Not latching - advice?

[auberginefrog]

Hi there - my daughter is 4 weeks but was 4 weeks early so really just term now. She had to be in hospital for 8 days but has been getting expressed milk into her via syringe, cup and bottle as well as breastfeeding normally.

She has always needed lots of help to latch - once in a blue moon she will latch herself but usually it's anywhere from 30mins to 3 hours getting her to latch on. I have tried every position I can think of, undressing her to wake her up, feeding at early hunger cues and leaving it until she's yelling for food but she's always the same...

Any tips from those who have had reluctant latchers? She is usually fine once she's on - boobs less full good swallowing noises etc it's just getting to that stage that's a nuisance - getting very tired trying to keep this up...

Hi,
Gosh, you (and your baby) must be exhausted!

How are her nappies? That's the best way to gauge how much she is taking. Are they nice and wet and regular poos?

How had she been cup feeding because if you could continue to express and cup feed for a couple more weeks, it's possible that she would be bigger and stronger and more easily able to latch. If she is struggling to latch for up to three hours, it's quite likely that even once latched, she may not be taking a full feed due to being tired.

Lots of skin to skin is essential to encourage her to latch but it sounds as though you are doing all the right things already. Also, can you get to a breastfeeding group....La Leche League or the Breastfeeding Network? They are experienced breastfeeding mums and trained to support mums with infant feeding.

Hope things improve with latching and you find the support you need locally

Thanks - still expressing and here weight and everything is fine just hoping for her to get more efficient at feeding so we can both sleep more at night!

Google "biological nurturing position" and also "deep latch technique" video.

You could go to bf support group or contact an NCT BF counsellor.