Mummies who have/are pumping and bottle feeding

[LilMiss_91]

Hello ladies, looking for a bit of advice. My son just turned 1 month and we've had feeding issues from day one. I was in hospital for roughly 13hrs after the birth and he only latched on three times, twice with the midwife forcing him on and once that I managed myself after about 45mins of trying. Since then it's been problem after problem. He's a lazy feeder, I have a forceful letdown of my fore milk but the hind milk is very slow to come. My LO struggles with the first bit but gets frustrated and will just stop feeding and scream when it slows down. He latches and unlatches constantly unless he's half asleep and he doesn't seem to be able to take enough breast into his mouth to really "hold on". Also because he only feeds for a few minutes it means I'm feeding him every half hour to an hour meaning I literally can't do anything else. And 2 days ago my supply just disappeared. I could only get a few drops from each breast. To top it off, he's only gained 3oz in over 2wks.

All this has resulted in a very stressed and worried mama sometimes I just break down in tears. I get easily frustrated with DS because he won't eat even though I know it isn't his fault and then I feel like a horrible mum :,( it's stopping me from enjoying my time with him properly because I'm always either stressed and trying to feed him or worried about how the next feed is going to go. Because of this I've decided to pump and bottle feed. I just have a few questions for anyone that has done this:

Is it possible to bottle feed around 85% of the time and still breastfeed on occasion (2-3 times a day)? LO has been having a couple of bottles a day of milk I had stored while I've been getting my supply back but he will still take the breast if he's in a good mood and not too worked up already.

What is your (or a good) pumping routine? I get around 2-4oz per pumping session. How often will I need to pump and is there a best time in relation to feed times?

 

[LilMiss_91]

Anyone?

 

[ThunderPearls]

Hi

I have recently started expressing and bottlefeeding my LO. He is 12weeks and we had trouble establishing breatfeeding and then exclusively FF for a couple of weeks.

I know lots of people sucessfully combi-feed with bottles+breast but it just didnt work for me. He got too used to the nice fast bottle flow (even though it was a slow flow teat compared to my boobs it was still fast) and soon started to reject my breast completely. It has been a very emotional time with it all.

I think to be sucessfull at bottle+breasfeeding it is maybe vital to have established a good bf relationship first. Also maybe have a routine of the times you will breastfeed, maybe morning feed and bedtime feed or whenever you have noticed during the day that your baby is more receptive and has more energy to suck, make that your breastfeed time. That way it will become a routine for him and he wont be confused chopping and changeing between bottle and breast and he will know what to expect at certain times.

It might be a good idea to think about what you will do if the plan to breast+bottle feed doesnt work out. Will you be prepared to exclusively express? Or are you happy with formula? Think about all of the poasibly scenarios first before you start introducing more bottles.

I thought I was fine FF when I first started but each day I just felt worse and worse about it.

I tend to express whenever I can. I aim to do it atleast 8 times a day but really it all depends on how cooperative ethan is in letting me get time to myself. If you can manage a hands free pump then do it whilst giving the bottle. It is also a good idea to express after a breastfeed to encourage more supply so you can build a stash.

Goodluck with it all

 

[LilMiss_91]

Thankyou so much! That was really helpful. I hadn't thought of making a routine of when to breastfeed and when to bottle feed, great idea will definitely try that.

I've not been pumping anywhere near as much as I think I need to simply because Eli takes up sooo much of my time! Definitely need to up the pumping

Thanks again x

 

[ThunderPearls]

You're welcome

I know it is so difficult to find the time to express! Ita a constant cycle of feed, express, play, change, feed, express, play, change and it just goes on and on! Add to that the washing and sterilising of bottles and thn having to find time to fees yourself and its just horrendous! I have so much respect for the exclusively expressing mums out there! It must be exhausting!

I have let my expressing lapse a bit the past few days as I was just stuck in the house and it was driving me crazy! The drop in my milk production though after that has given me a kick up the ass to really put the effort in... Hence being sat here at midnight hooked up to my medela symphony! Oh the joy of my life! Haha its worth it though

 

[Belen09_10]

Hi

I have been exclusively pumping since my son was 3 days old.he was having latching problems and I was worried he wasn't eating enough so I decided to feed him breast milk in a bottle and it worked. It was so hard at first. My nipples started cracking because my breast pump flangs were too small. During this time I was unable to pump as much so my supply went low. I started drinking fenugreek 2 capsules 3 times a day and that helped with my supply. I pump anywhere from 3 to 8 ounces per pumping sessions. The beginning was so hard to exclusively pump but hang in there it gets easier once u get used to it.

 

[Angelica]

I have been trying to express since lo was about week old & im still only getting 2-3 oz per session. I do only pump about 3 times a day tho.. Is this y??

 

[Mum2BKW]

You don't need to sterilise anything if you are pumping breast milk. It's only with formula that you need to sterilise. Just wash the pump and bottles in really hot soapy water and rinse thoroughly. That should save you some time

 

[ThunderPearls]

Are you sure you dont need to sterilise?!

 

[Mum2BKW]

Are you sure you dont need to sterilise?!

That's what I was told

 

[ThunderPearls]

Never knew that! Makes my life easier from now on thanks!

 

[Angelica]

My gp said they dont prescribe dompedirone(?) !!!

 

[ThunderPearls]

Have you discussed it with a lactation consultant/breastfeeding support worker and your health visitor? If you can get them to fight your corner regarding relactating then maybe they can change the GPs mind.

I know some GPs dont like prescribing it as it isnt specifically for lactation.

Have you spoken to different GPs in the surgery as some are more sympathetic than others.

If they still refuse then look into buying it online. It will be quite pricey though.

 

[babyface15]

have you looked into lip/tongue tie in your lo as the possible cause of his troubles latching?

 

[CatherineK]

You can get good domperidone from inhousepharmacy by mail without a prescription. I've used them for years.

 

[Angelica]

You can get good domperidone from inhousepharmacy by mail without a prescription. I've used them for years.

Is it totally sAfe to use??

 

[CatherineK]

Well, My pediatrician has no problem with me taking it, and I've never had any problems. I'd use it again with this baby if my supply dropped.

 

[MommyLemLem]

My LO is 12 weeks and I have been EPing since she was born.. I have flat nipple and we tried the nipple shields but she is a very lazy eater so I turned to pumping. At first it was a bit overwhelming but once you establish a routine it gets much easier! I have two sets of pumping supplies so I just soak in hot soapy water when I'm done pumping and I have an extra set just in case I forget to rinse. It makes it so much easier! Then I boil it all every night. And I use a hands free bra to be able to feed her and pump at the same time. It takes a lot of work but it's worth it knowing your LO is getting your breast milk!

 

[Collyrocks]

I'm doing both bottle with ebm and one feed on the boob per day. My guy is a premmie so had to express to establish supply. When he was strong enough we went to breast feeds for 4 of 6 feeds with the remainder by nasal gastric tube. I held off on using bottle until around day 60 and only started to do it that way to get us out of the hospital but as it turns out I quite like the bottle feeds as I know how much he is getting and it's much quicker than the boob feeds.

The one boob feed for day is lovely though so I hope he doesn't decide to get tired of having to do extra work and start rejecting the boob in favor of the bottle. Nothing more exhausting than expressing to an alarm clock with a baby in the hospital but well worth it.

 

[chevy4by]

Ive been doing this for almost 5 months, since Katelyn was born. She was tongue tied and for several reasons, never latched without screaming in frustration. So, I have been pumping and bottle feeding since she was 2 days old. In the beginning, I pumped every 3 hours for 20 minutes, trying to coincide with when she ate. I would wake in the night to pump, then I would wake her for a bottle. At her 2 week appointment, the dr said that I did not have to wake her to eat since she was gaining well. Once my supply was established, I started to "drop pumps". Now I am down to 4 pumps per day, 60oz. I try to never go more than 8 hours between pumps. She eats 5 times per day starting at around 7am, then every 3 hours until 8pm which is bed time. She is up to between 5-6oz per feeding. I now pump on my terms because I always have bottles ready in the fridge, so it doesn't matter when she wants to eat. I don't know about pumping and breastfeeding, but it must work since many people have to go back to work, pump while they are there, and breastfeed when they are home.