Getting him to stay latched on after enjoying ff fountain!

[monkeypuzzeltree]

Long story short:

Bf went fab for first 10 days
Got mega thrush duct infection, couldn't bf or pump for 5 days too painful.
Then DS got an infection and we've been in hospital since Monday. He's on the mend, I'm pumping every 2 hours and supply is coming up slowly but although he latches well he just gives up after a few sucks, I persevere but he then gets distressed and we've had enough of that this week.

So any tips for keeping him on? Was even considering putting the sucrose they use here on my nipples?!

We go home tomorrow thank goodness what a week.

What a difficult start, mpt :(

One thing you can do is to just keep him close to you all the time, skin to skin, snuggled in. That way you will respond to any feeding cues quickly and it also means he gets to feel the breast is a lovely place to be.

That's more important at the moment than the length of time he stays latched - and you are right to avoid him getting distressed. At the first sign of upset, stop persevering.

Look into getting a nursing supplementer, too. This allows your baby to stay at the breast while your supply is being boosted, and makes it rewarding for him. They are fiddly, though, has to be said.

Thanks tiktok, has been a stressful week, but I'm just grateful it wasn't meningitis such a relief.

I suspect that the stress is not exactly helping with the lack of results from pumping although I got more from the breast that he was trying to feed from so I'll keep him close and hope that it encourages things - even though a v bossy matron has told me not to sleep with my baby and that he has to go in the cot tonight - even though he's not been in there since we arrived!! Hopefully her shift ends soon, I was in a separate room and so she couldn't see!

I didn't realise there was such a negative view to co-sleeping! I had one consultant who has told me he would rather see a sick baby in bed with mum and a dummy than alone in a cot as the dummy has hard evidence of reducing SIDS.

Just expressed a whole 40ml, have told DS to savour it!