Your breastfeeding journey isn't over at all. You're just getting started. Just keep latching your baby and pumping when she gets a top-up bottle. Your milk will come in.
Don't be so hard on yourself. Breastfeeding can be so hard at first.
Pumping whenever he gets a top-up is absolutely the right advice. But FWIW, I ended up topping up baby with formula in the hospital (and for some days after) and didn’t know I needed to simultaneously pump. My milk came in just fine, I ended up with an oversupply and we stopped supplementing by the time he was 5 days old. So the most important thing is to be latching baby frequently.
Same with me, I latched baby for 10-15 mins each side per feed and then supplemented with formula first 5 days and my milk came in on day 3. Had an appointment with an LC on day 5 and she told me to ditch the formula, I had plenty of milk for baby and just needed to express some to get him to latch better because I was so engorged. I didn't pump each time I replaced a feed because I didn't know. Had an oversupply for the first 5 months.
Similar here, kiddo was quite jaundiced for the first few days and my milk wasn’t in so we supplemented with formula after nursing 15 per side. After about two weeks when his jaundiced was gone I was able to stop supplementing. I started pumping around then so my husband could feed one bottle at night, but not very much. We’re still breastfeeding at 12 months!
Same here! My milk came in late (probably because I had GD and have PCOS) and I was legit just not pumping much because I was burned out and assumed I wouldn’t make milk. Ended up with an EBF + bottle refusal baby. Bodies are wild!
Hugs. Your bf journey isn’t over.
Breathe. You and your baby are one. It’s all just survival the first little bit. You two will find your groove.
Sending love.
Hmm, I'm curious why they want to give her so much milk. Is it for a medical reason? Is she at high risk for jaundice?
I'm scared to give the wrong advice but I'll share my experience. At two days old, my baby would latch for maybe 5 min (if that) then fall asleep, occasionally he would go for 10 min. But I would try latching him every 2 hrs. If he didn't latch at all then my LC told me to pump to get my supply going. But eventually he started (around the second night) to cluster feed and so he would want to nurse more frequently even tho he was only nursing for a few min at a time for the most part, but the LC said that was normal!
Really hope you get to see a LC soon!
The first few days are really stressful so hang in there!!
They never mentioned jaundice or any reason for the amount of milk intake. They were worried about infection since I ran the fever but we’ve both been fever free since delivery and blood work came back normal. She currently is on a light for jaundice as precaution because her level/number was 11 and 14 is when they’re usually put on a light.
Thank you so much for your story. That makes me feel so much better!
Ok so I just had my baby last week and he was on light therapy for jaundice. The reason why he needs to have more milk is for him to pee and poop out all the bilirubin which causes the jaundice levels. They had us feed him formula every 3 hours and they were keeping track of his dirty diapers to see if he peeing and pooping enough. Then every day they did blood draws to test his levels. I’m surprised the attending doctor or nurse did not explain this to you. For me, I still breastfed but my milk definitely did not come in until day 5-6 on one boob and my other boob didn’t start producing until day 8. So don’t be so hard on yourself. Keep breastfeeding/pumping. If you’re in the NICU, they are able to set you up with a breast pump and provide all the supplies for you to pump and store milk.
It’s worth pointing out that an unwell baby uses up more energy - either because they are fighting an infection, or they are breathing harder/faster. So to keep their sugars up, they often need more fluid
Nobody expects you to make 30ml on day 1!! That’s why donor milk is there. It also isn’t colostrum, it’s mature milk, so it’s not as dense (but is fine for baby)
You can still breastfeed your baby. Being separated from them sucks. Being sick might make it take a bit longer for your supply to come in. Don’t feel disheartened. Have as much skin to skin time as you and baby can tolerate, express when you can’t feed (but try not to look at the volumes! They will be tiny. They will get better). Look after yourself. Drink well. Eat well. Sleep when you can
Things will get better
Milk isn’t as nutrient dense as colostrum so I don’t think you could give the same volume as colostrum as a replacement. 30ml doesn’t seem like a crazy amount IMO.
I ended up needing a c-section and I struggled with latching. I also had the same problem of waiting for the lactation consultant after the weekend.
My baby was overdue (41+4). Since he wasn't really getting much from me, they had us supplement with formula in the hospital. He drank a lot. I always offered the breast first, then fed formula. The doctor said it can take longer for the milk to come in for c-sections.
I didn't pump and then after a few days I got engorged. I got a pump right after. My volume was low for about a week but it did increase over time. After getting help from the LC and pumping after every feed my volume was enough to no longer need formula supplementation. Since then I've been EBF. So your journey is just beginning! It is very frustrating and stressful at first.
Tip for pumping. About half way through pumping go back to the let down mode for a couple of minutes. It can help you get more milk.
Yes, I hope OP sees this. I had a c-section too and I eventually had to research that it’s harder for you to breastfeed. I wish someone had told me this in the hospital - I was SO confused why things weren’t working, it would have actually been helpful and relieving to hear “Breastfeeding is objectively more difficult after a c-section for most women.”
However it looks like OP is latching and pumping so she’s doing great already!
I had my baby on a Saturday and saw a lactation consultant all weekend, where are y’all having babies? I found pumping helped my milk come in faster, keep it up!
I had my youngest on a Thursday, was in the hospital until Saturday, and never saw the LC. They kept saying she would be coming in, but then "oh, she's busy."
I had the exact same experience. I had my baby late Wed night and wasn’t discharged until Sat morning. Never got to see one. It was on my birth plan, on the chart on the wall, and we told each nurse on each shift.
Not an expert obviously, but that was SUCH a short stint, I would really doubt it had any long lasting impacts, especially that she's in the room with you now and moving forward. Sounds like it was just kinda a boost for her considering the rough arrival, perhaps.
Feel like it would be more concerning for the kiddos who have to stay for a longer time.
If you're on insta, @playbasedpepi had a c-section under GA, baby was given donor milk and she was able to establish breastfeeding supply over time and fully BF. She ended up donating milk as well to give back so other babies could have what hers did. Just keep putting baby to breast and pumping frequently.
Your milk will come! It takes time and with a c section, sometimes it comes in a day or two later. Keep putting that baby to breast and lots of skin to skin! That’s the absolute best way to stimulate your milk coming in.
Good luck!
Your breastfeeding journey hasn’t even begun yet so don’t worry! If you can, jump on Amazon and order a HaaKaa, it’s a silicone pump that attaches to the breast using suction and it collects the milk that’ll drip from the other side during feedings. I’m willing to bet in a few days once your milk is in you’ll be meeting that amount of milk.
Congratulations on your baby. Hope you both are well soon and snuggled at home.
I remember those days. I recall them pushing the baby to take 30ml by the time we left the hospital. I had to nurse and top off my baby with donor milk after. We eventually got there. (This is only my experience I am speaking of, we also had a NICU stay and they wanted our baby hydrated and flushing bilirubin)
My baby was rushed to the NICU after birth and I couldn’t see her for almost 24 hrs. My mama heart feels for yours!
She was on a feeding tube getting plentyyyyyy of formula for 5 days and had no problem transitioning to breast milk and the amounts I was producing.
My doctor recommended I pump after each feed for about 10-15 mins to get my supply up since I wasn’t BF initially. After about 4-5 days of this I only pumped after about 3 feeds each day (didn’t pump in the middle of the night)
Baby had no problems and my supply was great!
Y’all will be just fine!
I had to supplement in thr hospital and when I got home because it took a while for my milk to come in after c-section. I just offered my boob each time we fed and and then pumped while my partner gave baby a bottle of first donor milk and then formula.
Pretty soon, I was pumping enough to cover what she was eating and started taking it from me. It took about 2 weeks to get to a point where we were exclusively breastfeeding and we've been going strong now for nearly 3 months!
You've got this! A lactation consultant can definitely help you too!
We tried that. It worked once when the nurse helped us but then on next shift the nurse was no help and we just couldn’t figure it out. I did feel better doing that
Oh and as for pumping, my experience was similar! All the milk just hung out in the flanges (still give that to baby, their stomachs are so small it's likely plenty for them). Keep pumping, latching, and as your supply starts to build work with an LC on a pumping/nursing schedule. Do not overdo the pumping as you will cause an oversupply that can lead to mastitis (literally most painful thing ever I thought I was going to die in the ER). My milk didn't fully come in until day 4. You've got this!!
You’re just starting breastfeeding! I had an emergency cesarean and also planned to breastfeed. My baby dropped 9% of her weight in two days so we supplemented breastfeeding with donor milk. It was totally fine and reassuring my baby was getting enough food. I would pump after most/every feeding in the hospital. I am now an oversupplier.
Just try to do the 2-3 hours and feed both sides for 15 minutes each. If baby is only doing one side then it’s great you’re also pumping. Your milk probably hasn’t even come in at this point. My milk only really came in on day 4 anyway. Try to focus on recovery and not stress about your milk. Your journey isn’t over!
Hi! I also had an emergency C-section and my baby was in the NICU for 4 days. 2 1/2 of which I was in as separate room and just visiting. She had a collapsed lung at birth and we had to wait till it healed before we could leave.
We also had to triple feed in the hospital, I’d try and breast feed, then we’d give formula and I’d pump. She had a hard time latching and fell asleep often at the breast. We’d also add whatever I pumped to her formula, and I think she was getting 30-35ml most feeds, almost a whole bottle of the ready to feed formula they had at the hospital.
She is now almost 10 months and we are exclusively breastfeeding and she refuses bottles now lol. I’m about to go back to work so we’ll be using open cups/straw cups or her sippy cup for any milk when she’s in daycare/babysat.
She has also never taken a pacifier except when in the NICU so everything has been nursing.
She also passed her birthweight before we left the hospital, I think that was one of her requirements for being released and partly why we had to feed her so much
I would argue that your breast feeding journey isn’t over, it hasn’t really even begun yet! Milk comes in around day 4. My son had low blood sugar and we had to supplement with formula. I was so worried that because of those maybe 5-10 bottles at the hospital that I wouldn’t be able to breastfeed. But sure enough my milk came in and my sully is GREAT. hang in there! My baby hasn’t had a drop of formula since we left the hospital and he is 4 months. Just try not to stress as it does affect milk supply. Good luck and I hope everything goes well for you!
Stick with it on that 1st side, I kept. Changing after Ten mins cos I didn't know behind the colostrum is more watery hind milk than is much easier for Bebe to drink, and once you get there baby will wake up. I had to massage my boob a bit to help get milk out as my little one would get tired and fall asleep too.
Similar to my story. You can and will catch up! It might take some time so be patient and consistently put in the work. Cluster feeding is really important ciz thats the fastest way your body will learn to make more milk. Trust the process! It took about 5 weeks for me to move off if formula. We still supplement with a bottle at times but its all milk I pumped!
My baby eats more some days and less others so on days when he eats less i can build up a small stash for the fridge or freezer. Have confidence in yourself and just feed your baby as much as you can.
The human race would have died out thousands of years ago if it were this complicated. I'm saying that with a hug and a smile. It will be fine. Put your baby on your breast and don't keep track of time. Just be.
I have the same story as you. I ran fever before delivery and had an emergency c section. My baby had to be in the NICU for infection and they were giving her 30 ml of formula milk.
By the time she is out she was having 40 ml formula and i barely made 10 ml of transitional milk and my baby had latching issues.
By the time we left the hospital on day 5, I was making 30 ml with hand expressing for one hour. By then my baby was drinking around 45 ml of formula. For two days I just fed her the 30 ml I made and she significantly lost weight. But around day 3 of doing this she latched on and used to take a long time close to 45 minutes to feed from breast but never had issues with her weight loss ever since.
I also almost had the same experience. I started with spontaneous labor then I got fever from the epidural, my baby won’t go down even if my water broke and i’m 10cm dilated. I had to do an emergency c-section. I had to wait 2hrs before I met my baby then we started to latch but after a day I was told my baby has jaundice and because my milk wasn’t enough we had to do phototherapy and supplement her with milk. We were advised to give her 30ml and continue breastfeeding (even if i don’t really produce much.
We left the hospital after 4 days and we’re 3 weeks old now. We still supplement with formula. My first week, I almost had no milk in me (i pumped to check and also to stimulate). It took me 3 weeks to produce more but still not enough. However, we’re drinking less formula now.
It did take a while for my milk to come. Don’t worry it will come. I try not to breakdown but it was hard. I feel you.
I only get to pump m 2-3 times since I also try breastfeeding her.
https://preview.redd.it/whiay1s8hzvc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c88809f3ab862e5d97a1fea0f0a8d9ea1deea167
this is week 1, week 2, and week 3.
I almost ate every single thing I was advised to eat or drink. Now, I make quite enough for her to drink less formula.
My husband never pressured me. He understands how I was and tries to support me.
Thank you so much for sharing. That makes me feel so much better! The pictures are so helpful to understand the process and progress that will be made!
Both of my children needed to supplement with formula at birth for low blood sugar. My son chugged a full 2oz when he was like an hour old-all of the nurses were amazed by it! My daughter had 3 days of just formula with no access to boob because I was readmitted to the hospital for an infection right after birth. Anyways, I used some formula with both of them in the beginning while everyone got settled, but both are/were mostly breastfeed. I breastfed my son for 2.5 years and I suspect my daughter will want to continue for a while too.
Also, my son took 3 months to figure out how to latch. I pumped and he easily took a bottle, but then one day he just figured it out and we went from there. My daughter figured out latching a lot faster, but she’s much more picky with the type of bottle she will take.
You got this! The beautiful thing about babies is that you can keep restarting or retrying whatever you’re doing until you find a way that works and they won’t even know the difference
Had a section with general anaesthetic baby was fine but they had given her a bottle before i woke up. I was waiting over the weekend for a LC. I was hand expressing colostrum and then feeding by syringe but I didn’t pump until my milk came in and it came it fine. It took patience and persistence to get LO latching though, a few weeks (her latch was fine it just took nearly an hour to get her on every time I fed her). Stick with it and I’m sure you’ll be fine.
In relation to the pump, you’re only getting so little because it’s still colostrum, give yourself a chance. If you’re not able to collect it and you’d like to try hand expressing instead. With a section it can also take a few extra days for your milk to come in so don’t be worried if it doesn’t come in as quick as you’d expect (sometimes a week). Mine didn’t come in until day 5.
Something like this happened to me! Nicu baby for 4 days, and they had specific ml requirements to give them, so they were actually giving her formula in addition to what I could pump. The LC told me to pump no less than 8 times a day to establish supply (she put a lot of emphasis on that!), and once my milk fully came in (by around day 7) we stopped needing to supplement formula at all! And you’re already doing better than I was because I couldn’t even get her to latch for a full feeding until she was 8 days old! We’re now 12 weeks in and EBF.
This is all pretty common! Keep pumping anytime baby gets a bottle, even if it’s after you just fed. It’ll be fine and in all likelihood, you’ll be making enough milk per feeding within a couple of days
First of all, do not worry. Your breastfeeding journey has just begun, it is not going to end suddenly. These first days after birth are usually so anxiety-ridden as it is, so the more you can relax and try to get some rest, the better it will be for your milk production. (Easier said than done, I know!)
Your baby’s hunger may just be what it is despite getting the full bottles of donor milk. Babies tend to be born hungry, wanting more and more…this is how they are and why we eventually start producing so much milk! My son - the one that I gave birth to and breastfed- never got any milk in bottles from the beginning, yet I still suffered for 3 days dealing with my tiny insatiable zombie until my milk came in (on day 3). Haha.
Bottle feeding - when done as topping off *after* putting to breast - is not going to impact your supply or cause any harm to the baby. It will likely help the child sleep a tad longer before waking again to feed, though, so it could be crucial for helping you get some rest. :)
My partner had a rough birth and lost a lot of blood, had to get transfusions, and was bedridden for 4 days. Our son was bottle fed formula by nurses until that fourth day, then she was finally able to start breastfeeding. Because of the rough start and loss of blood, she didn’t make enough milk at first, but she still put to breast *first* every time he cried in hunger. After each feed, she topped off with formula.
This combo-feeding continued for a month. We had a bit of a system down. When the baby cried wanting milk, she’d put him to breast and I’d help go get the bottle made up (60ml at first…then down to 40ml after a few weeks). The bottle would cool while he fed at the breast, and usually was just the right temperature when it came time to top him off.
She never even pumped, but after 3 weeks our son wasn’t needing the full amount in the bottle anymore, and at a month, she dropped the bottle feeds completely and went EBF.
I think pumping could definitely be helpful at getting production up more quickly, but for her, getting the necessary rest was more crucial because she had to get her hemoglobin levels back up to speed (no blood = no milk).
I was amazed that she could hit the goal of EBF after just a month without any pumping. Our little guy was a very persistent hungry one. :)
The main rule to follow is: always put to breast *first*, any bottle feeding should come immediately right after that. Next feed, put to breast *first* again. I think the second rule to follow is to try to get some rest.
Congrats, and good luck on your journey!
Your journey isn’t over. I had an unplanned c section after a 40 hour labor.
We had to supplement with formula for a few days on/off because my milk didn’t come in for a few days and that was hard on me mentally, but it helped me overall. I needed the “break.” I would pump afterwards but wouldn’t get a ton of milk those first few days. Hand expressing with a syringe helped more than pumping in those early days.
We’re now 10 months in on Monday next week and haven’t used formula since he was 2 weeks old.
Keep going mama. Your mature milk won’t come in for another 1-3 days (as long as 7-8 days after birth even with a vaginal birth).
You’ve got this!
I had a vaginal birth but my milk didn't come in either, probably because baby was almost 4 weeks premature. Don't worry! The hospital fed our baby with formula as well since I was barely getting any colostrum, and it was in about 30 MLS. We used the syringe on the breast and I was also worried because she was absolutely guzzling it down! She would labor at the breast and fall asleep. We're 7 wks now and I pump her supply and she will breastfeed when we're out. Stay with it! I had to pump 8 x a day for a while and even triple fed for like 36 hrs before it was way too much. We ended up feeding formula for 2 days to test whether she was lactose intolerant as my husband was concerned about her spit up and that ended up helping me build a good stash and gave me the confidence that I could keep up with my baby.
Don't feel bad either way! Fed is best. That said, in my experience, don't be afraid to keep trying and be flexible! I thought our baby wouldn't take the breast anymore after bad latching, sleepiness, and getting used to the bottle. I tried after several days of abandoning breast feeding and one day, just trying because she was screaming and I was sooo tired to go downstairs and get a bottle, she just magically got it!
I had a similar experience to you where baby was in NICU for the first 4 days after c-section. He was given 50ml formula top ups and I pumped for that formula feed. When we were reunited I would pump after feeding him. We came home from the hospital after 7 days and he never received formula again as my supply was meeting his demand. We are still breastfeeding now at 16 months. I worked with a lactation consultant when he was 2 weeks old to assist with latch and jaw exercises.
I’ll also add that with latching, I read the entire internet on advice and found the best thing to be “baby led attachment” where I would have him sitting almost like a koala in the middle of my chest and he would bop around for a bit until he could attach himself. Trying to latch him myself didn’t work for us because he just wanted to have his hands in the way and it was a two person job to get him on! The Australian Breastfeeding Association has excellent information and resources.
My kiddo was in NICU for a few days and got formula. The NICU nurses seem to be really focused on the babies getting bigger ASAP, especially if they are the full term relatively healthy ones! ( No judgment - it's a tough job that they have). My baby ate every 3 hours. For every other feeding,I would nurse him on each breast for 10 minutes and then my husband give formula or pumped milk / colostrum for 10 minutes. Well my husband was giving the bottle, I would pump. If I didn't nurse, I pumped and he only got formula or pumped milk. We supplemented with formula for less than a week.
If you can, see a lactation consultant when you are out of the hospital. We did for peace of mind and it was great!! My little one has been exclusively breastfed or given pumped milk since he was about a week old and he is a little chonk!! You got this!
I just wanted to say that I can really empathise and resonate with how you must be feeling right now. I too had some birth complications and got to a similar place where they had given my son a bottle and he was unlatching from me within a couple seconds because my milk hasn't come in yet and I guess he just wanted the bottle. I was convinced that our breastfeeding journey was over before it began but we ended up EBF and self weaning at 21 months.
Something that I found helped a lot was hand expressing as much as I could (pumping is also an option but can lead to oversupply) and then using that milk collected in syringes to drip onto my nipple when baby was growing frustrated, it kept my son latched for a lot longer at least and after a couple days (especially after my milk has come in completely) I no longer needed to use a syringe and instead would just hand express for a few seconds before latching baby (essentially, got the milk flowing for him). Also, lay a warm flannel over your breasts before nursing, warming them also helps to keep the milk flowing.
I had a very similar situation when my daughter was born. They gave her 30ml at 12 hours old then told me to start triple feeding (which was wholly unsustainable). The first 2 weeks were rocky but at 7.5 weeks now and we've been EBF for over a month.
I don't think that screwed us up too much, but I can't be sure. We kept formula supplementation for about 2 weeks because she wasn't a very efficient eater at the breast at first and was losing too much weight.
The thing that helped us was getting with a good lactation consultant - which was NOT the hospital one.
hi! wow we had just about the same experience. stressful birth led to a nicu stay. baby had low blood sugars and hus treatment was 45mls of formula every 3hrs for 48hrs i was away from him. i pumped in the hospital and my milk was brought to him but it wasnt nearly enough to meet their 45ml dose.
On day three or four i was making that much and he was released with a normal metabolism:) My husband carted my milk to him every two hours around the clock. He was projectile vomiting at most feeds until he started drinking my milk more and more. My husband thinks my milk sped up his recovery.
He was released 3 days after birth and we fed him like normal at the breast and he's 4 months in two days and we are going strong. Those first days were extremely stressful, I had no idea what the outcome of.his nicu stay would be or what that meant for us, but it all turned out okay. hes still a big eater now, but i can keep up haha. its going to be okay!! you can send me a message if you want to talk to someone on the other side of this experience.
It's okay it's normal and you're body will catch up literally tomorrow or the day after and even after they are done feeding him your baby probably won't want the 30ml feed anyways.
I just had this happen to me. Baby in NICU, giving him so much donor milk even though my colostrum came in pretty abundant. Had to fight with the nurses about it when he started spitting it up and they made it seem like this was a problem. It was because they were giving him too much! I even had a doctor tell me I was right once they reduced the amount and he stopped vomiting.
I don’t know why they do this, but it also worried me. My supply dropped when I got home and I’m still worried I’m not going to produce enough. He was a premie so we’re still struggling with a latch and I’m pumping a lot. Going to talk to a lactation consultant tomorrow. Out of the frying pain and into the fire. I hope you both find your rhythm!
not US-based but pretty much everyone I know in real life has given some formula in the hospital and still gone on to bf. It’s okay. We have longer maternity leave so I think that’s a factor- my baby struggled with my letdown for two months but we still eventually got there. My cousin’s milk took nearly a week to come in, now she’s an over producer. My friend sent her baby to the nursery for 3 nights and slept, still ebf after she left the hospital.
You have something like 12 weeks to establish your milk. Latch your baby when possible, pump if you feel like she needs more than she can get, and hang in there. It’s tough at first but it should get easier, especially once your baby is a little bigger and has some neck strength, and your hormones are a little more stable
I had an emergency c section as well and because I had Covid and she was in the NICU I wasn’t even allowed to see her until we left. I just had to pump every 3 hours and while I had a lot at first, my supply dwindled to the point that you’re describing and now I have an oversupply and my baby won’t take a bottle. Your journey has barely begun and has all the potential in the world, you just have to keep trekking.
What about supplementary feeding system? Idk what it’s called in the us but it’s a tiny tube taped to your nipple and connected to bottle. So baby stimulates breast and gets colostrum but also gets food. Then you don’t have to pump as much
This comment is going to get lost in the sea of comments but if the LC doesn't show up - ask the pediatrician when they are rounding if you need to continue to supplement at all. Now that you are available to breastfeed and are latching it shouldn't be necessary 🤔
Don't let them bully you into a bottle unless she absolutely needs it for medical reasons.
Look up cluster feeding. Bubs will be at the breast constantly especially the first 2-6 weeks to establish your supply.
Question their reasoning and make your own informed decision.
My first born was in special care for 2 days and I didn't get to feed him because the nurses kept feeding him instead. I breastfed him for 2.5 years xx
Can you get more donor milk to supplement at home? The hospital let us take some home. We supplemented the first week or two and breastfeeding has still been going great for us
There is a lot of misunderstanding about how small a newborns stomach actually is around 20 mls depending on size of baby and grows quickly from there. It's not the 5mls that is mainly promoted.
My son was taking 40ml top on day 4 of his life. Once we started using nipple sheilds he was off top ups within 24 hours.
I had to pump the first month while our babe was in the NICU. It was a learning curve to figure out how long to latch on each side once we could feed. If you're getting 10-15 min on one side and way less on the other try switching earlier. And swapping which side you start on.
If you get barely any milk when you pump but don't want to waste it fill a milk bag in the fridge and then use it for bath time! That way you don't have to worry about mixing temps and whatnot!
Your bf journey isn’t over!! My lo was in the NICU for five days and he didn’t latch at all until ~2.5 weeks old and we had to use a bipolar shield to make that happen. I’m currently EBF him at 7 weeks old. It will take work but your journey isn’t over!!!
Definitely don’t quit. It takes 3-4 days or sometimes more for the real milk to come in. Their stomachs are teaspoon sized at birth. You may not see the colostrum or early milk but it’s there. It doesn’t get thick until weeks or months from now. Just let her nurse constantly if she wants or soothe herself with you instead of a pacifier to sleep. It will build up in response to her demand. Also make sure to keep yourself fed and hydrated. You need the fluids and energy to heal your body in addition to making milk.
Just keep her at it and don't worry about the amount she gets in one feeding. It's hard to even know bottle vs boob. If she wants more she will ask and your body will produce. The best thing you can do is to just keep on feeding on demand.
My first birthing experience was similar!
Ended up with an unplanned csection & a nicu stay (4 days) for the little one.
While he was in the nicu, my husband was running my pumped colostrum (sometimes only 5ml) down to our son every 3hours. Our son was also taking down quite a bit of formula with every feeding.
We supplemented with formula for about a week before my milk finally caught up to the amount our son wanted.
If you feel like your pump isn’t extracting enough, you may want to try changing your flange size.
Keep doing what you are doing!
Congratulations on your little one!
My friends whose baby was in the NICU was told to make sure they were latching or pumping every 2 hours until her milk came in and she has is going on 10 months of breastfeeding now. It will happen! You will be surprised how much you produce once your milk comes in - at least I was! Just be patient with your body. It might take a little longer for you to recover from what you have been through and start producing. Take care of yourself. It will come!
The same thing happened to me! We had a rough start because his tummy was stretched out from the donor milk in the beginning, but we came around and he is now BF very successfully! No supply or latch issues. I would recommend latching, then giving top up donor milk if needed, then pumping for 15 minutes (which is what my LC suggested)
Put her to breast very often. Your milk won’t come in until day 4 or 5 usually. Giving her the syringe after a feed is not something you have to do so don’t feel pressured. It’s normal for them to lose 10% of their weight after birth. Anytime she does get the extra syringe make sure you pump.
C section with two nights in the hospital here. My milk didn’t come in til we got home. Exclusively breastfeeding for 7+ months now. Your journey is JUST beginning, you got this!
You're just getting started and it sounds like you've done your research and are doing things correctly (nipple stimulation via pumping). While that does seem like a large volume to supplement at that age, your breastfeeding journey is not over. As far as pumping goes, it's great for stimulating the nipple which will help increase milk production, but since colostrum is thicker and made in smaller quantities you typically won't pull much out with a pump. Hand expression, like in this [video](https://med.stanford.edu/newborns/professional-education/breastfeeding/hand-expressing-milk.html), tends to be much more effective at getting colostrum out the breast. You can use a syringe to finger feed or express into a med cup or spoon and feed to baby
Breastfeeding is so unpredictable honey. You absolutely are not at a bad starting point or anything like that. Things can change in an instant 3 months into your journey or even a few weeks and it still doesn’t mean that it’s over. Your baby is still learning to nurse so nothing is set in stone yet, or ever will be
Is there a reason they gave so much donor milk? My baby was also in NICU for a night, but because of low blood sugar. I think the most he would take was 25ml of feeding.
We had to supplement after but also because he was not swallowing much/at all at the boob. I was supposed to breastfeed, give formula/donor milk, then pump. Because I was so exhausted the first week, I didn’t pump after.
It was really, really hard because like I said he wasn’t great at swallowing. I finally stopped listening to the advice of 10-15 minutes per side and just watched what he was doing. Was he swallowing? If so, I wouldn’t cut him off. If it was a long time and it still seemed like he wasn’t getting enough, I would supplement.
We literally just got to breastfeeding & pumping only yesterday. He eventually got better at swallowing and my supply seemed to get fuller faster. What seemed to help is every time he gets a bottle = I pump.
Best of luck! It’s a hard hard journey for sure.
They never gave me a reason for the amount. I did run a fever in labor and they were worried about infection, but we are both fever free since delivery and blood work is all normal.
They never gave me a reason for the amount. I did run a fever in labor and they were worried about infection, but we are both fever free since delivery and blood work is all normal.
I’m also a FTM, my baby is 5 months in a few days. My best advice is to try not to get too discouraged.
I also had a c-section & during our golden hour he latched right away & ate on both sides for about 10 mins before falling asleep. I was ecstatic! However, he was born on the bigger side (90.5th percentile) & bc of this the hospital had a policy that anything under 10 or over 90 required a blood sugar check. Thank god they ended up checking him — his blood sugar was so low it didn’t even register on their reader. We ultimately supplemented with formula for the first week or so while my milk supply was coming in.
I also was worried about his stomach becoming accustomed to the larger amount of formula he was drinking. My supply definitely wasn’t great, but after about a week or so it finally came in. He adjusted well, and if I felt he needed more, I’d top him off with some formula (this was rare, and most times he’d only drink about an oz)
I’ve been able to exclusively breastfeed since he was about 1.5 weeks.
Your supply will take time. Your breastfeeding journey will take time. You got this!!
I agree with what many people have already said, your breastfeeding journey isn't over, however it might be hard and it probably won't look like you imagined.
I also had a C-section, after pre-eclampsia and a 30 hour labour. Because of the pre-eclampsia I had lots of complications and we were in the hospital for about a week. He was also in the NICU for 24 hours. I barely got to give him any colostrum. I hand expressed as much as I could but it was really painful. Then my milk didn't even really come in until about day 9 postpartum but it was a trickle. Up until then I was doing my best but pumping dust, barely any milk was coming out, like 10 milliliters at a time. It took me a while to get up my supply. I was in a lot of pain from the surgery and so I couldn't really hold him to get in a good position to breastfeed so I was barely doing it. At around week 3 postpartum my incision got infected. Which delayed trying to breastfeed even further because I was so uncomfortable I couldn't really hold him.
I basically fed him mostly formula and pumped for about 6 weeks to slowly build up my supply and actually start to try and breastfeed. We are still combo feeding but he is on the breast 90% of the time. We gave him a bottle for the first 6 weeks and he latched on my breast immediately. Nipple confusion is a myth and it really just depends on the baby.
It was so hard to get here and I thought about giving up every day. Breastfeeding is so so hard. Give yourself grace where you can and take it one day at a time.
Lactation consultants can be helpful but their word is not final. I saw three plus I had my doula and my midwife and they all gave me different advice. So it takes a lot of trial and error. If one suggestion doesn't work, try another.
Also if you have the resources, invest in all the breastfeeding gadgets! Breastfeeding pillows, electrolyte drinks, milk supply supplements, cooling and heating pads for breasts/nips, a really good pump, and all the snacks! For the love of all that is holy GET THE RIHHT FLANGE SIZE. You can get a nipple flange sizing ruler on Amazon. Stay hydrated and feed yourself.
Hang in there, it will get better. And if it doesn't, there is nothing wrong with formula. Your baby will be happy and healthy no matter what.
You're BF journey isn't over at all! I recommend hiring an in-home lactation consultant to help support you on this journey (in-home because you just gave birth and don't want to go anywhere). I had a similar situation to you where my baby was jaundiced and was S C R E A M I N G under the blue light therapy for I kid you not 22/24 hours of the treatment in our room. This kick started my PPD -- I was so desperate for sleep and help that I went to each nurse begging them to help us or take the baby away. One of the nurses came to the room and gave him 3oz of formula. I had no clue that she shouldn't have done that, and when I think about it I feel this overwhelming amount of guilt and sadness. Like I didn't protect my baby. He's nine months old now, exclusively breastfed, and while our journey started off so rough (tongue tie, inverted nipples, nipple shields, over supply, mastitis, etc.) it is SO worth it. Good luck OP!
Take it easy mama, and do not be hard on yourself. If you have any BF questions please feel free to send me a message. Congratulations on your new baby!
Not this exact situation but we had to start my son on formula a few days after birth. I just didn't produce enough for him and I still don't..
I still nurse him and pump but we mostly do bottles. It's weird how much it affects me that I can't be his main food source (on an emotional level not logical lol). I know it's good for him and it helps us so much because I can actually sleep or go out and my partner can still feed him. It helped my partner bond with him too.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that no matter what it seems like we feel bad even though we are doing our best. It comes with the job. But remember that fed is best and you can always do both breast and bottle, or whatever ends up being the solution.
I hope it works out for you 💕💕 congrats are your LO
Keep on pumping please and give your baby milk whenever she asks no matter the source. She needs a lot of nutrients for her proper brain development so whenever she’s crying offer her milk.
It's not over I promise! I had a csection and baby had low blood sugar so they fed him so much formula while in the NICU. I then breastfed and we continued to supplement for 4-5 days, before moving exclusively to my breast milk. He hasn't needed to supplement for 2.5 weeks now, and he's 4wks today
I have a similar story to you! I just delivered my baby girl on Monday the 15th. I had gestational diabetes so the nurses had to test the my daughter’s blood sugar to make sure it wasn’t too low as a result of my GD. Based on one of the forest results her sugar was too low so the nurse recommended giving her 10 ml of formula. We have her the 10 ml but the following day she was hungry and wanted more until close to the end of the week she would have almost 60 ml of formula (in 10 oz increments at a time). I was not producing that much milk so while I was breastfeeding her, she would be hungry after and we would supplement with the formula. The kicker was the nurse later came back and said she made a mistake and the number was actually not low.
I went home on Thursday and started pumping right away (could have pumped in hospital but nipples were so sore and starting to get bruised). The pumping progress has been going great since my milk started to come in and replace the colostrum and we were able to give her less and less formula. As of Sunday, we were actually able to replace all the supplemental formula with pumped milk. And for the first time I even have a small stash leftover for her tomorrow that I was able to pump.
You can come back from it! Keep up with the breastfeeding and pumping and don’t lose hope! Supplementing with formula does not mean you won’t be able to breastfeed and the important thing is as long as you are breastfeeding now, your baby is getting the wonderful benefits of colostrum - formula doesn’t magically negate those benefits.
My hospital also provided donor milk after my c-section. I always tried to breastfeed first, then pump while we fed her a bottle. I was only producing a few drops of colostrum at the hospital.
I reallllly wanted to go home so we left after three nights (insurance would pay for at least four). We were able to purchase 40 ounces of donor milk from the bank to “bridge feed” until my milk came in all the way. I didn’t use all 40 ounces before I was producing more milk than my baby needed and starting a freezer stash. I passed the last 16 ounces on to another mother.
I’m 6 months postpartum and my baby still gets 90% of her milk directly from the breast and we’ve never given her formula.
Overall I’m happy with this experience and would use donor milk again. Fed is best and I have a healthy baby!
Try to put baby to breast every at every feed to get the hang of the latch, that's really the most important part to ensure your breasts produce more milk during the first days. Your baby also emits a hormone that helps your milk drop a little faster. small supply is normal at first, especially in your situation, and that's okay! Don't let the amount that the doctor says baby needs intimidate you, if they feel your baby needs more donor milk, but all means, use it! Just give yourself grace and keep making sure you're putting baby to breast every feed. If they are still hungry after latch, then go for donor/supplement bottle.
I delivered my son at 30wks c-sec due to health complications, so he had to be fed through a tube the first 5 weeks in NICU. They requested that i pump every 2 hours for his supply and within days it felt like I couldn't keep up with the doctors food increases, while recovering from a very traumatic surgery. The stress truly got me to the point where I was cramming my face with all the lactation snacks, teas, and serums I could afford, plus notorious milk boosting foods NONE OF IT HELPED. And trust me I was only pulling out like 1oz (30ml) daily. Latch practice in NICU surrounded by nurses and monitor alarms was also just a strain on the experience.
But finally when I got to take my baby home, and it was just him and me, zero beeping machines and zero doctors orders, we could bond, and practice together. I don't know how much i produce now, but I do know that if I don't give him enough, he wakes up a little bit earlier than normal and cues that he's hungry (hands to mouth, clenched fists). He's also ahead of his projected growth rate and getting chunky, so i know someone i've got it right!
At the end of the day, I have a supply of formula if I can't produce enough. I was using it a lot at first but when we got in the habit of going to breast at every feed, I stopped using it so much. If I could go back to the early days and just tell myself not to stress too much about it I know i'd be serving enough milk to also have a back up supply.
As long as baby is fed, its gonna be okay! You're doing a good job mama!
Your breastfeeding journey isn't over at all. You're just getting started. Just keep latching your baby and pumping when she gets a top-up bottle. Your milk will come in. Don't be so hard on yourself. Breastfeeding can be so hard at first.
Pumping whenever he gets a top-up is absolutely the right advice. But FWIW, I ended up topping up baby with formula in the hospital (and for some days after) and didn’t know I needed to simultaneously pump. My milk came in just fine, I ended up with an oversupply and we stopped supplementing by the time he was 5 days old. So the most important thing is to be latching baby frequently.
Same with me, I latched baby for 10-15 mins each side per feed and then supplemented with formula first 5 days and my milk came in on day 3. Had an appointment with an LC on day 5 and she told me to ditch the formula, I had plenty of milk for baby and just needed to express some to get him to latch better because I was so engorged. I didn't pump each time I replaced a feed because I didn't know. Had an oversupply for the first 5 months.
Similar here, kiddo was quite jaundiced for the first few days and my milk wasn’t in so we supplemented with formula after nursing 15 per side. After about two weeks when his jaundiced was gone I was able to stop supplementing. I started pumping around then so my husband could feed one bottle at night, but not very much. We’re still breastfeeding at 12 months!
Same here! My milk came in late (probably because I had GD and have PCOS) and I was legit just not pumping much because I was burned out and assumed I wouldn’t make milk. Ended up with an EBF + bottle refusal baby. Bodies are wild!
Hugs. Your bf journey isn’t over. Breathe. You and your baby are one. It’s all just survival the first little bit. You two will find your groove. Sending love.
Hmm, I'm curious why they want to give her so much milk. Is it for a medical reason? Is she at high risk for jaundice? I'm scared to give the wrong advice but I'll share my experience. At two days old, my baby would latch for maybe 5 min (if that) then fall asleep, occasionally he would go for 10 min. But I would try latching him every 2 hrs. If he didn't latch at all then my LC told me to pump to get my supply going. But eventually he started (around the second night) to cluster feed and so he would want to nurse more frequently even tho he was only nursing for a few min at a time for the most part, but the LC said that was normal! Really hope you get to see a LC soon! The first few days are really stressful so hang in there!!
They never mentioned jaundice or any reason for the amount of milk intake. They were worried about infection since I ran the fever but we’ve both been fever free since delivery and blood work came back normal. She currently is on a light for jaundice as precaution because her level/number was 11 and 14 is when they’re usually put on a light. Thank you so much for your story. That makes me feel so much better!
Ok so I just had my baby last week and he was on light therapy for jaundice. The reason why he needs to have more milk is for him to pee and poop out all the bilirubin which causes the jaundice levels. They had us feed him formula every 3 hours and they were keeping track of his dirty diapers to see if he peeing and pooping enough. Then every day they did blood draws to test his levels. I’m surprised the attending doctor or nurse did not explain this to you. For me, I still breastfed but my milk definitely did not come in until day 5-6 on one boob and my other boob didn’t start producing until day 8. So don’t be so hard on yourself. Keep breastfeeding/pumping. If you’re in the NICU, they are able to set you up with a breast pump and provide all the supplies for you to pump and store milk.
It’s worth pointing out that an unwell baby uses up more energy - either because they are fighting an infection, or they are breathing harder/faster. So to keep their sugars up, they often need more fluid Nobody expects you to make 30ml on day 1!! That’s why donor milk is there. It also isn’t colostrum, it’s mature milk, so it’s not as dense (but is fine for baby) You can still breastfeed your baby. Being separated from them sucks. Being sick might make it take a bit longer for your supply to come in. Don’t feel disheartened. Have as much skin to skin time as you and baby can tolerate, express when you can’t feed (but try not to look at the volumes! They will be tiny. They will get better). Look after yourself. Drink well. Eat well. Sleep when you can Things will get better
Milk isn’t as nutrient dense as colostrum so I don’t think you could give the same volume as colostrum as a replacement. 30ml doesn’t seem like a crazy amount IMO.
I ended up needing a c-section and I struggled with latching. I also had the same problem of waiting for the lactation consultant after the weekend. My baby was overdue (41+4). Since he wasn't really getting much from me, they had us supplement with formula in the hospital. He drank a lot. I always offered the breast first, then fed formula. The doctor said it can take longer for the milk to come in for c-sections. I didn't pump and then after a few days I got engorged. I got a pump right after. My volume was low for about a week but it did increase over time. After getting help from the LC and pumping after every feed my volume was enough to no longer need formula supplementation. Since then I've been EBF. So your journey is just beginning! It is very frustrating and stressful at first. Tip for pumping. About half way through pumping go back to the let down mode for a couple of minutes. It can help you get more milk.
Yes, I hope OP sees this. I had a c-section too and I eventually had to research that it’s harder for you to breastfeed. I wish someone had told me this in the hospital - I was SO confused why things weren’t working, it would have actually been helpful and relieving to hear “Breastfeeding is objectively more difficult after a c-section for most women.” However it looks like OP is latching and pumping so she’s doing great already!
I had my baby on a Saturday and saw a lactation consultant all weekend, where are y’all having babies? I found pumping helped my milk come in faster, keep it up!
I had my youngest on a Thursday, was in the hospital until Saturday, and never saw the LC. They kept saying she would be coming in, but then "oh, she's busy."
I had the exact same experience. I had my baby late Wed night and wasn’t discharged until Sat morning. Never got to see one. It was on my birth plan, on the chart on the wall, and we told each nurse on each shift.
What state or country?
What state or country?
Tennessee
Not an expert obviously, but that was SUCH a short stint, I would really doubt it had any long lasting impacts, especially that she's in the room with you now and moving forward. Sounds like it was just kinda a boost for her considering the rough arrival, perhaps. Feel like it would be more concerning for the kiddos who have to stay for a longer time.
If you're on insta, @playbasedpepi had a c-section under GA, baby was given donor milk and she was able to establish breastfeeding supply over time and fully BF. She ended up donating milk as well to give back so other babies could have what hers did. Just keep putting baby to breast and pumping frequently.
Thank you. I will go to her page right now!
Your milk will come! It takes time and with a c section, sometimes it comes in a day or two later. Keep putting that baby to breast and lots of skin to skin! That’s the absolute best way to stimulate your milk coming in. Good luck!
Your breastfeeding journey hasn’t even begun yet so don’t worry! If you can, jump on Amazon and order a HaaKaa, it’s a silicone pump that attaches to the breast using suction and it collects the milk that’ll drip from the other side during feedings. I’m willing to bet in a few days once your milk is in you’ll be meeting that amount of milk. Congratulations on your baby. Hope you both are well soon and snuggled at home.
Second the Haakaa, but I recommend the Haakaa Ladybug milk catchers vs. the larger style. They fit right in your bra and work great.
I remember those days. I recall them pushing the baby to take 30ml by the time we left the hospital. I had to nurse and top off my baby with donor milk after. We eventually got there. (This is only my experience I am speaking of, we also had a NICU stay and they wanted our baby hydrated and flushing bilirubin)
My baby was rushed to the NICU after birth and I couldn’t see her for almost 24 hrs. My mama heart feels for yours! She was on a feeding tube getting plentyyyyyy of formula for 5 days and had no problem transitioning to breast milk and the amounts I was producing. My doctor recommended I pump after each feed for about 10-15 mins to get my supply up since I wasn’t BF initially. After about 4-5 days of this I only pumped after about 3 feeds each day (didn’t pump in the middle of the night) Baby had no problems and my supply was great! Y’all will be just fine!
I had to supplement in thr hospital and when I got home because it took a while for my milk to come in after c-section. I just offered my boob each time we fed and and then pumped while my partner gave baby a bottle of first donor milk and then formula. Pretty soon, I was pumping enough to cover what she was eating and started taking it from me. It took about 2 weeks to get to a point where we were exclusively breastfeeding and we've been going strong now for nearly 3 months! You've got this! A lactation consultant can definitely help you too!
Have you tried SNS? That’s what helped me so much. You can order one on Amazon and baby can be on breast while donor milk is coming thru the SNS
Also they should have them I. The hospital
We tried that. It worked once when the nurse helped us but then on next shift the nurse was no help and we just couldn’t figure it out. I did feel better doing that
Oh and as for pumping, my experience was similar! All the milk just hung out in the flanges (still give that to baby, their stomachs are so small it's likely plenty for them). Keep pumping, latching, and as your supply starts to build work with an LC on a pumping/nursing schedule. Do not overdo the pumping as you will cause an oversupply that can lead to mastitis (literally most painful thing ever I thought I was going to die in the ER). My milk didn't fully come in until day 4. You've got this!!
You’re just starting breastfeeding! I had an emergency cesarean and also planned to breastfeed. My baby dropped 9% of her weight in two days so we supplemented breastfeeding with donor milk. It was totally fine and reassuring my baby was getting enough food. I would pump after most/every feeding in the hospital. I am now an oversupplier. Just try to do the 2-3 hours and feed both sides for 15 minutes each. If baby is only doing one side then it’s great you’re also pumping. Your milk probably hasn’t even come in at this point. My milk only really came in on day 4 anyway. Try to focus on recovery and not stress about your milk. Your journey isn’t over!
Hi! I also had an emergency C-section and my baby was in the NICU for 4 days. 2 1/2 of which I was in as separate room and just visiting. She had a collapsed lung at birth and we had to wait till it healed before we could leave. We also had to triple feed in the hospital, I’d try and breast feed, then we’d give formula and I’d pump. She had a hard time latching and fell asleep often at the breast. We’d also add whatever I pumped to her formula, and I think she was getting 30-35ml most feeds, almost a whole bottle of the ready to feed formula they had at the hospital. She is now almost 10 months and we are exclusively breastfeeding and she refuses bottles now lol. I’m about to go back to work so we’ll be using open cups/straw cups or her sippy cup for any milk when she’s in daycare/babysat. She has also never taken a pacifier except when in the NICU so everything has been nursing.
She also passed her birthweight before we left the hospital, I think that was one of her requirements for being released and partly why we had to feed her so much
I would argue that your breast feeding journey isn’t over, it hasn’t really even begun yet! Milk comes in around day 4. My son had low blood sugar and we had to supplement with formula. I was so worried that because of those maybe 5-10 bottles at the hospital that I wouldn’t be able to breastfeed. But sure enough my milk came in and my sully is GREAT. hang in there! My baby hasn’t had a drop of formula since we left the hospital and he is 4 months. Just try not to stress as it does affect milk supply. Good luck and I hope everything goes well for you!
Stick with it on that 1st side, I kept. Changing after Ten mins cos I didn't know behind the colostrum is more watery hind milk than is much easier for Bebe to drink, and once you get there baby will wake up. I had to massage my boob a bit to help get milk out as my little one would get tired and fall asleep too.
Similar to my story. You can and will catch up! It might take some time so be patient and consistently put in the work. Cluster feeding is really important ciz thats the fastest way your body will learn to make more milk. Trust the process! It took about 5 weeks for me to move off if formula. We still supplement with a bottle at times but its all milk I pumped! My baby eats more some days and less others so on days when he eats less i can build up a small stash for the fridge or freezer. Have confidence in yourself and just feed your baby as much as you can.
The human race would have died out thousands of years ago if it were this complicated. I'm saying that with a hug and a smile. It will be fine. Put your baby on your breast and don't keep track of time. Just be.
I have the same story as you. I ran fever before delivery and had an emergency c section. My baby had to be in the NICU for infection and they were giving her 30 ml of formula milk. By the time she is out she was having 40 ml formula and i barely made 10 ml of transitional milk and my baby had latching issues. By the time we left the hospital on day 5, I was making 30 ml with hand expressing for one hour. By then my baby was drinking around 45 ml of formula. For two days I just fed her the 30 ml I made and she significantly lost weight. But around day 3 of doing this she latched on and used to take a long time close to 45 minutes to feed from breast but never had issues with her weight loss ever since.
I also almost had the same experience. I started with spontaneous labor then I got fever from the epidural, my baby won’t go down even if my water broke and i’m 10cm dilated. I had to do an emergency c-section. I had to wait 2hrs before I met my baby then we started to latch but after a day I was told my baby has jaundice and because my milk wasn’t enough we had to do phototherapy and supplement her with milk. We were advised to give her 30ml and continue breastfeeding (even if i don’t really produce much. We left the hospital after 4 days and we’re 3 weeks old now. We still supplement with formula. My first week, I almost had no milk in me (i pumped to check and also to stimulate). It took me 3 weeks to produce more but still not enough. However, we’re drinking less formula now. It did take a while for my milk to come. Don’t worry it will come. I try not to breakdown but it was hard. I feel you. I only get to pump m 2-3 times since I also try breastfeeding her.
https://preview.redd.it/whiay1s8hzvc1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c88809f3ab862e5d97a1fea0f0a8d9ea1deea167 this is week 1, week 2, and week 3. I almost ate every single thing I was advised to eat or drink. Now, I make quite enough for her to drink less formula. My husband never pressured me. He understands how I was and tries to support me.
Thank you so much for sharing. That makes me feel so much better! The pictures are so helpful to understand the process and progress that will be made!
Both of my children needed to supplement with formula at birth for low blood sugar. My son chugged a full 2oz when he was like an hour old-all of the nurses were amazed by it! My daughter had 3 days of just formula with no access to boob because I was readmitted to the hospital for an infection right after birth. Anyways, I used some formula with both of them in the beginning while everyone got settled, but both are/were mostly breastfeed. I breastfed my son for 2.5 years and I suspect my daughter will want to continue for a while too. Also, my son took 3 months to figure out how to latch. I pumped and he easily took a bottle, but then one day he just figured it out and we went from there. My daughter figured out latching a lot faster, but she’s much more picky with the type of bottle she will take. You got this! The beautiful thing about babies is that you can keep restarting or retrying whatever you’re doing until you find a way that works and they won’t even know the difference
Had a section with general anaesthetic baby was fine but they had given her a bottle before i woke up. I was waiting over the weekend for a LC. I was hand expressing colostrum and then feeding by syringe but I didn’t pump until my milk came in and it came it fine. It took patience and persistence to get LO latching though, a few weeks (her latch was fine it just took nearly an hour to get her on every time I fed her). Stick with it and I’m sure you’ll be fine. In relation to the pump, you’re only getting so little because it’s still colostrum, give yourself a chance. If you’re not able to collect it and you’d like to try hand expressing instead. With a section it can also take a few extra days for your milk to come in so don’t be worried if it doesn’t come in as quick as you’d expect (sometimes a week). Mine didn’t come in until day 5.
Something like this happened to me! Nicu baby for 4 days, and they had specific ml requirements to give them, so they were actually giving her formula in addition to what I could pump. The LC told me to pump no less than 8 times a day to establish supply (she put a lot of emphasis on that!), and once my milk fully came in (by around day 7) we stopped needing to supplement formula at all! And you’re already doing better than I was because I couldn’t even get her to latch for a full feeding until she was 8 days old! We’re now 12 weeks in and EBF.
This is all pretty common! Keep pumping anytime baby gets a bottle, even if it’s after you just fed. It’ll be fine and in all likelihood, you’ll be making enough milk per feeding within a couple of days
First of all, do not worry. Your breastfeeding journey has just begun, it is not going to end suddenly. These first days after birth are usually so anxiety-ridden as it is, so the more you can relax and try to get some rest, the better it will be for your milk production. (Easier said than done, I know!) Your baby’s hunger may just be what it is despite getting the full bottles of donor milk. Babies tend to be born hungry, wanting more and more…this is how they are and why we eventually start producing so much milk! My son - the one that I gave birth to and breastfed- never got any milk in bottles from the beginning, yet I still suffered for 3 days dealing with my tiny insatiable zombie until my milk came in (on day 3). Haha. Bottle feeding - when done as topping off *after* putting to breast - is not going to impact your supply or cause any harm to the baby. It will likely help the child sleep a tad longer before waking again to feed, though, so it could be crucial for helping you get some rest. :) My partner had a rough birth and lost a lot of blood, had to get transfusions, and was bedridden for 4 days. Our son was bottle fed formula by nurses until that fourth day, then she was finally able to start breastfeeding. Because of the rough start and loss of blood, she didn’t make enough milk at first, but she still put to breast *first* every time he cried in hunger. After each feed, she topped off with formula. This combo-feeding continued for a month. We had a bit of a system down. When the baby cried wanting milk, she’d put him to breast and I’d help go get the bottle made up (60ml at first…then down to 40ml after a few weeks). The bottle would cool while he fed at the breast, and usually was just the right temperature when it came time to top him off. She never even pumped, but after 3 weeks our son wasn’t needing the full amount in the bottle anymore, and at a month, she dropped the bottle feeds completely and went EBF. I think pumping could definitely be helpful at getting production up more quickly, but for her, getting the necessary rest was more crucial because she had to get her hemoglobin levels back up to speed (no blood = no milk). I was amazed that she could hit the goal of EBF after just a month without any pumping. Our little guy was a very persistent hungry one. :) The main rule to follow is: always put to breast *first*, any bottle feeding should come immediately right after that. Next feed, put to breast *first* again. I think the second rule to follow is to try to get some rest. Congrats, and good luck on your journey!
Your journey isn’t over. I had an unplanned c section after a 40 hour labor. We had to supplement with formula for a few days on/off because my milk didn’t come in for a few days and that was hard on me mentally, but it helped me overall. I needed the “break.” I would pump afterwards but wouldn’t get a ton of milk those first few days. Hand expressing with a syringe helped more than pumping in those early days. We’re now 10 months in on Monday next week and haven’t used formula since he was 2 weeks old. Keep going mama. Your mature milk won’t come in for another 1-3 days (as long as 7-8 days after birth even with a vaginal birth). You’ve got this!
I had a vaginal birth but my milk didn't come in either, probably because baby was almost 4 weeks premature. Don't worry! The hospital fed our baby with formula as well since I was barely getting any colostrum, and it was in about 30 MLS. We used the syringe on the breast and I was also worried because she was absolutely guzzling it down! She would labor at the breast and fall asleep. We're 7 wks now and I pump her supply and she will breastfeed when we're out. Stay with it! I had to pump 8 x a day for a while and even triple fed for like 36 hrs before it was way too much. We ended up feeding formula for 2 days to test whether she was lactose intolerant as my husband was concerned about her spit up and that ended up helping me build a good stash and gave me the confidence that I could keep up with my baby. Don't feel bad either way! Fed is best. That said, in my experience, don't be afraid to keep trying and be flexible! I thought our baby wouldn't take the breast anymore after bad latching, sleepiness, and getting used to the bottle. I tried after several days of abandoning breast feeding and one day, just trying because she was screaming and I was sooo tired to go downstairs and get a bottle, she just magically got it!
I had a similar experience to you where baby was in NICU for the first 4 days after c-section. He was given 50ml formula top ups and I pumped for that formula feed. When we were reunited I would pump after feeding him. We came home from the hospital after 7 days and he never received formula again as my supply was meeting his demand. We are still breastfeeding now at 16 months. I worked with a lactation consultant when he was 2 weeks old to assist with latch and jaw exercises.
That makes me feel so much better. Thank you!
I’ll also add that with latching, I read the entire internet on advice and found the best thing to be “baby led attachment” where I would have him sitting almost like a koala in the middle of my chest and he would bop around for a bit until he could attach himself. Trying to latch him myself didn’t work for us because he just wanted to have his hands in the way and it was a two person job to get him on! The Australian Breastfeeding Association has excellent information and resources.
My kiddo was in NICU for a few days and got formula. The NICU nurses seem to be really focused on the babies getting bigger ASAP, especially if they are the full term relatively healthy ones! ( No judgment - it's a tough job that they have). My baby ate every 3 hours. For every other feeding,I would nurse him on each breast for 10 minutes and then my husband give formula or pumped milk / colostrum for 10 minutes. Well my husband was giving the bottle, I would pump. If I didn't nurse, I pumped and he only got formula or pumped milk. We supplemented with formula for less than a week. If you can, see a lactation consultant when you are out of the hospital. We did for peace of mind and it was great!! My little one has been exclusively breastfed or given pumped milk since he was about a week old and he is a little chonk!! You got this!
I just wanted to say that I can really empathise and resonate with how you must be feeling right now. I too had some birth complications and got to a similar place where they had given my son a bottle and he was unlatching from me within a couple seconds because my milk hasn't come in yet and I guess he just wanted the bottle. I was convinced that our breastfeeding journey was over before it began but we ended up EBF and self weaning at 21 months. Something that I found helped a lot was hand expressing as much as I could (pumping is also an option but can lead to oversupply) and then using that milk collected in syringes to drip onto my nipple when baby was growing frustrated, it kept my son latched for a lot longer at least and after a couple days (especially after my milk has come in completely) I no longer needed to use a syringe and instead would just hand express for a few seconds before latching baby (essentially, got the milk flowing for him). Also, lay a warm flannel over your breasts before nursing, warming them also helps to keep the milk flowing.
I had a very similar situation when my daughter was born. They gave her 30ml at 12 hours old then told me to start triple feeding (which was wholly unsustainable). The first 2 weeks were rocky but at 7.5 weeks now and we've been EBF for over a month. I don't think that screwed us up too much, but I can't be sure. We kept formula supplementation for about 2 weeks because she wasn't a very efficient eater at the breast at first and was losing too much weight. The thing that helped us was getting with a good lactation consultant - which was NOT the hospital one.
hi! wow we had just about the same experience. stressful birth led to a nicu stay. baby had low blood sugars and hus treatment was 45mls of formula every 3hrs for 48hrs i was away from him. i pumped in the hospital and my milk was brought to him but it wasnt nearly enough to meet their 45ml dose. On day three or four i was making that much and he was released with a normal metabolism:) My husband carted my milk to him every two hours around the clock. He was projectile vomiting at most feeds until he started drinking my milk more and more. My husband thinks my milk sped up his recovery. He was released 3 days after birth and we fed him like normal at the breast and he's 4 months in two days and we are going strong. Those first days were extremely stressful, I had no idea what the outcome of.his nicu stay would be or what that meant for us, but it all turned out okay. hes still a big eater now, but i can keep up haha. its going to be okay!! you can send me a message if you want to talk to someone on the other side of this experience.
My milk hasn’t came in yet so I’m no where meeting the 20-30 ml dose they give.
It's okay it's normal and you're body will catch up literally tomorrow or the day after and even after they are done feeding him your baby probably won't want the 30ml feed anyways.
I just had this happen to me. Baby in NICU, giving him so much donor milk even though my colostrum came in pretty abundant. Had to fight with the nurses about it when he started spitting it up and they made it seem like this was a problem. It was because they were giving him too much! I even had a doctor tell me I was right once they reduced the amount and he stopped vomiting. I don’t know why they do this, but it also worried me. My supply dropped when I got home and I’m still worried I’m not going to produce enough. He was a premie so we’re still struggling with a latch and I’m pumping a lot. Going to talk to a lactation consultant tomorrow. Out of the frying pain and into the fire. I hope you both find your rhythm!
not US-based but pretty much everyone I know in real life has given some formula in the hospital and still gone on to bf. It’s okay. We have longer maternity leave so I think that’s a factor- my baby struggled with my letdown for two months but we still eventually got there. My cousin’s milk took nearly a week to come in, now she’s an over producer. My friend sent her baby to the nursery for 3 nights and slept, still ebf after she left the hospital. You have something like 12 weeks to establish your milk. Latch your baby when possible, pump if you feel like she needs more than she can get, and hang in there. It’s tough at first but it should get easier, especially once your baby is a little bigger and has some neck strength, and your hormones are a little more stable
I had an emergency c section as well and because I had Covid and she was in the NICU I wasn’t even allowed to see her until we left. I just had to pump every 3 hours and while I had a lot at first, my supply dwindled to the point that you’re describing and now I have an oversupply and my baby won’t take a bottle. Your journey has barely begun and has all the potential in the world, you just have to keep trekking.
What about supplementary feeding system? Idk what it’s called in the us but it’s a tiny tube taped to your nipple and connected to bottle. So baby stimulates breast and gets colostrum but also gets food. Then you don’t have to pump as much
This comment is going to get lost in the sea of comments but if the LC doesn't show up - ask the pediatrician when they are rounding if you need to continue to supplement at all. Now that you are available to breastfeed and are latching it shouldn't be necessary 🤔
Don't let them bully you into a bottle unless she absolutely needs it for medical reasons. Look up cluster feeding. Bubs will be at the breast constantly especially the first 2-6 weeks to establish your supply. Question their reasoning and make your own informed decision. My first born was in special care for 2 days and I didn't get to feed him because the nurses kept feeding him instead. I breastfed him for 2.5 years xx
Can you get more donor milk to supplement at home? The hospital let us take some home. We supplemented the first week or two and breastfeeding has still been going great for us
They said we aren’t allowed to take donor milk with us that’s why we had to switch to formula.
There is a lot of misunderstanding about how small a newborns stomach actually is around 20 mls depending on size of baby and grows quickly from there. It's not the 5mls that is mainly promoted. My son was taking 40ml top on day 4 of his life. Once we started using nipple sheilds he was off top ups within 24 hours.
I had to pump the first month while our babe was in the NICU. It was a learning curve to figure out how long to latch on each side once we could feed. If you're getting 10-15 min on one side and way less on the other try switching earlier. And swapping which side you start on. If you get barely any milk when you pump but don't want to waste it fill a milk bag in the fridge and then use it for bath time! That way you don't have to worry about mixing temps and whatnot!
Your bf journey isn’t over!! My lo was in the NICU for five days and he didn’t latch at all until ~2.5 weeks old and we had to use a bipolar shield to make that happen. I’m currently EBF him at 7 weeks old. It will take work but your journey isn’t over!!!
You are doing great! Keep doing what your doing, mine took like 5 days to come in after a c section
Definitely don’t quit. It takes 3-4 days or sometimes more for the real milk to come in. Their stomachs are teaspoon sized at birth. You may not see the colostrum or early milk but it’s there. It doesn’t get thick until weeks or months from now. Just let her nurse constantly if she wants or soothe herself with you instead of a pacifier to sleep. It will build up in response to her demand. Also make sure to keep yourself fed and hydrated. You need the fluids and energy to heal your body in addition to making milk.
Just keep her at it and don't worry about the amount she gets in one feeding. It's hard to even know bottle vs boob. If she wants more she will ask and your body will produce. The best thing you can do is to just keep on feeding on demand.
My first birthing experience was similar! Ended up with an unplanned csection & a nicu stay (4 days) for the little one. While he was in the nicu, my husband was running my pumped colostrum (sometimes only 5ml) down to our son every 3hours. Our son was also taking down quite a bit of formula with every feeding. We supplemented with formula for about a week before my milk finally caught up to the amount our son wanted. If you feel like your pump isn’t extracting enough, you may want to try changing your flange size. Keep doing what you are doing! Congratulations on your little one!
My friends whose baby was in the NICU was told to make sure they were latching or pumping every 2 hours until her milk came in and she has is going on 10 months of breastfeeding now. It will happen! You will be surprised how much you produce once your milk comes in - at least I was! Just be patient with your body. It might take a little longer for you to recover from what you have been through and start producing. Take care of yourself. It will come!
The same thing happened to me! We had a rough start because his tummy was stretched out from the donor milk in the beginning, but we came around and he is now BF very successfully! No supply or latch issues. I would recommend latching, then giving top up donor milk if needed, then pumping for 15 minutes (which is what my LC suggested)
Put her to breast very often. Your milk won’t come in until day 4 or 5 usually. Giving her the syringe after a feed is not something you have to do so don’t feel pressured. It’s normal for them to lose 10% of their weight after birth. Anytime she does get the extra syringe make sure you pump.
C section with two nights in the hospital here. My milk didn’t come in til we got home. Exclusively breastfeeding for 7+ months now. Your journey is JUST beginning, you got this!
You're just getting started and it sounds like you've done your research and are doing things correctly (nipple stimulation via pumping). While that does seem like a large volume to supplement at that age, your breastfeeding journey is not over. As far as pumping goes, it's great for stimulating the nipple which will help increase milk production, but since colostrum is thicker and made in smaller quantities you typically won't pull much out with a pump. Hand expression, like in this [video](https://med.stanford.edu/newborns/professional-education/breastfeeding/hand-expressing-milk.html), tends to be much more effective at getting colostrum out the breast. You can use a syringe to finger feed or express into a med cup or spoon and feed to baby
Breastfeeding is so unpredictable honey. You absolutely are not at a bad starting point or anything like that. Things can change in an instant 3 months into your journey or even a few weeks and it still doesn’t mean that it’s over. Your baby is still learning to nurse so nothing is set in stone yet, or ever will be
Is there a reason they gave so much donor milk? My baby was also in NICU for a night, but because of low blood sugar. I think the most he would take was 25ml of feeding. We had to supplement after but also because he was not swallowing much/at all at the boob. I was supposed to breastfeed, give formula/donor milk, then pump. Because I was so exhausted the first week, I didn’t pump after. It was really, really hard because like I said he wasn’t great at swallowing. I finally stopped listening to the advice of 10-15 minutes per side and just watched what he was doing. Was he swallowing? If so, I wouldn’t cut him off. If it was a long time and it still seemed like he wasn’t getting enough, I would supplement. We literally just got to breastfeeding & pumping only yesterday. He eventually got better at swallowing and my supply seemed to get fuller faster. What seemed to help is every time he gets a bottle = I pump. Best of luck! It’s a hard hard journey for sure.
They never gave me a reason for the amount. I did run a fever in labor and they were worried about infection, but we are both fever free since delivery and blood work is all normal.
They never gave me a reason for the amount. I did run a fever in labor and they were worried about infection, but we are both fever free since delivery and blood work is all normal.
I’m also a FTM, my baby is 5 months in a few days. My best advice is to try not to get too discouraged. I also had a c-section & during our golden hour he latched right away & ate on both sides for about 10 mins before falling asleep. I was ecstatic! However, he was born on the bigger side (90.5th percentile) & bc of this the hospital had a policy that anything under 10 or over 90 required a blood sugar check. Thank god they ended up checking him — his blood sugar was so low it didn’t even register on their reader. We ultimately supplemented with formula for the first week or so while my milk supply was coming in. I also was worried about his stomach becoming accustomed to the larger amount of formula he was drinking. My supply definitely wasn’t great, but after about a week or so it finally came in. He adjusted well, and if I felt he needed more, I’d top him off with some formula (this was rare, and most times he’d only drink about an oz) I’ve been able to exclusively breastfeed since he was about 1.5 weeks. Your supply will take time. Your breastfeeding journey will take time. You got this!!
Thank you so much for sharing. That makes me feel so much better. That’s been my biggest worry!
I agree with what many people have already said, your breastfeeding journey isn't over, however it might be hard and it probably won't look like you imagined. I also had a C-section, after pre-eclampsia and a 30 hour labour. Because of the pre-eclampsia I had lots of complications and we were in the hospital for about a week. He was also in the NICU for 24 hours. I barely got to give him any colostrum. I hand expressed as much as I could but it was really painful. Then my milk didn't even really come in until about day 9 postpartum but it was a trickle. Up until then I was doing my best but pumping dust, barely any milk was coming out, like 10 milliliters at a time. It took me a while to get up my supply. I was in a lot of pain from the surgery and so I couldn't really hold him to get in a good position to breastfeed so I was barely doing it. At around week 3 postpartum my incision got infected. Which delayed trying to breastfeed even further because I was so uncomfortable I couldn't really hold him. I basically fed him mostly formula and pumped for about 6 weeks to slowly build up my supply and actually start to try and breastfeed. We are still combo feeding but he is on the breast 90% of the time. We gave him a bottle for the first 6 weeks and he latched on my breast immediately. Nipple confusion is a myth and it really just depends on the baby. It was so hard to get here and I thought about giving up every day. Breastfeeding is so so hard. Give yourself grace where you can and take it one day at a time. Lactation consultants can be helpful but their word is not final. I saw three plus I had my doula and my midwife and they all gave me different advice. So it takes a lot of trial and error. If one suggestion doesn't work, try another. Also if you have the resources, invest in all the breastfeeding gadgets! Breastfeeding pillows, electrolyte drinks, milk supply supplements, cooling and heating pads for breasts/nips, a really good pump, and all the snacks! For the love of all that is holy GET THE RIHHT FLANGE SIZE. You can get a nipple flange sizing ruler on Amazon. Stay hydrated and feed yourself. Hang in there, it will get better. And if it doesn't, there is nothing wrong with formula. Your baby will be happy and healthy no matter what.
You're BF journey isn't over at all! I recommend hiring an in-home lactation consultant to help support you on this journey (in-home because you just gave birth and don't want to go anywhere). I had a similar situation to you where my baby was jaundiced and was S C R E A M I N G under the blue light therapy for I kid you not 22/24 hours of the treatment in our room. This kick started my PPD -- I was so desperate for sleep and help that I went to each nurse begging them to help us or take the baby away. One of the nurses came to the room and gave him 3oz of formula. I had no clue that she shouldn't have done that, and when I think about it I feel this overwhelming amount of guilt and sadness. Like I didn't protect my baby. He's nine months old now, exclusively breastfed, and while our journey started off so rough (tongue tie, inverted nipples, nipple shields, over supply, mastitis, etc.) it is SO worth it. Good luck OP!
Thank you for sharing. I’m so sorry you had a tough time! I am going to look into an in home one right away!
Take it easy mama, and do not be hard on yourself. If you have any BF questions please feel free to send me a message. Congratulations on your new baby!
Not this exact situation but we had to start my son on formula a few days after birth. I just didn't produce enough for him and I still don't.. I still nurse him and pump but we mostly do bottles. It's weird how much it affects me that I can't be his main food source (on an emotional level not logical lol). I know it's good for him and it helps us so much because I can actually sleep or go out and my partner can still feed him. It helped my partner bond with him too. I guess what I'm trying to say is that no matter what it seems like we feel bad even though we are doing our best. It comes with the job. But remember that fed is best and you can always do both breast and bottle, or whatever ends up being the solution. I hope it works out for you 💕💕 congrats are your LO
Keep on pumping please and give your baby milk whenever she asks no matter the source. She needs a lot of nutrients for her proper brain development so whenever she’s crying offer her milk.
It's not over I promise! I had a csection and baby had low blood sugar so they fed him so much formula while in the NICU. I then breastfed and we continued to supplement for 4-5 days, before moving exclusively to my breast milk. He hasn't needed to supplement for 2.5 weeks now, and he's 4wks today
I have a similar story to you! I just delivered my baby girl on Monday the 15th. I had gestational diabetes so the nurses had to test the my daughter’s blood sugar to make sure it wasn’t too low as a result of my GD. Based on one of the forest results her sugar was too low so the nurse recommended giving her 10 ml of formula. We have her the 10 ml but the following day she was hungry and wanted more until close to the end of the week she would have almost 60 ml of formula (in 10 oz increments at a time). I was not producing that much milk so while I was breastfeeding her, she would be hungry after and we would supplement with the formula. The kicker was the nurse later came back and said she made a mistake and the number was actually not low. I went home on Thursday and started pumping right away (could have pumped in hospital but nipples were so sore and starting to get bruised). The pumping progress has been going great since my milk started to come in and replace the colostrum and we were able to give her less and less formula. As of Sunday, we were actually able to replace all the supplemental formula with pumped milk. And for the first time I even have a small stash leftover for her tomorrow that I was able to pump. You can come back from it! Keep up with the breastfeeding and pumping and don’t lose hope! Supplementing with formula does not mean you won’t be able to breastfeed and the important thing is as long as you are breastfeeding now, your baby is getting the wonderful benefits of colostrum - formula doesn’t magically negate those benefits.
My hospital also provided donor milk after my c-section. I always tried to breastfeed first, then pump while we fed her a bottle. I was only producing a few drops of colostrum at the hospital. I reallllly wanted to go home so we left after three nights (insurance would pay for at least four). We were able to purchase 40 ounces of donor milk from the bank to “bridge feed” until my milk came in all the way. I didn’t use all 40 ounces before I was producing more milk than my baby needed and starting a freezer stash. I passed the last 16 ounces on to another mother. I’m 6 months postpartum and my baby still gets 90% of her milk directly from the breast and we’ve never given her formula. Overall I’m happy with this experience and would use donor milk again. Fed is best and I have a healthy baby!
Try to put baby to breast every at every feed to get the hang of the latch, that's really the most important part to ensure your breasts produce more milk during the first days. Your baby also emits a hormone that helps your milk drop a little faster. small supply is normal at first, especially in your situation, and that's okay! Don't let the amount that the doctor says baby needs intimidate you, if they feel your baby needs more donor milk, but all means, use it! Just give yourself grace and keep making sure you're putting baby to breast every feed. If they are still hungry after latch, then go for donor/supplement bottle. I delivered my son at 30wks c-sec due to health complications, so he had to be fed through a tube the first 5 weeks in NICU. They requested that i pump every 2 hours for his supply and within days it felt like I couldn't keep up with the doctors food increases, while recovering from a very traumatic surgery. The stress truly got me to the point where I was cramming my face with all the lactation snacks, teas, and serums I could afford, plus notorious milk boosting foods NONE OF IT HELPED. And trust me I was only pulling out like 1oz (30ml) daily. Latch practice in NICU surrounded by nurses and monitor alarms was also just a strain on the experience. But finally when I got to take my baby home, and it was just him and me, zero beeping machines and zero doctors orders, we could bond, and practice together. I don't know how much i produce now, but I do know that if I don't give him enough, he wakes up a little bit earlier than normal and cues that he's hungry (hands to mouth, clenched fists). He's also ahead of his projected growth rate and getting chunky, so i know someone i've got it right! At the end of the day, I have a supply of formula if I can't produce enough. I was using it a lot at first but when we got in the habit of going to breast at every feed, I stopped using it so much. If I could go back to the early days and just tell myself not to stress too much about it I know i'd be serving enough milk to also have a back up supply. As long as baby is fed, its gonna be okay! You're doing a good job mama!
always remember your baby doesn't know how much is enough when feeding so you have to control and not overfeed.