papayadoc
10-14-2008, 06:16 PM
Help! I'm having several BF’ing issues, not sure if they're all related or not. Sorry for the long post, but I am not enjoying the BF’ing experience much, but would really like to continue and not end up resorting to pumping alone.
My son is 4 weeks old, was full term, delivered by c-section. He had latching issues in the hospital, and the LC ended up having me try a nipple shield at day 3, which he took to right away. I started to try to wean the shield after about a week, but ran into the same latching issues – he either wouldn’t take the breast at all without the shield, or would sit there with it in his mouth, but wouldn’t suck. I tried offering the breast (w/o shield) when he was sleepy, after flow was established, and when switching breasts, all to no avail. He takes a long time to nurse, though, (sessions often lasting 1h, sometimes1.5h), with him falling asleep on and off, and I have to try to wake him frequently. Many times he doesn’t come off on his own. Weight gain has been appropriate, as well as the number of wet and dirty diapers.
I continued to try to wean the shield, but then about 2 weeks ago he began having episodes where he would nurse constantly for hours and hours at a time, at which point just maintain sanity became the priority. Initially, I attributed this to a growth spurt, except it happens for a few days, he’ll have a “good” day (nursing every couple of hours, sometimes goes 4 hours once a day), then the next day it's back to the constant nursing. During these episodes, he’ll nurse for a few minutes, get sleepy, and stop. If I try to take him off the breast or move him, he startles awake and starts screaming and frantically rooting like he’s starving. It goes on for hours. It seems like it’s sometimes preceded by him having nursed recently, so there isn’t as much milk present, but it then becomes a very frustrating and tiring vicious cycle. One of these episodes lasted over 9 hours, from 11pm to past 8am, with me only drifting in and out of uncomfortable sleep. I often end up resorting to side-lying position, and dozing that way, but wake up in pain from a tense position on one hip.
Another issue I’ve had is that my breasts are not producing evenly – the left is larger, make 2/3 of the milk supply, and has a faster let-down. Consequently, when I try to nurse the right side, he often gets upset and frustrated, especially during those feeding frenzies. I’ve tried to pump the right sometimes, and to start him off on the right more often to increase production, but neither has seemed to help. Less importantly, I’m looking pretty lop-sided… I’ve also had problems with blocked milk ducts repeatedly, mostly on the less-producing right side.
Now, it seems like he’s sucking so hard sometimes that my nipple is trying to come through the nipple shield – it hurts, and I end up with 4 raised dots on my nipple after a feeding! I’m using the largest nipple shield (24mm), so I’m not sure if he’s just latching improperly onto the shield itself or what.
We have offered a pacifier during the feeding frenzies, but it doesn’t really work. We have given him a bottle a few times in an effort to allow Mommy a bit of sleep, which he took readily, but he often still seems hungry even after 3oz. Not sure how much he should be getting from a bottle? If pumping, I generally get out about 2.5oz total.
Any help with these issues would be greatly appreciated. How long should I be letting him stay on at a time? Should I be offering one breast per feeding or two? Are all of these problems due to the nipple shield? I’m really hoping to enjoy BF’ing more eventually if I can work things out. Thanks in advance!!
My son is 4 weeks old, was full term, delivered by c-section. He had latching issues in the hospital, and the LC ended up having me try a nipple shield at day 3, which he took to right away. I started to try to wean the shield after about a week, but ran into the same latching issues – he either wouldn’t take the breast at all without the shield, or would sit there with it in his mouth, but wouldn’t suck. I tried offering the breast (w/o shield) when he was sleepy, after flow was established, and when switching breasts, all to no avail. He takes a long time to nurse, though, (sessions often lasting 1h, sometimes1.5h), with him falling asleep on and off, and I have to try to wake him frequently. Many times he doesn’t come off on his own. Weight gain has been appropriate, as well as the number of wet and dirty diapers.
I continued to try to wean the shield, but then about 2 weeks ago he began having episodes where he would nurse constantly for hours and hours at a time, at which point just maintain sanity became the priority. Initially, I attributed this to a growth spurt, except it happens for a few days, he’ll have a “good” day (nursing every couple of hours, sometimes goes 4 hours once a day), then the next day it's back to the constant nursing. During these episodes, he’ll nurse for a few minutes, get sleepy, and stop. If I try to take him off the breast or move him, he startles awake and starts screaming and frantically rooting like he’s starving. It goes on for hours. It seems like it’s sometimes preceded by him having nursed recently, so there isn’t as much milk present, but it then becomes a very frustrating and tiring vicious cycle. One of these episodes lasted over 9 hours, from 11pm to past 8am, with me only drifting in and out of uncomfortable sleep. I often end up resorting to side-lying position, and dozing that way, but wake up in pain from a tense position on one hip.
Another issue I’ve had is that my breasts are not producing evenly – the left is larger, make 2/3 of the milk supply, and has a faster let-down. Consequently, when I try to nurse the right side, he often gets upset and frustrated, especially during those feeding frenzies. I’ve tried to pump the right sometimes, and to start him off on the right more often to increase production, but neither has seemed to help. Less importantly, I’m looking pretty lop-sided… I’ve also had problems with blocked milk ducts repeatedly, mostly on the less-producing right side.
Now, it seems like he’s sucking so hard sometimes that my nipple is trying to come through the nipple shield – it hurts, and I end up with 4 raised dots on my nipple after a feeding! I’m using the largest nipple shield (24mm), so I’m not sure if he’s just latching improperly onto the shield itself or what.
We have offered a pacifier during the feeding frenzies, but it doesn’t really work. We have given him a bottle a few times in an effort to allow Mommy a bit of sleep, which he took readily, but he often still seems hungry even after 3oz. Not sure how much he should be getting from a bottle? If pumping, I generally get out about 2.5oz total.
Any help with these issues would be greatly appreciated. How long should I be letting him stay on at a time? Should I be offering one breast per feeding or two? Are all of these problems due to the nipple shield? I’m really hoping to enjoy BF’ing more eventually if I can work things out. Thanks in advance!!