My 2 week old baby has just latched on for the first time[grin] and after a 4 days of giving up. what do i do next?

[lollyheart]

My ds has never latched on and was in the scbu due to jundice and dehydration, he was cup fed ebm at first then i managed to latch him on using a sheild and giving bottle top ups. when we got home it all went wrong and would no longer latch so i was giving him ebm in a bottle and gave up with trying to latch him on that was 4 days ago when we was out today i saw a lady breast feeding and it made me sad so when i got home i thought i would give it one more try and he latched straight away without a sheild.
then offered him a bottle top up but he refused. he had 40 mins on one side and about 10 on the other and fell asleep for 3 hours.

Now what do i do?
do i offer both breasts and then a top up or just leave the top ups now and trust my body is doing what it is surpose to do?

haven't a clue but am v pleased for you both.... bump

Personally, I would just get on with the breastfeeding. Wre you topping up with formula or ebm?
I'm sure someone likt tiktok will come along to give you proper advice, but YAY!!

trust your body if you dare! So so so pleased for you!

trust your body if you dare! So so so pleased for you!

I'm afraid that I don't have any advice but well done both of you

That's fantastic, well done to you and your son

I'd let hm suckle as much as possible, you'll have a good supply established in no time! In other words, do trust your body.

(I have no expertise, unless you count breastfeeding three babies ; proper experts will no more..)

I mean know, not no

Have you been pumping frequently for ebm? if you have, you might well just be able to carry on; if not, you might need to continue the top ups. Either way, i really really would - if i were you - consult a BF counsellor for relactaction advice. You have done so well, would help to get top advice to help you carry on: you don't want to be thwarted now by worries that may be easily resolvable. But keep going and offering whenever he wants it nevertheless...

thats brilliant. bless him and you
let him have your breast as often as he wants and in my experience your body will respond to him.

he must be soooooo happy to be all snuggled and feeding..what a great day !
i would drop the bottle too but i am not an expert either.

He was having ebm for his top ups.

I am on cloud 9 at the mo i really wanted to bf this time i failed with my other 2 dc this will be my last baby so i wasnt going to fail this time.

Hurray! Congratulations

What a great feeling! I had similar problems with latching with DD about 5 months ago, so I remember it well.

I'm far from an expert but if I were you I would just try to do the next feed like the last, except opposite boobs around iyswim (I used to have a card system so I could remember which one to start off with )

As long as you are getting wet and dirty nappies and he is sleeping well then presumably he's getting enough.

It can be hard to move from exclusive EBM to feeding from the breast because you can get used to knowing how much they're having and believe (erroneously) that it is useful knowledge. I certainly found that.

40 + 10 mins sounds a good long feed if he was chomping away for the whole time, although obviously different babies feed more efficiently/quickly etc. so I guess there is no "right" duration for a feed.

DD is now nearly 6 months old and now I love breastfeeding. It's great for us and very convenient, so I really hope things work out for you.

It just goes to show that people really do get inspiration from seeing other women breastfeed in public. How wonderful.

I would just carry on with bfeeding if you have been giving him ebm, that's what I did with DS after exclusivley giving ebm. He may feed loads at first but don't panic it will settle down.

Lolly, how lovely for you!
I would offer both boobs, a lot.
Fantastic!

Hurrah - I would just keep feeding him as much as possible, offer both sides, when he falls asleep, he's had enough. Good for you

Ah that's wonderful! Agree with everyone else, just keep offering and don't be surprised if he suddenly turns into a ravenous milkivore, it's all totally normal for a baby this age. Keep an eye on the dirty nappies, but I'm sure he will be fine as you've been pumping for the ebm. Well done well done well done!

Yay!

FWIW DS1 didn't latch on properly until 8 weeks. You'll be fine.
Well done.

Wow Lolly well done for having faith in yourself. Do agree that you should continue offering him boob when and wherever: given the previous issues you describe do keep an eye on his nappies for wetness (pee should be pale, straw coloured) and poo should look like seedy mustard. Until you are confident he's feeding well, I would suggest making sure he doesn't go more than 5 hours between feeds - although you don't say what weight he is, or if he still has a tendency to be sleepy.

Take care

lolly, really pleased for you

Good advice here.

Just carry on breastfeeding a lot, using both breasts, and if you have been keeping up with the expressing, then he really will not need top ups (get HV to check weight in a few days).