Help with 9 day old DD - Nipple Confusion.

[sunshineandshowers]

Hi all,

I am very very proud to still be BF 9 day old DD (first time have written that), having failed to BF DS (well for 3 days).

I think I have created a problem for myself however. The last day and last night she feeds well for sort of 10m each side (really good latch and good sucking) and then will fuss and not latch on properly, but sucks the nipple as opposed to the breast and keeps popping off (I have now discovered last night that the suck reflex on bottle and boob are different - so I think this is definitely the problem). She is definitely still hungry. I then give a bit of EBM or formula if still hungry.

I have been expressing randomly trying to keep supply up and in the early days, feeling unconfident and in pain gave a few bottles. This over the last day seems to have increased to every feed, as she gets beside herself. On day 4/5/6 she was feeding all the time and when it got to 3 hours I would also give bottle, as in so much pain.

I hope all this makes sense, I am a little bit tired, although she is sleeping for 4-5 hour stretches.

The good news is my nipples are now feeling good (touch wood) and I am in LOADS less pain.

I was feeling so up and down about BF since she was born and now I can't believe I've got this far, I am determined to carry on.

So, after she feeds well for a bit, shall I just keep putting her on? What shall I do? Any ideas? Has anyone overcome this? What a ramble.

She is gaining weight well and doing loads of wees and poos.

Hello
First of CONGRATULATIONS on your DD
And well done on weight gain and weeing and pooing (!)

you've already done three times as much B/f this time round - you should be proud of yourself

But as for your question I'm afraid I don't have much expertise to pass on - can your m/w or H/v recommend a b/f counsellor?
Or can you call the la leche league?
Best of luck with it

sunshine, great you are bf, and you're right to be concerned about all this, as things are complicated and unnecessarily so, I think.

I am not sure why you are expressing. It's not necessary and can create problems of its own - you get the ebm and you feel you need to give it, rather than simply continuing to feed the baby direct. Then you get into a knot because the baby seems to need formula as well...I can understand why you started with the bottles in the first place, as you were in pain. But this is resolved now. Your baby will get on with bf just fine as long as you keep up that confidence and just accept at the moment she will need to stay on and off the breast a lot. Feeding 'all the time' can be normal. Sleeping for 4-5 hour stretches, as you describe, is not a great sign....we want babies of 9 days old to feed very often indeed

I think it will help to talk through all this with the midwife or one of the breastfeeding helplines. It may be you are expecting to measure 'satisfaction' by readiness to sleep for long periods, and this is mistaken. Babies of 9 days old don't sleep for long stretches at a time.

Hope this helps

Hi all,

Thanks for replies.

Good news in that she fed all of today from the breast, except for 2 oz formula fed via a syringe because my nipples had had enough. She was latching on for longer and hopefully over the weekend she will forget about the bottle.

I think I have definitely made things complicated for myself, but with the best intentions. I was really lacking in confidence and I think have used these tools as crutches to feed my confidence. I was also in pain, so giving my nipples a break has enabled BF to continue.

I don't think I am measuring success in length of sleeping, but good to think about it. She just does seem to like sleeping. For example she fed 8-11 this morning and then slept till 2.30. Should I have woken her? She then fed till 8 ish, (with short naps).

I will do no more bottles and lots of skin to skin and will ring NCT number in the morning to discuss current issues.

Thanks for support. x Sometimes all the information feels overwhelming.

Have now exclusively BF since 8pm last night. Very pleased.

well done you! the more she feeds the more milk you make, and that's a good thing. you want to build up a nice big supply

hope things continue to go well!

Oh very good.

The thing is, if your nipples are getting sore from feeding, then maybe your latch could do with a bit of adjusting. Often just a tiny shift, moving the baby a cm or two (moving her body, not grabbing her head!) can make a huge difference in the mother's comfort level.

Sorry, should have said - so it might still make sense to see a BF expert, go to a local baby cafe, or similar, to see if your latch can be improved a bit more, just to make everyone's life a bit easier.

Nipples are quite good now. Although not sure what level of pain I should be experiencing at this stage. It hurts when she latches on sort of 60% of time and sometimes hurts when sucking, but as the nipples are tougher I now remove her straight away if it doesn't feel right. I also forgot she was feeding for the first time today.

How do I find out about BF Cafes? I am definitely a bit limited/ lacking confidence when it comes to positions. Thanks for support.

Regarding latch...as nipples are getting better all the time, does this mean my latch is good, or could it still do with some improvement?

If you say where you live, I can have a dig for cafes. Alternatively this website is a good place to start, for UK groups anyway.

If your nipples are getting better all the time, your latch is definately better than it was before. It may be there is room for a tiny bit more improvement, though - always worth getting it checked, with all you've been through! They'll help you find other positions too, and give you encouragement and support (which you can get here, too, but it's better in person, imo).

Removing her right away when it doesn't feel right is totally the best thing to do. Use your pinky in the corner of her mouth to break the seal first, so then pulling her off won't hurt. (I bet you're already doing this, but I thought I would rather check!)

Thanks NotQuiteCockney.

I had a look on that website. I am in Guildford, Surrey. There appears to be one at the Hospital. When people say breast feeding cafe, do they mean a drop in clinic - I actually thought it meant cafe? Doh! I went to this when I was pregnant first time, so will pop in again.

Things are going really well (touch wood), am now just BF. She seems to be getting really efficient (10/15/20 mins then done). Is this what the future holds? A week ago I could never have imagined this much progress.

She does still sleep alot, but does seem to cluster feed, so over 24 hours is hopefully getting what she needs. For example, she was awake all morning (8.30 - 11.30 feeding on and off), but then slept till 3ish. She has since had 3/4 feeds. The Midwife is coming tom, so I will get her weighed, and that will tell me.

Thanks x

Sorry, yes, I meant a drop-in clinic. Some of them are called breastfeeding cafes, I think they do have hot drinks, but that's not the focus!

Efficient is a good sign, it sounds like you guys are doing really well.

The easy way to tell if she's getting enough, at this point, is to look at her nappies. If she's making at least two pooey nappies (each poo at least the size of a 50p piece) then there's certainly lots of milk going in. Poo is actually a better indication than weight, to some extent, as weight fluctuates easily (a big feed, or a big poo, really affects the weight you'll get).