When Makenzie was first born, she breastfed wonderfully. she latched on and acted like a pro for the first day and a half or so. halfway through day 2, she kinda stopped...she'd latch on and suck a few times and then push away and cry. i had a lactation consultant come talk to me and we tried some different positions and such, and found that laying down worked best. one consultant told me she was having problems because we introsuced a binky too soon and she got confused. another consultant told me it probably wasnt an issue.. we came home and last night she ate every three hours for about 20-30 minutes total but this morning and throughout the day, she would suck a few times and then push away. we try burping her, changing her diaper and just holding her but nothing really helps. she'll suck on a finger when we offer it, but wont take my nipple. i dont know what else to do..we've supplemented a couple ounces of formula today, and fed breastmilk from a bottle, but i would really really love to be able to breastfeed, especially since alexis didnt take to it at all.
i guess i just would like some suggestions from other mothers who maybe had the same problem...
thank you all for your advice. ive found that the nipple shield works pretty well..however we have new issues now. some feedings she does great and feeds from each breast for about 10-15 minutes...with a burping in between. when she does this, she usually ends up spitting up what seems like a lot. other times she'll latch on and eat for 3-5 minutes and fall asleep and i cant seem to wake her up..she'll sleep for a half hour or so and then wake up crying and seems to be too upset to latch on again..these times i end up bottle feeding breastmilk that ive pumped. i burp every 1/2 oz when i bottle feed her, but she still spits up. i dont know if shes spitting up because she ate too much (and then do i need to feed her again?), or if she ate too fast, or whats going on. she usually takes about 2 oz from the bottle..but sometimes as much as 4. i dont remember alexis spitting up this much..i feel like ive never had an infant before and its driving me crazy lol
I had this problem with my second child too after my first one wouldn't latch on. Have you tried breast shields? Sometimes if the nipple is too big the baby will just give up on trying to feed from it. I found some at Target. Just remember to get the smallest size available to start with.
Hi, My name is R. Beebe, and I'm a lactation consultant in private practice in Seattle. I doubt the binkie caused a problem, so quite blaming yourself. I see about 250 moms and babies a year and have never known that to interfere with breastfeeding. First--keep pumping to keep up your milk supply. use a rental pump or something meant for long-term use, like a Medela Pump in Style. Though I can't know for sure what the problem is w/o seeing both of you, she may be having a hard time actually getting the milk from your breast and that's why she's pulling off. Or perhaps you need a little help with your technique. Feel free to contact me if you want some direct help. And keep pumping!
R.
I didn't have this sort of problem, but I did read that sometimes babies will not want the breast if they don't like the taste of something their mother has eaten. Have you eaten anything recently that is spicy, garlicky, etc?
Hi M.,
I am probably in the minority here but I think if Makenzie (my daughter's middle name BTW) is only two weeks old and you have already introduced a binkie and a bottle, she may find that breastfeeding requires too much work. Suckling on a binkie or a bottle requires much less effort for babies and I have always been told that if introduced too soon (especially in the first 6 weeks), the baby may prefer them. Not that I think it's anything to blame yourself about, we all do the best we can. And I know this is probably another radical thought but I truly believe babies will eat when they are hungry. If supplemented to hastily, you might never know if she would eventually take the breast. I am sure you will find what's best for you and your daughter, just thought I'd offer my opinion. Congratulations and the best of luck to you.
E.
Keep it up! But be realistic... with a 10 3/4 month old to also care for, you have a LOT on your plate.
When I had my son, he had a really hard time latching on... I had pre-eclampsia and was super swollen causing my nipples to be sorta inverted. He had an awesome suck, just couldn't get a good latch. Plus, I have huge boobs and he had a tiny little mouth. Nipple shields worked wonders for us. The lactation lady at the hospital first gave them to me, then another lactation consultant the following day actually showed us how to use them properly (getting them wet helps keep them on). I have heard conflicting things about their use, but they definitely saved us. Our midwifery center lactation consultants also recommended their use in our case and I really trust them!
We only had to use them for about 5 weeks, tried at least once every day to get him to latch without them and one day it just clicked... he'd grown a bit and my swelling went down = great latch. I'm still breastfeeding (pumping during the day 'cause I work full time) 7 months later and SO glad I put in all the effort and hard work to get established. It's really an enormous committment you really have to work hard when there are issues but it's SO worth it.
Keep pumping so you don't lose your supply completely and work with her... be patient. Eat well, drink loads of water, take your vitamins... have lots of skin on skin time. Ultimately, the most important thing is she needs to eat and we all know breastmilk is best, so do everything you can - then you'll know you made the effort if things don't work out like you'd planned!
Good luck and we'll think good thoughts for you!
I'm responding to the "What happened." My third daughter was like that, with the spitting up. My doctor gave me a script for something like liquid protonix. It stopped the spitting up. She was having a mild case of acid reflux. I'd call the doctor were I you, and find out. Also, it could be something you are eating that she doesn't like at all. You can try first, by eliminating things from your diet for a week and seeing if that helps.
my first baby didnt take to brest feeding at all so i pumped for a year, this time around my daughter stared good at the hosbital but when we got home we had exsactly what you are talking about. so i pulled out the brest pump. I feed her a filling bottle and the next feeding when she was a little more clamed down from the stress factor i gave her a few spips from a bottle the she lached right on to me, the best pump also enlongates your nipple which makes it easyer for them to get their little mouths on. Now Brooklyn is almost three months old and feeds just fine. So keep tryin i hope this helps i know how stressful it can be at first.
Sometimes I think they just need more than your breast milk
can provide. At about 2 months, my daughter & I started
going through something alot like this. At wits end (2 a.m.
day 3 or 4 in a row) I tried formula and finally she slept
through the night again.
At first, I tried only doing formula for that night time
feeding, but she gradually wanted formula at each feeding.
(I'm not sure if this helps, exactly, just my 2cents.)
Hi M.
don't give up! When my 1st son was born he wouldn't eat on one side. He cried everytime I tried on this one side. Anyway turns out he had a broken collar bone from a hard birth. We didnt' find this out until his 2 week apt. you can imagine my guilt. The doc said this was not uncommon. So it could be something like that. Or Maybe the milk is coming out too fast for her of too slow. Or are you using something on you nipples? I would be surprised if it was nipple confusion from the binkie. I hope you guys figure it out b/c breast feeding is so great is so many ways.
good luck.
Hi M.,
Im not sure if this is it at all, but sometimes your baby can taste what you use to wash with or lotions, perfume, etc. Its best not to wash your breast with anything but water, and to stay away from perfume and so forth. Hope this helps. :)
Hi M.
I too was having problems...my first who is now 13 only worked for about 2 wks and because i had an infection really bad i was unable to work more with her. My second... I had a breast pump and was pumping as well and still ended up with an infection. So when I was pregnant with my third (a boy) I was very worried. So as with the other two i had a c section and when i went in to the hospital for pre admit stuff i asked to speak to a lactation consultant. I told her about the problems we were having and so I wanted to come up with a game plan. She said we will just work really hard together and figure something out. Well while we were in the hospital after my son was born he lost weight. So right away they had me pumping and supplement him with a surenge i think about it started with 10 cc up to 15 cc and i used my pinky in his mouth and held the surenge. So what i would do was breat feed him 10 on each side then supplement him with the surenge..and then I pumped both breast for 10 mins. And so I would replace the formula that equaled the breast milk i pumped untill the supllement that was the surenge was totally breast milk. BUt what helped was this time there was no cracking on my nipples and he latched on great and since i was pumping i knew that my milk was coming in...So I hope that helps and if you have any questions just give me a call i would be happy to give you more info and details....I didnt want to write you a book...lol ###-###-#### Im in the Bonney Lake area
I would suggest you Healthy Nursing Tea by secrets of tea.
Hello, Have you ever tried to use a nipple shield when you are feeding her? They are a little extra work when you are feeding, but at least it makes it possible to breastfeed. They are the only way I think I would have been able to breastfeed my twins. I got them from the lactation consultant. I would try asap, so you have the best luck with it. Good luck!!
do you have larger breasts cause some times that can cause a prob. because they can be too heavy for the babies I had this prob and had to use both hands for a very long time unless I was laying on my side.
Wow mamma! You have your hands full! I'm impressed, can't imagine having two children...
On to your question...I wouldn't give up unless you are just absolutely stressed especially if b/f is as important to you as you say. My daughter was in the nicu for a little over a week & I had t give her bottles of breastmilk because they are so anal about monitoring exactly what goes in to the baby while they are there & they gave her a paci when I wasn't there...my daughter is 20 months & still nursing strong. It took a couple weeks after we got home to really get good at it for both of us...alot of patience & sometimes we were both in tears...but we got through it & she is SO healthy...only had one bad cold!
What worked for us was a nipple shield...ask your lactation consultant about it! it's like a nipple condom sort of (not gross sorry) you place it over your nipple & it is longer, like a binky so the baby can latch on more easliy especially when she is frustrated & hungry...then after about 5 min of feeding..you can slip it off & just use your own breast...I used the nipple shield for about three weeks. I sent it to my girlfriend who was having trouble & it worked wonders for her too.
HANG IN THERE MOMMA & you are doing your daughter an amazing good just by trying!
A
