not able to breastfeed

[Lara77]

I can't seem to find any threads of people who are not able to breastfeed for some reason. I had to start giving my son (who is 5 weeks old now) formula because my milk supply has been very low since the beginning. I have been doing everything to increase it but it just didn't inrease. I haven't give up yet but to be honest fed up with struggling. The most interesting thing is nothing came from the right breast at all. All breastfeeding councelors I spoke to find this really interesting. Are there any mums out there who could not breastfeed and had to give formula?

[FrannyandZooey]

Lara there are not many people around right now but do bump this thread tomorrow and I hope you will get some replies.

Meanwhile congratulations on the birth of your son. I am sorry to hear breastfeeding has not worked out as you would have liked.

[Aitch]

ooooooh yes, lara, there are quite a few of us here. you are so not alone.

tell me this... did they try you with domperidone? it helped me a bit. are you exclusively bfing still (in which case bloody hell, well done) or have you been mixing bfing and formula? also are you on any drugs? i was on beta-blockers for high BP and they said that might have caused a problem with my yield.

congratulations on your new baby, it's the pits when bfing doesn't go like you've hoped, isn't it? you do get abit of perspective on it in time, but it's very overwhelming when you're right in the middle i think.

[chipmonkey]

Interesting about the high BP Aitch. A friend of mine had high BP, not sure what meds she was on, and really struggled to BF. She was v. upset about it at the time but her ds is a great big healthy lad now, so no harm done! Lara i'm no help, I'm afraid, I'm one of those annoying people who had a plentiful supply, but you're definitely not alone. MN is usually awash with questions from people who are struggling to bf!

[Aitch]

PCOS can also be a factor as well, chipmonkey. i have both... grrrr.

[alipiggie]

I'll sign up here - another one that produced NO milk, just colostrum. Both breasts. As a result ds1 lost more than 26% of his birth weight and it was very very scary. So realised that might have same problem with ds2 - and yes I did. Again no milk, just colostrum. So I expressed and gave them what I could. I know it's really upsetting, but don't worry. You're doing the best for your child and that's all that is important. No-one had any idea as to why I was not producing milk. I wasn't on any medicine at the time. Just one of the very small percentage of woman to whom this happens.

[Lara77]

Good to hear that I am not alone. Aitch, I am on Domperidone 3 tablets 3 times a day and it has worked a bit. I have been mixing breastfeeding and formula but breast milk is only 100 ml (max) a day. I saw a breast specialist and he said some woman cannot breastfeed and it changes pregnancy to pregnancy. And he said not being able to breastfeed this time does not mean I won't be able breastfeed my next baby but possibility increases.
Alipiggie, I understand you. Nobody could tell me why I am not producing enough milk either.
Also, very interesting to hear that PCOS can be a factor, because I have PCOS. Aitch, do you have any further information about this?

[Aitch]

here you go, it's pretty interesting. of course it doesn't affect everyone.
and alipiggie, that is so strange... gawd what a pita. i've got my fingers crossed for the next time all the same, i do feel more armed with info now.

[Lara77]

Hi Aitch, Can I ask you how long you took domperidone and what dose?
Has anybody else use it?
And are there anybody who tried goats rue?

[macneil]

I just expressed because my baby never latched, so this is obviously one of the reasons my supply was always low - it's stimulated by breastfeeding. But I had friends who expressed only and they expressed masses, and said to me, when your baby can't latch on and you can't express much either, it may be nature's way of telling you to give up. I would express (I know, babies get milk out much much better) for up to two hours at a time, and get 80mls at the very most. Domperidone didn't help me at all, and the milk stopped completely within less than a week of stopping expressing. So, I'm a mum who couldn't breastfeed and had to give formula. It's a really sad thing to come to terms with, and I was pretty damn insane for many months, but you can't, in fact, 'fail' at something you can't physically do. I hope you are kind to yourself throughout this time, and enjoy spending time with your baby without letting this dominate things, as I unfortunately couldn't.