Breastfeeding problem

Hi,

Let me introduce myself, I am Alison Brown one of the gurgle experts, I am a midwife and answer some of the questions that come up on the site.

I have just notice your thread and thought I would offer some advice.

Milk supply decreasing when you are solely expressing is a very common problem the breast pump in most cases does not offer the same kind of stimulation of the breastfeeding hormones as the baby does. It also does not tend to empty the breast as well as a baby and there fore the balance of supply and demand is put out.

Solely expressing milk is not for the faint hearted and does put a lot more pressure on you. But it can be done.
I have found the following links very useful when I am with a mother who is exclusively expressing.

http://www.exclusivelypumping.com/

http://www.mother-2-mother.com/ExclusivePumping.htm

In the past mothers would have been advised to either breastfeed or bottle feed and not to do both. Now a days if you want to provide breast milk for your baby, no matter how little then you should be supported with this.

It is not too late to still work at latching him on but you should find yourself a breastfeeding councillor to help you through this. I have known babies take to the breast after a month or so with the right kind of support.

This link has information on how to find a lactation consultant or you could ask your health visitor if you area has an infant feeding advisor.

http://www.ilca.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3337

Hope that has helped a little but remember every bit of breast milk your baby receives provides benefits to you both whether it is one feed or several months of feeding .

Kind regards
Alison

hiya hope you are feeling better today, hormones have a lot to answer for lol! i'm surprised at how much not being able to continue giving breastmilk has affected me cause i formula fed from day 1 with my other kids and never worried about it, oh well like u say we do have a lot to be thankful for and at least we gave it a go. xxxx

I know exactly what you mean, everyone keeps saying we have done well to get this far but I feel exactly the same and keep blubbing whenever I talk about it!! I just can't believe how stressful it has been when all you hear during pregnancy is how 'everyone can do it' and that it's the easiest option, makes me feel even worse! I'm sure the hormones have their part to play though and I'll probably feel better for sleeping on it. Your twins are absolutely gorgeous, congratulations, I guess we have a lot to be thankful for in the scheme of things! xx

hi huni i know exactely how you feel i had my twins 3 wks n 2 days ago and couldn't breastfeed as i already have 4 kids which is hectic enough and it just wasn't gonna b practacle so i decided to express and it was going great with both twins having on adverage 90% breast milk with the odd formula feed to top up until last weekend when just like u said i could barely express even an ounce and i'm so gutted feel like such a failure could cry every time i think about it they've gone onto aptimil now for all their feeds but i just don't get it one day i could quite easily get 8ounces expressed in 1 sitting the next an hour to just get a measly ounce how dissapointing. suppose we tried at least didn't we xxxx

Hi there, it hasn't been a good day and I just wondered if anyone else had had similar experiences. My baby boy has never been able to latch properly (he had a tongue tie which was cut but it didn't help much). I really wanted to feed him so I have been expressing every feed for him which has been exhausting, especially as he lost a lot of weight after birth so we have been trying to get his weight back on. He is now 3 weeks old and in the last couple of days his appetite has greatly improved (maybe the heat) and I have been expressing more, however out of nowhere I have started to produce hardly any milk and my boobs have mysteriously returned to pre-pregnancy size. The midwife has been today and says I will have to supplement him with formula as I can barely get enough for one feed each time I express, I am absolutely gutted, feeding has been so stressful since day one and this feels like a new low! Just wondered if anyone else had had a similar experience and how it turned out??