Please help me get off the bottle x

[welshsarah]

My baby is combi feeding and trying to get back ebf. I am pumping but its hard when got two other young children and baby is constantly hungry. I am using a hospital grade pump and pumping every 2-3 hrs, but only managing to get half an oz after 40mins... Is this normal? Anyone got advice on what else I can do to up supply? my baby is a month old x tia

 

[Kirstiedenman]

I combifed my son for first 5 weeks as I had inverted nipples and he was born with his bottom lip sucked in quite a bit. The things that helped me were using blessed thistle for my supply and feeding every hour and if he wasn't getting enough pumping as well. It was really tough for those 5 weeks but my supply was amazing and with the help of nipple shields my nipples were no longer inverted. I could imagine feeding every hour with toddlers will be hard but it will be worth it in the end. I have a son who will be 2yrs old and hoping that breastfeeding will start off a lot better this time but I will be willing to do the same if I have to. I ended up breastfeeding my son for 17 months after the way it started I was so proud of us both for being able to feed for that long.

good luck and I hope you find something that works for you

 

[Rachel_C]

Are you wanting to breastfeed or just stop using formula and give breastmilk in a bottle?

If you're wanting to breastfeed, at that age I would keep baby with you 24/7 using a baby carrier if necessary (can be a Godsend when you have other children!) and just stop using bottles as cold turkey as possible (I'd watch output and if it dips, give some milk in a bottle but keep it to the minimum). What you can express doesn't mean much; I've never been able to express more than 2 ounces and my LO is 2 now and still going strong on the boob. A baby is always going to be miles better at getting the milk and stimulating supply than even the fanciest pump so giving him/her unrestricted access to the boob is the best way. If you're wanting to use the pump, I would use it more often than every 2-3 hours as a BF young baby will often want to feed more often than that. Don't skip the night time either, in fact the night is the best time to boost your supply.