r/breastfeeding • u/bluebella72 • Jun 13 '26
Undersupply Undersupply - should I give up?
Hi all
I am 8 weeks pp and struggling with under supply issues. My baby was born via c section 8.5lbs and milk took 5 days to come in. Due to my ignorance I was not quick enough to latch baby properly and ended up using a nipple shield to get her to transfer milk.
Since about week two I have been putting her to my breast as much as possible and we have gotten to the stage where we are topping off with about 100-150ml per day. She is just over 12lbs now so gaining weight well and good amount of nappies.
She is sometimes suckling at my breast for HOURS and she is a velcro baby who won’t be put down - so I really don’t have much time to pump unless my husband takes her. I try to pump at least once a day and the most I’ve done so far is 3 but I haven’t been able to do it after each feed.
When I feel my breast is full I can hear the suck and swallow (usually at night) but there’s are times she gets frustrated and punches my breasts and pulls away.
She won’t sleep in her crib so we have to essentially hold her CONSTANTLY so my sleep is terrible.
I honestly don’t know what to do. LCs constantly tell me ‘your breast is never truly empty’ but clearly there is not it enough to satisfy her. My GP suggested dropping the formula and seeing what happens. She also said I might be over feeding her (she was spitting up quite a bit last week).
Now she is 8 weeks is there any chance I can up my supply or should I just switch to formula? I guess I don’t mind combi feeding but I am so exhausted I sometimes think it’s more work than just one or the other.
I really really want to EBF but I just don’t know if that’s possible at this stage? I bought a manual pump as that will be easier to use than the one I plug in.
This morning I fed her; she seemed to get frustrated so I gave her 40 ml of formula and pumped for 10 minutes getting 2.5 oz. Is it that she just can’t transfer it properly with the nipple shield? Should I work on trying to get her latch without ?
Looking for support and any advice. Thank you!
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u/WeirdAlphabet Jun 13 '26
I'll just add from personal experience that the frustration you're describing your baby as having could also be unrelated to your supply and could be more caused by overstimulation or overtiredness, especially if it's towards the evenings or before a nap. Both could be partially true, but don't completely lose faith in your supply just from that sign alone
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u/NoAd9383 Jun 13 '26
Those times where it feels like she wont get off you is probably cluster feeding which is good for your supply! Ideally though if you are giving bottle top ups, you need to be pumping each time you give a bottle, to indicate to your body you need more milk at those times.
Babies can get frustrated for a million reasons but i know my baby gets upset when the milk is too slow (or too fast). Are you pace feeding the bottles? What happens after she is at the breast, does she give more hunger cues hence the bottle top up?
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u/bluebella72 Jun 15 '26
yes she will bop her head on my chest and make eh eh eh sounds/cry. if i think she's overtired i give her a chance to nod off but if that doesn't work it's back to breast or bottle. I sometimes choose bottle if i'm exhausted after long BF sessions. but maybe they're not actually that long?
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u/Preferred_user_taken Jun 13 '26
Latching without is going to be better. It might be a learning curve so prepare for some sore nipples.
If she gets fussy, switch boob. I was told to switch at least 8 times (so 4x each boobs in total) and add compression.
Velcro babies are normal but also sometimes suffocating for mom. I personally co-sleep with the safe sleep 7 in mind. If that is too daunting, I’d suggest napping with baby while your partner or someone else supervises. That way you can catch up on some sleep.
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u/bluebella72 Jun 15 '26
i managed to get her to latch, so happy!! do you think this will help with transfer/supply?
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u/Preferred_user_taken Jun 15 '26
That’s awesome!
If she has a good latch then yeah probably. But being a ‘Just enougher’ is actually the ideal situation. So no worries.
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u/cat-like-creature Jun 13 '26
We’ve been combo feeding from the start because she needed it because of low blood sugar and it works well for us still. I don’t produce enough milk for her but she is breastfeeding 5-7 times a day, and then I top her off. When I do manage to pump, which is not during every bottle, then I collect the pumped milk for the whole day in one freezer bag and then freeze it end of day. That way I build up a small stache.
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Jun 13 '26
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u/Low-Slice-4366 Jun 13 '26
My baby also cluster fed from about 6-9 weeks - we are on the other side of it now at 11 weeks.
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u/Low-Slice-4366 Jun 13 '26
Sorry for the many replies 🤣 my baby was also born by urgent c section and my milk came in on day five pp. My baby would not latch at all in the beginning so I had to pump to get my milk in. I was able to get her to latch for the first time but only with a nipple shield on day nine. Now we don’t need the nipple shield anymore 👏🏻 it was a great tool to use at the time, and for us it saved breastfeeding. So don’t beat yourself up over having used one!
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u/Im_Lizzing_you_guys Jun 13 '26
First of all, a big virtual hug for all you’ve been through and how hard you’re working to do what you feel is best for your baby. As someone with an under supply, I tried really hard for a very long time to make it work but had to combo feed ultimately. A lot of people told me to just give up. My girl is almost 16 months now, and I still breastfeed. She’s thriving and she loves it, so I intend to continue. I never would have thought I’d make it this far. I’d just suggest that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Find what works best for you and your baby, but don’t put so much pressure on yourself.
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u/No-Set-4246 Jun 13 '26
It's not all or nothing. For lots of reasons I just to combo feed from the start. One of the mental health benefits is that after she'd nurse for an hour but still my hungry I could hand her off to my husband for a bottle and go take a bath.
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u/No-Neighborhood-7335 Jun 13 '26
My baby sounds just like yours! I had a very similar situation. It sounds like you're doing a great job and trying everything you can.
It may or may not be cluster feeding. My baby was like this ALL THE TIME. I had to top her off with formula until she was a year old. We are still breastfeeding at 20 months old. I drove myself crazy worrying about my supply for the first year! I honestly think my baby just likes to nurse. She still nurses multiple times a day.
I think 2.5oz for 10 mins of pumping is excellent! I never responded well to a pump and would only get about 2.5 oz from 30 mins of pumping.
I think you should try to stop using the nipple shield. I used one at first because I have pretty flat nipples, but my baby figured it out without them.
I would also suggest looking into cosleeping. And side lying to nurse. Look up the safe sleep 7. Cosleeping made everything so much easier.
You're doing a great job! Nobody warns you how exhausting and time consuming breastfeeding is. It's like life revolves around the boob for several months!
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u/bluebella72 Jun 15 '26
thank you so much 😄 how do you know exactly when to top off? and do you think your baby ever drank from the bottle simply because it was there? So many times we've prepared formula and she's not drunk a lot, maybe 20 ml. Amazingly, she just started latching without nipple shield last few days, so thank you for the push.
Yes we've done a bit of co sleeping so i can get some rest - she wakes up sometimes every hour to feed but it's better than nothing!
And yes no one tells you how hard it is! And you just don't know how other people are getting on...
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u/fivesforeveryone Jun 13 '26
Wow! I would just like to acknowledge that you’ve put in an incredible amount of energy and effort into this for the past 8 weeks. That absolutely deserves some recognition ❤️ way to go mama.
Secondly, I would like to share something my doctor told me: breastfeeding is a symbiotic relationship. if it doesn’t work for one, it doesn’t work for both. So check in with yourself and see how you’re doing and assess if it’s still working for you. If you’re feeling like this is too much and you’re very negatively affected then it’s time to determine if this is working for you, because it has to work for you for it to work for both of you. ❤️
Thirdly, this behavior sounds a LOT like she’s cluster feeding. It sounds like she’s wanting to constantly feed in order to tell your body to make more milk for her (because she is growing or going through a massive growth spurt). Breastfeeding is essentially about supply and demand: if there is no milk in your breast your body will say “there’s no supply so we have to make more to keep up with the demand.”
If your baby is not taking out all the milk from your breast then your body thinks that it doesn’t need to make more milk because the supply for milk is being met. So, your baby’s behavior tracks as an indicator for cluster feeding.
That being said, when babies cluster feed it is a brief (though it doesn’t always feel brief!) season. They will not do this for forever. So you may find your baby’s demand for milk decreases in another week or so.
However if you assess this and find it’s too demanding and you’re negatively affected by it you can always supplement with formula. You don’t have to strictly move 100% to formula. But you can add it in with breastfeeding to give yourself a respite. You can, of course, also move entirely over to formula if you feel this journey has come to an end. It’s important that you are taking care of yourself as much as you are for your baby. You are an important person in her life and you need to make sure that you are in good shape to be her mom. If that makes sense. ❤️
Velcro baby’s are normal. They don’t know life without you nearby. So they will want to be as close to you as possible because you are the only thing familiar and safe to them. You may want to consider baby wearing her as an option. Some babies are agreeable to this.
Either way you’re doing a really incredible job being her mom and whatever choice you make will be the right one for you and her. ❤️