breastfeeding issues - 2.5 month old

by Deergha
(Lombard, IL, USA)

Hi,

I am the mother of a 2 and a half month old baby. Ever since I got pregnant I wanted to exclusively breastfeed my baby. However I was unaware of it's "rules" and the difficulties faced. Right after birth, on the nurse's suggestion I sent my daughter to the nursery so I could not feed her at that time. Besides I too didn't know that I need to feed her within couple of hours of birth. Due to this my baby had latching issues. One of the other reason for latch were my flat nipples (my left breast is larger than the right one). Unaware of the consequences, I agreed to give bottle to my baby in the hospital. I first got milk after 5 days of delivery (till then I used to feed her droplets of colostrum along with bottle). I kept trying to latch her but in vain. I never experienced engorgement in breasts. Also, I couldn't pump enough to feed her even once. Finally she was able to latch but was never satisfied with my breastmilk alone. I decided one day that I will breastfeed her exclusively so I breastfed her on demand for 3 days thinking it wasn't a milk supply issue. However she became dehydrated and my pediatrician suggested me to switch back to bottle and breastmilk combination as I was doing before.

As of today, I am giving her a combination of bottle (formula) and breastmilk. When I pump, I get about 20-25 ml of milk (I get 1 ounce on best days).
I have still not lost hope to exclusively breastfeed my baby. Please advice as to what can I do...

--Desperate Mother
Answer from the lactataion consultant
Hang in there, there is hope. First of all you need to boost your supply. I would suggest pumping every 2-3 hours for 20 minutes, 24 hours a day. Yes, even at night. Even if nothing is coming out. It will signal your body to make more milk. TODAY, find a local lactation consultant that will work with you or a peer support person through the la leche league. This person can suggest some milk stimulating herbs called galactogogues to help you produce more milk. After pumping, taking the herbs and increasing your supply for a few days then you can work with the lactation consultant to get the baby on the breast. If you were my client I would use a SNS or supplemental nurser to transition the baby back onto the breast. It is a system of tubing where you can "supplement" with formula or expressed breastmilk while the baby is suckling at the breast. All this being said, it will be approximately 1-2 weeks of hard work to get the baby on the breast but in the long run, it will be what you want and it will turn into something easier and more fullfilling for you. Find some support and go for it, it is VERY do-able. I have worked with many moms in your exact situation and had successful results. Don't give up.

Liz Pevytoe, RN, IBCLC