I'm stuck....

[DawnOfTheDee]

Ok...my DD is 9 days old and I'm frozen about what to do with regards to feeding.

Started bf and this seemed to go ok for the first 3 days or so. Then DD didn't seem to want any feeds, wouldn't latch on, etc. Breastfeeding councillor lady came round the next day and helped with latch but also showed us how to feed expressed milk from a cup.

That afternoon/evening managed a couple of feeds but didn't feel right. Also tried to feed with cup (but most of it went on her face i think). That night tried to feed and it felt like razor blades were cutting up my nipples.

Next day midwife came round...baby had lost too much weight so they sent us to hospital where they suggested feeding expressed milk from bottle to let my nipples heal and to get milk into baby.

I've been feeding her with expressed milk from a bottle ever since. She's putting on weight ok now but i don't know what to do next. I know I should try bf again but even thinking about it brings tears to my eyes it was so painful. Not sure she'd go back on the breast now since i've been using bottles but i don't know how sustainable bottle feeding expressed milk is.

For info don't know if it's relevant but dd was born via emergency section.

Sorry for the rambling post but any advice/kind words would be appreciated.

I had emergency csection and found bf very difficult for first few weeks. It took quite a while for my milk to come in so I could feed successfully. I had to give the odd top up with formula in my casse during this time as I couldn't get the hang of expressing. I would give it another go as your supply now sounds good as you are expressing with no issues but I do remember the pian well so entirely up to you

I think i will be giving it another try.....I'm just trying to psyche myself up for it and the longer i'm leaving it the more i'm worrying about it.

Thanks for sharing your experience - it's made me feel a bit more 'can be done'

Dawn :( :(

This is early days. No reason at all why you should not return to direct bf. But start asap :)

Long term expressing and using a bottle can be done - but most people would not choose this way to feed. It's hard work for most.

My guess is that feeding wasn't going well in those first 3 days - not your fault, there are people whose job it is to help you assess this. Sleepy babies on day 3-4 are usually conserving energy because they have not taken in sufficient calories and they may be on the brink of dehydration - the sign of this was the more than acceptable loss of weight (what was her weight loss?).

Now things are better, you can try again:

• try self-attachment/biological nurturing (google it)/feeding in the bath
• skin to skin cuddles 24/7 or as much as poss
• call any of the helplines
• get midwife to help position and attach
• see if she can check your baby is not tongue tied (which might contribute to difficulties with comfortable positioning and effective removal of milk from breast)

Hope this helps.

She lost 17%.....they did say big babies can lose a bit more (she was 10lb 10oz) but was still concerning. Midwife due to visit on thurs but might see if i can get someone to help before then.

17 per cent is a lot.....you were badly supported in those first days, Dawn. Likely that she just looked as if she was feeding, but very little was happening. Babies only need small amounts at first, but they do need those small amounts....good that you turned her weight around.

Thanks tiktok. Fingers crossed i can get started again.