Breastfeeding advice

[Mama2611]

New mum of LO 3 week old..
I had a really difficult delivery and due to struggling to recover from this and needing support I’ve only formula fed since leaving the hospital (when in hosp baby was breastfed) I now feel strong enough to start breastfeeding but LO is struggling to latch. I’m not able to express much milk either.. Have I missed the opportunity to breastfeed?

I was never able to express very well. Baby seemed to get loads out though! You have to let them suck a LOT to bring the milk in. Not just a “feed” every so often - it’s not like bottle feeding - they literally suck non stop.

Just keep letting baby latch. Lots of skin to skin. Baby should be latched and suckling almost constantly as a newborn.

Thank you - I will keep trying. I am struggling to keep him latched, midwife says it’s because sucking a bottle is much easier.

Agree- just keep sticking them on, at some point it all just clicks. I remember thinking like it wasn't doing much of anything for the first week or so and then suddenly one day realising they were feeding so strongly I could feel the pull through my whole boob.

2 weeks ago, I was in the same boat.

My DS was exclusively formula fed for the first 3 weeks due to a very severe tongue tie. Once it was cut, he was able to latch a bit better, but we still really struggled.

I had been expressing prior to this, though, and it was so draining expressing every time he had a bottle.

I took my DS to every "latch on" or breastfeeding peer support group around - I managed to get to 5 in one week. This meant that he latched well at least once per day, and I really felt it helped me. I started by replacing one bottle feed with a breastfeed and went from there. When I don't have support to get him to latch, I'm still using nipple shields.

My DS has only been able to latch for 2 weeks, and I'd say he's 50% breastfed and 50% bottle fed.

Be kind to yourself - I remember how tough it was and I was really hard on myself for not being able to make breastfeeding "work" straight away.

Feel free to reach out - had I read your post 2 weeks ago I wouldn't have felt so alone.