Is it possible to return to BF

Was wondering what would be involved in taking DD off the FF and getting back into BF.
I have been FF for nearly 2 weeks now as she was not putting on enough weight - had dropped down to the 5th percentile, in weeks 8 & 9 had only gained 100g and over the 9 weeks had only increase 800g from birth weight - she has put on around 1.2kd in the 2 weeks of FF.
I will have little support from DP as he prefers FF - feels like there is more control and she has been more settled & happier since swapping. I have a 2yr old at home with me all day, i dont drive and have no other family around for support.
Is it going to be to big a task?
Your advice is appreciated

It can be possible to BF again sometimes. Have you tried putting your bub back on? Do you still have milk? Does she still latch? If bub will go back on, the best way to get a supply back up will be to put bub back on the breast for every feed, at least 3-4 hourly. If its not enough to fill her, breast feed first and top with formula. Eventually you could possibly not need formula at all. If you do try, it may a hard few weeks, but be beneficial in the long run!! I wish you so much luck honey!!! :D

Sorry, I almost forgot!! The ABA most probably has members in your area. Most will come to your home to help you re-establish milk and latching on if you need some extra help. Your local hospital may also have a lactation midwife that could also help.:D

Purplemamma - when you say have i still got milk - i haven't been expressing or anything for the last 2 weeks but if i try to hand express now there is small drips coming out - is this what you mean???

Great advice there - please seek out the support of your local ABA people.
It sure is possible - and it could be a challenge.
I would also think that if you are going to be watching 'the charts', you could fall into this trap again - I would rip the charts out of the baby book and tap into your instinct about how your baby is growing :) You have what it takes to nourish your child without needing to feed formula, just to keep up with charts - also remember that those damn averages only work because there are babies who fall into areas either side of those figures. What I mean is, there is no such thing as an average if ALL babies were to be 'average'! And this, in no way, means that the non-average babies are unhealthy...it's just that those babies will never be 'average' because of genetics or whatever, so it's ok for babies not to conform to what our health nurses would like to see :)
Oh, and by the way, you can ALWAYS come here to BB when you're having a tough time. Do both you and your baby a favour and give BFing a shot again :hug:

Thanks for that - just rung local LC and shes coming round Monday
DD just woke up so i offered BF that was 10 mins ago she went on fine & doesn't want to let go - guess she knows whats good for her :lol::lol:

Yep!! Since you can still easily produce milk, getting a good supply back up shouldn't take too long. You just may not have enough for a little while till supply gets back up. Just keep attaching bub, and the milk will soon meet all her needs!!! you'll know when all is good when you get strong let downs if you normally feel them, or you can still squeeze out milk after she's pulled off and is full. If you do return to BF, thats all she needs. Ditto Mayaness, if bub is fully breastfed, happy, weeing and generally content, get rid of the chart!!!

Morgan.. thats great news she attached :)

I agree get rid of the charts. I have been worrying myself for no good reason. My CHN nurse wanted me to reweigh Olivia in a month as she hadn't gained what she wanted.. But I have reweighed her myself and according to the "charts" she is at the 50% line anyways..

Anyway Good Luck :) Let us know how you go

Yep, you can absolutely restart breastfeeding, and it would be a wonderful decision with lots of benefits for your DD. It is a technique called "relactation".

The Australian Breastfeeding Association produces a booklet on techniques to re-establish breastfeeding, which can be found through your local ABA Counsellor, or online at Relactation and Adoptive Breastfeeding .

You should be able to re-establish breastfeeding right up until your baby is six months of age.

And if your DP is not supportive, perhaps explain to him some of the tangible benefits of BF - like being able to get up and go out on the spur of the moment, not having to take sterilised bottles, find places to go out that will warm a bottle, etc. etc. ...

Good luck!

I agree about the charts, they cause more trouble then there worth. Hopefully with some good advice and some perseverance you will reestablish your breastfeeding partnership in no time. best wishes :)

Weleda do a Breastfeeding tea which helps to bring in milk. Check out a local health food store... if they don't stock it they can order it. Nettle tea is another good one, or False Unicorn.

Alternatively, you could try Fenugreek capsules if teas aren't to your liking :)

Thats great news that you want to start breastfeeding again. I went through the same thing with my first son and we reestablished breastfeeding when he was about 6 months old.

Its amazing what our bodies can do. Some adoptive mothers can even begin lactating by having their adoptive baby latching on constantly through the day...Ive read a few amazing stories about that.

Good luck with it all :clap:

Good on you Morgan for giving it a try. And what great news that she latched on well first time. You can do this - you are already doing a great job. GL with it.

Thank you all for your support & advice. I will keep updating on how we go and I am sure that within a few weeks the bottles will be out the door.

:)

Hi Morgan, I will be following this thread with great interest! Well done on making this decision. And how beautiful that your bub latched on so well! I'm sure you will both do fine. You sound very positive and determined!

I too have been a little worried lately about these charts but I know my boy is healthy and strong!

Best of luck!

Well done morgan, how inspiring to hear a Mum reestablish bfing because she wants to try again!

Good luck and I hope your little one cooperates. Just remember, it will take a little while for your supply to reestablish itself.

If you are after some more helpful charts I can recommend the WHO's ones that are for bf bubbas. They can be downloaded from their website via a nifty program (called Anthro) that allows you to track your bub's growth yourself. But even on those my DD was on the bottom percentiles until she got to about 12 mths when she powered ahead!

This is the link to the section on the WHO website:
WHO | The WHO Child Growth Standards

Thanks Jennifer13 for that info - will have a squiz over the weekend.

We have managed to do a BF at the start of every feed today and i think i had a really really tiny letdown on the last one :dance:
but now my nipples are stinging and looking really red i think she is chomping at them a bit cause of the bottle feeding. Is there a better bottle/teat we can be using - currently using avent and i remember having a similar prob with DS and i ended up with my nipples looking like they were lacerated and about to fall off:lol:

Again everyones support is really appreciated.

We use Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature. They are wider and more stretchy than avent bottles and so are little more like taking the breast.

Just a quick question to those in the know :lol: how long would i take Blessed Thistle (capsules) for - the lady at the health food store was a little on the dopey side and had no idea:rolleyes:

Still going hard at this and yesterday DD had 100ml less formula than normal but was still fairly well settled :dance:

Morgan, you sound like you're doing a fabulous job - well done!

Just a note on the Blessed Thistle. It has not been shown to have any great effect at increasing low milk supply. Taken in conjunction with Fenugreek it might have some effect, but not alot. And on it's own it's not worth it.

I only found this out at a seminar the other day, wish I had known earlier, I took the stuff for 9 months LOL. I never really felt that it was helping me, but I was too scared to stop in case it was ;). Well, when I stopped taking it I noticed no difference.

I think Fenugreek would work better, but you need to take about 3000mg/day. Make sure you get the 1000mg capsules, not the 600mg.

Good luck hun, and here's to not needing any supplements at all!

Morgan - I hope you're having better luck with the chomping today! Just a tip - make sure DD is correctly attached at each bf and if it starts to hurt, take her off and carefully reattach her. It shouldn't hurt you and it would be awful to go backwards now you've come this far!

Good luck!

Thanks Jennifer she seems to have got the hang of it again except if shes tired then shes a little lazy but i have been removing & reattaching.

Janie - i could of got the 1000mg Fenugreek tabs but it said nothing on it about milk wheras the Blessed Thistle says that it is for that - well will keep taking them for now & will try the others next payday (thurs) - cheers for the tip tho

Well have had the LC come and visit and she is really happy with how things are going. :D
She recommended that i take Motilicim (sp?) to improve milk supply - does this stuff work any better than herbal remedies???
Also she wants to see 180-200gm of weight increase a week is this a lot i thought that around 150g would be normal??

Yep, Motilium is an anti-nausea drug that also increases prolactin levels. Most people find that it works very well. I took it for almost 7 months, and found that it worked very well for me. Most people only need it for a short period of time though, maybe a month or so. The idea is to wean off it VERY slowly. I would still take your herbal remedies as well.

180-200g does seem like a bit, but maybe there is a reason behind it. Has you baby been putting on much weight up until now?

This is just so awesome - hope you don't mind if I quote your situation to anyone who finds themselves in the pickle you were in...seems like ages ago now, doesn't it? It was a close call, though, so good to read about you back from the brink :)
I know people for whom motilium is the reason they are still BFing - and like Janie says, you may not need to take it for the rest of the time you are BFing.
Howzat? Now you're a shining 'example' ;)

Janie - Vicky had only gained 900g over the first two months which was the reason we put her on FF - i got so stressed out about it and instead of getting in LC knee jerked reacted :doh:. Anyway in the 2 weeks of being completely FF she gained 1.2kg so is now looking like a little buddha.:lol:

Mayaness - Thank you so much for your post it came at a perfect time to as we had a pear shaped morning today - the joys of having a 2yr old boy at home as well :rolleyes::wall: - & please feel free to quote away if it helps even just one other woman it would be wonderful. BF so important in so many different ways and i know that there is many women out there who dont realise that relactating is possible and then live with the guilt of having FF for a very long time - i know i did with DS. But it is not easy to do and without the support of people like yourself and everyone else here on BB i wouldn't be doing it. So thank you again
And thank you to everyone else :hug:

And just a general woohoo - i got letdown 3 times today :dance:

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And just a general woohoo - i got letdown 3 times today :dance:

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Well done Morgan! Sounds like you are on track. :clap:

Wow Morgan, you are doing a GREAT job. Well done.

Hi, Morgan,

It seems like you are doing a great job. Good on you for giving it another go, seeing an LC and so on. funnily, 900g in 8 weeks isn't too bad. You would expect her to lose 10% of her birthweight and regain it in 2 weeks - so, I would tend to think that she has gained 900g in 6 weeks if you know what I mean.

Michael, women can relactate at any age. Women who adopt babies can produce mil, even if they've never had a biological child. And if they don't, there is more to breastfeeding than just milk - so it's still worth while.

Warm Regards
Barb

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Michael, women can relactate at any age. Women who adopt babies can produce mil, even if they've never had a biological child. And if they don't, there is more to breastfeeding than just milk - so it's still worth while.

Warm Regards
Barb

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Barb, I stand corrected.

I think what I was getting at is that I've heard that up until 6 months, the process is considerably easier. But of course, you are right, I have heard of women who have adopted a baby and have lactated.

just another update
Today Vicky has dropped from having 880 - 1000ml of formula a day when she was being FF to 660ml today & 9 BF's :dance::dance: and has so far been asleep since 7pm. the last feed she actually had half a bottle and then refused it but jumped back on the boob for half an hour and went to sleep - i love her so much & i know she is loving me doing this for her.:D

Congrats! That's fantastic that your doing that you should definitely be proud of yourself!!

you're a gun!! She sure is thanking you, and she will later, too :D

Congrates Morgan and Vicky, what a great job.

I have been trying all week to re-introduce breastfeeding but my little miss just won't take to it at all.

Bekz, from what I understand, it's more miss than hit with relactation, and it takes some perseverance...sometimes with the goal remaining unattained. In that case, you can always tell your kids later that you gave it a red hot go!! Look, if you don't achieve it, you did what you knew to be best at the time, given all the information you had at that time - no-one can ask for more than that, can they? Meanwhile, keep us posted with how you go and be kind to yourself :hugs:
The ABA forum has got a section for relactation, and you can also call a counsellor about it, too, if the going gets tough (though I suspect, Barb, that the counsellor on the phone might refer a caller to you!), to chat to others who have tried and succeeded/not succeeded. Just remember that it's not only a matter of you wanting it badly enough - there's a kid with a volition of their own, and some just decide they won't be going back. There's only so much you can control.
Thinking of you both :)

I just wanted to update and thank everyone for their support.

We are now just passed the 6 months and we are still BF :dance::dance::dance: (although not fully)

I know that if i could have dedicated all my time to DD for a couple of days when we reestablished we would of kicked the bottles completely, but it wasn't possible so i have been able to accept that at least she is getting some of my breastmilk and we will keep going as long as possible. Bring on 12 months.

Thank you again to the lovely ladies who offered me their support & wisdom.

Well done! :clap:

Hi, Morgan,

Great job! Many women who find that they have had to supplement their baby with formula find that, after 6mnths they can replace formula with food, and continue their breastfeeds. After 6mnths babies are usually able to eat a wide range of foods pretty quickly. I wonder if that was something you had considered?

Regards
Barb

Good on you Morgan and good luck for your continued success!

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Barb Glare Hi, Morgan,

Great job! Many women who find that they have had to supplement their baby with formula find that, after 6mnths they can replace formula with food, and continue their breastfeeds. After 6mnths babies are usually able to eat a wide range of foods pretty quickly. I wonder if that was something you had considered?

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Thank you Barb, i am hoping to replace formula with food. We tried solids for a week but she was not interested and it dont think she is quite ready and it seemed to really upset her tummy through the night. It is definately something i will be trying to do when the time come though.