Hello,

I have a 6 day old little boy, he breast fed fine for 1 hour after birth then only fed once again at the hospital, we were discharged after 12 hours, The midwife on duty said i had to fed him so hand expressed both my breasts to the point i was nearly in tears with the pain.

The first night home my nipples were so sore I couldn't let him touch them, I tried to breast fed whenever i heard him suckling his fists but he only ever managed 2/3 sucks. After lots of tears from both of us at 3am after 45 hours of no sleep i gave in and gave him a bottle of ready made cartoon milk. He wolfed it down he must have been starving. That experience really put me off trying again so stuck with the formula since.

I've been really upset over the feeding as since i found out i was pregnant i always said i would breast feed and feel that i have let both Sam and myself down. Last night both my husband and myself decided to try bf again so he fed for approx. 40 minutes between both breast but was still hungry, he wouldn't settle down had his fist in his mouth and was routing for my nipple when being held. We decided to give him a bottle as a top up just so he would be full enough to settle down and not be hungry, he drank 70ml of a 90ml bottle on top of the bf.

My main concern is that i'm doing wrong with topping up his feed but also that if i don't do this he will not get enough to be satisfied?

If 40 minutes after a bf he is hungry again should i offer him the breast again?

Can i top up with a bottle at night to help him settle/ sleep?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated. I am going to go to a drop in group on Wednesday to make sure i have him latched properly but really want to know i'm not doing more harm than good.

Thanks

Nicola and a hungry Samuel

If you really want to BF then you will need to stop all formula feeds and just let him suck and suck at the breast

It's the suckling that stimulates the milk supply (particularly at night) so basically demand and supply ... the more he suckles today and tonight, the more milk you will have tomorrow, and so on.

It's going to mean an awful first 24 hours, but if you persevere with it and keep putting him to the breast then your supply will increase to the level and amount that he needs

The more you supplement with formula, the less he will suckle and the less milk you will produce, so supplementing is a vicious circle

Exactly this ^^

See these links too http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/frequent-nursing/ & http://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/supp...es/low-supply/

You'll need to persist, but if u want to do this you can.

His little tummy only has a 10-15mls capacity at the moment! It's not too late, just feed feed feed and keep an eye on nappies. His behaviour might suggest he's starving, but in reality he just wants to suckle all the time. If his nappies are wet and he's passing 4+ soft poos a day, then all is well.

As others have said, drop the formula and let him feed, feed and feed to get your supply up.

Enjoy the cuddles, put your feet up and let OH run round after you! I found going to bed with LO for a few hours was also lovely - lots of skin to skin!

Good luck

I would suggest having him checked for tongue tie if its a tie then he can't suck properly at the nipple which means he can't get what he needs from you. I would also suggest you take a day and stay in bed with him and let him suckle when ever he needs to. Have your SO bring you food and water so you can stay in bed as much as possible.

I would also suggest not completely dropping the formula as I know how hard it is to deal with a newborn who is not getting enough food. Feed at the one side till he gets frustrated then switch him to the other side. If you find he is still looking for more then switch a third time and supplement with a feeding tube. Then he is still at the breast but he is also getting extra from the tube which will help him to want to suckle more at the breast. Once he is done feeding then pump on both sides for about 10 or 15 mins to help get your supply up. And then you can use what you pumped as the supplement thru the tube as apposed to formula.

The other thing I would recommend is finding a La leche league in your area and going to a meetup. Then can check your latch and give you advice on how to get back to EBF.

Thanks for the replies.

He has just fed for approx 40 minutes again but when i look in his mouth there doesn't seem to be any milk in there. Will letting him suckle like this increase supply or am i better using the pump to express if i'm not sure he is getting anything from the breast.

Would he just suck without getting any milk?

Nicola

looking in his mouth you probably wouldn't see any milk even if he was getting some. The nipple goes close to the back of the mouth and they swallow it. Watch some of the Jack Newman breastfeeding videos to see what its supposed to look like when they are getting milk. They should suck suck such and then pause as they swallow which you should be able to see when looking at the chin area.
When you just breastfeed and don't supplement are you getting wet diapers? Wet diapers would indicate he is getting milk. What goes in must come out.
And yes he will be increasing your supply by suckling.
If you get some when you pump then he gets some when he sucks, and don't go by what you get when pumping as indication of your supply. They are much more efficient at suckling then a pump is at pumping

Congratulations on your new arrival,

i learn't very quicky at the same stage as you that my new mantra was to be, if indout wack them out(your boobies that is!)
I will take about 6-8 weeks for baby to get your supply established, so let him feed as often as he wants.
Try not to get stress as he will pick up on this & you will both get stress. Enjoy some skin to skin time, i found this helped us both.
Big Hugs x

Hi I found BF at 1st very tough and even pumped and fed my LB for a couple days cos I struggled too but with hard work and perseverance I got there in the end and you will too if thats what you want to do. It is tough in the beginning but it will ease up once you get the hang of it and there is nothing like bonding whilst BF your baby. Also keep doing skin to skin as this will help too x