Trouble Nursing - Elmira,NY

Get a lactation consultant. I got Shingles 3 days after giving birth and was told to pump & dump - GRRR. But got a lactation consultant to get me back on track. I don't know anything about this website - BUT it has a picture of the formula supplementing device that I used to make sure my son got what he needed from my breast (http://www.lowmilksupply.org/abs.shtml)

He sucked on my nipple, and the formula gave him whatever my breasts weren't capable of supplying. His sucking increased my supply naturally, and I was able to stop supplementing after a time - AND he didn't have to work super hard. As he got stronger, my supply got better and then it all worked.

But I needed the Lactation Consultant to do it. It should be covered by insurance because of your son's issues - I would ask and see if they can code it as medically necessary.

Good luck!

Talk to a certified lactation consultant about your options, like an SNS feeding system. My nephew was in the NICU for 3 weeks and my sister was still able to nurse him after he was released. You may need an LC to check his latch.

Also see kellymom.com for tips. What makes you think he's not getting enough?

ETA: My DD was not in the NICU and we still had a few things to sort out, like poor latch and overactive letdown. The Lactation Center (not the nurses that knew enough to be dangerous) were a godsend.

Try a nipple shield and see if he can get a better latch. I will also echo talking to a lactation consultant or contact your La Leche League so you have someone there, in person to see what is going on and can help you trouble shoot. Kellymom is my favorite website for breastfeeding information.
There are growth spurts when baby will nurse non-stop to build your supply up to the new demand. It sounds like your baby is cluster feeding. This is normal! It's also only been a week. Nursing is supply and demand. The time in the NICU baby wasn't doing the demanding, the pump was. The pump can't guess how much baby needs. Baby may not drain a breast at a feeding if you're making too much while your supply evens out. Emptying a breast or not is not a sign of getting enough or not enough. Baby is also making up for lost time as far as contact with you, having been in the NICU for a week. Breastfeeding isn't only about food and nutrition, it's about bonding and security.
Looking at how many wet/dirty diapers baby had and looking at weight gain is a good indicator of baby getting enough. http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/feeding-eating/breastfee...

I don't think that the problem is that he is used to the bottle. The problem is that it takes a lot of work to nurse and he is having trouble. If he were just used to the bottle, he'd give up. He IS trying.

Your nipples are going to be shot if you let him suck for hours every 20 minutes. You also HAVE to be willing to supplement if he can't get enough milk by nursing. If you don't, he will end up in a lot of trouble - new babies should not be allowed to become dehydrated just because mom is trying to exclusively nurse.

People who tell you not to give a bottle aren't the ones who will be taking baby to the ER. You can't just take that advise. Your baby's life is more important than your desire to nurse.

It is not true that babies can't nurse and supplement. Both of mine did. I could not pump no matter how much I tried. They nursed AND I supplemented with formula.

Talk to the pediatrician about this. You need a DOCTOR'S advise - not just someone who is all about breastfeeding.

Congrats on the new baby! I'm glad you are trying to nurse..... it may be challenging for a while, but you will both get the hang of it, I'm sure.....

It will take a while for him to get used to nursing...... rather than pumping and bottle feeding it to him, go ahead and pump to empty your breasts and freeze it for future use. Try not to bottle feed unless it is really obvious that he isn't getting enough. Are you sure he is latching on properly? That may be why he is nursing in such frequent spurts.... he tries, gets frustrated and gives up, and then is hungry soon after.

He may be getting enough breastmilk from his nursing that he is falling asleep.... try to keep him awake during the nursing by nursing on one breast until he falls asleep, then changing his diaper (which wakes him up), and then nursing on the other side. This may start filling him up more so he goes longer between feedings.

Babies in the first few weeks may feed every couple of hours during the day.... that isn't too unusual....

Avoid bottle and baby will learn. I wanted to give up and got until 18 mos. stick w it and don't listen to naysayers. Check kellymom.

Call a lactation consultant ASAP. She will ask you to bring the baby in and watch you nurse him. She can then figure out what is going on. Another resource is your local LeLeche League. The local group here sent someone to me to watch me nurse and help when I had trouble.

One possibility - did he develop a shallow latch? One of my babies, after bottle feeding, would try to latch on to just the nipple. This hurt for me and wasn't good at getting milk for him. I had to retrain him to get a good wide latch several times, and it also helped to switch to wide mouth bottles, because they made him open his mouth wider, which mimicked a better latch.

For great resources on a good latch, go to kellymom.com

Congratulations!

Congratulations on the new baby! :)

I would just stick with breast as much as possible - it will even out over time. It used to take me a few days to as much as a week for my breasts to adjust to my babies' changing needs.

My babies fed quite often in the newborn days and I don't think they would always drain a side - that sort of came later when their appetites grew. I had engorgement the first couple of weeks where I produced more milk then they drank, so I would sometimes pump some off just for comfort sake and to make it easier for them to latch on.

But as much as you can, I'd just stick with having him nurse and not so much bottle. If he's hungry, just keep offering him the breast. It will even out soon and he'll go longer between feeds.

Good luck :)

I would talk to a lactation consultant.

I would try to keep in mind that your job is to feed you baby. That's it. Feed him. How you do it--formula or nursing--is beside the point. Babies can and do thrive on either one. Turning yourself inside out to breastfeed does not make you a better mom or your child healthier.

You two may get the hang of nursing and you may not, but either way it will be okay as long as your new little guy is getting the nutrition he needs. I would not be so set on nursing that you end up starving your son. You are not doing that, and I am not saying that you would, but some people will basically suggest it--they'll tell you just don't give bottles anymore. Please don't be so married to the breastfeeding ideology that you forget what the real goal is. Just feed the baby.

My first son didn't nurse well so I pumped and bottle fed breast milk for a year. Sucks! I had a hard time with baby #2 but we worked with an amazing lactation consultant and he nursed until 22 months!

1. See a lactation consultant asap to make sure his latch is good. Trust me that this is super important and may be covered by insurance. Turns out that my babies have very narrow and high palates so traditional holds don't work - had to do a modified football hold until baby was old enough to handle it.

2. Newborns have very tiny stomachs and breastmilk is super dense. Even so, the first few weeks you nurse a lot - it is a full time job!
http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing/

3. There are lots of ways to make pumping easier but try to focus on exclusive nursing at first. See if you can make 2 weeks, than 4, than 6. If you are going back to work - see if you can make it through your maternity leave. Usually by 4-6 weeks you and baby have things established and exclusive nursing is SO much easier than bottles.

Here is info on exclusive pumping:
http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/pumping/exclusive-pump...

Good luck! Enjoy your babymoon!!!

I'm not sure what they're called but the hospitals have lactation specialists. They are like coaches that help with that and I know they come to your home. I'd call the hospital and ask about it. Good luck and hang in there!!