Breastfeeding has not gone how I'd expected...

[keeptrying]

Henry never really got off to a good start with breastfeeding. On day one he would latch but not actually suckle, and it's never been much different since. Occasionally he does suckle, but it's lazy and sparse. As he never fed properly and no one noticed (least of all, me) he ended up not putting on any weight after losing 8% of his birth weight for the first two weeks, resulting in multiple trips to the hospital for check-ups and reluctantly giving him formula and living attached to my breast pump.

Things have become so bad that he literally throws a massive fit every time I even attempt to latch him on to feed, so I'm seriously considering just stopping. The thought makes me depressed, but seeing him so stressed and upset when I try and fail to feed him on the breast just breaks my heart.

The main advice that the professionals have given me is to do loads of skin to skin. Whenever I try this, he searches for the breast desperately, wears himself out, gets very upset and screams. Needless to say this is awful for me too, not being able to be that close to him.

My milk supply is literally rubbish (I think). I take Domperidone and Fenugreek 3 times a day and have done for 2 weeks... it's not made a huge amount of difference. I get about 1.5oz every time I express (every 3-4 hours). This can sometimes take me up to an hour. Needless to say, this is not enough to feed and sustain my baby, and it's wearing thin on me.

Realistically, I want to be giving Henry 2 bottles of expressed milk a day. I'm not sure that this is even possible, as in expressing one bottle in the morning and one in the evening. Throughout this whole palava we've had in the first 4 weeks, I'd quite like to have some of my life back, and to be able to enjoy Henry whilst he is still tiny.

How much does everyone else manage to express each time?

Is there any way of cutting the expressing down to twice a day?

Thanks to anyone that can help xx

PS - here's the little monster that's causing all the trouble!

 

[BevG]

the first few weeks i expressed after every feed, never got more than 50-60 ml the first week or 2 and even later on after regular expressing for weeks ive never got more than 5oz in one go and thats between both boobs. i had to top up with formula due to latching issues and weight loss of 10% by day 7. id say if your expressing for an hour thats too long, 20-30 mins should do the job. try and set a good routine of it, get a cuppa and sit in the same place and look at or cuddle lo if you can. best expressing sessions i had were first thing in the morning while feeding off the other boob. i found fenugreek never did sod all for me but eating lots of oaty flapjacks worked wonders. im afraid to up supply lo has to feed feed feed or you have to express every 3-4 hrs including twice during the night. to get bottles of expressed milk for twice a day id say that your likely to get better amounts if you pump for 10-15 mins after each feed. took 7 weeks to achieve ebf here but latch improved as babys mouth grew and i fed fed fed thru the cluster feeding and growth spurts, swapping back and forth on each boob if needed and topped up after id done all i could to satisfy her, pumped after every feed and fed then pumped every 3 hrs including at night.

well done you for sticking at it, its hellish but it was worth it to me and i dont look back in regret on that time as i spent most of it cuddling or feeding my baby really

 

[hellywelly]

Henry sounds very very similar to my little girl in terms of latching and feeding. After ten days of her not even trying to latch or suck properly and getting hysterical at every feed when I tried boob first, I decided enough was enough and I didn't want to spend her early days so upset by something I was having to do so often. I decided to express and was lucky as I usually managed to express enough for each feed, but I was only ever one feed ahead and never had any to spare! This took a lot of pumping though, including twice in the night and quite frankly I was so tired it was unbelieveable.

For three weeks she was 90% breast and 10% formula, all given in bottles. After that I noticed my supply was starting to drop so over a month I slowly moved from expressing to fully formula. I felt guilty about this, like I had 'failed' her in some way, and I did feel like this for a long time. But I do have to say the relief of stopping the expressing was immense and I finally felt free to 'enjoy' my baby if that seems to make sense, and it stopped being all about what was going in her!!!

Others on here probably have better advice about low supply, but all I will say is whatever you decide, you have given him a great start, and don't waste time feeling guilty about your decision. Looking back now I made it such a big deal in my head, but my little lady has been a really healthy happy little soul, and that comes from me as a mummy, not what I spent shoving inside her for the first few months. Good luck xxx

 

[Pumpkin9]

I've managed to ebf my little one for nearly 3 months now but have recently noticed that he has become really fussy at the boob and was crying even after a 45 minute feed. Reluctantly I've decided to switch to formula. I know it's the best thing for him now as he's been so much more settled after I've given him some today. I only very briefly tried to express and only ever managed 2.5oz - it was absorbing my day on top of feeding my little boy so wasn't an option.

Realistically if you want to express you need to be doing it regularly rather than only twice a day in my opinion

 

[T84]

Well done for trying hon. We were the same and S just would not latch so I now exclusively express. It's the hardest thing I've done in my life but now feel I've turned a corner at 6 weeks. Firstly, even getting him on for 5 mins will get everything flowing, if you can't dont upset yourselves over it tho. I expressed every 3 hours, or after every feed that she had (be it ff or bm from bottle) even through the night. I hit a wall with it at week 4, was literally knackered, but by then I was getting anywhere between 3 and 5oz at a time between the 2 boobs. This generally took 40 mins. I decided that I was going to drop the amount of expressing and top up with formula. I now express morning noon and night and get anything from 5-8oz in 30 mins because it's established now. This is from 1 boob only cos the other one is dormant haha! I then top up with formula which tends to be maybe 2-3 feeds a day. Like I say it's been a hard ride but so worth it now. You've done well to get this far tho so please don't beat yourself up. You can also help by asking doc to prescribe domperidone for you, drink water like nothing else, eat oats. I also found massaging breasts in shower down towards nipple and letting the hot water blast straight on them, jump out the shower and literally get on pump straight away. It's best first thing in the morning too. Hope this all made sense!! Oh and ps, do you have an electric pump, expensive but worth their weight in gold.