Anyone who has ever had problems with breast feeding a new born...

[allibaba]

Hi there

My DS is now 1 week old having been born 2 weeks early after my waters broke at 37+2 and we were induced in the hospital. Had a dream birth (4 hours, no time for pain relief!) but DS was a little bit jaundiced and very sleepy for the first few days and we have had problems latching him on to the breast.

I am perservering by expressing milk and trying to latch him on at each feed and it does seem to be paying off and he is slowly getting the hang of it.

But it has been so demoralising as no one ever tells you this may happen before you give birth and I have felt like such a failure for the last week as a mum.

Has anyone else experienced this and what did you do? I have contacted a support group linked with the hospital and spoken to some friends which has helped but I believe that some hospitals have lactation specalists (?) that can help with this. But any thoughts / comments welcome..

There will be loads of people along shortly who will give you advice. Lots of BF knowledege on here so you have come to the right place.

I had problems with DD. Getting the latch right is the key. Ask if the hospital lactation expert can see you or if not try one of the BF helplines such as La leche - they can sometimes come and see you dep on where you live.

Has anyone shown you how to get the baby to latch? IME I got loads of conflicting advice from hospital staff but eventually a friendly health visitor helped us to get it right.

Expressing a bit of milk just before a feed manually to get baby interested in the nipple helps and make sure you are not too engorged as this doesn't always help. However there is nothing like someone being there with you to show you.

I know it's hard, because you expect it to be easy! It can be a battle but once you get the hang of it it is great.

Keep going, try and get someone to see you and keep your chin up - and keep coming on here. Your commitment to is is brilliant - well done for so far!

Don't worry, that's completely normally. Some babies just take a while and some get it immediately.

My ds got the hang immediately but my milk took ages to build up so he would feed for an hour or more at a time. I was very sore and feeling like a failure too. But in the end I bf him until 18 months.

I learnt that the one thing to be sure of is my ds hasn't read the book on what he's meant to do.

Hello, It perfectly normal what your experiencing. And fifitot's advise about expressing a few drops of milk before you try to latch your son on is a good idea. Rub his lips so he gets a wee taste of the milk and his attention should be woken pretty fast. Getting the latch right is key and so difficult, however, as your both learning this is to be expected. Your doing the right thing by perservering and I am sure you'll both get the hang of it. It also sounds like you have plenty of milk which was something I had a problem with in the beginning.

My only other advise for you would be to try to stop giving a bottle. The bottle gives instant milk on first suck and so the sucking is different from the breast. Basically on the breast the baby uses its tounge to massage the underside of the nipple then starts to suck to get the thin foremilk out, more sucking and the thicker and more fatty milk comes out. So its hard work for a little one! And therefore no wonder that a baby who has the option between bottle and breast might prefer the bottle for quick gratification. However, if your baby was premature and is having real difficulties with feeding from the breast then giving bottle until he is grown a bit and able to breastfeed properly is wise. Take your health visitors advise on this. Your HV should also be able to check your breastfeeding position to give you concrete tips. Don't be bullied into just using bottles though.

La Leche can give you advise, as can NCT (without being a member) they both have breastfeeding hotlines. See NCT on this web page www.nctpregnancyandbabycare.com/in-your-area/southwark/slbfeed/support

Your doing great, so just hang in there!

Oh by the way, if you pop "latching on advice video" into google there are several educational videos around! Take a look!

Has a bf specialist checked him for Tongue tie. I had the same struggle and ultimately discovered a Tongue tie was preventing him from being able to latch on. Worth ruling out. Good luck

Thanks for the advice everyone. As an update we had a successful day yesterday where every feed bar the 3am one was on the breast.

I think we've found that I've become more competent with DS and more relaxed so we've found better positions in which to latch him on to me. DS seems to be getting the hang of it more to which has been a huge relief.

We're still taking each day and each feed as it comes and not getting our hopes up that we've cracked it just yet but things are hugely better than 3 days ago! Thanks for the support, it does help to know that I'm not the only one going through this..

You may well have breastfeeding drop in centres near you that are open most weekdays. Worth dropping in on one if you can.

glad to hear things are going better allibaba

I had the same problems with DD and struggled for the first few weeks, she couldn't seem to get latched on well, lost weight and wasn't gaining. I got very stressed & demoralised too as the books I had read made me think it would just come naturally and would be easy! it was very hard but I kept trying and it got better day by day. she's now 9 weeks and is thriving (11lb 5oz at last weighing!). whatever you do don't feel like you're a failure, sounds like you're doing a grand job. just keep at it can recommend calling the national breastfeeding helpline too if you need advice, they were great when I called. I think as they get a bit bigger it gets easier for them as their mouths get bigger. all the best for the coming weeks

Sounds like things are going better for you.

I had real difficulties with my first son's latch.
Lots of skin to skin contact. Stay in bed 24 hours and just keep offering the breast.
See if you have any local BF cafes near you as they helped me lots.
If you are unable to feed on the breast make sure you express to keep up supply. Offer the milk in a small cup (the top of a bottle works quite well or an egg cup) rather than from a bottle teat.
Jack Newman does some great latching videos, I think I saw them on Youtube.

I really feel for you. Its crap when you want to bf but baby doesn't seem to have got the knack of it yet. Hang in there, it will get better.

My ds took 3 weeks to latch on following an em cs at 37 weeks. Saying it was a nightmare 3 weeks is putting it mildly! Even the bf counsellor didn't help, I was just very stubborn and expressed (I had gallons of the stuff) and ff until he decided to bf.

Even then I only stuck at it as the bounty lady who saw me in hospital said it took her dc 5 weeks to latch on!

We had a nightmare resulting in severely dehydrated baby being admitted to special care etc... However, we then found a wonderful lactation consultant (la leche league has contacts) who saved the day. I cannot recomend them strongly enough.