My dd is now 9 days old and has never latched on to breastfeed. I had a long second stage of labour (7.5 hours) and she was too tired to feed at delivery, and then I had a PPH and wasn't well enough to try again for the rest of the afternoon. I feel that this delay probably was a big part of the reason for her reluctance to breastfeed . By the time I could try, she wasn't interested - she didn't seem to know to open her mouth wide enough and although we persevered gently she became very upset and angry, so we had to keep stopping until she calmed down. In the end, we gave her donor milk using a syringe until I could express colostrum, then we gave that using a syringe. After 3 nights in the major hospital we transferred back to the cottage hospital where I had been labouring originally (I was transferred in second stage to be able to have the oxytocin drip), where we were recommended to change from a syringe to a bottle to encourage dd to suck. The midwives there were really supportive, and helped us try every feed to get dd to latch - we've tried the traditional hold, the rugby ball hold and lying on my side with dd 'feeding' from the top and the lower breast.
Is there anything else we should be trying? We have at least one prolonged session every day of skin-to-skin contact, letting dd crawl up my stomach - she heads for my nipple but never latches on. Every feed we encourage her to breast feed, and we've tried before her bottle, midway through the feed and after the feed, with an equal lack of success. We also tried using nipple shields, but she didn't take to those either. I've just read Mears' link on starlover's thread, about rebirthing, and I'm hoping to try that tomorrow morning when my dh is at home. Any other ideas anyone?
I also have 2 other questions. At present, I am expressing enough milk for all of Megan's feeds, but I am worried that I won't keep pace with her increasing demand. Tonight she is having a growth spurt phase and waking more often than usual to be fed, and I'm only just ahead of the game. I'm expressing every three hours during the day and whenever dd wakes for a feed during the night. I try to aim for one pump more than dd has a feed, and on the whole get about the same or a little more over the course of 24 hours as dd drinks. How long can I expect to keep pace with her demand? Is there anything else I can do to increase my supply?
Also, how long is the longest you have known a baby continue like this before they finally latch on? Am I flogging a lame horse? How long should I persevere before accepting defeat?
Expressing like this is very restricting - I could breastfeed anywhere but I can't exactly plug my hospital grade pump in and pump in the Tesco cafe! I don't mind though, as long as there is actually a point to it. I am trying to keep positive and take one feed at a time, but I have to think ahead a bit. My plan, such as it is, is to keep going as long as I can match dd's demand, then supplement with formula as needed, and at that point I think I will have to re-evaluate how often I want to express, just so that I can get out of the house. It isn't so bad whilst dh is on paternity leave, but once he's gone back to work, if I have to bottlefeed then pump every time dd feeds I'll never get out of the house at all, and I can't do that for 6 months!
Sorry for such a long post and thanks for your advice!