Breast feeding - should i give up or keep trying?
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I struggled with making enough and switched to combo feeding and it made my life so much easier. I would just bf first and then offer formula after if still hungry.
Completely normal for baby to feed that often! At that age my boy was feeding every hour. I probably wouldn’t recommend pumping this early on as your milk isn’t established yet and it may cause supply issues. Is baby above their birth weight and filling nappies? If so they will definitely be getting enough milk!
I struggled with the same milk supply issue and feeding every 1-2 hrs for 30-40 min during the day. What helped me to increase milk production was an infusion made of kitchen herbs - 1 tbs each of anise, coriander, fennel, dill seed - boiled for 20 min in 2 litres of water. Drink every day throughout the day and drink 2-3 lites of water as well.
Drink lots of water, eats oats. Try and eat things that’ll help with milk productions very normal at that age and your milk could still be coming in. You got this mama don’t worry!
Baby might be cluster feeding to increase your supply! Get baby to breast as often as possible. Pumping will also help increase
If you want or need to combi feed then that is totally okay! There are different ways to do it and you would find what works for you. You could introduce formula as a top up initially in small amounts when you feel you haven’t got enough expressed milk or you can even make a certain amount of formula and then once made mix in expressed milk for a bigger feed if you want to. Personally I combi feed by feeding formula overnight while pumping and then topping up with expressed milk during the day.
@Kristen second cluster feeding. They are upping your supply for the next growth spurt. Please don’t give up and ask for help from a lactation consultant - all this is normal behaviour for babies and people give up too easily!
So so normal, don’t stress. It’s a learning curve for you both. The more you feed him the more milk you will make as it’s based on supply and demand. My daughter fed every 1.5/2 hours at his age and did for weeks. As long as he’s gaining weight and having a good amount of wet nappies you’re doing really well 🩷 If it gets too much reach out to your health visitor or a lactation consultant
Thank you so much everyone . What do i do when hes still hungry and i have nothing left? And when does he feed for longer? How long does this phase last
@Anca it’s very unlikely you have nothing left. What makes you think this? If it’s pumping output pumping is 0 reflection of your milk supply
@Anca your body is constantly making milk so there’s never technically nothing left! Another let down will happen and he’ll get more. And then the next time he wants to eat even if it’s an hour later there will be more!
Very normal as they cluster feed to boost your supply. Should settle down after 6 weeks. Follow Lucy Webber on Instagram if you have it. She's an IBCLC and has lots of useful advice on her page.
This is very helpful everyone thank you . Also i feel like my ducts are not all open. When i am pumping i only see it coming out of one or two is this also normal? Can i do anything to help this?
I had the same issue yesterday night, I was feeding her, she seem like she wasn’t getting enough because usually she’ll sleep after she’s on my breast but she seem to be still hungry I thought I was losing milk because she was still hungry. So I gave her the milk I pumped and yet she was still hungry? So I was confused about my breast? She would start to pull on my breast and cry a little and I thought she wasn’t getting milk? But you got this! Keep breast feeding! You still have milk even if you think you don’t you still do! You produce everyday! She is also 3 weeks Old!
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He’s probably feeding every 1-2 hours direct from the breast to increase your supply. The first 6 weeks are hard work as they cluster feed. My boy fed every hour, sometimes more at that age. Personally I’d keep pumping (freeze it for a stash it lasts 6 months) but I’d stop offering the top up whilst your supply is becoming established ☺️
Seems normal to me at this age they feed every couple of hours I would advice you to not start formula as your supply will drop It’s good if you can have him weighted to see if he is gaining weight Also maybe you can get someone to check his latch latch children centers have baby feeding team they should be able to help
My five month old exclusively breast fed has only just started pushing towards three hours in between! Most of the time it’s still every 2 hours and I’m an over supplier! Sounds very normal! I’d probably even try and feed baby more to get supply back up? Every 1.5 hours counting from the start of the feed xx
@Katie sorry to jump in on this post but if we have to return to work and need a stash wouldn’t pumping after bf be okay ?
You should look into Facebook groups of moms who are donating there extra supply of breast milk if you decide to continue only breastmilk. I did it and it was amazing
My boy is 4 months ebf and he still feeds every 2-3 hours he’s just a snacker when he eats
This sounds pretty normal to me! Is he putting on weight? If yes, there's no need to be worried. Also, the more you feed him from the breast, the more you will be producing.