How is everyone feeding their newborn?

Really struggling with breast 😔 baby won’t latch on at all, milk came in yesterday and I think I’ve managed one latch. I’m engorged to hell and in agony. Currently trying to hand express and manual pump- going to switch to electric today and see if that gets more. My supply is definitely increasing but we’re struggling with when I am able to express because it sends little one into a milk frenzy. Health visitor coming next Wednesday if she can’t crack it I may suppress as it’s not fair on him or me

You're not alone on this one @Jess I've struggled with my baby's latch...his chin is set far back apparently and causing difficulties. Due to his need I've been giving formula and milk finally came in today...I have an electric pump so have been pumping also. I've had a couple of good latches when supported by one specific midwife. Something that has reassured me this time is that the midwife got me thinking with my first son I have to give formula following breastfeeding not going great as part of a rehydration plan...I continued to express and offer the breast after the feed...then a few weeks later he started taking the breast and I reverted to breast only for a good 6-7 months with occasional expressed bottles. Do you have an infant feeding team in your area? They were a great support last time x

Ive been doing a mix of both. Trying to do breast as much as possible but sometimes she loses the latch and i end up giving a bottle. Breastfeeding support has been helpful for positioning.

Breastfeed only but eventually plan to express

Baby boy wouldn’t latch and it was causing us both more stress than it was worth so I have been expressing and giving it through a bottle however I underestimated how exhausting this would be and started to struggle and constantly worry about not being able to get enough milk! So we have introduced formula aswell now which seems to be working! He’s also going longer inbetween feeds!xx

We started with formula because our boy couldn’t latch. We find out that he’s tongue tied so didn’t bother with trying to latch any more because he gets very frustrated. I am however pumping so during the day he’ll have breast milk in a bottle and during the evening he has formula because it’s more filling. I’m hoping on Friday that he can latch or learn to latch after his procedure but I’m not pressuring myself because it’s way too much at the moment and I don’t want be stressed out nor stress our boy out. I hope you find your groove soon xx

Exclusively expressing 👍🏻

Also exclusively expressing, my supply is good at the moment so will keep going as long as that's the case 😊

Exclusively BF at the moment I’m on day 6 PP and my nipples are so sore and cracked, even with good cream 😣 my midwife popped round yesterday and was really reassuring so I plan to stick with it for now. I’ve read a lot of positive things about silver cups so I’ve ordered those to arrive today too and hoping that will help!

@Jess having a similar experience and I’ve decided to express using electric pump and use formula too. Baby has latched a couple of times a but then doesn’t want to suck or sucks for a second and can’t be bothered 😭 it just isn’t fast enough for him I think but I’m feeling a bit deflated trying

@Maariyah have you had a midwife appointment yet? We just had our 5 day check in and the midwives completely took the time to go through everything with me and my partner we were there nearly 3 ours they went through different positions, how to know when he’s latched and just explained that if he gets himself worked up you just have to work through it. They also used an electric pump for me as I was severely engorged. They’ve booked us a follow up support visit at home for tomorrow.

@Jess that’s good news! Hopefully this helps for you… I’ve got one coming tomorrow and hopefully mine is as helpful as yours and we can figure it out🤞🏼xx