Breastfeeding/formula

[Stella7373]

My baby was given 10ml formula after her birth as she was not taking breast milk. Now I’ve been told I will need to keep topping her up to this amount with formula after breastfeeding to keep her blood sugar levels up. I am confused why this is and want to only breastfeed her but this isn’t going well so far. She was born yesterday, Any advice would be welcome!

[Seb9]

Are you still in hospital or are you at home now? If you're still in hospital ask to speak to the feeding team about your concerns? They should have someone who could help if you're still having problems with breastfeeding.

If not call your midwife team as you won't have been signed off from them yet and ask for some breastfeeding help. You might be able to go back in and get more help.

Or you could call la leche league for advice or the NCT breastfeeding helpline 0300 330 0700

Until you can get some help, Is baby latching well now and drinking from you? Can you get access to an pump to express? You could always try to express the 10ml for her feeds so you can cut out the formula?

Good luck xx

[Stella7373 in reply to Seb9]

Thankyou 😊 it’s improving now!

[Seb9 in reply to Stella7373]

That's great news xx

[Chloe0789]

Go on fb and join breastfeeding yummy mummy’s they will give great advice

[Stella7373 in reply to Chloe0789]

Thankyou I will have a look 😊

[claire16c]

Hi Stella. Great advice above.

Explain to them that you are breastfeeding So you want a bf solution. If it’s because baby isn’t feeding well then the midwives should be showing you how to express some colustrum and then give that to her in a syringe. Only then if you can’t get any should you need to use formula.

Ask to see the infant feeding team. Some hospitals can be rather hit and miss with bf support unfortunately. But the infant feeding team has specialised midwives.

Keep trying to latch baby. Call them for help at every feed. If she’s feeding well then I can not see why someone has suggested use of formula but perhaps it was because she still wasn’t latching at the time but that doesnt mean forever and they should be advising you when to stop doing it . But sometimes someone from the infant feeding team can sort things out for you x

[Stella7373 in reply to claire16c]

Thankyou it is getting better now!

[Natasha213]

I had to do this for the first 3days until my milk came in and then I could exclusively breastfeed. You should be fine, I really didn't want to give formula but it's important if the blood sugars are up and down. My son had a feeding tube so it didn't affect latching xx

[Stella7373 in reply to Natasha213]

Thankyou 😊

[Treeoflife42]

Don't worry, my baby was small when he was born and he had formula first like yours until I produced some milk and then top-ups for a few weeks to make sure he was gaining weight, until we got breastfeeding fully working. Do get all the help and advice as suggested above to help with breastfeeding but don't worry that formula is going to harm your baby in any way or that she is going to prefer it to your milk. I stopped the top-ups gradually as baby lost interest and he is now almost 6 months and has been exclusively breast-fed for a long time. Everyone has a different process, and if you want to breastfeed you will. Best of luck and congratulations on your baby.

[Stella7373 in reply to Treeoflife42]

Thankyou it’s getting better now 😊

[Octoberbaby2019]

Hi, my little boy was given formula as he didn't feed from breast that first day but after that I have him breastmilk, no one told me I had to give formula top ups. I did give him maybe a couple more when I felt that he hadn't latched on over the next 2-3 days but after that went exclusively breastfed. I agree with the above advice speak to your midwife or health visitors x