Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m going on week 9 and the breastfeeding struggles have continued. It started out as a slight tongue and bad latch and low supply. We were able to correct his tongue tie but that still has not helped much. I was hopeful that it would correct the issues, but he’s still a very slow eater and often gets frustrated at the breast. We have been to 5 lactation consultants and two specialists who tell me nothing is wrong after the initial tongue and I just have to wait and it will get easier as he gets older. I’m struggling with low supply and that adds to the stress. I have tried so many things - diet, supplements, nursing all day/night, triple feeding, pumping, etc., and nothing has increased my supply to be able to exclusively breastfeed. I even cut out supplementing when we corrected the tongue tie but he lost too much weight and I realized my low supply was not from him improperly latching. I’m fine with having to supplement, but the fact that nursing is so hard has been making it more stressful and tempting to just give in and switch formula. I still want to make breastfeeding work. I’ve had so many people tell that it won’t get better if it’s hasn’t at this point, and others tell me it didn’t get easy until their baby was 4 months old and to give it more time. I worry that 4 months will come and I will be in the same position and mad that I put myself and my baby through all this, but I hold out hope that it will get easier and all of this stress and time will be worth it. I need encouragement and some unbiased opinions.

Hi, here's what helped most w my supply: drinking a large (32 oz) glass of plain water first thing in the morning before eating any food. If I skipped the water, or drank that amount of water later, after eating or in the day, my supply would be less. It's like drinking a big glass of water and then having a bigger pee than typical. Breastfeeding requires more water and more food for your body to be able to make the milk.

It's ok if you want to add formula. You are not a failure. Your body is not failing you. Caring for an infant is a huge transition, and you are doing a great job of paying attention to your baby and paying attention to yourself, and asking questions along the way.

Best wishes to you and your family!

Anonymous wrote:Have you tried body work for the baby. That made a big difference for me. My baby didn't have a tongue tie and at her best could latch correctly but she often didn't and was sucking in a disorganized manner. I saw an osteopath who did 2 sessions of body work and she started doing better. I did bodywork at weeks 11 and 13 and by 4 months things were better (so it is also possible that just growing helped too.)

My supply only improved once she started transferring better. I don't respond well to a pump and as a solo mom it was hard to fit in "enough" pumping sessions especially in those crucial early weeks. I did use an SNS to supplement for a few months (basically from week 7 til maybe around 4 months) which helped maintain the breastfeeding relationship until she improved. An LC showed me how to stick in in a nipple shield (which we were also using) which spared me the frustration of slipping under her lips etc. I did nursing/supplementing at the same time until I was testing whether she improved after bodywork and then switched to nursing then supplementing again. I also almost never supplemented at night which made things easier and she was able to gain enough weight even with limiting supplementing during the day (on rare occassions if she was still hungry after nursing I did supplement based on her cues.)

My supply never reached 100% but I only have to supplement 2-6oz in the evenings when I'm with her all day so it covers most of her needs. (For daycare I have to supplement more since I pump less than she extracts.)

I would say that any combination of switching completely to formula, nursing mainly for comfort with mostly formula, nursing and supplementing is totally fine. The most important thing is enjoying your time with the baby and that he is well fed. Nursing was very important to me for a number of reasons so I persisted but stopping can make a lot of sense too.

Anonymous wrote:This was me so I just accepted supplementing with nursing it was a nice balance no biggie. With my second I now have a ton of supply and it’s kind of a drag since I don’t get that formula break.

Anonymous wrote:I’m going on week 9 and the breastfeeding struggles have continued. It started out as a slight tongue and bad latch and low supply. We were able to correct his tongue tie but that still has not helped much. I was hopeful that it would correct the issues, but he’s still a very slow eater and often gets frustrated at the breast. We have been to 5 lactation consultants and two specialists who tell me nothing is wrong after the initial tongue and I just have to wait and it will get easier as he gets older. I’m struggling with low supply and that adds to the stress. I have tried so many things - diet, supplements, nursing all day/night, triple feeding, pumping, etc., and nothing has increased my supply to be able to exclusively breastfeed. I even cut out supplementing when we corrected the tongue tie but he lost too much weight and I realized my low supply was not from him improperly latching. I’m fine with having to supplement, but the fact that nursing is so hard has been making it more stressful and tempting to just give in and switch formula. I still want to make breastfeeding work. I’ve had so many people tell that it won’t get better if it’s hasn’t at this point, and others tell me it didn’t get easy until their baby was 4 months old and to give it more time. I worry that 4 months will come and I will be in the same position and mad that I put myself and my baby through all this, but I hold out hope that it will get easier and all of this stress and time will be worth it. I need encouragement and some unbiased opinions.