I want my milk back :-(

[Laurenmomma]

Iv posted in breastfeeding group but not much replies

Ds2 has got a tongue tie (I believe) Iv had mastitis and severely cracked and bleeding nipples so had to give him a bottle to give my nips a break!
At first with expressed milk but I wasn't getting enough expressing so I had to substitute with formula thru the day and feed him thru the night myself.

Well now my supply is dwindling i want to get him back on the breast full time ASAP! He's no good with a bottle it takes me a good while to give him the bottle he has 2 or 3 gulps n then he pulls away n tries again but is all fussy!
And then he can't seem to settle after the bottle but can after boob!

What can I do? I'm goin for some fenugreek tomorrow and gona contact HV to get TT snip If I can but what else? Am I too late, are my breastfeeding days over? x

 

[irish_cob]

How long has the break been? Has he been at the breast at all? Have you been expressing regularly?

 

[irish_cob]

Health visitor might not be best person for tt division, you'd be better seeing if your hospital has an infant feeding specialist or co-ordinator, they can usually either separate tt themselves (the ones at my local hospital do) or can refer you directly to someone who can if they don't do it themselves. Before the mastitis were you managing to ebf? Was he gaining weight well? Was his latch ok? If so then the tt might not be too much of a problem. My first daughter had a chunky posterior tie and couldn't latch at all, not even a poor latch, just totally unable to. Current baby (7 weeks old) has a slight restriction but her latch is fine and she feeds well so I'm not worried about getting it separated this time.

 

[Laurenmomma]

Christmas Day he had his first bottle he maybe had 2 bottles in 24 hours the rest was from breast, since then he has had maybe 2-3 bottles in the day and the rest from me
Generally he has 2 feeds from me thru the night, then one in the morning and the one just before bed with 2-3 bottles in between
The feeds from me don't feel like full feeds as I don't feel that full

I havnt been expressing in between as I havnt had time as not been at home over the holidays

 

[Laurenmomma]

Health visitor might not be best person for tt division, you'd be better seeing if your hospital has an infant feeding specialist or co-ordinator, they can usually either separate tt themselves (the ones at my local hospital do) or can refer you directly to someone who can if they don't do it themselves. Before the mastitis were you managing to ebf? Was he gaining weight well? Was his latch ok? If so then the tt might not be too much of a problem. My first daughter had a chunky posterior tie and couldn't latch at all, not even a poor latch, just totally unable to. Current baby (7 weeks old) has a slight restriction but her latch is fine and she feeds well so I'm not worried about getting it separated this time.

He hadn't always been the best at latching he would click when feeding but it seemed to be all of a sudden his latch became really bad and my nipples became worse and worse!
He has gained weight he's a chunky baby although he hasn't been following the centiles he's dropped on them? x

 

[irish_cob]

I'm no expert but that's not long at all and you're only supplementing a couple of bottles a day so it's not like your supply will have drastically reduced. If his latch is getting worse then yes I can see why getting his tt addressed would be a good idea. If you can bear it I'd try putting him to the breast as often as you can. Feed feed feed. Try him on the breast first whenever he's hungry, he'll get your supply back up. Top up with formula after a breast feed if you think he needs it but always put him to the breast first and any expressing you can do will help get your supply up. Hopefully once his tt is divided his latch will be better and it will be much easier to get your supply up, you'll just have to hang on in there and do as much feeding and expressing as you can until then x

 

[nabo86]

I don't think that its too late to try and re-latch - i managed after stopping for over a week when DD was first born

Try to express as much as possible - i know it will be hard as I see you have two other young children!

I just stopped BF (DD decided to stop one day!) but I know I stopped getting that 'full' feeling but she was still putting on weight - she also dropped percentiles but never lost weight iykwim

I agree with PP, my HV didn't seem very informed about BF so gave me some rubbish advice on a few occasions - you need help from a BF expert who will know more about TT

Good luck

 

[Laurenmomma]

Thank u! I feel so excited to get him back on the boob!
Iv got the pump on now and already got 2ozs from one boob so guessing that's a good sign?!?
Think il spend the next few days on the couch with him on my boob!

 

[Laurenmomma]

Thanks I'm gona go to the infant team at the hospital about the TT, I phoned the local bosom buddies breastfeeding support n they were useless unfortunately
I basically told them he had tongue tie from all the signs n the lady just told me I was positioning him wrong (this over the phone!)

 

[nabo86]

sorry - i just re-read your post and seen you don't need to re-latch cos you are still BF some feeds...

Put baby on the breast at every feed and your supply should increase again, your body will learn to make more milk the more often you feed the sooner your supply will increase

 

[irish_cob]

Remember what you can express is not always a good indication of how much milk you have. I can pump and pump one boob til I get no milk out at all, but put baby on straight after and she can get milk! Babies are much more effective at getting your milk than a machine. Pumping will help keep your supply up though

 

[Laurenmomma]

Yeah I remember I could get 6ozs easily when pumping with my last but this time it's not so much yet he seems to get loads!

Iv got 3ozs from the one boob anyway he's in bed now n will normally wake about 2 for a feed so il just put him on boob!
Shall I freeze this milk I'm gettin now or get dad to give him it in the morning while I pump? x

 

[special_kala]

Its definitely not too late.

If you think he has tongue tie persevere with the HV until its cut.

My best suggestion to cut back on the formula is too take a babymoon with baby. Take him into bed with you all day if your OH can have the other kids and just snuggle and feed. Lots of skin to skin will let your body know that more milk is needed and will hopefully help you find a better position for you both too.

If you can pump every 2 hours during the day.

 

[Laurenmomma]

I love the sound of a baby moon! I love snuggle time with him as it doesn't happen much!

 

[irish_cob]

You could freeze the milk in case you need it at some point but I wouldn't plan on routinely getting your oh to feed what you pump later on cos you're trying to get your supply up so feed your son from the breast in the morning too, once your supply is more established again then you may want to get oh to give an occasional bottle but don't until you've got your supply up again. You could use it to supplement after a breastfeed if you think your son still wants more, rather than formula, whilst you're increasing your supply if you wanted to?

 

[special_kala]

Oh yea definitely offer boob before bottle everytime

 

[zorak]

I'm kind of in a similar situation. I decided to switch to formula as I am returning to work in 2 weeks and can't pump. I then regretted it and decided I want to combi feed; formula during working day and boob at all other times.

I'd gone about 10 days with him on exclusive formula. I just keep offering him boob before bottle and my supply is slowly coming back again. He still takes the bottle but I feel better that he is at least getting something from me.

 

[Laurenmomma]

Thank u! Iv fed him thru the night n my nips are hurting already

 

[special_kala]

How is his latch? Does he clock when feeding?

 

[Laurenmomma]

Yeah he clicks when feedin from me or a bottle more from me and he can't seem to stay on long he's on n off the whole feed! I'm now back to 2 cracked nipples n can't feed him