2 days old worried sick please help

[El1995]

Hi there! Okay where to start...so my ds was born via elective c section at term +15 days due to having a failed induction on Sunday evening. Shortly after he was born I was encouraged to breastfeed him which I tried persistently throughout the night and the following day, however we have encountered some issues. When trying to bf he just wasn't latching on at all, and when he was, with the help of myself of midwife, he didn't suck or know what to do and would let go straight away. We got concerned as to how much food he had been taking in and therefore I moved on to hand expressing colostrum in to a syringe for him and topping him up on formula. He has improved since day one as he is now attempting to suck on the bottle, (baring in mind he wouldn't even suck a finger the first day he was born) however it takes him 1-2 hours just to get out 15-20 ml, if that. (been trying to give him 20-40ml every 3 hrs or so).He always seems very chilled out and the effort of feeding just send him in to a drunken sleep. He has been examined by many Dr's and consultants who all say he examines very well and is healthy, his bloods are okay, he is alert when he is awake and he's doing wet and pooey nappies still. I just don't understand why it takes him so long to feed and why he is so reluctant. He's got a very receded chin and is also very mucousy which you can hear on his chest when he breathes, but I keep getting told this is normal for c section babies. We're now on 2 days old and he's just been admitted to the neonatal unit to be tub fed as he's lost 300gs since Sunday and just doesn't want to take any milk without passing out with exhaustion. I'm exhausted from worrying and being sleep deprived on a post natal ward and just feel like a failure as a mother be used I can't help him and don't know what's wrong with him. Has this happened to anyone else? I just want to keep crying seeing him being tube fed....and need some one elses experience :-(

I’m sending you a huge hug and

I hope someone with experience will be along in a minute but try not to panic. You must be so tired and just want to be at home but you are in the best place for him. I hope he starts to put on weight well now and you can go home soon

You might want to report your own post and get this moved to children’s health so it gets seen by people with experience

Have you had him checked for tongue tie? I assume one of the doctors you saw might have done so, but it's worth following up if you're not sure. Hope the little one gets better soon.

Sorry to hear you've had such a hard time op. Do you want to breastfeed? If so, start / keep at the pumping. I had to do this for the first few days with my dd, after the first night where the midwife sat with me and collected tiny drops of colostrum in those mini syringes. My dd also had a few formula topups at the start but went on to be exclusively bf. If you don't want to bf, that's a fine choice as well. The most important thing right now is that he gets fed, whichever way.

It must be so hard to watch but know that you've done nothing wrong, haven't failed in any way and that he's getting the best care possible. Are you able to get any rest on the ward? I know it's never great. I'm sorrry I have no experience of tube feeding directly. Hopefully some other knowledgeable posters will be along

Hi, I had a very bad start with feeding dd1, with some big similarities. She just fed for 2 or 3 minutes at best and then fell asleep. We spent those first days in a horrible panic really. We tried stripping her, holding her up, blowing at her, anything to get her to feed. But it was impossible and a nigtmare. I also topped up with formula, although I cup fed her, and went on to breastfeed exclusively after a while.

Has he got jaundice? This could be contributing to the sleepiness. It dud with us. Bad news is that feeding is the cure, so it feels somewhat Catch 22.

My milk didn't come in til day 5, which made it all worse too. But then it was all fine straightaway. She was starving to the point where she couldn't maintain a feed I guess.

But you have done completely the right thing in going back in. I'm in very big admiration of your wisdom at such a difficult time.

@doublehelix79 yeah he's been checked by several Dr's for tongue tie but they couldn't see anything abnormal, everything of his checks out to be healthy and he examines very well which is why I'm worrying so much :-(

I've currently been moved to a quiet side room for the time being as it was available and managed an hours nap, I think because I was induced over 2-3 days on a noisy ward before this aswell it's not helped the state I'm currently in either x

Please don't feel like a failure. I can guarantee that the way you are feeling is partly down to your hormones. Day 2/3/4 can be such a rollercoaster.

If he has been admitted they will work out what he needs and look after him well. Keep pumping if you want to BF (I always felt super emotional just before my milk came in, so perhaps that's the same for you!). If you want to FF then go for it and don't feel bad.

Sending you lots of strength!

@saturdayselling I've been told he doesn't have jaundice although that sounds very much like ds, blowing on him and stripping him didn't work at all. My milk still hasn't Come in yet so I've just been hand expressing colostrum. I even tried feeding him formula with a syringe which was also very ineffective. Because I raised my concerns with the midwives shortly after he was born I haven't been able to leave the hospital, and he only got admitted at 4 this afternoon 😥

I had an emergency c section and had lots of problems with breastfeeding. Ds lost a lot of weight and he almost ended up back in hospital. He was mucousy and so sleepy he wouldn't feed.
I woke him up every 2 hours tried to breastfeed, topped him up with expressed milk(syringe/cup/bottle what ever he would take!) and then expressing. It built my supply up and it help him stop losing weight. We eventually found out he had a high palate and a nipple shield helped encourage him to suck. It took a couple of weeks but we got there. He took about 40minutes to feed for at the start but got more and more efficient.

Ds is now 7months and breastfeeding is so easy for us and he has gained weight really well.

I'm sure you're doing this...but don't be afraid to ask for help. Does your hospital have a specialist breastfeeding support midwife who could come and see you? Also, try calling la leche league they were fantastic.
It's so difficult, more difficult than I ever imagine. Good luck, look after yourself.

MummyCuddles is totally right about the La Leche League. They are amazing.

Yeah, I shouldn't have left the hospital with dd1. I hadn't established breastfeeding at all, because she just wouldn't feed for more than a few minutes at best without falling asleep. I got no real help with breastfeeding in hospital. God, it was such a nightmare. Horrendous.

It isn't your fault and it wasn't mine either. With dc3, he latched on straight away and fed like he should immediately. It was amazing, but it wasn't my doing.

And yes to asking for help. I wish I'd done that with dd1.

We've had a speech therapist examine him and from what she can work out he isn't tongue tied, however he always holds his tongue to the roof of his mouth so doesn't get much suction, he also has a very loose grip on the bottle and hos receded chin doesn't help him. His amounts being tube fed have increased to 75ml, we offer as such of the bottle before he gets tube fed. Last night he was taking 30-40ml from the bottle which is a huge improvement from 2 days ago and he seems Alot more alert and awake when feeding. However he was reluctant again to feed this morning. I've been pumping breast milk to give to him by bottle to replace the formula he's being given. I just don't know what else to try,

Sounds like progress. Hope things continue to improve.

It sounds like you're doing everything you can for your Ds and getting some good support. I hope he carries on improving. How are you? I know you are completely focused on your ds at the moment, but try and remember to take a bit of time for yourself.

Sounds like he's being well looked after. Not to quite the same degree but my DS1 was born after a long 3 day induction and he was very sleepy for the first week or so. He was a slow feeder too - would take him an hour to get through his bottle, but he would keep sucking at it even if he fell asleep.
Hope your little one keeps improving.

We've started him on demand feeding as of today which seems to work better for him, finished a 65ml feed in 45mins. He's getting an average of about 45-50mls per feed at the moment, every 3-4 hours when he wakes. Is this enough? He is only 5 days old now. His sucking is much much better compared to the other day amd he seems to have gotten the hang of it a bit, using the nuk teats. Although he is still a very slow feeder, it took him about an hour to finish 45mls on his latest feed.