Can my early BF problem be fixed?..

[QueenFubar]

My DS was born Feb 26 and I was very set on BF. All was going well, he was latching on great, and then week two started. He would stay up for 5+ hours feeding at a time, wasnt gaining any weight and was almost constantly crying. Near the end of week 2 my mom bought me a good hand pump since expressing wasnt really working. I pumped for 2 hours straight on both breasts. The result? Only enough liquid to barely cover the hump at the bottom of the bottle ( approx. 1/4 oz.). I had to give him formula, but i continued to try and pump. Another month has passed, I am now making a little over an ounce every few hours, and he doesnt want the breast .

Any advice? Can I still get him on BM or has that ship sailed.. Keep in mind that he is almost 12lbs and just under 6 weeks old..

[elluin]

The advice I usually hear to stimulate milk production and encourage breastfeeding is to "take your baby to bed" - ie. spend your days and nights as close to your baby as possible and have as much skin-to-skin time as possible. Are you still nursing before you supplement or are you able to use an SNS?

Also, can you see a lactation consultant to check on your little one's latch? In the early weeks, my daughter frequently nursed constantly, but she was gaining weight so I just let her keep going. Her pediatrician (also a lactation consultant) did check her latch and had me pull her in much deeper than I was doing previously.

I wouldn't give up on breastfeeding yet, but you'll probably want to find as much support and information as soon as possible. We were going to weekly breastfeeding support groups as well as monthly La Leche League meetings - that support is a big help! We're fortunate to live in an area with a lot of breastfeeding support.

Good luck to you Mama!

[anjsmama]

Totally agree with elluin - how much time do you have available to your baby (ie are you working, do you have other children?) . If you can spend your time with your breasts out (lol) and your baby on them (even if he's playing or napping - NOT eating) it really helps with production! A great way to make more milk is to TRY to nurse as often as possible - even if very little nursing happens & he then takes a bottle of formula. In fact, I have to be careful to remember to pull my bra back up when DD sleeps at the breast after nursing or I get so full it's uncomfortable. Have you tried the milk-increasing tricks? Mother's milk tea (sold at most grocers and all health food stores) & oatmeal are very effective at increasing milk supply. Take warm showers & allow the water to run directly over your breasts. Encourage letdown a few times while you shower. These are all things I did to relieve mastitis ........ only to find out they were contributing to my oversupply problem! You're only at 6 weeks out - it's definitely not too late to BF. Your DS is still young enough to accept a "new" nipple (your breast!) and your PP time/hormones are still right to make milk. If you can make contact with an LC at your hospital or a local LLL rep, you can find some great support! Good luck mama. 

[QueenFubar]

I live in such a small town we dont have LLL, or even LCs. Just public health nurses and they said he was fine. Im at home with him all day and sleep with him all night. There is definately no shortage of holding him, he hates to be or feel alone, and I bathe with him everynight. I've tried most of these things (at least the ones that are available) and now to top it all off he wont take the breast at all. :( This is really bothering me. I hate that I have to feed him formula.. If this is what has to happen do you have any recommendations on what kind.. I know they're all bad but its becoming more clear that I may not have a choice.. At the moment im feeding him soy formula because cows milk is not healthy..

[NewBeginnings1]

Keep trying! Now is a precious window of time to build the breastfeeding relationship, so keep trying! I would look into natural and herbal supplements to increase your supply and at the same time, supplement him with formula or breast milk using a lactation aid tube at the breast so that he begins to like eating at the breast again. He will start to associate your breasts with an easy access to milk (like a bottle) and also stimulate your breasts as well.

If he is having issues with tongue tie, he might not be sucking well enough to cause your supply to regulate. Personally, I don't know if a hand pump would be enough to help me if I had a low supply. You might need a stronger pump like a hospital grade. Don't give up just yet!

No matter where you are, I think that you can contact someone from the La Leche League at www.llli.org, and also find more information on breastfeeding problems at http://www.drjacknewman.com/. 

[AislinCarys]

Not being able to pump much, or anything, means nothing, some women don't let down for the pump at all, for some it just takes longer before they get more. This doesn't mean your supply necessarily is low!!

I've battled low supply and won (although it took 5 months), and I can't let down for the pump. I just don't get much. Not even when DD was getting all from me, around 6 months, and gaining beautifully!

I realise that your supply is low now, it may not have been at first, despite not getting much when pumping, and despite baby not gaining well.

You may not have had low supply in the first place, but it may have been caused by something else. This paragrapgh is from the new edition of “The womanly art of breastfeeding”, LLL's book, and it describes babies like mine:

“In contrast, the baby who sleeps through most of his meals, which are usually long and slow, may be using numerous sucks to get every swallow of milk. It takes a lot of time and energy to eat that way, and these babies doze as much as they can. But take them off the breast and their eyes fly open open. They watch you with a worried expression and do their best to get back on the breast, where they doze off again. Some of these babies sleep really well at night, not from contentment but to conserve energy, and they usually aren't gaining.” p. 120

DD lost weight at 4 weeks, and the LC found she didn't swallow much, so we had to revise feeding, feed on a sort of schedule (to get as much as possible in her), I took fenugreek capsules and breastfeeding teas, and keep swapping breasts to stimulate the breasts to produce more milk and DD to feed. We needed to feed extra, and fed donated milk in an SNS. And ,y supply did go up, just not enough. Later, when she was 3 months old, my GP, on rec from the LC, and supported by DD's specialist ped, prescribed Domperidone.

I just thought from what you were describing, that something similar may have been going on with your child...

My advice to you to get supply up would be:

See if you can get a hold of a dr who will precribe Domp., or order it online
Get an SNS or lactaid, or make your own at breasts supplementer, using an ordinary bottle, with the nipple whole cut bigger, and a feeding probe (which you should be able to buy at a pharmacy, I think) put into the milk in the bottle. Then tape the other end to your nipple, and your child can get milk flowing faster and easier than from your breast. As your supply builds up and your baby takes the breast, you can add the supplementer at the end of the feed. If your baby won't take the breast you might try taping the sond to your finger first, so he knows that is the formula he is used to! You will also need a small syringe, to squirt water through the sond to clean it, apart from sterilizing it.

But I think getting your child onto the breast is important, if you can't pump. It is possible to get your supply up, still!