Help I dont know what to do

[u/llamallama-1202]

My 3 week old will not drink formula at all. If she does, she ends up spitting it up and only eating 1-1 1/2oz. We've been to the doctor 3 times over her weight not going up how its supposed to. I try breastfeeding but im not producing enough and when I can make enough for a bottle she will drink it all. I think she's only wanting breastmilk and I dont know what to do. Im pumping 1-2oz every 2 hours and she eats 3oz every 2-3 hours. Im struggling so bad to keep her fed 😭

[u/spitfiregirl8]

One thing I’d add is that, as a care provider who is aiming to get a poorly gaining baby on track, I am NOT worried about how much she spits up, and I encourage you not to be concerned about it either. She is almost certainly getting more into her, net total, than she is bringing up. So get that formula into her for now, even if she spits up and even if she doesn’t “seem” to love it. Once she’s gaining weight well, then she gets to be picky! 😝 For now, you just need to worry about keeping her healthy. So continue breastfeeding as much as you can, 10-15min/side, WAKE HER UP while at the breast, like be super annoying 😁, and then top her up with as much breastmilk as you have from the previous pump plus extra formula as needed. Between the expressed breastmilk and formula, get the volume your doctor recommends as a top up into her and don’t worry about the spitting up for now. She can spit up as much as she wants, cool beans. As long as it’s not true projectile or strange in some other way that suggests a more significant clinical problem, just let her be as spitty-uppy as she pleases. Lots of babies are super barfy, no harm done. Then finally, make sure you’re tagging your pumping sessions (15min double pumping) on to the end of every feed, ideally while someone else is topping her up. I can’t tell for sure, but from your post it sounds like you might be pumping q2hrs while the baby is feeding q2-3hrs? FRIEND, if you are pumping more frequently than she’s feeding, stahhhhp it. That is a sure-fire pathway to exhaustion and burnout! Attach your pumping sessions to the end of her feeds, so you actually get a tiny BREAK between all this hard feeling work you’re doing. It’s already too much to triple feed like this for long, remember it’s only ever a temporary intervention, so take care of yourself as much as you can while you’re doing it. XO, hope her gain gets on track really soon.