Is it too late ??

[Whataname]

Keeping the story short- Wanted to breastfeed completely but poor latching and low milk supply had to depend on formula from day 2. The feeds for my baby are mixed . In a day she has 2-3 bottles of formula and 2-3 times of expressed milk depending on the amount of milk I am able to express. My breasts are still sore and have the burning sensation all the time. My baby takes the breasts during night time mainly for comfort feeding but during the day she latches on only for few min and then cries until the bottle is given. She is 7 weeks now. Is it too late to completely breastfeed??

[roxannacar]

If you're still producing milk it's not too late. But you need to try and be latching her on as much as possible, express as much a possible. Your breasts work on demand and supply so the more milk comes out the more and the more milk they produce.

[Whataname in reply to roxannacar]

Thank you Roxannacar. I express and latch her on. She will latch on for a minute and then cry for the bottle.

[Seb9]

Not at all, if you've got milk there it's just about building up the supply.

I would say that if you're giving bottles look up pace feeding so it's slower and harder for baby to get the milk and it's more like breast feeding so they will put in the hard work to breastfeed. Bottles are easy for babies to gulp down so they soon get a preference.

Each time she shows a hunger cue offer boob first and then give a pace feed from the bottle is she's not full up and happy. Don't wait till she's hungry because then she'll want her fast bottle feed and won't want to put the effort into getting your milk out.

There's a really good Facebook group called UK breastfeeding support, lots of really helpful ladies on there and very supportive of you want more help.

Good luck xx

[Whataname in reply to Seb9]

Thank you Seb9. I keep offering her my breasts first before giving the bottle. She is takes my breasts for a minute and then starts screaming. Sometimes when she takes her mouth off the milk she has sucked dribbles . But yet she screams for the bottle though milk comes from my boobs. We do pace feeding and she doesn’t seem to mind that.

I am still waiting for the admin of the FB group to approve me. 😇

[Seb9 in reply to Whataname]

You could try the other way round, bottle first to satisfy her immediate hunger issue, then switch to boob as soon as she's calm, that way you might be able to reduce bottle each feed and get quicker at giving her boob until she's just happy with boob? Plus lots of skin to skin to boost your oxytocin and anything else that makes you happy, for me chocolate hob nobs and a cup of coffee 😋🍫☕

[Tugsgirl]

Try The Breastfeeding Network UK. They have a Facebook page with contact details xx

[Whataname in reply to Tugsgirl]

Thank you Tugsgirl.

[HollyT7]

nipple sheilds were great for me when my boy wouldnt latch on and was being lazy xxx

[Whataname in reply to HollyT7]

I used Nipple shieldA in the beginning but it was pinching my nipples bad whenever she latched so had to stop using it.