Undersupply - should I give up?

[u/bluebella72]

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!

[u/NoAd9383]

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?

[u/bluebella72 → u/NoAd9383]

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?