Mixed feeding, baby only takes foremilk

[@llli*mommal]

We can all understand your worry, mama. It's very hard to be a baby's sole food supply. It requires you to trust your body to be able to meet your baby's needs- and that's a difficult leap of faith for a lot of people.

If you do decide you would like to bring the proportion of breastmilk in your baby's diet up, or transition back to exclusive breastfeeding, this is a really helpful link: http://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/basi...rease-formula/. Basically, you'd be cutting out a little bit of formula each day and increasing the amount of nursing you're doing. The increased stimulation will lead to increased supply.

[@llli*amelie24]

Thanks for the advice and comments. Perhaps I could ask a but more. The night only breast feeding has gone fine for the last few days, but I wonder if I need to pump during the day to stop my supply diminishing. Today I could pump a couple of ounces after two of her half hearted day feeds, but I wonder if that would take away from what she is getting at night? Should I just leave it to build up for the night feeds perhaps?

[@llli*tclynx]

pump! If you want to maintain or increase your milk supply, pump after as many feedings as you can. Then you can always use what you have pumped to supplement with. If you leave milk in the breast to "build UP" it will actually signal your body that it is making too much and it will reduce the supply accordingly. The more your baby nurses or the more you pump, especially when you are mostly drained, the more your body is likely to say "oh, we need to make more milk because they are still demanding it even when we are almost out".

My peditrician actually recommended NOT topping the baby up with a bottle after the breast feedings because if the baby decides they prefer the rubber nipple or more usually the flow rate from the bottle, they will often become even less effective breast feeding because they are just waiting for the bottle. This is why some recommend feeding a little supplement before breast feeding or using some form of at the breast supplemental nursing system if you must supplement but don't want to jeprodise the nursing relationship.

[@llli*bfwmomof3]

pump! If you want to maintain or increase your milk supply, pump after as many feedings as you can. Then you can always use what you have pumped to supplement with. If you leave milk in the breast to "build UP" it will actually signal your body that it is making too much and it will reduce the supply accordingly. The more your baby nurses or the more you pump, especially when you are mostly drained, the more your body is likely to say "oh, we need to make more milk because they are still demanding it even when we are almost out".

Exactly. Pumping milk during the day does not deplete the nighttime milk, just as a mother who is exclusively breastfeeding will have milk available at night even after nursing all day. Because every time milk is removed, that signals the breast to make more. That is also why you don't need to worry about baby wanting to nurse even if you've just pumped. It may take baby a little longer to get what she wants at the breast (and she may be a bit fussy as a result) but that is exactly what sends the signal to make more milk. A young baby will nurse 10-12 times or more in 24 hours, day and night, to build up mom's supply and you want to do something similar at this point - in your case since baby is not nursing during the day you definitely want to pump during that time.

Here's more information about alternative feeding methods, including supplemental systems as tclynx mentions:
http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/f...ative-feeding/

The fact that you are able to pump a couple ounces after baby has nursed is a terrific sign! A couple ounces is actually a fairly typical meal size at the breast.

[@llli*zaynethepain]

Can you see a lactation consultant to assess baby's latch and ability to transfer milk? I wonder if it was not your supply at all but bad transfer causing slow weight gain if you can pump a couple ounces after feeding even after little nursing lately.

[@llli*amelie24]

I did see a lactation consultant and all the feeds looked good, pretty textbook they said, I think I was just not making quite enough. My milk was late coming in and there was not huge amounts of it. I do think she needed the extra formula to thrive and I could not bring myself to drop the topups and see if my milk increased as I was so anxious about her being hungry. Just to clarify, I can pump about an ounce after a half hearted feed, but not at all times of the day it seems.

[@llli*tclynx]

I've experienced (am still experiencing) some issues with my now 8 week old. He was big at birth and it was a fairly long labor and I experienced a fair bit of blood loss during delivery which may have contributed to my milk being a little slow coming in. For the next few weeks I was struggling with supply and needing to supplement (I've been using the at the breast supplementing methods, not the bottle.)
I was having a terrible time feeling that it was my fault/low milk supply. Then I got a good breast pump and was doing all sorts of things to increase my milk supply (and still am.) I finally got to the point where by pumping after almost every feeding, I could pump as much as we were supplementing with formula. So a couple weeks ago I tried to stop supplementing, I reduced the amount of supplement by about an ounce a day. It became apparent that the problem wasn't my supply but his latch, feeding were LONG and frequent and became progressively more painful to me during that time (even though it looks good to a consultant from the outside) finally got some one to look at him for tongue tie. I'm still waiting for the appointment to get his tongue tie (and lip tie) fixed. My LC said that once fixed he will become far better at milk transfer and my milk supply should see a drastic improvement and I will likely be able to stop the pumping after each feeding.

By the way, after he feeds, I'm lucky to pump 1/2 an ounce, My all day pumping total is usually only 3-4 oz when I don't pump overnight.

If her latch hurts you, then even if it looks good and textbook from the outside, there is still something wrong. Nursing shouldn't hurt.

By the way, Do What YOU Think is BEST!!!! She is your baby and you need to take care of her as you feel is best so don't let too much conflicting and confusing advice sway you from following your instincts. You have done a great job so far, glean what you can that is useful to you from all the advice but take care of you and baby as you think is best. (That was the single most helpful thing out Pediatrician said to me when I was. "Do What You think Best.")

[@llli*mommal]

Mama, what would you like to do at this point? Are you happy with the status quo? Or would you like to make some changes, and if so, what would your "pie in the sky" goal be?

[@llli*amelie24]

Mommal....I would like to make the status quo sustainable and perhaps even cut back a little on the formula. My baby is now gaining weight quite fast, so perhaps I may have been a bit too OTT with the formula. I have started expressing during the day, mainly to keep checking that I am producing milk, but also to try to keep the milk up and to give her a little bottle of milk during the day. I will aim in the short term to keep feeding in the night and morning and express during the day to replace one formula feed and breastfeed during the day when she demands it ( sometimes she just wants the bottle). Does this seem like a sustainable plan? Thanks for advice.

[@llli*amelie24]

I've experienced (am still experiencing) some issues with my now 8 week old. He was big at birth and it was a fairly long labor and I experienced a fair bit of blood loss during delivery which may have contributed to my milk being a little slow coming in. For the next few weeks I was struggling with supply and needing to supplement (I've been using the at the breast supplementing methods, not the bottle.)
I was having a terrible time feeling that it was my fault/low milk supply. Then I got a good breast pump and was doing all sorts of things to increase my milk supply (and still am.) I finally got to the point where by pumping after almost every feeding, I could pump as much as we were supplementing with formula. So a couple weeks ago I tried to stop supplementing, I reduced the amount of supplement by about an ounce a day. It became apparent that the problem wasn't my supply but his latch, feeding were LONG and frequent and became progressively more painful to me during that time (even though it looks good to a consultant from the outside) finally got some one to look at him for tongue tie. I'm still waiting for the appointment to get his tongue tie (and lip tie) fixed. My LC said that once fixed he will become far better at milk transfer and my milk supply should see a drastic improvement and I will likely be able to stop the pumping after each feeding.

By the way, after he feeds, I'm lucky to pump 1/2 an ounce, My all day pumping total is usually only 3-4 oz when I don't pump overnight.

If her latch hurts you, then even if it looks good and textbook from the outside, there is still something wrong. Nursing shouldn't hurt.

By the way, Do What YOU Think is BEST!!!! She is your baby and you need to take care of her as you feel is best so don't let too much conflicting and confusing advice sway you from following your instincts. You have done a great job so far, glean what you can that is useful to you from all the advice but take care of you and baby as you think is best. (That was the single most helpful thing out Pediatrician said to me when I was. "Do What You think Best.")

Thanks for the advice. Your commitment is amazing. I guess I went through something similar but The nursing never hurt after the first week. I genuinely think I was making just not quite enough milk. I decided to give up the breastfeeding after getting to the point where I was extremely anxious about my baby being hungry and getting very anxious about weekly weighings. As soon as I decided to stop I saw the milk building up and thought it would be a shame to stop completely so I am now trying to mixed feed. Of course, I am now a bit heavy handed with the formula and here weight gain has shot up, possibly a bit too fast and am trying to reach a balance. I also have to keep perspective on the breastfeeding, as I tend to get overly focused on things. If it becomes too difficult to sustain and impinges on other aspects of motherhood I will give it up. The advice ' do what you think best' is really good.