My milk hadn't come in when we were in the hospital so I pumped as much as I could. When I got home I opened the VERY expensive pump that my son's Grammy bought and started to use it. He had been bottle fed all of this time. When it was finally time for me to nurse the poor boy would have a fit and not latch on or care for it at all. Did anyone have this problem. I'm about to throw in the towel with the pumping. It's a REAL pain and I have to go back to a full time job soon. Thanks!
2008-06-06T18:38:19Z
Sorry. He is 10 days old. I was just wondering if it was just me that had the problem. I am in a struggle of whether to throw in the towel or not. Thanks all of you!
Lisa2008-06-06T04:39:44Z
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I weaned my daughter from bottle to breast, but she was only a few weeks old when I did it.
I had a lot of help and advice from a local breast feeding clinic. Basically, I was having issues with her latching only every other feeding. So, I had resorted to bottle feeding her and pumping everytime I fed her. They said if she latched once, she can do it again. Keep trying and top her up with a bottle afterward. Then a week later, I stopped topping her up and she nursed from the breast until she was about 11 months old.
Contact a local latch leauge or breast feeding clinic in your area. If you're not sure where to find on contact the labour & delivery department where you had your baby.
Don't give up just yet! Your milk doesn't come in until a few days after baby anyway, so it sounds like you were right on track. As far as refusing the breast, sounds like baby is used to the bottle and prefers that. So just keep pumping away and feed breast milk from the bottle. Once I started back to work full time my DD has taken a liking to the bottle a bit more than the breast. So I pump for her. I know pumping can be a pain, but if you can do it than it's best all around. Good luck!
Hang in there! I remember that really difficult point around 3-4 days where your hormones and emotions are all over the place, your milk has yet to kick in and it feels like you are feeding all the time with little result. Be gentle with yourself for the next few days & keep the visitors to a minimum so you have the privacy and space to feed where, when and how you feel like it. The baby DOES want to breast feed all the time, the colostrum is quite slow and in small amounts compared to when your milk comes in, and also because its comforting -you become a bit of a human dummy! One thing that worked for me is doing the occasional feed lying down, on your side, with the baby lying beside you. You can relax a bit more and stroke your baby and just take your time. (If you are worried about falling asleep on your baby prop some pillows but generally you would have your top leg bent and this would prevent you from rolling further). It is worth persevering, breastfeeding is so portable, easy and cheap. No STERILISING! I will admit the nipple soreness continued for me for about 6 weeks - mainly those first 10 seconds of a feed - those deep breathing exercises came in handy again here. I was lucky not to have cracks or other problems though. Finally, this is such an emotional issue - all of us other Mothers will have strong feelings either way. Trust your instincts, take what is useful to you and discard the rest. But definitely get some professional advice and keep asking until you find someone you are comfortable with who "gets" you. Best of luck to you and your baby!
This happens alot. Your baby just prefer sucking from the bottle cus its easier and he is already used to it. What you could do is try getting him latch on when he isn't too hungry, cus a hungry baby wants to eat and won't try anything he isn'e used too. Don't give up eventually he will take the breast just be patient, if you stop trying he many never breastfeed. I had the opposite problem, my milk didint come in hospital either but I kept on nursing. When I expressed and gave my baby a bottle for the first couple of times she refused it, but when she saw there was no option ( I had gone out) she reluctantly sucked it all. Now she doesnt mind the bottle and still does well on the breast. Good luck and checkout this website. www.breastfeedingroom.com.It is quite helpful
Why didn't you breastfeed him when you were in the hospital?
I'm afraid you were horribly advised, and now you're in a mess. Nobody's milk comes in right away - but if you plan to breastfeed, you don't give baby a bottle, you encourage them to latch on and suck - and if they can't and need something, you give them milk in a syringe, not a bottle. There is no "finally time to nurse" - you should have started nursing five minutes after he was born. A couple of hours, tops.
I would see if you can get hold of a lactation consultant to help you sort it out...but it's not going to be easy. To be honest, if I was where you are now, I'd bottlefeed. But at least you'll know for next time :(