Is it too late to start breastfeeding?

[AREJAAG]

My baby is 8 weeks old and I have been exclusively pumping. I tried breast feeding in the hospital and my nipples are quite flat so I found it difficult and everytime the midwife would help me get latched he would come off when they left and I wasn’t able to get him back on myself.
i really wish I hadn’t given up so fast and wondered if it was too late to try again at this stage? I do have a good supply but I’m not sure if my baby would latch again and I don’t want to confuse him after bottle feeding for so long!
has anyone ever attempted breast feeding this late? Tia

a friend of mine started breastfeeding at 6 weeks. She suddenly started to try again and it just worked out for her. She had a good supply from pumping like you.

I’d get proper advice but I wonder would trying with a nipple shield help? It’s more like a bottle teat. They tend not to be recommended but you have nothing to lose by trying and a much easier life to gain.

Thank you, it’s definitely worth a try I am going to give it a go and see how I get on. I will get some nipple shields if I struggle

Def do it. The baby will hopefully draw out the nipple and you could also use a niplette. Try without the nipple shields first as I had inverted nipples and they didn’t work for me. Just keep putting the baby on. Once baby was a bit bigger and was able to open her mouth wider, latching was easier. Remember it’s breast feeding not nipple feeding so it can still be done with flat or inverted nipples. Keep trying and keep expressing if you don’t manage to latch to keep your supply up. Worst case scenario you have to keep expressing and cleaning/sterilising bottles, etc. Best, you can ditch all that and exclusively bf. Good luck!

Good advice above. Lots of skin to skin. Watch YouTube to learn exaggerated latch/flipper. Nipple shields may help to get the baby interested but act as a barrier so some immune communication lost and can impact breast drainage/supply so not first choice if can be avoided but equally can be a good tool initially. Some people pump a little if nipples flat to pull them out then try to latch. Try different positions too - rugby hold and lying down can be good. Well done on pumping so far! You've done an amazing job

I have flat nipples. I pumped and breast fed directly for about 1 and a half months. I used a nipple shield from about week 2. It did help but i found it painful. I gave up feeding directly because of the pain and how long it took to feed my baby. At about 3 months i just tried again but with no nipple shield and he latched perfectly and drank really fast. I still like to top him up with a bottle after to make sure hes had enough. My advice is to try and see but have a bottle ready for when your baby is finished and you might need to pump after. There is no downside to trying. If it doesnt work then you have had a nice little cuddle before feeding