Does anyone have experience of successful BF after having to feed EBM in the early days?

[BellaBear]

My baby was born on Friday and doesn't seem to be able to feed from me. The MW saw him yesterday morning (so 2 1/2 days old) and said he was jaundiced and after watching me try to feed him said he wasn't getting anything (I suspected as much) and that he probably hadn't had more than a few drops since birth. We expressed some of my milk and he took it very quickly. Since then he has had five feeds of EBM which is now yellow rather than white and his poos have changed to yellowy green rather than black/green.
I am desperate to breastfeed. Will he learn? We keep trying him on the breast before expressing and he has a couple of sucks and then cries or lets go.
The MW will be back this morning. He doesn't seem as yellow-skinned anymore.

ds1 was born at 36 weeks and couldn't feed. I expressed and he was fed via a nose tube and then a cup until he learnt to suck. I then breast fed him until he was 23 months. The first couple of weeks were really tough but then it was fine. Stick with it.

Hi another vote of confidence here. My ds was born with a bowel disorder and was nil by mouth for the first ten days of his life and then fed very small amounts of ebm until he was almost 8 weeks old. He went on to successfully breast feed and fed until he was 16 months. I found that he took to the breast really well and had no problems with him learning to suck etc.

With ds1 I had nearly 4 weeks of breast refusal (he did feed sometimes but more often than not he wouldn't) and EBM/formula after a very inauspicious start. I persevered with trying to get him latched on, at every feed. Eventually he stopped refusing and we went exclusive bf when he was 4 weeks. He never had another bottle, is 2.8 and at kindergarten now, and still bf

He was sleepy and jaundiced too, in hospital for 8 days, phototherapy. It can be done.

i didn't get ds latched on till day 5 and nobody told me i could express colostrum, so he didn't get any. we did have problems with the latch later though so do pay extra attention to that when you do get going.

go to bed skin to skin or try a bath together. there is a video link often posted to 'breast crawl' i will try to find it for you.

thank you everyone, you have made me cry! (in a good way)

ooer breast crawl vid first post it has them all in tears on this thread too. is your mw competent at helping you with latching do you think? mine weren't. might be a good idea to ring helplines and speak to a bfc.

I fed EBM for about a month to mine first one (he was born at 38 weeks) - and finally convinced him to breastfeed at a month. He continued until a year.

Apparently it can take a while for the suck reflex to develop. So if you want to, express the keep the supply up and try and breastfeed a few times every day - just make sure you stop as soon as either of you are getting frustrated and try again later.

It might be worth giving him a little bit of ebm first so that he is not really hungry - and then try him on the breast.

second what throckenholt said, had no problem with latch and sucking but did take edge of hunger with ebm in early days, also used a bottle with a teat as much like a nipple as possible. Before he was allowed large quantities of milk, he would be given a few mls ebm and then allowed to latch for a few sucks to keep up the practice and help him link milk and breast. BTW congratulations on your little one and on your determination.

hmm why is that link not working? another one here hope you haven't got as many onlookers as this woman.

My DS refused to feed from me after being treated roughly by the mw's at the hospital, compounded by nipple confusion from using a bottle to give formula...he would literally scream when he was put near my breasts . I expressed exclusively for about 6 weeks whilst getting lots of information & ideas from a La Leche League Leader over the phone and then, on her advice, tried nipple shields & he was able to feed from me finally. We had to get him weighed regularly & watch him carefully as shields can affect your milk supply, but they didn't seem to affect us at all. We used the shields for about 3-4 months,before he was able to feed without them & we haven't looked back since. He is now 3.5 years old & still feeds some evenings before he goes to bed.

These links might be useful to you....
www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/back-to-breast.html
www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/maintainsupply-pump.html
www.llli.org/FAQ/back.html

...but I know you will probably not be doing much else except feeding & trying to get some sleep!...so if you are wanting some more help or reassurance then it might be easier for you to contact a breastfeeding councillor who can talk everything through with you.

Here is a list of LLL Leaders phone numbers in the UK:
www.laleche.org.uk/pages/groups/county_list.htm
...or you can phone their national helpline (open 24 hours) which randomly puts you through to leaders anywhere in the country who can offer you help or give your the numbers of leaders in your area:
0845 120 2918

Don't despair BellaBear. My DS1 was 5 weeks premmie and jaundiced and so I ended up expressing feeding with the bottle for about 3- 4 weeks. I did have trouble getting him off the bottle once he got used to the ease of bottle feeding, but with some persistance and a very helpful midwife I did manage it and go on to BF him till 16mths. You will be fine.

Oh & just remembered that keeping your baby close to you so you notice their early feeding cues can be helpful as babies tend to be more relaxed if they are offered the breast when they first show signs of wanting a feed. Crying is a very late feeding cue & means they may get too stressed to attempt to feed.
This is from here: www.kellymom.com/bf/start/basics/hunger-cues.html
Early feeding cues:

• Smacking or licking lips
• Opening and closing mouth
• Sucking on lips, tongue, hands, fingers, toes, toys, or clothing

Active feeding cues:

• Rooting around on the chest of whoever is carrying him
• Trying to position for nursing, either by lying back or pulling on your clothes
• Fidgeting or squirming around a lot
• Hitting you on the arm or chest repeatedly
• Fussing or breathing fast

Late feeding cues:

• Moving head frantically from side to side
• Crying

These videos show the different cues:
nursing.jbpub.com/Lactation/clip2.htm

thank you for advice and great links.

was just trying a nipple shield when i read kellymom saying absolutely don't for first couple of weeks. he did suck for quite a bit longer while it was on, though, but it did seem awfully big for his mouth. then i expressed and dh fed him and now he is asleep.

am going to ring nct bf person now

nct person lovely, has suggested a few things, some to encourage seth to latch on, some to maintain a good supply (which so far doesn't seem ti be a problem).

i'll perservere with the ebm and trying him on the breast as often as poss

any experiences of nipple shields in the early days?

Dd1 was 7wks prem and didn't feed until she was 3wks old. I did use a nipple shield with great success. I was told that i may not be able to fed her for so long. I figured that a few wks would be better than not at all. I fed her til she was 13mths old. Do you express before you feed him? Just a little bit to get ypur milk flowing and so you're not to full for him to latch on.

yes, i've tried that, it seems to be that his tongue is always up at the top of his mouth and my nipple is the wrong shape to coax it down and for him to get a good mouthful (not a problem with a teat)

Problem my dd had (since discovered she has a v high palate). How about expressing with the shield on to get your nipple a bit more of a nippley shape? Assuming your nipple isn't errect to start with. Iyswim!

My dd1 and dd3 didn't latch on at first and were both fed ebm. I breastfed dd1 for a year and am still feeding dd3 at 12 months so keep going!!

I'm glad you mentioned nipple shields. These were the only way I could get dd1 latched on and weaned her off them after a couple of days but advice changes and when I had dd3 they were definitely a no-no. But she lost so much weight I tried them as a last resort and she did latch on better (again, got rid of them asap).

Glad you got on with nct person as my midwife, although a colleague and thought initially she was very supportive, was keen to get her on a bottle

Best thing you need is a bit of confidence - you can do it!!

thanks for more replies

yes, nipple shield/hand expressor thingy does 'shape' my nipple and i have tried this route, worth perservering with

Good luck - it is possible. Try and take it one feed at a time and not get too stressed about it,the important thing is he is getting your milk which is the best thing for him.

Both my dd's were SOOOOO bad at latching, neither of them properly opened their mouth. Which meant by day 3 i resorted to using nipple shields. i managed to wean them both from the shields by around 12 weeks. This i must add was quite difficult and trying but well worth it.

i bfed dd1 until she self weaned at 25 months and i am still bfing dd2 at 10 months and will continue until she too self weans.

Oh Bella,

You ds is absolutely beautiful

I've just come on here to post almost the exact same thing! Spooky

My baby was born 9 weeks early and has been having EBM since about day 3. However despite trying to breast feed for over 3 weeks we don't seem to be progressing. She has latched on a few times and sucked 3-5 times but that's it. I try her to the breast upto 3 times a day when she is about to/being tube fed. She will hold my nipple inher mouth and suck /lick the milk or just let it flow into her mouth and then swallow bits but not actually breastfeeding properly.

I'm starting to get really despondant as other mums inthe unit seem to be doing far better at actually feeding.

She is now 36 wks gestation (5 weeks old) and weighs 3lb 2oz. The nurses just keep saying that she is small and she will do it eventually but I'm starting to worry that she won't.

Anyone else had a similar situation with a happy ending! or does it look like she won't be able to feed?

Rascal, I think you should call the supporter lines for some real confidence boosting. She will get the hang of it eventually. she is still really small. Patience is a fine thing and in this situation i think you need to have loads of it. . Just ensure that you are expressing enough to keep your supply up for when she does start to DEMAND it.

Thanks determination.

I'm expressing plenty - upto 180 a go - and between 6 and 7 times every 24hrs. Just wish that she would start BFing properly.

Not going to give up but really disheartening cos she is only allowed minimal time out of the incubator and when she is out and awake it's frustrating that she doens't want to feed - seems more interested in having a cuddle and going to sleep!