Trying to re introduce breast feeding

[Starlight32]

I always wanted to breastfeed but my baby kept losing weight and I had to supplement when my baby was just a few days old. She would fall asleep while nursing and not get enough milk. Eventually waking her up constantly was too much so she went to mostly formula, only nursing for comfort.

She's almost 10 weeks and I want to try to breastfeed her more (while also using formula). She's still falling asleep at breast while nursing. Is there no hope? I also have no idea how much milks she's even getting at the breast so I don't know if I can even cut back on formula.

 

[loved2830]

Have you thought about exclusively pumping? That way you can continue to give her breast milk and see how much she drinks

 

[Starlight32]

Pump doesn't work for me at least it didn't when my milk came in. Haven't tried since.

 

[jessmke]

Just keep persevering with nursing as much as you can. The more you put her to the breast the more practice she will get with sucking and the more you will be stimulated to make milk. You may notice that once she gets a bit older and is more alert she won't fall asleep as easily at the breast. Have you tried stripping her down to her diaper to nurse her to keep her more awake, or nurse her when she wakes up from a nap so she isn't so sleepy? Once she is getting more milk from you she may be unable to finish her bottles of formula or reject them entirely. Good luck and just keep at it!

 

[noon_child]

Where are you based? Reintroducing breastfeeding definitely can be done, but it is much easier with supportive knowledgable help.

It is very normal for babies to fall asleep nursing (in fact they don't make the sleep hormone melatonin till about 4months old - I think - so they rely on other sleepy hormones like CSK which is produced (among other things) by the act of sucking. However I think it would be a good idea to talk to someone who could try to unpick whether you had a "normal" sleepy baby, or whether there as something preventing her from extracting milk properly and exhausting her prematurely.