will bottles at 5 days ruin bfing?

[kayjayel]

Hi, I've got painful damaged nipples, and nct bf counsellor on the phone advised me to stop feeding at least one side to let them heal, then try to get better positioning so it doesn't happen again. I'm hoping that the latch is getting better now and I can cope with the feeding pain on the continuing side, despite the damage.

She advised against bottles instead offering expressed milk in a special cup or syringe. Would using bottles ruin feeding? And any tips on how to get a newborn drinking from cup/syringe? He's naturally trying to bf the syringe.

Has anyone done this and got back to bfing directly? Any tips and reassurance and encouragement would be gratefully recieved!

Newborns can lap at a cup like a cat

Anything will do - maybe easier than a syringe

Sorry you are suffering with damaged nipples, kayjayel :(

Using bottles will not ruin bf - the key is to ensure your baby is learning how to bf effectively at the same time as using bottles. When babies start preferring bottles it is not because they are 'confused' (IMO and in the opinion of lots of others!) it's because they are 'voting' for the productive bottle teat over the less-productive breast.

So if you can keep up bf on the good side, using bottles to give the ebm should be fine.

ruby - I don't agree about the lapping, sorry. This is more what pre-term babies do. Healthy term babies don't lap - they can sip, with help, but bottles are easier.

Fair enough Tiktok

I had to cup fed DD on occasion and she seemed to lap more than swallow but it was 2 years ago!

ruby - I expect some babies can lap just fine :) But generally, term babies don't.

I had a similar problem - my nipples were so sore due to a terrible latch. My DD had one bottle, probably four days out of seven, during the early weeks, and some days I only expressed to give myself some sanity.

We used lots of different teats to avoid her getting used to any one teat My favourite and the ones we stuck with the longest were the Medela Haberman teats, which were designed for special needs babies, but are great for all babies as there is absolutely no drip with them, the baby has to actively suck for the whole feed.

You will find that your nipples heal very quickly, particularly if you can let fresh air get to them. This is the process I used after each feed: rub entire nipple with breast milk, allow to dry for 10 minutes, slather on lansinoh, allow to dry for another 10 minutes.

It did take a few weeks to get to the pain free feeding point, but at least I knew I would have at least one feed that was pain free each day, and that helped me keep going.

Chocolate cake and a glass of wine was also a bit of a life saver.

tiktok, thank you for replying, that is really reassuring, and I just need the encouragement and reassurance to go on. A friend just told me she expressed for the first 3 weeks with all 4 of hers, and used bottles, all ended up EBF and fed well over a year each, so i'm trying to remember that.

I just gave him a bottle of expressed milk, just an ounce, which he had nearly all of, and was finally settled, such a relief that he'll take it, and I can let myself heal a bit! And before that I managed to feed twice from the other side, despite it hurting, so he's getting both. Bottle so much easier than the syringe (when half of it spilt).

Thanks again -I've seen a lot of your advice over the years and always found it helpful. .

worldgonecrazy - thanks as well for reassurance - its knowing that I can get through it that will help, and knowing others have is what I try to remember in the night. I've been using the milk to help heal, but toplessness harder to achieve - have 2 older kids and so we have a lot of adults in the house entertaining them, none of whom I want show myself to, even in better condition! I think rewarding myself with treats is essential as well - have my nighttime snacks and supplies, and a new book I saved for the feeds as a reward!