newborn can i pick up breast feeding again?

[hannah berry]

Hello everyone can someone please give me advice as i have no help here. i have called and tried to set up appointments but nothing. I have a newborn who spent his first week in neonatal and i pumped my milk for him. it didn't really come in till he was a week old and we didn't really get to breast feed till he was a week and a half. after going through a c section i was so tired and with little to no help i gave up. i was in poor condition struggling with inverted nipples and my midwife came home one and then i had no help from anyone after that. so i gave up the breast and pump and turned to formula. i formula feed my first with no problems but my poor son is having a hard time 5 times i have changed the milk. constipation, diarrhea, vomiting reflux non stop screaming and grunting and moaning from pain. I feel so bad and i really want to return back to breast feeding. I'm still producing small amounts of milk i just pumped 20ml and gave it to him. i must have given it up a week and half ago. is it to late to keep trying again? is my milk going to keep coming in if i pump? or will it just continue to dry up? my boobs use to be hard with knots in them and sore but now they are loose and really soft like silk. If i can reestablish my milk supply how often do i pump? how long will it take for it to start coming back in properly? is it to late for me? sorry for all the questions i'm really at my wits end right now full on panic with a screaming baby and trying to research.

 

[MoominJ]

I can't be much help but if ur still getting milk I would say it's definitely possible, the best way to encourage ur supply would be if u could get baby to latch on?!

 

[hannah berry]

thank you for your reply. Yes he did but stupidly i pumped the 20ml and then had nothing so since only a few drops came he got fussy and screamed. I use dodie silicone guards he seems to latch on fine with them but he got impatient cause nothing was coming. if pumping milk makes more milk would pumping every hour work? i have no idea the rules or how breast feeding works.

 

[MoominJ]

I believe the more often and for as long as possible is best but obviously build it up as those pumps can be quite rough on the nipples lol! If u can get him to latch on that's great, maybe try boob first each time he needs a feed then finish with formula. Drink plenty of water and I believe there are some other things like certain tea that can help increase supply.(u might have to search on here sorry)
All in all the more u can get out, the more u will make but u would have to keep pumping at reagular intervals e.g ur boobs don't store milk, they use what they need to so if u don't pump it boobs will not produce anymore

Good luck

 

[pinkpassion]

Keep pumping every 1-2 hours religiously, especially through the night!!! drink tons of water, there are some teas that work well (mother's milk) .. the key in increasing milk supply is to Continue to pump about 10 minutes after you stop getting any milk, that will tell your body to make more!!!

 

[noon_child]

I don't know what country you are in but there are breastfeeding organisations who can help you. Some will do home visits and stay for hours if you need them (like La Leche League). I would really advise Googling them, or Googling breastfeeding support organisations in general and talk to them all if you need to.

You still have milk so I'm sure you can build your supply again. Skin to skin stimulates hormones so keeping baby on or near you will help. Also latch LO as often as you can as he will be more efficient at bringing your milk in, and then you can pump if he's not interested, or is badly attached.

 

[hannah berry]

Thank you for all your advice. a for the help i called the hospital but they said they don't have one. then i called La Leche League for my region but they said they don't home visit and im still waiting for the so called help book the send. my midwife was no help told me theres no point in breast feeding if you just pump milk so basically give it up. also since i have inverted nipples i have to use the guards, he seems to not even care about them and i was making a good supply of milk. I went back to the hospital to ask for a midwife to visit me and help because i have no information on anything and she just told me off for using nipple shields. i'm hoping this time i can do it and continue now that i have a bit for energy and feel a bit better from my 2 c section.

 

[noon_child]

Thank you for all your advice. a for the help i called the hospital but they said they don't have one. then i called La Leche League for my region but they said they don't home visit and im still waiting for the so called help book the send. my midwife was no help told me theres no point in breast feeding if you just pump milk so basically give it up. also since i have inverted nipples i have to use the guards, he seems to not even care about them and i was making a good supply of milk. I went back to the hospital to ask for a midwife to visit me and help because i have no information on anything and she just told me off for using nipple shields. i'm hoping this time i can do it and continue now that i have a bit for energy and feel a bit better from my 2 c section.

I'm so sorry to hear that. I've just seen you are in France, which has a really poor track record for training midwives about breastfeeding etc . La Leche League's website has a lot of info but obviously you've already got your hands full with a newborn let alone trying to read a load of info!

Nipple shields can interfere with signals to produce milk, but they don't always have this effect and many women use them successfully. If midwife wasn't going to offer advise she should have kept her mouth shut!

Are your nipples seriously inverted (almost tethered/tied back) - in which case shields may be the best course of action) or do they stick out after you've pumped/fed - in which case pumping for a few minutes before a feed and then latching LO might be worth a try?

Sounds like you are doing great for a single mum with no support from health professionals or family. Well done you!

 

[AnonymousCAT]

I am one week post section with a prem who is lazy. He was in nicu for a wk and now special care nursery to work on feeding and growing and will likely be there for 4 more wks. I have had lots of hospital support to establish bf. It is not too late for you! Here is what you have to do to re establish your milk supply. Rent a hospital grade double electric pump. It must be this kind to increase your milk supply. All other pumps are not strong enough to increase and will only supplement successful bf according to my lactation consultant. You need to pump every 2-3 hrs with this pump for 15-20 min around the clock. If lo will latch go for it, but pump right after as if you didn't bf and are just pumping. Once supply is re- established hopefully he will be bf successfully. If they won't latch or bf you will need to keep pumping with this type of pump to maintain your supply. Weaker pumps will decrease it again. I also have flat nipples! And baby won't latch on because their mouth is too tiny. I am getting a successful latch with a nipple shield to artificially extend my nipple so lo can find it and stay on. It is finicky and I am just learning (day3 for me) but lo can feed with it on. Once bigger we will try to wean the shield. Surely there must be some community supports in your area to help with bf. do some good research and hopefully you will come up with something. GL!

 

[pinkpassion]

I am one week post section with a prem who is lazy. He was in nicu for a wk and now special care nursery to work on feeding and growing and will likely be there for 4 more wks. I have had lots of hospital support to establish bf. It is not too late for you! Here is what you have to do to re establish your milk supply. Rent a hospital grade double electric pump. It must be this kind to increase your milk supply. All other pumps are not strong enough to increase and will only supplement successful bf according to my lactation consultant. You need to pump every 2-3 hrs with this pump for 15-20 min around the clock. If lo will latch go for it, but pump right after as if you didn't bf and are just pumping. Once supply is re- established hopefully he will be bf successfully. If they won't latch or bf you will need to keep pumping with this type of pump to maintain your supply. Weaker pumps will decrease it again. I also have flat nipples! And baby won't latch on because their mouth is too tiny. I am getting a successful latch with a nipple shield to artificially extend my nipple so lo can find it and stay on. It is finicky and I am just learning (day3 for me) but lo can feed with it on. Once bigger we will try to wean the shield. Surely there must be some community supports in your area to help with bf. do some good research and hopefully you will come up with something. GL!

Just fyi, I successfully increased my supply with a double electric medela breast pump (not hospital grade) pumping round the clock and for 15-20 mins past when I stopped getting any... it's not fair to say that anything other than a hospital grade pump will not increase or will decrease your supply.... a lot of ppl say that about nipple shields and I also successfully nursed with a shield and kept my supply and then weaned off the shield!

 

[counting]

Late, but you could try using a supplemental nursing system, and since you are using a shield it should be fairly straight forward as you can put the tube under the shield into the nipple portion. You can make one of these with a flexible feeding tube you should be able to get easily from a hospital, nurse or midwife, and a syringe or a bottle. You can also buy or rent them some places.

A SNS allows you to put formula or pumped breast milk in the holding container(like a syringe), attach a tube to the end of the syringe and place the tube either in the corner of baby's mouth when they latch or under the shield and then latch baby on. Baby will nurse, stimulating you to produce more milk and helping latch, and will be getting your milk he is nursing and a supplement at the same time(which would reduce frustration of not enough milk flow and allow baby to take all feeds from the breast.)

I hope everything is able to be worked out in the way you would like!