Breastfeeding
I have never had a big supply of milk so we have been formula feeding from early on. Our LO is now 7 weeks old and is definitely putting on weight as they are growing out of the tiny baby clothes.
I continue to express regularly throughout the day trying for every 3 hours but barely getting an Oz from the whole day. I store it all up and then give him a 4 Oz bottle which would be the amount of formula he would have.
My question is should I continue expressing even if it is only a small amount that I am giving him? Is it worthwhile? He has been on breast milk since he was born but just not in big qualities.
I am hoping that although it is a small amount there are still plenty of benefits to continuing but part of me feels reluctant to carry on for such a small amount with all the faff that goes on just trying to pump.
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I literally just made the decision to stop as it would as I was In the same situation
Any amount of breastmilk is beneficial, it contains antibodies and all sorts of other things that help protect baby. If you can manage to keep on I would xxx
Are you feeding directly from the breast as well or just expressed milk? The amount you pump isn't an indicator of how much baby can get from you directly so they may be getting more than you think direct from source! As someone has said already though, it is really magical stuff so will definitely be benefiting baby if you can persevere, however i HATE pumping so can understand your reluctance! I am lucky my baby has latched really well so is easier for them to just go on breast rather than expressing.. well done for getting so far! It's a hard journey! X
I am wondering the same thing. It feels like such a tough decision to make. There's so much guilt and sadness attached with stopping but the expressing is so time consuming and I'm finding it's stopping me giving full attention to my baby, which also feels negative.
Good luck whatever you decide. Your baby will thrive either way, whatever you do.
I've only been able to pump and bottle feed him my milk. It is a really hard decision to make!
If he is a little older now, I’d suggest getting some help to start breastfeeding him. It is a little hard at the beginning but will improve and so much easier ti make time for than pumping. Also try to look into flange size or if the pump parts need replacing which could be contributing to low amounts from pump.
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