I think I'm going to call it a day... :(

[Swanny]

I'm really sad about this but I just don't think I am giving my baby enough milk.

I've been feeding him for 7 weeks now but given the occasional expressed milk and sometimes formula feeds if my boobs have been too sore or breast feeding has not been possible.

I thought in my head I would feed for 3 months as we are going to TTC fairly soonish and want AF's to return sooner rather than later. I had a few problems conceiving our first baby and so don't want to leave it too long before trying again.

I just feel I am getting somewhere and have really good milk flow but then he seems to cluster feed and completely drain my breasts and gets frustrated and fussy when he can't get enough out.

If I could feed him every few hours I know my milk supply would be fine but at the moment I am having to sneak in forumula feeds when I am not full enough.

Also baby has problems with wind and bowel movements and doctor told me it's most likely somehting that I am eating that's causing it!!

So I just feel like I'm letting my baby down by not giving enough food and when I do possibly making his tummy poorly

I just want baby to be happy and do what is best for him but I'm really sad about it

x

 

[tina3747]

I'm going through the same thing, just on here to try and find an answer. My boys 3 weeks, been bf since he was 1/2 hour old was going really well but the last couple of weeks he gets really fustrated, always seems unhappy and when I'm trying to feed him he's so angry, rooting all the time and that bad he can't latch. Think there's too much milk for him to cope with as well he's coughing and splutering through the feed . He's never calm while feeding unless I'm feeding him the one formula per day. I introduced that just for him to go a few hours as he's constantly on me. The 7-9pm time is just soul destroying nothing works! Hope my reply has made you feel better, your not on your own! I'm seriously thinking of giving up as well, I'm not happy and he never seems to be, just hope something changes soon before I crack up!

 

[Swanny]

I have the prob;em with coughing and spluttering sometimes if its been a while since i fed last. I read it can be a fast letting down reflex and it can help to squeeze some of the milk out till it has slowed down a bit before feeding. Sometimes i don't realise baby has come off and when i look down he is getting squirted in the face lol but that the only time i feel i am feeding him properly when i can see milk rushing out and i the sides of his mouth while feeding

x

 

[Raven24]

I sorry your having a bed time of it some times it does like your feeding all day, someone once suggested to me to have a baby moon lol where you spend a day or two in bed and just feed and have loads of skin to skin to boost milk supply and hopefully get through what sounds like a growth spurt xx

 

[tina3747]

The milk squirtings just lovely hey!! I can't feed him in public, it doesn't bother me but he's just always screaming and thrashing about then milks coming out his mouth, I'm soaking wet, he comes off the latch and gets an eye full of milk every time... You'd think he'd learn his lesson! I'm wondering what I'm doing it for now, me or him. Every day I think I'll give it one more day! So are you giving up? I'd like to be more encouraging but I know what your going through...hope one of the bf experts come on and give us some advice! Good luck, my little cartons of aptimil have been replaced by a big box and is staring me right in the face!

 

[DazedConfused]

These sound like totally normal growth spurts that we all go through! They're terrible and frustrating and it feels like you just don't have enough, and the only way you will have enough is to keep feeding, I felt so empty sometimes I would cry with frustration but you're doing so well!

The coughing etc my LO does and I think it's just drinking too fast, but if you think you have an overactive let down try expressing a little bit before a feed just to calm down that initial rush.

I hope you decide to keep BFing, you can do it and it does get better!

 

[Swanny]

I think I'm going to carry on for a little longer but do a bit of combination feeding and add in the occasional formula feed.

x

 

[MelanieAnn]

Ohhh,... I think most of us have felt this way! Feeling drained, empty, flat, that we have nothing left to give, that there is no more in there.

This is normal. Especially in the first six weeks while milk supply establishes. And it is at exactly these moments when we offer the breast knowing how empty it is, that magic happens. The milk that a drained breast produces is incredibly fatty. Wonderfully, satisfying, full drops of milk. And the body then gets ready for more milk. There will be a new let down. It may take an hour or so. But there will be more. And the next day, there will be ooodles more. And then still more.

After a while the body learns to make the right amount of milk for your baby. But if you supplement then the body learns to make less than the right amount. Some mums make too much milk, and their hard, full, solid breasts will produce less and get softer and rounder over a few days/weeks as they too adjust to the right amount of milk.

If there is a chronic problem - and supplementing with formula can create this - then there are ways of correcting this too that are a bit more powerful. A prescription of domperidone, using herbs, acupuncture, chiropractic treatment can all help.

Fast let down can happen when breasts are full and some mums struggle with it all the time. Again, it is resolveable and can be fixed.

Do you want to change to Formula? Or would you rather fix the breastfeeding so it is going right?

Mel

 

[pianobex]

I have to agree with melanieanne, you are both doing well and this is completely normal. Both you babies are still very young will most likely be cluster feeding, It may not feel like you have enough milk mut it is very rare that you dont.

As melanie says supplementing can send you down a very slippery slop to giving up BF, so if you really want to continue then I would stop giving a formula feed (it does work sometimes, but hinders your bf more often than not.) I promise you that when you get to 3 months you will find it all so easy and relaxing, that you will have forgotten how hard it is in the beggining.

Also regarding wind, try holding baby in different positions to get the wind up, and in some cases formula is harder to digest and with cause more wind.

I have to say there is not too much you can do about the squirting of milk across the room, except maybe when you are going to feed express a little bit into a breast pad. This will go with time and soon your milk will be super fast at regulating its supply.

I know it is hard, but If you are not mirserable and can stick it out for a little while longer then it is likely to sort itself out! Drink lots of water too!

 

[kelly29]

honestly hun stick at it it wont always be this way believe it hun you kinda gotta get through the bad and come out the other side xx

 

[WhiteDove]

Don't give up!!!

2 weeks ago I felt miserable, I cried thinking I don't have enough milk to feed my baby
he was born at 36 weeks, I gave him formula and breast milk, I always had formula bought, it gave me a peace of mind untill I decided it'd time to quit, like smoking so I've put in practice the skin to skin contact , I feed my baby every hour(he asked for feed more often ) it was and is hard work to live on the sofa but it paid off!
I had evenings at 7 and 8 weeks(now he's 9) when he was pulling my nipple out from my breast coz there wasn't milk anymore, so I expressed milk during the night and when this happens I give him one bottle of milk, so my rule is one bottle per day or none if possible, the last days my milk supply did increase a lot!!!
So, there are days and days but you have to have confidence!
Like the lactation consultant asked me: "Do you think if you were somewhere in the desert you would have enough milk in your breast for your child?"

 

[summer rain]

I agree with all the above posters; breastmilk is on a supply and demand basis; true supply issues are very rare but one of the main causes of supply issues is giving formula top ups. If you want to continue BF it is more than possible to ditch the top ups; though you may need to do it gradually; and if this is in the first three months you should hopefully be able to set the pattern for good supply further down the line xx