5 week old DS still not latching on - worth persevering? Any similar experiences?

[littlegreenbean09]

Despite being really keen to breastfeed, my DS is now 5 weeks old and has never really latched on. I have spent the last few weeks expressing and getting help and advice from where ever I can - books, DVDs, websites, been to two different breastfeeding groups, had the breastfeeding counsellor round for home visits, gone to cranial osteopath etc etc.

There seems to be no physical reason why DS won't latch on, it just seems that he is choosing not to! We have gone from cup feeding to bottles now, and I am feeding him formula with as much EBM as possible - am on domperidone for a a couple of weeks.

I am offering him the breast a few times a day (was every feed but I have lost a bit of motivation) and although he snuffles and licks there is no sign of him opening his mouth wide - in fact, he doesn't even do this when he takes the bottle.

One breastfeeding counsellor described him as 'worst case scenario' and hinted that I might want to give up trying. I have had my heart set on breastfeeding, but with each day it seems less and less likely.

Do you think it is worth carrying on? Anyone here had similar experiences - did your baby ever latch on after all this time, or did you decide to give up trying? Any thoughts/experience welcome.

Ds was 5 weeks prem and didn't latch till he was 5-6 weeks old

I used to cupfeed him an ounce of bm, then try to latch him and let him feed til he came off then offer him more from the cup

you need to offer the breast at every feed

you also need to be expressing a minimum of 8-10 times a day, including an overnight one if you want to keep up your supply, domperidone only works effectively if milk is being removed iyswim

are you using an electric pump, I found it faster and more effective

Have you tried nipple shields? My dd wouldn't latch on me initially but would on an avent nipple shield because it was bigger (but then i have flat nipples so if that isnt an issue for you they may not help) and then it took about 3 weeks of that before she had it figured out and then another couple of weeks before we weaned her off them.

Hi! Firstly, well done for carry on despite all of the set backs! I thought I'd share my storey as I was told that it would be unlikely DD would BF after so long, but with perseverance she did!

Her latch was terrible for the first 4 weeks and could not latch on at all. She would just do a funny licking motion with her mouth as if she didn't have a clue what to do! I, like you, expressed as much milk as I could and gave it in a bottle and just kept offering the breast at the beginning and end of every feed, as advised by a breast feeding counsellor. Then one day, she just got it! She latched on and fed for 30 minutes! I was sooooo !!!

It still took her a few weeks before I was confident she was getting enough just from me and to be honest I still gave one bottle of EBM or formula at bed time, but that was more my choice as we'd got the bedtime routine down by then and I was reluctant to change it! I then carried on until she was 6 months.

Thanks for all your responses, good to hear some success stories! Since writing the original post I've seen a really good independent breastfeeding advisor who gave me confidence and encouragement to carry on and was outraged that another counsellor had described as 'worst case scenario'!

I am now using nipple shields and DS has latched on a couple of times in the last few days and fed for a few minutes so I am hopeful things will work out and taking it in baby steps.

Two tips that the new breastfeeding counsellor gave me - she said to mix in EBM with formula at every feed so the baby gets a hit of the good stuff , and also gets the taste of EBM too. Also said that the length of time you express is more important than the frequency - so as long as you do 100 minutes over 24 hours you don't have to be tied to expressing every 3 hours. This has made my life so much easier!

my wee girl fed from me for the first time last week, at the grand old age of 106 days!!! There is hope! I had expressed all that time as i was lucky have LOADS of milk, an now me and my pump have happily passed company!

strange piece of advice, but it worked for me, is to feed baby in the bath! mayb it was coincidence but someone suggested it to me and the first time i tried it she latched on properly for the first time. tried again the following night and she took a full feed and hasn't had ebm since

Congratulations Sugarmuppet, well done you! That's great that it suddenly 'clicked' with your baby, and now on full feeds, wow. It's such a great feeling when they actually latch on isn't it, I almost cried with happiness!

I will try the bath trick, DS seems to enjoy being in water so maybe that will help.

Can't wait for the day when I am no longer tied to the pump...

My ds did not latch until until nearly 4m, and my dd was 6 weeks or so. They do jsut get it suddenly, and I second the use of nipple shields.

What helped me also was a 'periodontal syringe', a dental syringe for cleaning the gumline I think. basically, it has a short, soft, curved end, which I put under the nipple shield and then just squirted occasionally, so as the baby tried to suck it got something to encourage him/her. Made them try harder!