Losing all confidence in breastfeeding 6 day old

[Oceansinourway]

I am at a loss: have had support from the infant feeding team and various advice but I suppose there is a limit to what anyone can do.

My baby appears to hate breastfeeding: she latches on sometimes but comes on and off, getting increasingly worked up and frustrated until she is bright red and furious and it’s horrible to see. In the end you have to give her a bottle to calm her down so of course she’s developing a bottle preference. Other times she feeds fine but the unpredictability of it is awful and i am starting to dread each feed.

I am considering formula feeding her but since she can breastfeed I would prefer to persevere. I just honestly don’t understand where we are going wrong.

I struggled with my youngest- our hospital had a bf support department- they sorted my position and her latch out and then she refused all bottles for 4 months.
my advice, if YOU want to persevere, reach out to the support groups and “professionals”- and no issue if you don’t continue.

I did combi feeding which worked fine for a few months and then DS started preferring bottle and would get very frustrated with breastfeeding - would just scream.

When we were in that stage the most reliable way of getting him to feed was when he was asleep, or just stirring (I.e. not when he was crying/hungry). I used to rub my nipple on his face when he was asleep and he would latch on half asleep.

Using a bottle is only going to make it harder.

BF is really hard at the start and what you are describing is quite normal.

It will get easier but the first 3-4 weeks is tough going.

If you want to keep going take things one day at a time a ditch the bottle. You will both get the hang of it. Then it will get easier. Then it will get easy.

Definitely double check tongue tie my son could still feed

I genuinely would like to know how I can ditch the bottle without starving her, since I often can’t get her to latch onto the breast?

This may look purposefully argumentative written down and it isn’t; I really don’t know what I should be doing that I’m not.

I used to express, and then insert my little finger into the mouth. You stroke the roof of the mouth with your curved little finger and then slowly insert the milk in the corner of the mouth via a syringe.
A breast feeding consultant showed me this trick with my first baby, and it worked wonders on all 4DC!

I have taken a photo, I hope it makes sense?

But honestly, NOONE cracks breastfeeding in 6 days. It does require some work. Please talk to a professional in RL if you want to continue trying.

I have a lactation consultant coming tomorrow, here’s hoping.

And thank you - sorry, you went to all that trouble and I didn’t even say thanks!