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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Breastfeeding support: Newborn not latching after c section

5 replies

BAQSAD · 21/06/2018 04:46

Hello to all. My four days old baby is having trouble latching up to the breast. I had a C section four days ago and was unconscious after the operation, so my baby had to be bottle fed. And I think the trouble really begun there, as the bottle teets are different than the actual breast tissue. I remained partly conscious for the whole day and wasn't able to breastfeed, so the hospital staff continued with bottle. Since the next day I tried and tried to breastfeed my baby but nothing worked. At first, there was enough trouble for me to produce milk, tried had expression, skin to skin contact and then there's milk. But again, I tried a lot to make him breastfeed but he's not able to latch up properly. It's been four days now and he's still bottle fed most of the time. I tried using a pump yesterday i.e on third day and gathered only 80 ml during the whole day but wasn't sufficient enough for him compared to easy and more subtle supply through a bottle.
I feel so disappointed and helpless while looking at my baby's face turning red while crying and looking for milk but unfortunately couldn't latch. I wept loads of tears in the past few days. I walked through some of the videos for breast feeding and everyone suggested to breast feed the baby within 1 hr. What should I do.
Please someone who had such an experience HELP.

OP posts:
fluffonthesideboard · 21/06/2018 04:52

Im so sorry the hospital let you down and gave him a bottle. If you intened to breastfeed the should have syringe fed him (nothing to latch too and learn wrong) and not given him a bottle. Can you please give la leache leayge a call and try to get to a group asap or arrange a home visit. X

MsJuniper · 21/06/2018 05:26

Hi op, sorry you've had this difficult start. I have had a slightly different experience but with some similarities and have also shed many tears.

What I did was buy a good double pump and focus on expressing for a few weeks to increase my supply and make sure the baby got as much bm as I was able to produce without the stress of trying to get her to feed directly. Initially it was 10-15ml at a time but slowly increased. In between, she had formula. I used ready mixed as I resented having to make up powder etc when I was so upset about it anyway.

I was expressing 6-8 times a day and continued to offer the breast as well, but the pressure for her to take it was removed. She then turned to it herself for comfort and slowly got a bit stronger and more able to feed. Since then I have been able to reduce expressing, because she is now feeding directly from me far more and seems to really enjoy it. She is still not fully efficient so I express 2-3 times a day to make sure my supply is as good as it can be. In an ideal world I'd express after every bf but I have an older child and have to balance my availability for him. I also take fenugreek, eat oats and drink plenty of water. We did go to a tongue tie specialist who snipped a posterior tongue tie and I think that improved her latch a little.

I didn't get to a point of being able to give up formula completely as I'd hoped but I've made my peace with it and at 12 weeks she is a happy, contented and well-fed child.

InFrance2014 · 21/06/2018 16:14

Hello, I'm so sorry this has been hard and I agree it sounds like the hospital didn't help you at all, in such a case they should have been extra helpful.

Anyway, that experience you can process later. For now, I agree with the above that you need to get your production up. It can take a few days for proper milk to fully come in after birth anyway- did your breasts become engorged (very full) yet? If not then you might still get more flow. But yes without the signal from the baby or an electric pump, your breasts will get the message in a while not to make milk.
I think your situation is complex so I would suggest you urgently contact either the ABM helpline (0300 100 0212), or LLL (0345 1202918), or even better, find an IBCLC qualified lactation consultants who can visit and advise you on why the baby can't latch. There might be other reasons than that he was bottle fed already.

In the mean time perhaps you can try nipple shields- they are kind of a halfway house as they should make it easier for him to latch, and you will get him used to feeding from you rather than bottles or formula. But nipple shields can sometimes not be as effective in transferring the milk, so you will still need to ensure you feed very often (even every 20 minutes is fine) and if he's not yet hungry, then use a pump.
You can rent double electric ones which are the most effective.
At the moment, I would also advise that you stay in bed as much as possible- which you should be doing with your recovery- and just have lots of close time and skin-to-skin, to help relax you and enjoy the close time you do have. The entire experience of feeding, when it is going badly, is intensely stressful and it can be overwhelming your feelings of positivity- you have a beautiful baby and you love him very much.
Good luck and please speak to someone qualified ASAP

BAQSAD · 21/06/2018 22:45

Thank you everyone for sharing your valuable experiences and for getting back in touch. Yes, you all are absolutely right that due to the baby not breastfeeding and I having to stress out on how to make him breastfeed, I am unable to fully enjoy the birth of my baby.

Thank you for sharing the helpline details. I will contact one of the helpline during the day.
Also I was wondering that even after I bottle feed him or give him hand expressed milk from bottle, he cries a lot. And besides this, he seems to cry and suckle his hands after every 2 hours. This is my 1st baby and I am really confused about what I should be doing, given the fact that I would have breastfed him to soothe him otherwise.

Please let me know of any thing that I can do. Kind regards everyone

OP posts:
InFrance2014 · 25/06/2018 11:51

Hi again, I'm sorry I didn't see your reply until now. You do not have to wait 2 hours between breastfeeds! I hope the hospital didn't tell you that.
I would try to breastfeed the baby much more often- at least every 1.5 hours, but more is ok, even every 15-20 minutes is fine, if he's asking for it. Not for formula, but it's fine to feed very often with breastmilk.

If he cries, it means he is already very hungry, babies will try and tell you they are hungrier much earlier.
You can look for early signs they might want to nurse: sticking out tongue, touching their cheek or mouth, sucking hands, rooting (butting head on your chest). Keep the baby close to you all the time and you will notice these signs and you can respond much earlier, well before they cry.
Its not too late for you to really keep boosting your milk supply by feeding frequently, and especially do keep trying to offer the nipple at the start of each feed, as he might just need time to adjust and learn. It;s best to do this before they are very hungry as they will be upset otherwise.

Did you call the helplines?

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