DCs 1&2 never even got latched on. What can I do this time?

[HamblesHandbag]

As it says above, DCs 1&2, never got latched on and the midwives were at a loss as to what else to do.

With DC1 the community MW was still putting him on my breast at 10 days when I finally said enough's enough. With DC2 I tried for a couple of days before giving up.

Looking back, I really didn't know what to do and MWs are of course busy on post-natal wards.

So can anyone advise me what I can do differently this time please?

I've started by reading Food of Love and I've seen the diagrams of how the baby's mouth should go on.

If this baby doesn't latch at first, and is given formula, how often should I express? And how many days should I keep trying for? Is there a cut off when it's never going to work?

I'm 34 weeks pg now.

TIA

Hi Hambles,

A few questions for you if you don't mind?

What sort of births did you have with your first DCs? Un medicated and straight forward or did you need pethidine or other drugs?

Did you hold the babies skin to skin straight after birth?

When you say they didn't latch on, do you mean they just didn't show any interest on the breast, they wouldn't suck, they wouldn't open their mouths or they arched away from you? (or maybe none of those!)

There is usually no need to give formula. If you can't get the baby latched on, you can hand express some colostrum and feed it to the baby through a syringe. The mws should be able to help you with this. Their tummies are tiny in the first few days so we're talking milimetres here not ounces.

I'd suggest you have a look at the biological nurturing website which deals with babies' natural reflexes and how you can 'awaken' them.

HTH

Here's the biological nurturing website.

Please have a go with nipple shields. None of my 3 DC would latch on but they were fine with nipple shields- medela ones. They are fine for long term use too though I doubt you'll need to.

Please have a go with nipple shields. None of my 3 DC would latch on but they were fine with nipple shields- medela ones. They are fine for long term use too though I doubt you'll need to.

thanks for your replies.

in answer to your questions (though some of it is hazy):

DC1 - failed induction, EMCS under GA for foetal distress, APGAR of 1 (scary). He was given a bottle before I'd even woken up because they said his blood sugar was low. No skin to skin (I was out of it). He would try and suck but not get anything and kind of fall off the boob.

DC2 - ELCS, all v calm. I can't actually remember if there was any skin to skin. I think I was expecting not to be able to breast feed due to DC1 experience. Same again with DC2 trying to suck but not getting anything.

I did express some colostrum both times, and would hand express on to babies' lips, but no joy.

I'll have a look at that link thank you and pack some nipple shields in my hospital bag just in case - will try anything!

Would I know now if DCs had tongue ties or something?

You might be able to see if DCs have tongue tie, although sometimes they do break later by themselves. Definitely ask someone who is knowledgeable to check this time round though. Falling off the nipple when feeding is a sign of tongue tie.

If you're having ELCS this time then ask for some skin to skin in theatre, i think most places will do this now. Lots of skin to skin really helps awaken the baby's inbuilt reflexes to feed and many babies will self attach if offered the right opportunity to do so.

See if you can find out who the infant feeding lead is in your hospital and make some contact before you give birth.

Nipple shields should be ued with caution and whilst they obv work well for some, they do have their drawbacks, so it might be worth taking advice from the mws first.

Finally, as you know, babies come in all different makes and models and DC3 may be a completely different feeder to your other two. Some take to it like a duck to water and instantly know what to do, others take a bit of time to learn it.

Hope all goes well for you.

Do you have a local bf group you could go to in advance? Although we still have our share of problems we definitely wouldn't still be bf if it weren't for the support of the bf counsellors at our local group-absolutely invaluable practical help. Definitely worth finding out about and hopefully visiting in advance and at the first sign of trouble going straight there. I saw many mums there who hadn't yet managed to get their babies latched on properly at all yet but who managed with the support of the bf counsellors.

thank you crikey and ag, I really appreciate the advice and will find out about bf lead and groups locally.

And I do hope that DC3 just shows me what to do!