Still not breastfeeding

[AmaraGill]

Hi, I am the mother of now a 6 wk old baby girl. she was born at term and I tried breastfeeding within few mins of birth, her birth weight was 7lbs 14oz. My milk supply came in late and my baby developed jaundice and I had to introduce formula to her per the doctors recommendations. I continued to try breastfeeding since then but with no luck, she latches on perfectly but after maybe 10-20sec she pulls back and starts crying. I try this everyday with her upto 3-5 times but with no luck and finally always have to give in and give her the bottle. I really want to breastfeed her but this is not working for me. Please help, is it too late for me, should I give up and be content with pumping and feeding her? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated. thanks

[madelsmama]

Sounds like she is preferring the fast flow of the bottle and not willing to work for the milk in the breast. This is common when the bottle is introduced early, but correctable with some effort on both of your parts.

The bottles probably need to stop. If she will not take the breast, there are other ways to give her milk:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/alternative-feeding.html

Try expressing milk before you put baby to breast to get your milk to let down first. That way she will get an immediate reward for nursing. If she nurses but then starts fussing again you can do some breast compression (http://www.kellymom.com/newman/15breast_compression.html) to help speed up the milk flow again.

Also try lots of skin to skin contact, nurse her when drowsy/sleepy, wear her in a sling or carrier as much as you can ... all these things help bring a baby back to the breast.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby/back-to-breast.html

[sweetkisses]

I do not feel it is too late at all. Madelsmama gave you some really good advice.

Have you tired any of the techniques yet?

[Nipple_nectar]

I agree, it sounds like a classic case of nipple confusion www.breastfeeding.com/all_about/all_about_confusion.html

Stop using artificial nipples and using something BFing friendly like a finger feeder or a SNS will help you immediately!

[Shaunsmom]

I agree, it sounds like a classic case of nipple confusion www.breastfeeding.com/all_about/all_about_confusion.html

Stop using artificial nipples and using something BFing friendly like a finger feeder or a SNS will help you immediately!

Is it really nipple confusion or is it nipple preference? That part confused me a little.

ETA- ah ha, I read the linky above. It makes sense now:) Babies are soo smart though and confusion sounds like the wrong word to me, maybe. They (bf babies) are not confused. They know what they want even at a very young age, lol.

[ima062002]

Yep, wrong term. Widely used. But you are right, it's bottle preference and also at that young age it's what you get used to. Babies are dealing with a LOT of new stuff and learning to feed two different ways can be way too much for them.

I agree with PP on the measures. In your case a supplemental nursing system might work well to transition your baby. It's basically a bottle you wear around your neck with bm or formula in it that gets "connected" to your nipple via a small tube. You get to control the flow (you can conk it off).

It that is not something you see yourself do, then bottle feed more like breastfeeding works. See here: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/bottle-feeding.html

[ply]

Hi, I just wanted to chime in with some moral support. I went through the same thing with my daughter when she was born last February: term birth, but late milk that led to some jaundice and the need to give DD formula in the beginning. Thanks in large part to the great advice the women on this forum gave me, we made it through. !

Have you tried compressions? My daughter would latch, but get frustrated. When I did compressions (as suggested on the kellymom site), it got the milk flowing enough that DD was motivated to keep trying to nurse.

Hang in there!

priscilla

[bestsurprise]

My 1st two kiddo's couldn't nurse because they were tounge tied, and the bottle was easier to latch on to. My 3rd baby (currently nursing) had jaundice also, and the doctor
told me to keep nursing. I think some doctors have different opinions.