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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Is it more difficult to bf a downs baby?

20 replies

cfc · 26/04/2010 21:41

We were at the clinic today having the 12 week scan for new baby and in the waiting room was a couple with their completely delightful little girl who had down syndrome. DS found her equally as beguiling as I did, and showed her by fish-hooking her [hmmm]

Anyway, I got talking to the mum and we ended up talking about breastfeeding and how my hubby is all about the breastfeeding now that we have done it already and he doesn't have to get up in the night! She was agreeing and we shared some horror and lovely stories about it.

On the way home in the car I started wondering if there are any further difficulties than the ones we already face when nursing a baby with special needs. I know preemies are confused at first, but I'm curious as to what mothers of in particular ds babies face.

Does anyone have any knowledge?

OP posts:

meltedmarsbars · 26/04/2010 21:45

what an odd question.

Can be very difficult as many babies with DS also have heart problems, can have mucus problems, and chest problems. Can take longer too, but thats the same with any baby with sn afaik.

And you have no idea what your baby will turn out like, unlike those with so-called "normal" babies.

JackiePaper · 26/04/2010 21:45

yes it can be harder to fees babies who have downs syndrome. They tend to be very sleepy and not wake for feeds, and often their lower muscle tone means they struggle to suck effectively. However, baies with downs syndrome, can and do breastfeed, and it is much much better for them, Babies who have downs syndrome and are breastfed develop fewer speech problems and put on weight faster than those who are formula fed.

Original poster

cfc · 27/04/2010 07:35

MMB - I suppose I ask because we were in for our screening scan and I must have put the two together in my brain and wondered how I would get on bf if we had a downs baby - we had trouble enough the first time, truly. I'm terrified of the pain now that I know it.

I don't think it's an odd question. I don't really get your either.

Thanks for your answers both of you

OP posts:

ditavionteased · 27/04/2010 07:41

mmb if people don't ask qustions how will people with no direct experience of sn ever learn about the diffiulties faced by those that do.

cheesebaby · 27/04/2010 10:19

I think it's a good question - as dita says if you don't ask you don't get to know. I actually think Mumsnet represents a wealth of knowledge and variability of experience; so it's not unreasonable to wonder about, and ask questions regarding circumstances that might be much further outside of our own experience.

pigletmania · 27/04/2010 11:08

Erm its not an odd question at all Melted why on earth do you think that , I have often wondered about it having worked with people with LD. With DS their tounges tend to protrude a bit so could make it difficult. I am sure that a bf expert on here will tell you more.

TakeLovingChances · 27/04/2010 14:10

Check this out:

www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/down-syndrome.html

FioFio · 27/04/2010 14:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

wannaBe · 27/04/2010 14:18

can I just say that... it's "baby with downs" not "downs baby"

ReshapeWhileDamp · 27/04/2010 15:35

MMB, the OP never used the phrase 'normal babies' and nor did she assume by her post that her own baby would not be born with Downs. I think you've been very harsh.

Original poster

cfc · 28/04/2010 07:29

Thanks for your replies everyone. That link is interesting TLC - and now I know!

Reshape - I don't think MMB was referring to me when she mentioned normal babies to be honest. But I didn't really get that part of her post so I may be wrong. As far as I know, no babies are normal, my fella certainly isn't!

OP posts:

sarah293 · 28/04/2010 08:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

ShadeofViolet · 28/04/2010 08:14

My DS2 has low muscle tone and BF was a nightmare. He was also a very sleepy baby (and when he wasnt sleeping he was screaming!) so I gave up after day 5 and expressed all his feeds instead. He hasnt got DS, but ASD and Dyspraxia.

Original poster

cfc · 28/04/2010 08:28

Yes, that's also been pointed out Riven thanks. Another lesson learned.

OP posts:

meltedmarsbars · 30/04/2010 18:00

Sorry, I haven't been on here for a few days - didn't realise that I'd left a misunderstanding!

When I put that I thought it was an odd question, I suppose I meant because it seems to me that one of the major factors with babies with special needs is that it is often extremely difficult to feed them! My dd doesn't have DS but has other disabilities, and she seemed to take forever to establish BF, and some of my friends with babies with DS had very similar problems.

Does that make more sense? The other posters put it far more succinctly, like JackiePaper!

Sorry, I didn't mean to post then leave in a muddle!

JodieO · 30/04/2010 18:06

I thought the same wannabe

geekgirl · 30/04/2010 18:12

cfc, I breastfed my dd2 with DS - she had a heart defect and it was really tricky as she was so wiped out by her heart problems - she'd sleep for 8 hours as a newborn if left to her own devices. She managed though! It did help that I was still feeding dd1 at the time - breastfeeding a toddler is a super (if slightly unorthodox ) method of establishing a great milk supply .
She had to be exclusively tube fed for 6 weeks after her heart surgery which she had at 7 weeks old (she had complications and was v. ill), but went straight back to the breast like a pro after that.

mrsbean78 · 30/04/2010 18:35

I think that people asking open questions about people with differing disabilities is important.

Not everyone is on top of the current accepted terminology. My grandmother had a sister with ds who her family always said was 'a mongoloid' but my great-grandmother fought tooth and nail to keep her with them in a time it was unheard of and at the time of her death (at 69) she lived in the family home (and was the oldest woman with DS in Ireland!). I don't think they could have proved they respected her more by calling her a 'woman with down's'.

This is not to say I don't think terminology is important - I do - but if someone doesn't know what is preferred among the community of people who care for people with these disabilities it should be flagged up as a point of information not as something the person 'got wrong'.

geekgirl · 30/04/2010 18:59

I agree, mrsbean. I think tone and intent are far more important that the correct terminology, particularly when it comes from a layperson.
cfc asked a reasonable and friendly question, there is no need to correct her in a hostile fashion. We want people to feel able to ask questions, as dita and cheesebaby pointed out!

Original poster

cfc · 02/05/2010 15:04

Hello, and thanks again for your replies.

I'm happy to learn and be corrected about these things. Like I said, we're having another little one and you never know what you're gonna get!

It was so difficult for me to bf my lo, I can't imagine sticking at it for so long with lo's who have disabilities, sleepiness or physically. I think you are heroes when you do. Truly.

OP posts:

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