Breastfeeding with Formula Top Ups

Hi mums! ❤️ Looking for some advice or reassurance from anyone who’s been through something similar.

My baby girl is just over 2 weeks old, and we’ve had a bit of a difficult breastfeeding journey so far.

She was exclusively breastfed initially, feeding very frequently (sometimes 15–20 times a day), but unfortunately kept losing weight. By day 10, she’d lost almost 12% of her birth weight, so the midwife advised us to introduce formula or expressed breast milk top-ups after every feed.

Thankfully, she’s now gaining weight well which is a huge relief.

However, over the last day or so, she’s suddenly become very fussy at the breast. She latches, unlatches, cries and gets frustrated, then tries again. When she does feed, it’s only for around 9–10 minutes, compared with 15–35 minutes previously. The constant latching and unlatching is also becoming quite painful for me.

I’m worried that introducing bottles has made her prefer the faster milk flow and that she might eventually reject breastfeeding altogether (I have been using the slow flow teats for new borns) I really want to continue breastfeeding while making sure she’s getting enough milk.

Has anyone experienced something similar after introducing top-ups? Did your baby eventually settle back into breastfeeding? Any tips for managing the frustration at the breast and making the transition between breast and bottle easier?

Would really appreciate hearing your experiences! ❤️

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It could just be cluster feeding. Getting fussy at the breast is usually a sign of growth spurt and cluster feeding, and this is really common around 2 weeks old!

My baby was on top ups from 3 days old. He was born 10lb 10 and lost 11.5%. He had a 15ml top up each feed until he regained his weight.

It kind of sounds like cluster feeding which is totally normal and babies way of stimulating your supply but I'm not an expert so don't take my word. My boy would also get frustrated but I'd sit him up and and let him calm down and switch sides. I also called the national breastfeeding helpline a few times and they were brilliant. They really will help you through any feed. My boy is now 16 weeks and breastfeeding is so much easier. It is tough in the beginning! Have you got nipple cream? Pop that on before and after every feed. Hope your bf journey gets easier! Xx

Ditch the bottles and use cups (a shot glass will do) as these mimic the lap motion she needs for bf whereas sucking a teat is easy and at this age is likely to end your bf journey. She is probably cluster feeding which is a good thing! She is stimulating milk production each time she fusses.

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