Breastfeeding
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Why do you think your supply is low? Is baby not gaining weight?
Some things that helped me up my milk was offering more feedings. Oatmeal has been my best friend. Make sure you’re well rested, sleep is important. Also, don’t beat yourself up if you can’t breastfeed solely, newborns can have such a fluctuating appetite. Hope your recovery is going well! ❤️
Hello, I had an emergency C section and I’m EBF for 7 months now! Happy to help
I’m 7 days post partum from my c section and I’m breast feeding fine, no issues with supply and milk came in fully on day 3. However with my first baby I had an awful time, low supply and was constantly hooked up to a breast pump but this did slowest increase my supply. Can toy see an infant feeding specialist or speak to your HV, there’s lots of help available but you do have to push for it x
Yes but we went through the mill to get there. Ask to see the infant feeding team and see if there are any local breastfeeding support groups. Your health visitor will know. I need practical lessons to get the positioning right and it also turned out that my little boy had tongue tie. Good luck!
To be honest I struggled. My milk came in day 5 and also they saw a tongue tie at day 7. I decided to not to cut it and give baby the chance of learning to nurse.. I was pumping and supplementing for like 1 month . My milk was also low and on the first growth spurt around 4 weeks I stopped pumping and only let the baby lead and things got better since, baby is growing in her percentile , no pains when nursing.
@Sanna thaink you Sanna
@Courtney thanks Courtney oatmeal any particular brands?
Maybe I’m unaware of something but what does a c section have to do with breastfeeding? Asking because I breastfed all 3 of my children and ask 3 were c section babies as well
Congratulations on new baby! And breastfeeding can be so tricky but I’ve found it really rewarding and glad I persisted. I agree with others who have said porridge, lots of water and sleep, latch baby often and get support from local breastfeeding groups and infant feeding team (health visitor can help connect you)
I havent seen a HV since week 2 and am waiting for them to contact me for next appt
@Madiha they should have left you a number to call or text, it might be in babies red book or in text message?
Had a planned C-section and still breastfeeding on demand a toddler that will turn 2 years next month. I drink PLENTY of water daily and have a large supply. Hope that helps! Good luck!
The breastfeeding network on Facebook have trained volunteers to help with specific advice they have helped me so much, send them a dm xx
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I had an emergency c section for the first 3 days I was hand expressing colostrum until my milk came in and was pumping in between breast feeds (we were in hospital for 5 days after baby was born so used hospital grade pump). Since being home I was breast feeding and pumping in between just enough for some bottles for my husband to do night feeds between 30 and 60ml per bottle in the first couple of weeks. Currently exclusively pumping as baby has a tongue tie and breast feeding is too painful as he can’t latch properly. Since pumping I have got an oversupply so I’m now trying to reduce it (baby is 7 weeks) If you’re not already it might be worth looking into pumping and power pumping to help build up your supply in between feeds. Keep hydrated too! X
2 csections breastfed both, pumped to increase supply early on milk came in day 5 with my first, day 3 with my second. Porridge oats, coconut water and looooads to drink
When pumping are you supposed to pump hours on end or small intervals?
@Madiha every 2-5 hours
@Davida thank you
@Madiha try pumping every 2-3 hours it will definitely increase your supply. I pump for night feeds 3 times a day for when my husband takes over as well. I express about 200ml per session.
Wow that's great. I just hope it works considering I am in my 5th week of PP
I did it. I baked some lactation cookies and had them in advance and then post birth. https://www.bunsenburnerbakery.com/lactation-cookies-oatmeal-chocolate-chip/ Oats, dates, protein and staying hydrated helped me lots.
Brewers yeast?
To increase supply , alongside eating & drinking the right things, practising relaxation techniques etc your baby needs to demand more (or do it by pumping etc) your body produces the amount of milk that the baby demands, if you feel you are topping up with formula then you need to pump the same amount at the same time , I found it hard when I combi fed as my supply went down, it only returned when I stopped combi , or made a considerable effort to pump or stimulate 2nd time round feeding now & second c section , now I’m aware it’s going so much smoother than the first and less stressful for me, but I am very triggered when I hear staff telling mums they aren’t producing enough or that baby is too hungry & automatically to top them up My baby is cluster feeding like mad & seems to not be able to get enough from me but this hungriest will be what helps my body kick in to produce enough. Hope that makes sense ❤️ Also I am aware some people are exceptions and their bodies do
Struggle And especially after big events like c section our brains and bodies take a minute to get over the trauma, mentally healing more than physical will aid in supply :)❤️❤️
I had an emergency c section at 34 weeks, so my body definitely wasn’t ready for providing for a baby. Luckily, the midwife that was looking after me was really good at getting me started. My baby was in a neonatal unit for 2 weeks so I could only try breastfeeding when I was on the ward with her, otherwise she would have what I had pumped. She is 7 months now and still has only ever had breast milk. I didn’t do any of the ‘eat this or drink this to increase your supply’, I think the pumping really helped me. Even now if I feel my supply potentially dipping, I will have a pumping session once a day for a couple of days and it feels better. Even if you don’t give baby a bottle of your pumped milk, it can be used in baths, to clean their face, frozen and used later on in weaning, etc. so you don’t feel it was wasted milk!
@Madiha your supply doesn’t “regulate” until 12 wpp at the moment it’s being driven by hormones rather than the demand = supply as such so you’ve got time to build it up don’t worry! As Davida has said if you follow a good schedule and make sure you do the middle of the night pumps as that’s when your hormones are highest for production x
Contact the infant feeding team, the number will be in your baby’s red book, I’m currently under them as my milk was delayed as I had to be put to sleep for a cat1 emergency c-section, they help with your latch and tips and tricks on how to increase your supply xx
Thank you #everyone
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I couldn't get my baby to latch on for over 2 months which made things even worse. It took me over 8 weeks of pumping with a rented hospital grade pump to produce enough milk to stop needing top ups. I tried to pump every 3 hours at 3, 6, 9, 12 am and pm. Used hands-on pumping and occasionally power pumping and made sure to stay well fed and hydrated. It was exhausting and made me feel like s**t as my partner would give the baby her bottles while I pumped, and I felt like she wouldn't bond with me ever. Eventually things sorted themselves now and I was able to stop pumping altogether and am now EBF - it's been a hard journey but I LOVE not having to wash or sterilise equipment and not worrying about bringing formula with me when I head out. However, if my partner hadn't been at home with me the whole time, I would not have tried for so long and would have prioritised my ability to rest between feeds. Oh, make sure you use the right flange size - I despaired for days until I fixed that! Good luck! x
Following as I’m in the same position as you, 4 weeks pp had an emergency c section and have been breast feeding but supply not enough for baby so have had to give bottle as well.