To keep going or not?

Question

So my son is barely going on 3 weeks old. He was in the NICU for a week and while there they fed him formula on demand and as much as he wanted..I pumped at home every 3 hours but was only getting about 1oz total so they gave him that on top of any formula he wanted. Well first off I feel I’m not a good producer and second he’s used to getting a lot of milk fast that I feel he’s not satisfied just nursing alone: I’m not sure what to do because I rather stay BF him but get discouraged when I have to keep supplementing as well. I nursed my daughter for 6 months and would like to do the same with him but I just feel I can’t keep up. Also he isn’t very efficient while nursing, he always falls asleep. What would you do in my situation?

Answer

I was in a very similar situation! My daughter spent a week in the NICU and she was given bottles at 3 days old. They gave me a chance to try to let her latch before introducing the bottle. A lactation consultant observed and assisted. She said she struggled a bit and felt it was the feeding tube in her nose. When I took her home she kept falling asleep after nursing for 30+ minutes and when I’d lay her down within 10-20 minutes she’d be awake screaming in hunger for a bottle. I found out she wasn’t latching or nursing efficiently and recommended to limit nursing and focus on pumping to provide as much breastmilk as possible.
Then I found out she had a lip and tongue tie. We got those fixed but she still doesn’t latch. I’ve honestly given up on nursing because it’s so frustrating for both of us. I don’t find it to be a bonding experience and I don’t enjoy it. So I’m continuing to pump but obsess over it a little less and supplement with formula. I pump enough to feed her but I also need to save some frozen milk for when I go to work so I’ve started supplementing anyway. I figure it’s better to keep her on some breastmilk for 6-12 months rather than do all breastmilk now and then end up switching to formula later when I can’t keep up with her and/or my milk supply runs out when I go back to work and only pump a couple times a day. 
I don’t really have any tips for you unfortunately but I wanted to stop in and say you’re not alone and to try not to drive yourself crazy over obsessing about pumping enough milk or forcing nursing on your baby. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out and that’s okay. Feel free to send me a personal message if you ever need to chat or want to talk without any judgment from others who might not understand!!

Answer

Are you demand feeding? What I was told by my midwife was to pump after every daytime feed (though you can do nights as well).
Let baby feed as long as possible then after the next feed top with breastmilk and pump again
Repeat cycle for every feed.
It sucks, you feel like a cow l, but it works
If you’re only bottle feeding try power pumping. It supposedly mimics cluster feeding
With a dual pump, Pump 20, rest 10, pump 10, rest 10, pump 10. At least once a day along with standard pumping 
If a single pump alternate 10mins on each breast repeatedly for an hour

Answer

There are excellent products, lactation cookies and tea, that help increase milk production. Increasing your output should help. Also, you can try contact nipple shields that feel like a nipple bottle to the baby, that may help him latch. Good luck!

Answer

Idk doll I'm in a similar position so hopefully someone has some good ideas. My son also only latches when he wants any other time he fights me and idk why.

To keep going or not?

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