Trying to get newborn back on to breast after getting used to bottle.

[Lucinda15]

Hello,

I am asking for advice on behalf of a friend. She has a 1 week old baby who she has been feeding by bottle with a combination of formula and expressed breast milk. She really wants to get baby on the breast but says baby latches poorly, gets fussy, worked up and agitated and gives up on the boob and they end up giving bottle.

I managed to get my own DS (now 5 yo) back on the boob after 5 days of bottle feeding, thru grit and perseverance. It was a horrible time in all honesty, and I dnt think I stopped crying for weeks. But she knows we did it and has asked me to go round this wknd to help her try it.

Thing is, I can't really remember HOW we did it!! I do know we ditched the bottles and went cold turkey and just tried and tried at every feed on the boob till we got it. But there were lots of tears and upset all round. And I'm not sure that is the best way to do it!

I've read skin to skin, different positions, feeding when baby sleepy and starting to express before a feed to get milk flow going.

But I'm confused about it whether to go cold turkey with bottles or to continue to use them to supplement. One side says going cold turkey means they dnt get confused. Other side says a worked up agitated and hungry baby will not feed well, so best to ensure they have had some milk by bottle.... and I'm very confused!!

My friend is on the case and arranging a breast feeding counsellor to visit, But until then, Does anyone have any advice or tips on how we can get baby back on the breast?

[Kmxxx14]

I have no idea but if it was me I would ditch all bottles and try only to feed baby by latching him/her on. If it got too much & the baby was starving I'd try to feed via a syringe/small cup just to keep the baby from starving but to avoid getting used to the bottle again.

[freewheezy]

I bottle fed ebm for 6 weeks and then used nipple shields. They saved my sanity! Used the shields for 3 weeks and then worked on getting her to latch on to the breast. It was easier making that transition IME. And it's much easier than expressing and feeding which can be so difficult :(

[Bear2014]

My DD didn't latch on at all between days 4-9. She was re- admitted with weight loss and jaundice as my milk came in v late.

In all honesty it was a very good private lactation consultant who cracked it. After being discharged from SCBU i was determined DD would have no more bottles so i finger fed her expressed milk and formula until we got her back on the boob. There are probably videos of this on YouTube. It supposedly causes less nipple confusion than bottle. Bearing in mind DD would not latch on at all, the LC did things like taping a tube to my nipple containing milk to try and get her to suck.

Ultimately as you know if you want to get baby back on the boob, chuck all visitors out, get in bed, get naked, stick the TV on and just let them feed all day and night. Get rid of the bottles and formula, eat and drink to keep your strength up and get on the painkillers if necessary. It's the hardest thing i've ever done but eventually it just clicked and we fed for 22 months in the end.

Good luck to your friend xx

[Lucinda15]

Thanks ladies.x