Breastfeeding and formula

What’s happening that makes you feel like your supply isn’t enough? X

@Yaz that she’s always hungry after BF and when I try and hand express/pump nothing comes out x

I was told that babies are more efficient than lots of pumps, so what you are pumping isn’t necessarily representative of what baby is getting. I found a hospital grade pump the best way to increase supply (I use the spectra which you can get on Amazon). X

I'm having the same problem after my baby was in hospital and I couldn't have skin to skin. I tried pumping with the hospitals pumps but was getting so frustrated. I came home last night and tried a hakka while BF and caught double the amount of letdown it would take me 30 mins to pump

@Lauren oo what is a Hakka? X

It's a suction device used to catch any letdown from the other breast whilst you're feeding on the other. The suction creates like a gentle stimulation and I guess your body will be more relaxed when you're BF, especially if you're like me and are stressed by seeing nothing come from the pump! Hakka is the brand name, but there are plenty on the market. I'm using an off brand. I also read somewhere that if a pump is too small for your nipple, it could also cause a low output. That might be something else to look at?

I had a similar issue with my now 8 week old that came early. Couldn't latch so I was expressing and formula feeding. Things I would recommend: - hand expressing. I got more milk out this way than with any pump - checking flange size on your manual pump - skin to skin and still try and put baby on breast to stimulate milk production - pump in middle of night - 12-6am is when prolactin is highest so if you're pumping then it's sending signals to produce more milk -dont lose hope, I gave up on baby latching but I kept trying again and it just worked one day