the private lactation consultant while I get the breast pump going again to try to up production (although even at the peak I was getting 30mls after 2 hours which is why she just took the small amount I had before each formula feed). I'll also look into these reflux pillows to see if they help now I'm beginning to think she may have a bit of that after it's been pointed out to me! We already use a thicker and partially broken down formula for colic & have the anti colic Mam bottles.

She was weighed yesterday and has gone from the 60th to 75th centile for weight but remains on 50th for length so at least her weight gain isn't a concern which is reassuring given her needing surgery!

Thanks so much everyone. I'm hopeful once I get her a reflux pillow she'll be happier with formula and simultaneously we can work on the BF situation with some help if I can find a private consultant. I spoke to HV about it yesterday & will research it properly today! Thanks again, you're all such a fountain of knowledge!