3 day old breast feeding

[Alivinson]

Hi I'm after some advice I have a 3 day old girl who I am attempting to BF. she didn't latch on In hospital at all really I persisted but she just wriggled, cried and didn't seem to want it. I asked the MW for help they said my position was ok and to just persist. I expressed some milk but couldn't get much at all so did some syringe feeding which she took. She cried and turned for the breast but when I gave it to her she didnt/doesnt Latch.

Anyway when I got her home yesterday I was really concerned she hadn't had a proper feed since birth so cup fed her some formula. The midwife came today and she's lost 10% weight and is jaundiced. I'm still desperately trying to get her to latch but have given in and have now bottle fed her some formula. She took It straight away and seemed really happy with it. I can't understand y I can't get her to latch.

I've put it down to the nipple being too flat as she seems to struggle to get it in her mouth. Should I just give up and work with formula? I'm worried BF isn't enough and is going to make her ill. The MW has already threatened me with hospital and I don't want to end up back in there
I've breast fed twice successfully and I just don't know why it's going so badly wrong this time :-/

[MyLittleAprilSunshine]

I can kind of get where you are coming from as had a similar problem myself, though mine is 7 weeks old and been fed formula and breastmilk, as well as sucking on the breast but she doesn't seem to take enough breast in and makes clicking noises when she's drinking. I hope you get an answer :)

[HadALittleFaithBaby]

Have you thought about trying nipple shields? I struggled to get DD to latch and that's what the hospital suggested. I used the Medula ones from Boots. I kept trying without and gradually we've got to the point at 6 weeks where she can consistently latch without them. Worth considering?

[HadALittleFaithBaby]

Oh and don't think of it as where you're going wrong - it's just about how babies do/don't get it. It might be about mouth size to nipple size/shape. That was our issue and now she's bigger it's better.

[Alivinson]

Thanks for that I've just sent hubby out to get some nipple shields i'll try those ones too

It's hard because the midwife basically gives an ultimatum I want to try BF but don't want little one to become ill.

The clicking sound sounds like a latch problem, I was reading up on it earlier. Might be worth checking that? I'm hoping now my milk is coming through it'll encourage her to feed better.

[HadALittleFaithBaby]

Is there a breast feeding group near you you could go to? Get them to watch and advise? I don't think just being told your hold is ok is sufficient is they can't explain why she's struggling to latch....
When DD was tiny we had to give her cup top ups (she was low birth weight and struggled), formula initially then as my milk came in I expressed. We were able to stop the cup feeds after a week and now she's EBF. Keep trying! I hope the nipple shields help.

[bluecarrot]

I failed last time (10 years ago) so this time I've looked up a lot of stuff and many people have pointed towards the breast crawl. Have you tried it? It might not work but certainly worth a try. If you google it there's a great video (I'm on mobile or I'd link you)

[mawbroon]

Clicking when feeding can be an indicator of tongue tie.

Has you dd been checked for it Alvinson - by someone who really knows about it?