Anyone used a lactation aid?

[rebeccacad]

I've been recommended to use one for my nearly 10 week-old who wasn't get enough from the breast, I moved on to mixed feeding and now has nipple confusion and gets very angry after the flow slows down on the breast.

I'm anxious about how logistically difficult it is going to be to use - especially when feeding in public.

Anyone had any experience of this?

Thanks

I have but will have to come back to you tomorrow as DS2 wont sleep tonight. Will pop back on tomorrow day to let you know how I got on.....it was very sucessful and boosted my supply within a week of use so not a long term issue.

Thanks - that is already reassuring. I'm in maternal guilty hell about formula, having to stop breastfeeding, worrying about logistics and then feeling guilty for even worrying about the logistics!

I used a supplemental nursing system - is this what you are thinking about?

I used it when my DS lost a lot weight at 3 months old and was admitted to hospital as failure to thrive. I used to express and then top him up through the SNS.

Found it really excellent, although I never used it whilst out and about as it's a bit fiddly to set up (taping the tubes on to your boobs for example).

It did the trick though and a couple of months on I've stopped using it, don't need to express any more and have just starting blw.

What's more we no longer have to go to the hospital to see the paediatrician as he has just about reached the bottom line of the graph in the red book (if you make the dot big enough anyway )

Thanks Crikey - that's great to hear. Yes it is a supplemental feeding system.

Really glad to hear you've been discharged from the hospital.

bump

rebeccacad- have you spoken to any of the breastfeeding helplines like NTC or la leche league?

Yes, I've used one - it definitely sorted out my LO's nipple confusion. I wouldn't recommend trying to use one in public either - in time, you get good enough that you don't need to tape the tubes to your breasts - I would just tuck one through my bra to hold it in place and manually slide the tube into the corner of her mouth - took a week or two until we got to that stage, though!

I found the SNS Medela thing absolutely awful to use, incredibly fiddly and resulted often in my precious expressed milk flowing away down my stomach! A lactation consultant showed me how to set one up with a naso-gastric tube and a syringe, I found that much much easier. You can buy the syrnges on the net, the tubes you have to get from a midwife, one lasts about a week if you flush it with boiling water after you've used it.