Hi,
I'm really struggling with breastfeeding at the mo and hoping someone can help. I have a newborn who will be 6wks on Thursday. He has always had quite a bad shallow latch but it seems to have got worse lately. Everyone (midwives etc) who has tried to help manages to get him to latch on ok, but then my boob slips out of his mouth until he's just sucking on the end. I find it hard to get him to open his mouth wide enough (have tried so many things but he's very stubborn!). He has a very minor tongue tie, but none of the midwives/health visitors or my gp thought it was serious enough to affect feeding or to refer him for it to be snipped. We also had thrush for a couple of weeks which I found incredibly painful and ended up giving him a couple of bottles of formula .
Anyway, the main problems are that he wants to feed very frequently in the past week, which is fine - I was told it was probably a growth spurt, but he seems to get restless (he cries, unlatches, wriggles and kicks while on the boob) and I'm not really sure why. I'm worried it's because he can't get much milk due to his bad latch? Sometimes he doesn't seem to be swallowing at all though, so maybe just doing it for comfort rather than milk?
I've also been trying to pump a bit (so I can keep for feeds from OH or when out in public) but struggling to get much out. I don't particularly think it's a supply issue cos my boobs mostly feel full and milk comes out when I squeeze with my hand. I have a manual advent pump and a Medela swing, but the most I've managed to get in one go is 2oz, but mostly 0.5 or 1oz. Any advice is appreciated, I really want to make breastfeeding work! (sorry for spelling/lack of paragraphs, I'm in my phone)

I would get a second opinion on the latch and tongue tie. Try contacting a local BF peer supporter, LLL or a LC. Getting the latch right is the main priority.

Has the thrush totally cleared up now? I take it you've stopped the formula now?

Fussing at the breast can be normal for a growth spurt - cluster feeding etc, however it can also be a sign on slow let down, slow flow, fast let down and as you say - poor milk transfer leading to frustration. Does LO cough at let down? Have you tried breast compressions to speed up flow?

Appearing to not swallow at times is normal - comfort sucking is great for increasing and maintaining supply.

To increase your pumping amount you need to express at the same time every day. Keep expressing until no more milk will come and then carry on for a further 2 - 3 minutes. This will increase the amount you get.

I know he's young but could baby be teething? mine has a terrible latch at the moment and all i can put it down to is teething as she is 8 months and still no teeth.

So sorry to hear your having such a hard time. As a bit of reassurance, it could have been me writing this 9 months ago!

I had the hardest time with getting my LO to open her mouth wide enough so that she wasn't just sucking the end of my nipple and making it extremely sore. My LO also had no rooting reflex (Im convinced this is due to having a c-section)...after a good 8-12 weeks I finally got BF completely sorted. It took a lot of perseverance, my daughter never opened her mouth very wide and still doesn't now. Instead I had to hold my boob and nipple in place for her so that it wouldn't slip out in the way you're describing. I would also keep unlatching her (by breaking the seal with my little finger) if it felt even slightly uncomfortable so I could avoid even more pain from sore nipples.
Looking back the only other thing that i think could have caused bad latch issues was the fact that compared to my engorged breasts and large nipples my LO's head and mouth was tiny!! As my milk supply leveled of and my LO grew both my breast and her mouth size were more in proportion.
Eventually she got the hang of it, I don't know if it's because of what I did or whether she just learnt to latch on better as she got older.

My LO also used to fuss at the breast. I was never sure why. From a very early age I began singing/humming her lullaby when ever she fed, after a few weeks whenever I began to hum or sing she would stop fussing, settle and feed calmly (as long as I kept humming!). We still do this on fussy days now!

As for you not being able to pump much milk, I would not worry about your supply. If milk is coming out when you squeeze your breast then you definitely have more than enough Pumps are pretty useless at extracting milk from the breast in comparison to a baby

Good luck!! I hope it all settles down for you soon as it did for me all the pain and worries now will be worth it in the long run

I was going to go to a local bf support group, but was closed this week and last cos it's term time only, will go next week hopefully!

I think the thrush has gone, I got two bottles of medicine for him and both are finished now, no white on his tongue, but gums and roof of his mouth still look like they have patches, couldn't get a drs appointment to check until next week though. The last time he had formula was Saturday, the health visitor said to gradually reduce the amount of formula by a ounce everyday so I would have enough milk for him?

He does't cough, sometimes makes clicking noises though (I relatch when that happens). I have tried breast compressions, seems to help for a few mins but then he gets fussy again

I've been pumping roud about 10ish in the morning when he seems to nap (about 30mins after feeding) is that a good time to pump? For some reason when I use the Medela swing the letdown function doesn't seem to work, nothing comes out until for about 5mins, then I get a few good sort of gushes, then nothing for several mins, then a few random dribbles. Not sure if it's a problem with me or the pump?!

I'm not sure, my OH was convinced he was, because he was chewing his fingers, dribbling and seems to have white lumps on his gums, but I asked the health visitor and she basically laughed and said he was far too young!

How a tongue tie looks has no bearing on how it affects feeding, some very severe tongue ties don't affect feeding at all, even though they look really bad (tie at tip of tongue, not able to stick tongue out at all etc), my eldest had a tongue tie that looked moderate but affected him feeding quite considerably, he couldn't even latch onto bottles either. My youngest's tongue tie looked terrible and if we lived in any other area it would have been snipped but it barely affected feeding, and has really stretched now though he does have a square looking tongue when he sticks it out and he always has a milk residue on his tongue after feeds. Bear in mind if they don't snip Tts routinely on the NHS in your area then they will do their utmost to fob off parents that any tongue tie is not really a problem. Xx

Aww, thank you, I'm glad things improved for you, hoping they do for me too!

Do you still have to hold your boob in place or was that just at the beginning?

For some reason he actually seems to feed better whe I'm a bit engorged...although could just be because he hasn't fed in a few hours and is hungrier?!

I'll try the humming/singing when he's fussy and see if that helps

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you

I don't have to hold my boob anymore I usually roll up a muslin cloth and tuck it under so I have my other hand free. My LO has recently started showing signs of trying to hold it up herself so hopefully she'll master that soon!
The humming/singing took a good few months to work, we only ever sing the one song 'If all the rain drops - Barney' nothing else works

Certainly get it confirmed that the thrush has totally gone - this can be a reason behind poorly latching if baby has a sore mouth.

You can gradually reduce the amount of formula or you could just stop and feed totally from the breast. Either way your breasts will cope - if there is not as much milk as baby would like he will just cluster feed for a few days to bring your supply back up.

10am is is as good a time as any but make sure it is 10am every day. Then your body will know to make the milk for that time of day.
If you are looking to increase supply then you need to be expressing between 1am and 4am. This is when your hormone levels are at their highest.

I doubt there is a problem with you hun. It's probably that you are unsure of how to use the pump at its best / it's broken - one of the 2. The best way to express is to mimmick the sucking actions of a baby. Fast and short suction until let down is triggered followed by slow and long suction. I'm sure there'll be vidoes on you tube that could help