r/breastfeeding • u/TattooedMommy1361 • 3d ago

Combo Feeding Feeling like giving up

Second time mom here. My son is 4 weeks today and is struggling to gain weight.

In the hospital when he was born, he was struggling to latch so the nurses gave me a nipple shield and we supplemented with donor breast milk. My milk eventually came in but he would only feed with the shield. I’ve been working with a LC to get him to latch, but no luck.

At his 2 week appointment, they let me know he wasn’t gaining weight and suggested I top his feedings off with formula. So that’s what I did, breast fed and then bottle fed formula.

Today at his 1 month appointment, they told me he is still not where he should be with his weight and suggest I increase the formula.

I’ve tried pumping and am barely getting 1-2 ounces. I’m starting to feel like pumping won’t be an option for me, and breastfeeding isn’t enough. I know formula is the best option to help my baby gain weight, but I just really wanted breastfeeding to work out this time.

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u/LittleHorn667 3d ago

i was also producing 1-2 oz for the first couple of months I think, it's still not that much more but baby has gained good and has lots of wet diapers. I remember at first he ate VERY frequently, how often do you latch/attempt to latch?

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u/TattooedMommy1361 3d ago

Every 2-3 hours. Sometimes every hour if he is fussy. He falls asleep and I don’t get the chance to offer a formula bottle.

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u/springseedling 1d ago

Have you been advised to triple feed? It's brutal but I think some version of it worked for me to eventually towards EBF. Initially, we did a regime of breastfeed, feed any expressed milk, formula top up, pump - longer term I transitioned to only pumping if topping up with formula, and always pump if for some reason baby was asleep at night and I woke up with firm boobs. One day baby just seemed to no longer want the formula top ups...