Breastfeeding troubles in newborn

Not at all! Get him checked for tongue tie. My first baby I topped her up with formula for the first week and exclusively breastfed her until she was 6 months. I’m so sorry you had a traumatic birth experience. Don’t forget to talk about it and reach out for help if you need it! You are absolutely not a failure xxxx

@Mathilda I asked about tongue tie at the hospital and they said they didn’t think he had it. I’ve contacted a few lactation consultants for advice so hoping that works. He’s just been on the boob for 10 mins, but I have no idea if he’s actually got anything?! He was suckling away so I assume so?!

I'm 4 weeks in and had to give mine formula in the hospital. I'm now combi feeding with the intention to move to exclusively breastfeed but it's all a journey. You just really have to do what you can do to get through and be kind to yourself

@Rosie thank you, that’s reassuring! Good luck with your journey xx

Be kind to yourself. If you can hand express colostrum and feed to baby if you are having issues with latch, that will do. Baby's stomach is tiny right now, size of a marble, so massive amounts of liquid is not necessary, and your milk will come in soon. Few things for latch, making sure baby's mouth is wide open, bring baby's head to boob, not the other way around. Making sure baby has areola and nipple, chin massaging breast as they are feeding. For colostrum you should hear a swallow, but it is rarer, due to the reduced amount of liquid. Keep latching, relax and reach out to infant feeding team if necessary

Did they check for a LIP tie too? Or just a tongue tie? Both?

Does he latch at all? He could be really tired after the birth, it sounds like you both need a good rest. Babies are able to get milk even if we don’t really “notice”, it is hard to tell by feel how much they are getting but I would keep putting him on you as much as possible and doing skin to skin to get your milk production going. Please know, a newborn’a tummy is the size of a cherry so he really doesn’t need much!

@Bree just a tongue tie

@Ellen he is latching yes. Sometimes he latches and then pulls away, but at 6.30 this morning he was going for a good 10 mins. He’s also having wet and meconium nappies (4 of each yesterday) so assuming he’s getting enough to keep things moving x

Just keep offering him breast. You’ll get there. If you need to top up with formula it’s totally fine. Good luck x

I'd definitely have him checked for a lip tie, too, just to make sure. My sons usually have one or both. Didn't make things easy before it was fixed. But as I'm seeing another one of your comments to someone else, the diapers he is going through will be a great indicator of if he's getting enough. Also, breastfeeding definitely takes time to get down and master, for you and the baby. As natural as it is, it's still a learning season for the both of you, just the same. Give yourself grace, keep going, and don't give up. You're NOT failing as a mama. Good mama's care about their baby, and seeing as how you posted and are asking for advice and help, that shows you're doing right by him. Keep up the good work! You got this!

Absolutely not! I fed my newborn formula for the first day as I was completely a mess from the c section, that night I gave breastfeeding another go, she’s now 3 weeks old and never had another bottle since that first day! The first few weeks are hard, but don’t give up! Ask a midwife for positioning help, trust me midwives love helping with breastfeeding! Keep waking baby up and attempting latching, you’ll get there xxx

Are you home or in hospital? I had a lot of extra support in hospital and the option of donor milk which is preferable for continuing breastfeeding. Are you using a breast pump? In hospital I was to use a pump in between feeding to stimulate production definitely helped. But I was the same not producing enough and had to use formula once and then was made aware of donor milk so used that a few times

Don't worry and don't feel bad, ask for support! I had an emergency section as well, and although he latched great the very first time, he was then refusing, and playing catch up hand expressing for an hungry newborn was impossible, so the second night at the hospital I gave in and gave him formula. This was almost a week ago, in the meantime I continued with formula the first day home and received amazing support from the midwives both at the hospital and at home. He's exclusively breastfeeding now, and it's not a battle every time anymore 😅 You can do this, if that's what you want. Remember it's important to protect your supply while you supplement with formula, so keep expressing even if it's just 1ml!

No this sounds like normal breastfeeding struggles I gave birth by emergency section last Thursday and I’ve only just got the point where I can latch him properly and this isn’t my first time. It’s not easy and much milk doesn’t come at the beginning. I feel as if the first day my baby was sucking empty breasts and I don’t know if he got anything whatsoever but I persevered and now I have proper milk and can hear him swallow and see it in the corners of his mouth etc. if it’s something you want to do then continue but get advice to help you just know you aren’t failing either way. Breastfeeding Is extremely hard for some if not most people. Giving formula is not failing I formula fed one of my babies because breastfeeding didn’t suit my situation at the time and it was perfectly fine. Do what’s best for you and your baby and as long as you feed them it doesn’t matter how.

I’m so sorry you had a traumatic experience but please do not blame yourself. I had nearly no supply at the beginning (nothing was coming out for like two days when I tried to massage etc) but a midwife told me for some women milk can’t come out if you hand express but baby could get some through sucking. If your baby is not getting frustrated then I would keep at it, your supply might just take a bit longer than others, like me. I was also reassured by midwives that baby is still quite full from being in the womb for the first day or so. Xx

That’s a great sign!! Be kind to yourself, you’ve had a rough start with a labour you didn’t enjoy and now you’re navigating probably the most difficult part of having a new born off the back of a traumatic experience. You’re doing amazing whether it feels like it or not, keep trying and believe in yourself 💗

Hi, This sounds just like me. I had an emergency c-section on 14th October after 72 hours in labour. Then baby had to be in intensive care for 3 days as it turns out we both had an infection. But last night we finally got discharged 🩷 Anyway, my milk hasn't come in yet so NICU recommended formula from the start to help in the meantime. The doctors said with a traumatic birth its quite common for it to take a few days for it to come in as you're getting over the shock of it all. We're doing practicing latching a bit before giving formula as recommended by midwives. Just relax and trust mother nature. But at the same time if it doesn't come in it really isn't the end of the world

@Harriet thank you - my milk has started to come in today. He’s on formula today and will see how much I manage to pump for this evening xx