looking for thomcat/teecee question about breastfeeding baby with down syndrome

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hiya, i'm 32 weeks pregnant and have been given a high risk of my baby having DS. posted a question about feelings after the birth and breastfeeding should my baby have DS yesterday, and was told by several people to search for you! Did you know your little girl would have DS before she was born or was it a surprise? were you given a "high risk" during pregnancy? I have 3 other children who i breastfed, i have heard that it is hard to breastfeed a baby which has DS, is this true and if so is it still possible? Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks!!!!

hiya I have a 5yo with down syndrome and we did know before she was born that she would have down syndrome. Unfortunately dd1 was fed with an ng tube for the first eight weeks of her life.

I can't remember if TC breastfed - I am pretty sure she did. I also know a number of mothers who have successfully breastfed their babies with down syndrome.

One thing they found useful was to use the breastshields/nipple guards - can't remember if that is the correct term for them.

If you contact the Down Syndrome Association UK - they will be able to send you some information to help and may be able to put you in contact with people who can help.

When I had dd1 ( her pic is on my profile) a friend in Australia sent me a booklet from this organisation:

aussie organisation they do a booklet which you can buy online that has information to assist with breastfeeding a little one who has down syndrome.

I think from memory someone said the La Leche League may be able to help.

So in short - it is possible - it may take a little longer and may be different to how you fed your other children BUT it is achievable.

hope that helps a little.

down syndrome association UK

here

we had a thread about this not long ago here

My daughter has DS and i breastfed her til she was 21mths old when she self weaned

The first few weeks were really hard, as she was quite weak and found it hard to feed so i expressed (a lot!) and gave her expressed milk in between feeds, to try to get her strength up.

She didnt gain any weight until a month old (after losing 15% of weight after birth)

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