Little one lost weight - having to bottle feed my breast milk

I'm in a similar position, I'm devastated and so stressed about it. My baby has lost more than expected as well, he's been struggling to latch. I was really against formula but we have had to get some. I've been pumping too but not getting much

We had issues with latching as well. One of the midwives suggested using nipple shields — it worked like a charm, and she latched immediately

I have the same problem 😞 I wanted to continue with my breastfeeding journey but baby lost a lot of weight and this was due to tongue tie. We got his tongue tie sorted but now he won’t latch on anymore as during this period I was bottle feeding 😢it’s bittersweet really.. I understand your frustration BUT let’s think positively because we are doing the best we can for our babies!

My baby lost 13% of her birth weight at day 4 so we were admitted to the paediatric unit. I was told to give formula top ups of 20ml every 3 hours (after a breast feed). She started gaining weight so we could go home (day 6), I stopped with the top ups because I knew it just takes a while sometimes for myself and baby to get used to breast feeding. Now we are day 18 and she's nearly back at her birth weight and feeding well

Also, you haven't failed at all, it's normal for babies to lose weight after birth, every baby is different. You are doing what is best for you and your baby. Please don't worry too much or stress about it. Could you ask to see a breast feeding specialist to help you with your concerns?

@Emma Sorry to hear you’re going through the same. Can I ask how much you are feeding baby with the pumped milk and then how much formula you’re giving them on top? I’m really struggling to know how much is enough x

I have only been given this plan by the midwife today. I'm pumping milk but not getting a huge amount, like 10ml or so, which I give him straight away. He's still breastfeeding and I've been setting alarms to encourage him to feed every hour, the issue is he isn't waking up to feed very much and isn't showing much interest. Then we have done a bottle of formula about 50 ml and will do another this evening. He was latching poorly and my mum came round to help and we managed to get him latching slightly better

Have you thought about maybe combi feeding? I had alot of weight issues with my first baby who was formula fed so when this baby took to the breast, I was determined to not let the same issues happen. It was so hard to trust baby was getting enough milk from me that I started ‘topping up’ with formula just to be safe. She was cluster feeding & never seemed satisfied by my milk and would happily take the formula so was constantly contacting midwives who offered me extra weigh ins. She was actually gaining weight lovely but I’ve decided to stick to some formula for now while I build supply and hopefully I will be able to pump enough milk to replace the formula feeds. My 11 day old will take about 40-60ml of pumped milk after feeding on each boob for about 15 mins. She seems to be a hungry gal x

If I was you I would keep trying with the breast it's only been a few days so there's bound to be some struggles and of course your producing too much milk it's only just come through. slowly it will reduce to how much baby drinks. Honestly if my midwife said it to me I would say no and continue trying my best to get the milk in her. That's just me but just know you haven't failed your a mum trying her best. Don't let anyone put you down end of the day you know what's best for your baby ❤️

This happened to me, the midwife helped with my latch and I made sure I was feeding every 3 hours even if I had to wake him they re-weighed on day 7 and he had put on 3% of his lost weight. I was stressed and panicked that my milk wasn’t enough but it was it just took us a few days to get the hang of it all. I started using the huckleberry app to record feeds too so I can see when and how long he was feeding.