2 week old DS can’t latch!

[Babyshark9]

Looking for any advice on this please. My DS is 2 weeks old. He had IUGR so was delivered at 39 weeks and was very small, just over 5lbs. When he was born due to his size his blood sugars were monitored and he had to have formula fed (from a cup) at a few hours old. We did skin to skin but he wouldn’t latch so I expressed colostrum for the first few days into syringes.

We’re under a lot of pressure for him to gain weight so have had to formula feed for him to eat. I am trying to establish breastfeeding as well as it’s something I really want to do. But he won’t latch. I’ve had a lot of support from feeding specialists and midwives who all show me feeding positions but can see that baby won’t latch still. He’s had a tongue tie cut which didn’t make much difference. He can find my nipple but if he does latch he won’t suck, he just goes limp then screams as he’s hungry. It ends with us both being upset and frustrated!

I’ve been expressing to try and keep some
supply up. What else can I try that I haven’t already? I ordered nipples shields but again he’ll get on the boob but not suck. I’m close to giving up but really don’t want to!

I’m sorry you’re having a difficult time. I had a rather similar situation with my baby. He was in NICU, we didn’t get much skin on skin time early on, he had a tongue tie and I used nipple shields.

When the midwives see that the baby can’t latch, what do they say?

Sending hugs❤️If you’re struggling in the middle of the night, give the National Breastfeeding Helpline a call.

Hi, congratulations on your baby OP. My DD was also IUGR (it's such a scary diagnosis isn't it)and delivered at 37 weeks at 5lb 12. She was so tiny. She's 6m now.
We stayed in hospital for 5 days pp to 'establish' bf and monitor her weight and jaundice. Sadly there weren't enough staff available to give me consistent support and I would have been better off at home in hindsight - this may not be the case for you though.
However, we were triple feeding for the first few weeks as she also had tongue tie and was really sleepy at the breast.
So every 3 hours I would put her to the breast, then we would top her up with formula, and I would pump. I think initially we were giving her 30-40ml of formula after BF. I barely got anything from the Medela hospital pump but what I did get we would syringe feed her on the next feed. The midwives worked out a daily chart of how much formula I had to give for each feed and we just used ready mixed aptamil.
It was really really hard. She was sleepy, my milk wasn't coming out, and we didn't get the tongue tie cut until the day after we left hospital.
I was advised when we got home to have lots of skin to skin, try going in the bath with her, and make a 'nest' up at home for me and her just to basically feed in demand.
I remember sitting on the hospital chair with my baby in her little plastic hospital crib, she was crying and I was pumping thinking 'what am I doing?' and just picking her up to feed her instead.
We continued to triple feed for about 6 or 8 weeks, and I just kept putting her on the breast, each time, each feed, and my milk supply caught up. She's EBF now, we were able to drop the formula.
I think it's a combination of them being so so tiny it's hard for them to feed and the tongue tie impeding milk transfer.
Hope some of that was helpful. Your baby will grow and it will get easier. Also to echo pp the breastfeeding helpline was really great and your trust will hopefully have an infant feeding team to support you at home.
Good luck 🍀