Medela Supplemental Nursing System - anyone ever tried it?

[dizzee]

Hi, I stopped bf my ds 3 weeks ago when he was 10 weeks old. It had been a struggle for those 10 weeks, but now I bitterly regret giving up . I really want to try and re-establish bf. I am being realistic and not aiming for exclusive bf, but some bf would be nice. My ds seems to be doing well on formula, so I'd be happy to at least get to mixed feeding for a few more months. Anyway, ds will latch on and suck for a short while, but soon loses interest once he realises nothing is coming out. So, I thought one of these supplementary systems might be good. I can feed him his formula, whilst also getting stimulation to make milk myself. And it would be lovely just to have him at the breast. However they aren't cheap (nearly £20) and I don't know if they are tricky to use. So, I was wondering if anyone had any experience with them or could recommend them. I also have a double pump which I am using. However I find I end up strapping ds into his bouncy chair whilst I am pumping and hoping that he sits quietly. I thought the SNS system would be away of stimulating me whilst spending time with ds.

I am not starting this till next week due to some medication I am taking this week.

Also I've bought some fenugreek and I'm considering motilium (although that would work out quite expensive).

Sorry - don't know why that's posted twice.

I am a bf counsellor and although I am not someone who has used it myself I have worked with mums who have used it to help them relactate to great success.
Have you had a chat with a bf counsellor about all this? It's worth talking through yout strategies - just simple things like when are you pumping, How much fenugreek, ways to keep him motivated on the breast longer. And also worth chatting through why you initially gave up.
With relactation as I'm sure you know the key is demand at the breast - baby and pump. Motilium would be a real last resort.

SNS can be a bit fiddly and cleaning the tubes can be a hassle but they can really help. Ideally you do it with the help of an LC or bfc for the first time. Whereabout are you? Do you have bf support locally?

I am in Scotland. I don't have much support. One of the reasons I gave up originally was lack of support from my dh and my parents. All I seemed to hear for weeks was "You'll have to give him a bottle" over and over again. My dh thinks I'm mad to try again.

On a positive note - Ds just latched on and nursed for nearly 30 min . Don't think he got any milk, but he seemed to find it comforting. I had to take him off in the end as I need to cook dinner!

Firstly well done for trying again and you will get plenty of support on here.
There are quite a few articles and help on the internet too - type 'relactation' into Google and you will come up with lots of tips.

Anything near you here?

www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/support-centres-in-scotland.html

You may find someone hiding out there you were unlucky enough to miss first time round who would be only too happy to help you. If you give me a town I'd be happy to search out some other groups and numbers for you.

That's really positive that he stayed on the breast for 30 minutes. Don't assume he didn't get any milk - it's often hard to tell. Great news!