Is it too late to start breastfeeding? And how to get help?

[SamG93]

I've been expressing breast milk for my LO (8 days old) since leaving hospital last Saturday. I had a c-section and couldn't get him to latch on at all despite all the help on the postnatal ward. I was desperate to get home as being in hospital alone was taking its toll on my mental well-being so I asked if I could use the pump and they then allowed me to go home knowing I had a plan for feeding.

So my question is, is it too late to get help now to go back to breastfeeding? I do try him at the breast at least once a day and we practice skin-to-skin and he just can't latch and eventually ends up upset and frustrated until I give him the bottle. I'm worried he's too used to the bottle now to be able to breastfeed.. he latches on tightly to the bottle as well so I really don't get it.

Also is there any help available through health visitors / midwives or do I have to go through a private lactation consultant?

I would really love to be able to breastfeed him.. I don't mind pumping at all as it's so easy and quick now my milk has come in.. I just built my hopes up my entire pregnancy about being able to breastfeed and feel like I've failed at it.

Hi there, was in a similar position after 1st baby, wanted to bf but baby couldn’t latch and had to express and do syringe feeding the colostrum initially, then bottle feeds. Sounds like you’ve got a good supply though, mine was low and couldn’t express much milk so relied on combi feeding with formula until my supply increased. Yes you absolutely can. It took us a few months to get property established with bf and lots of pumping to keep the milk going until baby could latch, so if you really want to you can just takes determination, lots of pumping and practising bf/ latch to encourage baby into the breast. I would def advise to get support from your midwife and health visiting team with bf, I couldn’t have done it without their help. A friend also used private lactation consultant and found them very good. After a hard start DD then went on to bf well for 2 1/2 years, so it can be done!

And you haven’t failed at anything! It is so hard having feeding difficulties, especially when coping with your own post-natal recovery so be kind to yourself, it’s not easy but there is help out there if you want to have another try at bf 💐

@Jellyfishnchips thanks so much for your advice, that's really helpful 😊 I'll definitely raise it with my health visitor next week and see who they can signpost me to. That's really good to know that there's help out there and also to hear your experience and know it's not just me!

Have you ever tried nipple shields? I'm just ordering some off of Amazon to see if it might help the transition from the bottle as someone suggested I try them.

If you can afford to, Google a local lactation consultant and get a home visit ASAP. You want practical help. Or any local breastfeeding drop in, for example run by La Leche League.

Good luck - it's not too late!

It’s not too late. A friend of mine was v critically ill for weeks after birth. She managed to start breastfeeding when son was much older than your baby. She used nipple shield and is still feeding her son 2 years on

I would offer him the breast every feed before the bottle. If he's restless or hungry between bottle feeds offer him the breast. I had a not dissimilar problem after a cs and ds had a painful blood test probably at around 8 days and i offered him breast as comfort and he was straight on the boob after that!

I seem to remember nipple shields helped me when feeding my son. Good luck! Sounds like you’ve got a good supply, so that’s a great start.
I found pumping hard work, so really well done. Congratulations, you’re doing great!

Definitely lactation consultation as PPs have said and keep at it! Offering the breast several times a day and loads and loads of skin to skin is what helped me when I struggled with BF at the start. (Had a sleepy baby, flat nipples which made it hard to latch before they eventually came out)

It's definitely not too late at 8 days old. If you can afford it then get help privately. Pumping might be easy with a sleepy newborn but it becomes far more difficult when they're having longer awake periods so I'd keep trying to get him latched on with professional help.

Try using shields or lanisoh latch assist if your nipples are at all flattish.
I didn't realise I had flat nipples until I had trouble feeding my first. I suppose I hadn't seen that many other women's nipples.

Contact your midwife team - mine were very clear they would come to my home (in the middle of Covid!) at any point if I wanted help with breastfeeding, even if it was just to check my latch.

It’s not too late

My dd was 5 weeks prem and didn’t start bf until 2-3 weeks. I did offer the breast but generally she was just bottlefed expressed milk whilst half asleep. She didn’t really wake up until 3 weeks in and when she did she just got it. Nipple shields were a godsend too.

Good luck!!!

Not too late at all, my baby didn't latch at all for the first week. I pumped too and kept asking for help until we cracked it. Nipple shields really helped me. Just keep asking for help. Call the National breastfeeding advice line, look up breastfeeding cafes, ask if your midwifes do home visits if you can't travel to them.
Also ask a midwife to check baby for tongue tie. This prevented my baby latching but once diagnosed I was shown better positions to use until the tongue tie division could happen.
Koala hold for example looks tricky but gave the best latch when he was tiny and struggling.
Agree with pp on private lactation consultant to come to your home if you can afford it. Some of the best money I've spent.
Good luck!

Or just a local breastfeeding group/peer supporter. I was too.proud/ shy with DC1, but I took all the help with DC2 because I was upset about my 1st experience of breastfeeding

Midwives and HVs very mixed in ability with BF support- from useless to v good but no way to choose

Yes I did find nipple shields helpful ( also helped ease nipple soreness from latch attempts), and found it helped transition from bottle teats to breast. Maybe as the shields still have the feel of a bottle teat so were easier to latch to, but at the same time got baby used to bf comfort and position. HV also showed me a ‘trick’ with weaning off shields, where after using them a while and baby feels relaxed in the bf position, you can ‘swap out’ the shields by slipping little finger just in corner of baby’s mouth to take them off the latch, then quickly pop off the shield and re-latch without. Didn’t always work and sometimes had to pop shield back on but overall I think helped transition to full bf.

One thing that really helped me was pumping for a a minute or two (so nipple is big and milk is flowing) and then trying to latch them on.

Definitely not too late. See a lactation consultant asap and join your local la lèche League (can normally find them on Facebook).

I'd recommend switching from the bottle for expressed milk to a cup or feeding spoon. The latch and way of feeding is totally different for a bottle compared to breast and if you want to bf ideally DC needs to learn how to breast feed. It will be much quicker if you stop using bottles.

Good luck

God no, not too late. Mine started out in NICU and I also had a c section. It was a bit of a struggle to her to accept the breast for a feed or whole feed instead of the bottle. Took quite some weeks but I just persevered because O really wanted it just like you. Keep pumping to keep your supply up and keep practicing latching on. Doesn't have to be every feed but keep trying. Once the latch is ok and the baby drinks well then try to switch by letting him be a bit hungry after he refusesthe breast before you give a bottle. That worked for us in the end. It should be just a bit nicer and easier to choose the breast over the bottle.

Also, mine drank full feeds at the breast at night before she did at daytime. Her being too drowsy to think about preference certainly helped.

Definitely not too late! Please call LLL helpline. LLL leaders are highly trained and can offer great support and information over the phone. So you could ring the helpline tonight and get some immediate support. Because at the end of the day you are the one doing the feeding. Some LLL leaders offer face to face support, but not at, it's a voluntary role and very much depends on their family situation. But they are very well trained. LLL also has local support groups so try and find your local group in any case to meet the LLL leader and other local mums.

This leaflet might be interesting read for you

www.laleche.org.uk/relactation-induced-lactation/

You're still in such early days so it's not really relactation...but it might give you confidence that breastfeeding is still possible for you

We struggled too, but found out baby had a tongue tie and once that was sorted, latching improved massively.