Breast feeding problem!?

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.

Good luck!

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 :(

yes hon you were mis informed! the hospital should not have given your son a bottle at all, he should have been nursing since birth to get the colostrum and stimulate your production. you will need to consult a lactation consultant, http://www.llli.org/ has a search tool I believe, try to find one that IBCLC certified.... your milk can take a week to come in and you don't need to supplement, its normal for babies to lose some weight to start off. pumping is much easier if you can do it while baby is nursing (pump one breast and feed one breast at the same time) maybe you were trying to nurse him and he was not hungry? either that or the hospital was using a nipple with too fast a flow or a shape he prefers better.

good luck.

You can contact a lactation consultant to help you (see below) Your milk should come in, but I am not sure how long you have been trying. Breastfeeding is great for your baby but it just does not work for some women so it is up to you. I would talk to a consultant first and see what happens. Good luck and remember, the important thing is that your baby eats, either from the breast or bottle! Congratulations!

You are not mentionning how old is your baby....

But I can tell you that my milk came in 2-3 days after I left the hospital, that would mean that the baby was already 5-6 days old. It takes time for the milk to come in. (first it's just colustrum!)

If you alternate with a bottle, he may prefer the bottle over the nipple. If you still willing to bottle feed him... try to buy a bottle's nipple that most ressemble yours. They have quite a good varieties of them, from the material they are made, to the shape they have... It may be harder for him to make a difference between the two.

Good luck!

http://normalfed.com/Help/babyget.html

Emily just didn't get it. She would root, but she didn't seem to understand latching on. Like almost all non-nursing babies, she could suck just fine on a finger. Her mother worked on positioning, and began using a rental pump to make sure her milk supply would build whether or not Emily began nursing soon. She bottle-fed Emily, using formula to supplement her still-low supply. Over the next few weeks, she tried different positions, a nipple shield, a feeding tube, and finally just stopped trying for a week. "Look, Emily," father said to daughter, "The whole world sucks. There's no reason you can't." A little more time with the nipple shield, and Emily started nursing. It took her a bit longer to become fully competent, so her mother continued to pump and offer an evening bottle. By 6 weeks, the formula and the breast pump were gone.

Daniel just didn't get it. He would try and try to latch on, then give up in frustration. After just one visit from a lactation consultant, Daniel and his mom "got it together". It was a simple matter of positioning.

Timothy just didn't get it. His mother had "easy" nipples and plenty of milk, but Timothy couldn't stay latched on at first. Even though she could sometimes pump 10 oz at a sitting, once Timothy learned to latch he could suck and suck, and not swallow a drop! Over the first month, Timothy's nursing skills kept improving, and he began swallowing sometimes. By 7 weeks, Timothy was pretty competent most of the time. His mother pumped for an evening bottle for a few weeks, but then Timothy started refusing it. The boy who started out not knowing how to nurse ended up not liking bottles!

Laura just didn't get it. Her mother finally was able to get her to latch on by using a nipple shield. At first, she gave additional pumped milk in a bottle. But Laura's mom was soon able to maintain a full supply without pumping, even though Laura nursed with the shield. After 6 weeks of using the nipple shield and occasionally being offered the breast alone, Laura was able to nurse without the shield. (Caution: for some mothers, regular use of a nipple shield without pumping results in a lower and lower supply. Use a nipple shield only with guidance from a breastfeeding specialist.)

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You're asking us if you should give up or keep trying???

Of course the baby prefers the bottle, it is what he is used to... and drinking from a bottle is easier. If you're getting ready to go back to work then he was going to be drinking from a bottle anyways. I don't see this as a sign of failure, I see his bottle drinking early as a gift... you won't have a battle to overcome when you go to work.

If you want to give your baby breast milk, then pump. If you'd rather give up and pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars for formula, that is your choice.

I would encourage you to keep trying. Nobody ever said the best choices in life are easy. You and your baby are rewarded by your hardwork of pumping. Its free, and its the very best health choice for both of you. Good luck!