Exclusively pumping to breastfeeding

[welshmam1]

Has anyone gone from EP to direct breast feeding?

my baby is 9 weeks old tomorrow. She often won’t latch, and when she does she gets frustrated after 30-60 and comes off. We’ve been trying for around two weeks!

should I quit now? Or is there still hope? If you done it, how long did it take? We try skin to skin, low pressure, nipple shields, bottle tops ups before so she isn’t starving, sleepy feeding.. no progress over 10 days though!

Have you had your latch checked? Is there any local ibclc you can go to as they’re the best to work directly with?

I don’t have advice as such but I just wanna say you’re doing amazing

@Canopop yes latch has been checked by infant feeding coordinator in my area and confirmed all was ok! Thank you.. she’s not progressed still and seriously contemplating giving up now. Second baby and I swore I wouldn’t let it get to me second time round!

I wouldn't give the bottle first, I find hunger is the best motivator for them really trying to latch on..it might just be too tricky for them being used to tbe bottle. They've to work harder to get milk from breast x

Yes I did. I exclusively pumped for 4 weeks straight and then got her to latch. Moved straight to exclusive bf and she is 17 months now.
So what I did was I cradled her in traditional position for bottle whilst doing skin to skin. I would feed her the bottle (containing pumped breast milk but sometimes formula as I wasn't quite able to pump enough) and then after a short while I would remove the bottle and turn her into me. I did this a lot. Often there was screaming so I would just go back to the bottle. Then one time she just latched fine and has bf ever since. She actually went through a phase of refusing bottles at 5 months when I tried to go out for a few hours.
I know women who have used nipple shields for 5 / 6 months and then their baby latched without. I found shields didn't work as my flow was too slow.
I am in Scotland and know the local NHS bf groups are brilliant so try and get along to one if you can and if they have this in your area. I also visited a private lactation consultant and she was amazing for giving tips and support.
Just keep pumping every 3 hours to keep your supply up and keep giving baby the chance to feed. Good luck

Btw my wee one's latch was fine too. She actually fed a few times after birth and then just stopped! She was just a very very sleepy baby

I have seen via various groups that infant feeding coordinators can sometimes miss things that an ibclc may spot but appreciate it’s not easy to either get to one or pay for one!

Do you put baby to boob before giving a bottle? It might also be a case of the fussies due to her age and will settle soon!

@Canopop yeah it’s a bit of a process 🤣 I always try boob first. If she is really upset I give a small bottle top up and try again. I keep repeating this and even if she finishes a bottle I offer at the end for comfort. Nothing seems to be working 🥴

@Cakeandcardio thank you. Can I ask how long it took to get her to latch? Days/weeks? I’ve been going for two weeks and she seems more reluctant than when we started. I’m wondering if 9 weeks is just too old and she isn’t going to get it

@welshmam1 can I please ask how this went? I am much earlier in the journey than you but am also dealing with a baby who won't latch and am exclusively pumping. Also second baby and also swore I wouldn't let it get to me second time round! x

@Custardandicecream it sadly didn’t work out for us 😩 her refusal got stronger and stronger and after about 4 weeks of trying she was hysterical and I gave up.

to give a bit of background - she was latching at the start but not actively feeding hence why bottles were introduced. Up until week 8ish I couldn’t keep up with triple feeding so just give bottle, and then from week 8ish I kept latching her. Eventually she just got used to the quicker flow of the bottle and wouldn’t work for boob. Next stage was refusing to latch and just crying. I saw a few lactation consultants, and they said as you get to 10-12 weeks it becomes harder so if you’re earlier in the journey keep going!! You have a better chance than us. The tips they give me: lots of skin to skin, in the bath is particularly good as baby is calm and oxytocin flowing. Let baby root and find boob like when they’re born if you can. Latching with no sucking is a win. You can try breast compressions to help encourage feeding. Don’t put them on to hungry or too tired, can help if you hand express a bit onto your nipple so they get that instant association. If they’re upset stop straight away so they don’t get a negative association. I think this is partly also where I failed - I tried to persevere.

I pumped and managed to freeze enough milk to get us to six months, which is on 3rd March. I stopped pumping when I knew I had enough to get me there after first time. I’m still so gutted it didn’t work again, but proud I managed longer than first time around. Good luck to you - can be such a rough journey but you’re doing amazing xx

@welshmam1 thanks for such a detailed reply - I'm so sorry it didn't work out as you hoped but it's amazing that you managed to pump so much milk. What a great start you've given your little one. I'm not sure I can imagine pumping that much!

Our start sounds identical and triple feeding is so tiring. Those tips are very helpful though. Some of it we are doing but I am also probably pushing too hard and creating negative associations so that is something to think about. Thank you for writing that all out for me, that was very kind of you.