23+6, 9 weeks in - breastfeeding query

[JessCee]

Hi!

I had my baby girl at 23+6 (SVD) and my milk came in for around 2 weeks, slowly declined and eventually stopped entirely so I stopped pumping after a few days of getting nothing.

However I still hand express colostrum which gets added to DBM through a feeding tube for my little one. She is now 33 weeks corrected and I am wondering if in a few weeks when she is able to take a bottle, if breastfeeding is possible? Will my milk start to come in or is it too late now?

My partner and I have had a tough time here (long story maybe for another day) and the feeding team were a great support and put my milk decline down to stress or my ducts not being ready. I tried Fenugreek supplements at the time and they did not help.

Any advice would be great or if anyone has gone through anything similar. Thanks! X

If there's still colostrum then it's still possible but it would take expressing/pumping up to ten times a day to really stimulate supply, and it might not work. If baby is able to latch, that can really help stimulate things too. My DD was born at 33 weeks and she was able to latch, just not really suckle, though of course they're all different.

I would say that if breastfeeding is very important to you then give it a try, but don't feel you have to. Building supply by pumping is extremely hard work and your family is already under a lot of stress, especially if you have stuff going on on top of having a tiny premie, so if you find that ultimately using formula is the easiest solution, there should be no guilt associated with that at all.

Yes you need to pump constantly to build up your supply. A newborn feeds constantly- they really do. In the beginning life is one long feed. It is not unusual to feed 14-15 times a day so I would pump every 90 mins for 15 minutes, drink lots of water, take fenugreek tablets and keep it up. It will take 2-3 weeks of this to establish your supply which will be the time the baby should be ready to latch.
(Mum of a 26 weeker who came home fully breastfed. He started to latch around 35 weeks but took till 36 weeks to get the hang of it). And because they find it tiring even when they are feeding you might need to express immediately after the feed to keep your supply up till at least the due date if not a little bit beyond.

Yep very possible but you will need to pump lots!! Have a look on the kellymom website for advice.