Feeling very down about feeding

[BabyBurrito]

I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy 2 weeks ago and initially we were breastfeeding well. However I ended up with mastitis on day 3 PP as my milk came in so quick.

I was prescribed antibiotics and was told I was ok to BF through it, which I was doing up until day 5 PP when I ended up in hospital with a bleed, where they found I had a uterine infection. Cue more antibiotics! I ended up on 9 x 500mg antibiotics a day between the two infections and although I was ok but uneasy with feeding one antibiotic, there was no way I was happy feeding him with that amount of antibiotics coming through to my milk so I switched to formula while 'pumping and dumping' for a week.

Problem is my milk supply has drastically reduced (from 5oz to barely 1oz) at a sitting and I'm feeling very down about the whole thing to the point of crying.

I had never factored in not breastfeeding, and had planned to combination feed until supply came back up but this morning I feel like I'm pumping air and I've struggled to get less 1 FL oz from both sides combined.

I feel really upset and feel terribly guilty about the whole thing. My husband, mum and MIL are advising me to keep on with the formula and give up with the pumping for the sake of my own sanity, but I feel like I'd be failing my baby and won't bond properly.

it’s awful, isn’t it? Horrible horrible guilt and for no reason. You will love and bond with your baby and he will be absolutely fine. You wouldn’t judge anyone else who bottle fed and so absolutely shouldn’t be judging yourself. You’ve had a horrible start to things with mastitis and a hospital stay and are probably feeling physically rubbish and you need to look after yourself. You will be feeling emotional and hormonal and you need to be kind to yourself. Formula feeding is completely fine

How much longer are you on antibiotics? I'd look them up here www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/detailed-information/drugs-in-breastmilk/ to see what they say about feeding with them. At this point when your supply isn't established keeping it up with just pumping is really tricky. Make sure you are still pumping in the night especially. If you want to feed again you can but it will be tough (especially without family support). Do you have a good electric pump?

Look up The Milk Meg on facebook or online, she has lots of good advice. The amount you can get out pumping is not a good indicator of how much milk is actually in your breasts. Babies are much better than pumps at getting the milk out. I used to pump a few ounces and that was it, but my baby was not hungry.

I would speak to ten breastfeeding network as they are fan at drugs and breastfeeding and may be able to advise around getting him back in the breast if that's what you want.

Have you seen a lactation consultant? This would be worth doing to get you back to breastfeeding. They can help with positioning and attachment.

The best thing to do is keep offering your baby the breast as often as possible. Offer at each feed before giving expressed milk or formula, lots of skin to skin between feeds too will encourage oxytocin to flow which will help milk production.

With the pumping, you will need to pump at least 3 hourly throughout the day and night to maintain your supply. The night feeds are most important (between 1-5am) as prolactin levels are highest at this time.

So, offer breast first, then expressed milk (even a little will help) then top up with formula as needed. As your supply increases you can reduce the amount of formula given.

Out of interest, when you give formula or expressed milk are you using a bottle or cup? When I was in Hospital we were advised to use a cup as the bsby needs to use the same muscles to swallow as they would to breastfeed.

Hope this helps. I’ve found the Facebook group called U.K. breastfeeding and parenting support really helpful too.