Feeling down as not able to breastfeed

Hi, I am feeling very low, stressed as I am not able to breastfeed my baby. She is 6 weeks old, having formula feed since birth. I have low milk supply. On top, i have flat nipples, which made my baby difficult in latching after born. I have already had mastitis three times now, multiple nipple bleb. GP said baby does not have tongue tie. Part of me knows her latch is not good, tried consulting lactation consultant. Everything works good infront of them but nothing when home. I want to exclusively breastfeed but one RN said its probably too late to increase milk supply. I don’t want to give her formula all the time but have to. Baby doesn’t latch in breast for long, baby likes bottle flow. Pls

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https://llli.org/breastfeeding-info/inverted-flat-nipples/

It's not too late but is a long process. Unless you intend on power pumping to build your supply, just try to offer the breast before and after feeds. Hopefully baby will gradually increase your supply naturally and will ask for less formula. But don't cut down formula, expecting her to feed, a hungry baby will just get upset and too stressful.

We struggled with all of the above but in the end trying to get baby to latch, feeding and pumping all got too much. I never had hardly any milk (not had to wear breast pads once). Eventually I made the decision that my baby was doing fine and thriving on formula and trying to feed was just mentally and emotionally draining. It’s still hurts that i haven’t been able to feed my daughter but I am fully enjoying life with my little girl now and getting out and a boy something I don’t think I could have done if still trying to up my supply. Just my experience and I wish you all the best whatever you decide x

Have you tried nipple shields? I have a flat nipple and had to use a shield to begin with until he got better at latching.

@Louise it hurts so much that I am not being able to feed her my milk. I always wanted to exclusively breastfeed but didn’t happen. This is hard as I am not being able to accept it. I am pushing and stressing myself to breastfeed, mentally so drained 😓

Had all of this too, and I really know the feeling. It's not too late to increase milk supply though. Given the flat nipples and difficulty latching - I had both too - I recommend pumping over breastfeeding. At 7 weeks, I started pumping during every feed, power pumping 3 times a day also. I'm 9 weeks pp now and I'm getting between 70-80ml of milk a session. For some people, that's hardly anything but I got only a few drops of milk when I tried hand expressing initially , given my baby's been on formula since the early days. There is no option for me to breastfeed my LO directly as she doesn't take to the nipple given she's used to being bottle fed and dummies. But if your baby does breastfeed that's very helpful for pumping, as is skin to skin x

Have you sought advice from an IBCLC? They are the most knowledgeable/qualified in this area.

Happened with me,I got mentally drained and gave up on breast milk,always remember fed baby is best,it doenst matter its formula or breast milk

@Rebecca i have tried everything but all they teach is how to latch. When i showed my latch they said its fine.

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