how to restart breastfeeding as formula milk doesn't suit child?

Question

when my baby was born via c-section she was kept in hospital nursery. for a week she was given formula milk. Later she totally refused to be breast fed. Now she is four months and two weeks and i feel guilty of depriving her of the thousands of benefits of mother's milk. i keep saying to myself if only i had tried harder... Now, i want to try again but there is no milk.. Is there any way it starts flowing again.. I will express it and fed her through bottle if she doesnt want to be on breast.

Answer 1

i believe the simple act of her just sucking on your breast should encourage new milk. have a chat with your health visitor, it may be difficult for her to suck as she will get no satisfaction but im sure that after a few days your milk should come back. Good luck and dont worry, your doing a fab job xxx

Answer 2

I would rent/buy an electric breast pump, increase your own fluid intake and then start the process of getting your milk flowing. Try for ten minutes every few hours, then 10 minutes every 2 hours, then try every hour. Work on this over the course of a week or so and you should know if you can relactate. The key thing is to relax but think good thoughts about your sweet baby.

I had to bottle feed my kids my breast milk after I pumped it. And when I had nothing left to pump I never felt guilt about using formula. Adopted babies don't feed from their adoptive moms and those moms use formula without guilt. Moms that have had breast cancer and have no way to breastfeed give their babies formula without guilt. You can choose to use formula and it's okay. If you want to avoid the drama of trying to get your milk going again, you can do that. It's your own choice, hon.

Please don't beat yourself up! You are doing the hardest job-- taking care of a little baby AND recovering from major surgery, so don't fret. If your milk doesn't come back formula will do fine.

Also there are some herbal supplements that are supposed to stimulate milk production, so ask the herbalist about them. Best of luck to you and please don't beat yourself up!

Answer 3

Please donot feel guilty.If your baby is healthy ,be happy.Its a very good idea to restart breast feeding.After all no matter what is given breast milk is the best for your baby during first year of life.If there is a will then there is a way.

Here are some measures to take:
1. Consult OB doc regarding medication supplements such as reglan or domperidone orally and oxytocin spray intranasally.
Combine this with pumping every 2 hours with a good hospital grade pump(medela-symphony).
2. Take fenugreek .Soak in water (few spoonful) and gulp both water and seed 2-3 times a day.This method doesnt taste bad.Also avalable as capsules.said to increase milk production 900% in three days.
3.put baby to breast more often.Especially at night when baby is sleepy-willbe less fussy for bottle.Pumping at night increases milk supply.
4.Meet with a la leche group.will provide lots of support and information throughout your journey.

Hope this helps you.If you follow these steps you are bound to succeed.THere may be lots of ups and downs or frustrations till breast feeding is fully established.Do not give up,keep faith.GOOD LUCK!

Helpful websites:
http://www.lalecheleague.org/NB/NBrelactation.html
http://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/html/Relactation.shtml

Answer 4

I would say that since your baby is approaching the six months mark where total dependency on breastmilk is not recommended that you simply purchase iron-fortified formula until then if you aren't already. Have faith - the formula industry is a large business and has made significant advances at nearly replicating the content of breastmilk. Perhaps look at a brighter side, infants who are not breastfed are less fussy and irratable than those who are.

Also remember that only until recently has breastfeeding become re-popularized; in 1966 only 18% of mothers breastfed their children, and millions of them grew to enjoy long healthy lives. If you still do wish to recommence lactating researcher Hormann (1977) found that sucking stimulation [either via hand-pumping, or nursing] is more effective than hormone treatments in inducing lactation - give it about a month to be effective. Good luck, and don't worry.

Answer 5

Please do not feel guilty about not breast feeding.
If you truly want to feed do it for your self and baby but not because you feel guilty. Yes you can re astablish breast feeding. Adoptive parents can breast feed their adoptive babies. It is a lot of hard work and patience is needed. First you need to see a lactation specialist or nursing mothers group. They can help you set up what is called a supply line. It is a little bottle that sits inbetween your breasts with a tiny tube you put near your nipple. The bottle has formular in it. The act of baby suckling the breast and the closenes of baby to your skin will stimulate the milk.
Like i said it is a hard long road. I breast fed my first child for 3 months then gave up. After 2 months i decided i gave up for the wrong reasons. I had no milk when i re started. Slowly over about 3 week i had enough milk suply for him to feed as well as his solids. I ended up feeding him until he was 2 years old.
If you only want to express for a bottle, that is harder to do as the action of a breast pump is different to baby suckling.
What you should do then is be in a calm place in your home, relax and have baby close to you. Use an electric pump (you can hire from chemist). Have a hot shower or hot compress first. Start with 5 mins each breast graduly going to 20 mins each breast. you will need to do this every hour to 2 hours max for first 2 weeks. if after then you have no milk i am sorry but you might not be able to. Like i said it is harder if it is not baby suckling breast.
If after 2 weeks you are getting small amounts of milk keep going. add the milk to the formulas and feed baby. You should be able to get more each time you express and have to do it less often.
Every little bit helps. also go to your health food store, there are some natural herbs that help production of breast milk. In australia they tell adoptive parents to take them if they want to feed.
Let me know how you go.

Answer 6

Well i don.t think that is a bad idea but how can you do that if there is no more milk left. There is no way you can bring the milk back in. But in all fairness the hospital should not have put your child on formula milk , they should have asked you to express your milk . They should no that this is the best start for your baby.Unless it was for a good reason.My son was born and had to go to ICU he breast fed for6 weeks he was drinking so much l had no nipples left the doctors said to put him on pepti 2 a special formula made for him , because he had a neonatal liver.He was treated at the Children's hospital Birmingham ,an excellent hospital. So it is not your fault at all blame the hospital.

Answer 7

While you shouldn't beat yourself up, there is help if you still want to breastfeed your child.

First, do a little reading online. I put some links at the bottom to get you started. Make a decision. Do you really want to try this? I think it's fantastic that you want to try again, and if you really want to, you should be able to. It is easiest to relactate within five months after giving birth (after five months it becomes more difficult).

Next, contact a breastfeeding support group like La Leche League (I put a link at the bottom for that, too).

And finally, once your supply is up and your baby is nursing like a pro, throw away the formula and don't ever buy it again. Resist the temptation! You won't need it anymore, and it will feel so good to know that YOU alone can provide for your child, and that your child is getting so much more from you than she could from any can of formula.

Congratulations and good luck! Feel free to email me if you have any more questions or if you just need support.

Answer 8

I am sorry to say it, but once the milk is gone, it's gone.

I am not sure what formulas you have tried, but I really liked the powdered form of Carnation Good Start.

A handy tip when trying different formulas: you have to give each one approximately a week. Your baby may get diarrhea or a rash, but you have to give it time. Switching too frequently will cause gastric distress in the infant and then you are stuck thinking that nothing is going to work for her.

Answer 9

That's a bit strange most nursery's prefer to use mothers milk!! But anyway I have heard that if you start pumping you can start lactating but I'm not sure that it's really worth it b/c by the time your supply is at a decent level you will probably be starting to wean them of the milk anyway! Don't feel guilty about anything though your baby is growing nicely and that is the main thing!

Answer 10

What you are looking to do is termed "relactating". It *IS* possible, though not likely easy.

The first thing to do is to put the child to your breast - as often as possible.

Call your local La Leche League leader and ask how to get a "SNS" (Supplemental Nursing System). Use this to feed your child the formula while she is nursing at your breast (it's a tube system - you tape it along your breast, with the child taking the formula from the tube at your nipple).

Start attending LLL meetings as well, the support you will receive there is immense.

Good luck - it might be difficult, but it will be WELL worth the effort in the long run.

Answer 11

I don't think you can produce breast milk that has been stopped, however much you want it, unless of course you have another baby. Ask your pediatrician for other brands your baby can try. Also buy another type of nipple - maybe the one you have is not so soft or has big/small hole than your baby can manage. Unless there's a mother's milk bank available in your area, or you can find a wet nurse (do they still exist?), then your baby has no other choice but take formula.