Nursing and Pumping...

babymamaT77 · October 2011

DD was born with a tied tongue and had a very hard time latching from the start. She was also jaundice so we were told to continue trying to breast feed but to also supplement with formula. I was also told to pump to get my milk to come in faster.

Fast forward to now- baby girl is almost 4 weeks old. We had her tongue tie clipped after consulting with a specialist, her latch has gotten much better but we have been primarily feeding her pumped breast milk and also attempting to breast feed each day as well. We have been trying to wean her off of the supplemented formula, but I feel like I just can't produce enough milk to keep up with her.

She will nurse sometimes, but it is really frustrating for both of us and she fights it so much because she clearly prefers the bottle. She will literally push her body away from me and cry but then anxiously thrash her head back and forth looking for the nipple but then will not latch on. Eventually she will, but it doesnt last very long and she just doesn't seem satisfied.. So, I pump pretty much every two hours but even when I nurse her I end up feeding her the bottle I had previously pumped because she is not satisfied enough with nursing, so I haven't been able to save up any supply.

She is getting to the point where she wants to eat 3-4oz per feeding, and most feedings I am only producing about 2.5oz. I'm just really confused and not sure what to do at this point. I am contemplating starting to just exclusively pump since nursing is so challenging for both of us, but how do I get to the point where I will be producing enough and not have to keep giving her formula to satisfy her?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

jill&eric · October 2011

i am not much help because nursing does not go well for my dd either. it sounds the same she is constantly frustrated and pulling herself off then getting mad and i just dont have the patience for it. we had to give formula exculsively for a few days after birth because i wasnt getting hardly any milk. i started taking 2 fenugreek 3 times a day and it worked! i almost exclusively pump and feed because she just wont get the hang of breastfeeding. i am able to supply her all day without supplementing and it may be more work, washing, pumping and feeding but the frustration trying to bf it is worth it to me. try taking fenugreek and see if it increases your supply. your decision has to be a personal choice but for me it works.

knockedupOC · October 2011

BF'ing is sucking the life out of me. My nipples hurt SO much. I am trying to just pump instead of BF because of the pain factor, but I only produce about 1.5-2 oz of milk when I pump, and my kid demands about 4 oz at each feeding, so I've been majorly supplementing with formula.

MNCP · October 2011

I'm in he same boat as you, I had some health complications my first 5 days PP and the nursery staff in the hospital fed DD lots of formula to supplement my Breast Milk; and now she is a lazy eater. My supply is taking forever to increase!

I BF her, supplement with pumped breast milk, and have to also supplement with formula.

But I'm not giving up!! Dammit I will figure this out if it's the last think I do. (Sometimes it feels like it may be the last thing I do)

GL!!

ProcrastinatingBride · October 2011

I don't have an answer for you (I'm EBF, but I haven't started pumping yet). But I wanted to suggest that you maybe cross-post this on the BF board. I lurk there, and those women seem super-knowledgeable about these types of questions. GL!

DoctorWorm222 · October 2011

Hire a lactation consultant if at all possible. After a visit with our local "breast whisperer", LO and I are back on track. Best $50 I've ever spent!

Accounting Chick · October 2011

I've pumped from day one. DS never did want to latch, and honestly, by the time my milk came in, and we were ready to work with a LC to improve the latch, I was quite content with pumping and chose to continue this route. We supplemented with formula until my milk came in (about day 6 - I was slow because I lost a lot of blood and needed a blood transfusion). I am now EPing. I'm actually finding it not bad. I'm pumping about double what DS is eating each feed. It's quite nice to kick DH out of bed for the 1:00 am feeding (the only feeding that I've dropped a pump session) and stay in bed! Although the constant cleaning of pump parts and bottles does get a bit tedious.

If EPing is something that you are interested in, make sure that you have a high quality double pump and pump as often as your LO feeds. This will help boost your supply. Best of luck!

GoodToBeGeib · October 2011

I second the lactation specialist-- we had trouble in the beginning and had to stay at the hospital an extra two days until it improved b/c DS had lost so much weight and wasn't feeding well. I didn't want to supplement w/o giving it a good try first. The LS was able to help us get on track and at the moment I am breastfeeding and pumping a little- no formula! We didn't have to pay anything extra for her to work w/us and she runs a free breastfeeding support group every week. There might be something simliar where you delivered??

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