Too late to build up supply?

[Bun87]

Hi ladies,

I had a lot of problems bfeeding my little boy in the beginning. I had a home birth but had to go in to hospital, LO didn't latch on for 36 hours. At home, he would latch on take a few big gulps then just 'nibble' for as long as I would let him. He never came off on his own. He ended up losing 15% of his birth weight. The midwife had me on domperidone, fenugreek and double pumping. When he didn't start gaining weight and lost more weight, we had no choice but to give him formula. I was also using a supplementary nursing system to try and boost my supply.

Slowly, LO has been taking more and more formula and where I was letting him feed ten mins on each boob then topping up with formula these days I'm just giving him the bottle to try and get the milk in him quicker. I do let him latch on if he roots but not as much as I was.

I haven't been diagnosed, but the midwife suspects I have insufficient glandular tissue which means low milk supply. She referred me to a consultant but the hospital rejected the referral and won't tell me why. I feel heartbroken at not knowing. I only double pumped for a week, and feel like I maybe didn't try for long enough.

Is it too late to try and build up my supply? I have been rubbish at taking the domperidone and fenugreek too. I feel like I want to give it one more shot to see if I can make a difference to my supply. My LO is 9 weeks tomorrow - is it too late to try and build my supply? He can i ever compete with the formula? He takes 4-5oz every three hours.

I definitely have milk there as they sometimes leak if I haven't fed him for a while and if I squeeze, milk sprays out (sorry if tmi)

With not knowing if I do have insufficient glandular tissue, I just don't know if its worth me trying if it isn't going to make a difference

Is there anything else I can do on top of domperidone, fenugreek and double pumping?

Thank you in advance ladies x

 

[staralfur]

No, I don't think it's too late. We combi-fed for 7 weeks and I then had to work at increasing my supply and it worked quite well. Sounds like you know how to do it. I think putting him on the breast before offering any formula is key as well.

How awful that the hospital rejected your referral! Is there anyone you can speak to about it? That's really unfair. You have a right to know what's going on.

 

[Bun87]

My GP said she was looking into why it had been rejected - I burst into tears on the phone with her, the thought of not knowing is just horrible. If I do have IGT then I think it would help me to deal with things a bit better... how long did it take you to build up your supply? X

 

[TheNewMrs]

I rebuilt a milk supply from no milk at all. I've heard of people taking 2 weeks and others 3 months so everyone is different.
But please remember if baby is latching, that breastfeeding is so much more than breastmilk. They say only 10% of what happens at the breast is nutrition, the rest is development and a huge amount of that is brain development. So even if your tissue is low, you still have SOME milk, and you could use an SNS at home to still enjoy the bonding ect. Your doing a great job and remember formula was made because there are some mothers who really do need it, and that is okay.

 

[Bun87]

I rebuilt a milk supply from no milk at all. I've heard of people taking 2 weeks and others 3 months so everyone is different.
But please remember if baby is latching, that breastfeeding is so much more than breastmilk. They say only 10% of what happens at the breast is nutrition, the rest is development and a huge amount of that is brain development. So even if your tissue is low, you still have SOME milk, and you could use an SNS at home to still enjoy the bonding ect. Your doing a great job and remember formula was made because there are some mothers who really do need it, and that is okay.

Thank you, you've made me feel like there is a point to my LO latching on, even if he isn't getting much milk from me x

 

[staralfur]

My GP said she was looking into why it had been rejected - I burst into tears on the phone with her, the thought of not knowing is just horrible. If I do have IGT then I think it would help me to deal with things a bit better... how long did it take you to build up your supply? X

I'm sorry. I hope you get some answers.

I don't remember exactly how long it took, I think only a couple of weeks. But it'll depend on how much formula your LO is getting in comparison to breastfeeds.