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).

Bumping for you.

You can make your own system with a bit of tubing from the hospital and a spare bottle (may need to make the hole bigger). I never tried it but my bf counsellor showed me how to do it. I think it's very difficult to sterilise the tube as it's so small.

You can also get nursing tea on the internet - I found the details on mumsnet, hopefully someone here knows where to get it from.

Good luck!

I used one with DS1 - well, I tried anyway. My problem was more that he would not latch on so in retrospect it was never going to help us.

They are a massive fiddle to put on and to keep the tube out of the way whilst the baby latches on. But I think you might be worth giving it a try - you have nothing to lose. I definitely agree with SM that you should get some RL help with this. How often are you expressing? If you can do a 48 hour every 2 hours round the clock expressathon you should see some results. It is GREAT that your DS will still latch on and try and feed. Don't put him under any pressure, just keep trying. Best of luck

Thanks .

Think I will get one and give it a try. I do have some drops of milk and ds will latch on and nurse (30 mins yesterday evening).

My ds is still swaddled sometimes. I wonder if it would be easier to use with him swaddled to begin with (arms out the way!).

I would think so, yes. How brilliant that your DS will nurse for 30 minutes. That will do wonders for your supply.

I was very surprised that he will still nurse. He is not a particularly sucky baby - he has a dummy, but only uses it a bit at nighttime. He is nursing now. I don't think he's getting much milk, but he seems to find it comforting .