Low Milk Supply

Are they sure it isn't a tongue tie? I only say as some people (even LCs) are better at spotting them than others. Just the slipping off the nipple and sore nipples sounds like my experience (as well as the fussiness, cluster feeding, being unsettled after feeding etc) There are all sorts of tongue ties, not just the classic frenulum (sp?) one. Posterior, upper all sorts that cause havoc with feeding even if the attachment might start off well or is good some of the time.
You are doing a great job!

I'm going to get the MCHN that is due to visit to have a look at her mouth, and also the LC when I see her again. Just to be sure. The slipping seems odd.

We did our first try at a lying down feed just now and it was good :) The extra rest I got was awesome. Took a little bit of getting used to with positions but once there was fine, and she went down without a bottle :D Yay!

First of all, you are doing an awesome job. Well done for taking great care of your baby.
I had very similar problems with both my babies. Very low milk supply after caeareans.
In then end what really worked for me was homeopathics. I have a veru lovely homeopath I see who is gentle and kind and gave me Lactucca to increase my supply. She was also able to give me remedies for nipple thrush and mastitis and also a remedy to help me relax. I had a lot of trouble letting down.
I hope things keep improving for you.
xoxoxo

Thank you for all the support means alot :) So far we have done one BF and one Comp today so things are a bit better. Hopefully this is the start of weaning her off the formula :)

Great work!
The cluster feeding & unsettledness can be quite normal for babies and doesn't necessarily mean they need extra milk (sometimes they do - that's for you to figure out I guess ;)). Often they don't feel so good - and it's common for them to be like this for several hours at a time, and commonly at one particular time of day - and they want mum & boobs and nothing else will do. If you then give a bottle they can guzzle it like they're starving and fall asleep, but sometimes it's not so much that they were actually hungry, but that they took the milk that was offered then had to sleep it off. Just something to bear in mind if you find her behaving like this at times - even mums with no supply problems at all will find their babies doing this.
In any event, you are definitely getting there :)

lolpigs,
You could be me writing. My precious little man is now 12 weeks old but our story is so so similar. I too had an early c/s (due to a stillbirth previously and because my little Harry prefered to have his head up not down.......even after being turned twice by the OB!)
I have big boobs and a tiny baby with a really tiny mouth who had jaundice and was milk drunk in minutes of sucking.
I ended up feeding him as much as we could manage....I even used damp cold cloths to wake him up. I would then express immediately and give him whatever I expressed as he seemed to manage to drink from the bottle flow easier. Then he'd sleep and I'd express again in about an hour. He'd wake every two hours and we'd repeat.........I was KNACKERED.
As well as all this I had thrush and vasospasm...totally unfun and very painful.
You are doing an amazing wonderful job. More power to you for keeping going.
I did not have a supply problem as such but I like to think of it as a "tap" issue..........couldn't get the milk effectively from my tank to his!
The good news is as he's got bigger things have really really improved and taking medication for thrush helped with the breast and nipple pain too.
I did not use motillium but I wasn't expressing much more than you seem to be either.
Hang in there it is so so worth it. Get as much help as you can and remember that you know your little bubba better than anyone so do what you think is right.
Little Harry lost weight and my GP told me I had to wean onto formula. Luckily I ignored him and now I have a chubby healthy exclusively BF baby.
The best thing I did was buy a dual breast pump....saved a lot of time from the single hand pump I had.
good luck to you
Kate

Yeah last night we had about 5 hours of unsettled ness however after booby, bubs would sleep for an hour and then wake, we eve had a 2 hour break and then she woudl wake.

However after the 12:30 feed the pitch of her cry changed and she was very hungry and I didn't seem to have enough, and was much happier after the comp.

We just had another feed without a bottle :) I've started leaving her on me for 10mins if she comes off for being asleep. If she is still hungry she wakes in about 2 mins and starts crying again. If she is satisfied I can carry her to her bassinet and put her to bed without her waking. Least that is the theory I'm trying anyway. :lol: Yeah I'm hoping once she gets bigger it will be easier with her mouth size.

I think I have venospasam, I was paying attention to my nipples this time and they were white on the ends when they came out and I got stabby pains when it started to pink again. The whole nipple dosent go white however. I'll have to get the MCHN or LC to take a look and see what they think.

Baby steps! :)

Try and get more nipple into that little mouth - if they are getting folded because they aren't in to the soft part of bubs mouth then the ends can go white and be very sore.
good luck!

Just thought I would update, things are getting better and better each day.

Our attachment is great now most feeds, soreness is ever decreasing which is nice! Bubs is activley draining the breast now instead of just fiddling around.

We only had 1 comp feed yesturday and only 30mls!

None so far today ;) My LC is proud and I am too.. can't believe it! I'm going to wait a few weeks before weaning off the meds.

Community nurse came on monday and munchkin has put on 280g so is back to just over her birth weight and passed all the developmental tests :)

Hooray!

Thanks for the supoprt guys :)

:happyforyou: Thats awsome! Well done hun

Brilliant!!!

that's fantastic news :happyforyou:

Great!!! Good job mumma!

We are now officially bottle free :D

2nd day today with no bottles and Bubs content every time, took 3 weeks of struggle but we got there !

Woohoo! :leap:

Dissapointing news, looks like without the pumping and all the extra work I can't maintain the supply my flow slowed again over the last 24hours and bubs went back to falling asleep after 5 mins on the boob and being starving again after a feed.

I've decided to Keep pumping and feeding EBM, still feed boob and top up with formula as needed. She is far more contented that way and we have had a rough time the last few days.

Thanks for all the support. If it does happen to get my supply to a point where I can exclusivley BF I will, if not at least she is getting everything I can give her.

L x

Sorry to hear you got a bit wobbly there again! Same thing happened to me. I have learnt now to be a little ahead with EBM. This helps keep my supply up and also means I have "spare" BM when the little bloke is having a growth spurt. It took about 6-8 weeks until I totally stopped topping up at one or to feeds a day.
Keep in mind there are advantages to all this. Your bub will now take a bottle if needed and you know really well how to express.
Once things settle you'll be able to confidently leave bub with a babysitter and EBM and have a little time for yourself or work.

I've been exactly where you are now with 2 of my babys. You have done so well to come this far and you have given her such a great start you should be proud of yourself :hug:

hang in there - it was 6 weeks before I had my sleepy munchkin off EBM and back to mostly suck-feeding. Try and avoid the top ups as much as you can - feeding again (even if its only half an hour after you fed) is a better long term option.
Wanting to suck again isn't a very good guide to hunger in tiny babies - it can mean everything from tiredness to hunger to a stuck fart. A much better guide is wet nappies and pooh (at least daily for the first weeks). And a period each day (sometimes for a few hours) of wanting to feed constantly is a babies way of increasing your supply.
hugs.

Yeah I tried it for a week doing that and all I got was a screaming hungry baby and my supply started to dip again not improve. I spoke with my mother today about it and it is the same issue she had as well. So perhaps there is a hereditary problem somewhere? LC dosen't know beucase attachment is fine, Lilly is fine and I'm taking everything I can to improve supply and nadda. Either way this works for us and bubby and me are alot less stressed. I'm not going to give up BF, and I'll give her all I can, I'm just going to stop freaking out about it and putting so much stress on myself.

Thanks for the support through this rough time. :)

It's still really early days lolpigs, so don't could yourself out already :hug:
Hope things improve for you

You may find a copy of "the breastfeeding mother's guide to making more milk" helpful too. And possibly think about adding in a FF bottle a day (before bedtime), rather than topping up each feed - much less washing, etc., and still fixing the overall hungry problem.

I was also wondering if anyone had suggested you try a supply line - that way Lilly can continue to learn suck-feeding and stimulate your supply whilst getting the additional milk she needs too.

And if you need some stories from those who have been there and found their own ways of making it work, have a look here:
https://www.bellybelly.com.au/forums...ourself-85589/

Well, I have to say I could kiss the community nurse I just saw. After struggling with all this, I saw her today and she looked at feeding and said "I think your supply is fine, bubs may be over fed" as we were talking to her about her grazing issue and her gassy problems and she said they are linked and showed me how to tell. She didn't agree with LC that bubs falling asleep at breast meant low flow she just needed to be woken up.

I've decided to keep taking motilium, she suggest 2 tablets twice a day not one as she advised that wouldnt do to much, and then wean off. If all good in a few weeks we can :D

We have been getting hungry signs from her all the time, but its gas instaed and she showed me how to differentiate. All that hard work has paid off, because we just had our first ever 40min feed with nappy change and back to bed in an hour.... I am fully stoked! Most feeds have been taking an hour and a half and 30mins to settle. I have been exhausted. I have to burp her 6 or so times to keep her active but supply was fine!

:dance: glad I persisted, but love my MCHN right now.

yay, there you go!
Just remember - there will be ups and downs from here, with feeding, sleep, etc, etc, but you'll work through it just like you have here. :D

Hi guys,

Thought I woudl drop by now that I can write about it without getting upset. Unfortunatley it didnt work out. During that week when I got my supply going she was screaming after every feed. Her Colic got worse. Then she was constantly hungry after she drained both breasts again. So I went to just pumping and giving EBM instead. No go, still sreaming after each feed and not satisfied, constant stomach issues screaming fits etc. Pead dismissed/didnt think anything of it, as did CHN. Both just said to persiste with BF. After advice from a friend, tried her for 24 hours on formula only and then reintroduced the EBM to see if something about the BM was causing it. During the 24hours her symptoms all but went away and as soon as I reintroducted EBM, the screaming started again. I'm gutted, but for her happyness have put her on full formula. I can't keep hurting her and noone in the medical profession I've spoken to can help me or cares. I still didnt have enough supply to feed her full time anyway by this stage, and I was on the max dose of Motilium which started to make me sick so had to stop.

I really hate my breasts right now and what we have been through, I know I tried my hardest but it still hurts that a part of me is broken. The difference now with my baby is like night and day. No more screaming fits, difficulting toileting or colic, it all dissapeared. I dont know what the issue was but she made the decision for me.

Thanks for your help and support guys. Appreciate it.

L

Yes what your MCHN said didn't sound right to me at all. We had similar problems.

With Motilium I found out later that you need to have a super duper supply in the first place for it to be of any use!! That was from a lot of googling.