My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Infant feeding

Can I continue BFing?

3 replies

robin3 · 18/09/2006 12:21

My DS2 is 11 weeks. I breastfed him exclusively for the first 2 months then introduced some formula after that in readiness for my return to full-time working. My DP and Mum look after him whilst I'm at work. I managed to store some milk by expressing but am now back at work. The first week I continued to BF at the 6.30 bedtime feed but gradually in week two my milk supply started to diminish and last night he took 4oz of formula after I'd fed him which really brought home how little I'm now producing. I would like to be BF again at 2am but again I don't have the supply because I'm not feeding during the day. I can't express at work to increase supply again so what should I do and am I being daft trying to maintain 1 feed a day when he's already 80% formula fed. Opinions please.

OP posts:
Report
tiktok · 18/09/2006 12:38

robin, the only thing that works to increase supply is to increase demand

In your case, this will mean expressing at work and feeding whenever you are with your baby.

Is there a way you can express at work? Your employer is legally obliged to make this possible for you.

If you really can't do this, then you need to make the most of opportunities to breastfeed when you are with your baby, mornings, evenings and weekends. You may not need to keep up frequent feeding once your supply is restored, but you need to feed often at first. You could then reduce to one feed a day.

At three months, feeding once a day (as you did with the 6.30 pm feed) solely will cause a pretty rapid dwindling of milk supply, so what you experienced was normal...but it can be turned round. Most mothers will not be able to maintain breastfeeding on just one feed a day unless their babies are quite a lot older and their milk supply is very well-established - I would say based on experience (my own and other mothers') that for most people, the baby needs to be about nine or 10 months old before you can maintain a supply on just one feed a day.

In your case, maybe you could build up a supply and then wind it down to two or three feeds a day.

While all this is going on, you will be more comfortable if you can somehow express in the day at work.

Having said all that, there is nothing wrong with just putting your baby to the breast for comfort, whether or not there is a full feed (or indeed any feed) there at all.

Hope this helps.

Report
sorrell · 18/09/2006 12:40

Why can't you express at work? Even twenty minutes in the loo at lunchtime can work wonders. Take a magazine!

Report
robin3 · 18/09/2006 12:44

Thanks TikTok,

I thought that might be the case. One of my friends went down to one feed but she'd been exclusively BFing for at least 9 months and had established weaning by that stage.

OP posts:
Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.