would like to try breast feeding again...

[debs90]

I was breast feeding for the first week after my baby was born and then changed to bottle aswell coz it hurt too much. Now i think that my milk is drying up and is definately not enough for a feed for her but i would like to start doing it again... I was wondering if expressing what milk i can every day will stimulate the breast to increase milk production? Or once its started drying up is that it?

 

[DarlingMe]

If you are still producing milk you definately can. Even if you weren't, it is still possible. Your baby will stimulate milk better than any pump will. I would lay in bed with her the next few days, with your laptop and some movies, and just let her latch on and keep her there as much as possible. You can supplement with the formula but do it after nursing and give her small amounts (maybe 1-2 ounces) so she isn't too full to nurse again. I would put her to hr breast every 2 hours, if she is awake put her on, if she falls asleep leave her there, the comfort sucking will stimulate production also. Lots of skin to skin and engaging with her. That bonding will help.

Keep an eye on her so she doesn't wear out, but she will be fine. My LO was nursing every 2 hours for 40 minutes at a time at 3 weeks. I would barely have time to shower by the time he was ready again sometimes. I think I had slow milk production in the
beginning though! I hope it workout for you. Talk to a consult or LLL if you are having latch issues. Good luck!

 

[bambino]

have you got a breast feeding consultant who could pay you a visit? I have recently got my lo back to boob after 2 days of bf then 5 of ff then mixed feeding until I am now able to produce enough milk to feed her fully. I pumped... minimum amounts snd got her on boob when i could, loadds of skin to skin if you can and it took good 5- 6 days of this, plus topping up with an oz or 2 of formula until she didnt want anything more than breast milk cos i had enough.It has been hard work but i feel better for doing it ) good luck

 

[BattyNora]

Definitely recommend going and seeing a breastfeeding group or lactation consultant as they can give you the added support. You've made the decision to switch before and the extra support they give could really help. I know I would have switched if I hadn't have had their support.

I agree with PP. For the first couple of weeks I basically surrounding myself with food and drink, a stack of dvds and crappy tv, forgot about cooking and cleaning and just let babs latch whenever she wanted...basically constantly when she was awake! You just need to let her suckle as much as possible to stimulate your milk production and I would also recommend offering the breast before any bottle you may give x