Breastfeeding Help!!!!! Need Help A.S.A.P!!!

My daughter, too latched on perfectly at the hospital and came home and forgot. I started back with the basics. Using sugar water on my nipple and finally ending up on the breast guard/shield. I weaned her off a couple of months later but the important thing is that she is getting all the breast milk she can- so however you can get it into her is great!

I had the same problem with my son shortly after he came home from the hospital. What worked for me was the Avent Nipple Protector (here's a link to a picture and description http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=258569.... I ended up using for several months before I could wean him off of it, but it was worth it to let him breastfeed longer. If you do get these, I would suggest getting several so that you don't have to wash one every time you feed. I didn't realize how long I would end up using it so I only bought one at first. Hope this helps!

I hate to pop your bubble but it may be time to wein her off. Something about breastfeeding she isnt liking, yet she is hungry. You're better off bottlefeeding her and making sure she is getting what she needs!!

First off, Kudos for you for breastfeeding :D
Secondly, please ignore Susan's advice...
Thirdly, the problem with bottlefeeding is that babies can get the milk out so much easier than with breastfeeding that they will actually prefer it. You might not have had a decrease in breastmilk... your baby may have just been going through a growth spurt.
Anyways, I think what is happening is that she's fustrated that your milk isn't coming out as fast as a bottle will. I've been there, done that. Basically, what you will have to do if you want to continue breastfeeding is just what another poster said, give her no more bottles. I did that with my firstborn and believe me, it was hell for about a day and night but then, she went back to nursing and we nursed for years... LOL
Please remember, nurse on demand... that is, whenever your baby wants to... and you'll always have enough milk.
I'm a pro at this... I've been doing it for 8 yrs now :D

Good luck and best wishes!
Feel free to email me personally if you have any questions/concerns/etc!
A.

it sounds like you may have introduced a bottle too early. keep with the breast even if it's hard, tickle her bottom lip with your nipple and repeat every time you have trouble. i'd also call the hospital where you gave birth and ask for an appointment with the lactation specialist there. you can go in for a feeding time with your baby and they can offer pointers and show you techniques in person, making the guiding much easier than any written advice anyone could give here. whatever you do, do not give her a bottle again. your milk production will only increase as she nurses more. and if she's not getting supplementation from the bottle she will have more reason to try to latch properly. she's probably frustrated with the speed of your breasts' milk delivery (after having fast flowing bottles). i hope you get to you lac nurse and keep trying. breast really is best! good luck!

One thing I did was as soon as my kids latched on I would pull their lips back. Let me try and explain what I mean. Right under their noses, just pull their lips so they are out. You dont want their lips tucked in when they suck. They should be out like they have really big lips or something. Does that make since? Probably not. Sorry! Also, try expressing some milk with your hand first and put it around your nipple so she can taste it right away. Just dont give up. She may have gotten a little spoiled because the bottle is so much easier than the breast. Maybe offer the breast more often, see if that helps.

I too am having the same problem with my 3 month old. But, I unfortunaly dont have a breast pump to give him the breast milk in a bottle. My only suggestion to you is if you have a pump continue to do so and give your child that in a bottle. I know that it is not the same closeness but a least it is comeing from you and not a can. Good luck

Hi R.,

Have you checked to see if the hospital where you gave birth has a lactation specialist? They may be able to give you some very effective suggestions that have worked for other moms they have helped. My little one could not latch on properly for the first two days.... then we realized he was 'tounge tied' (Literally). Once they nipped the bottom of his tounge from the back of his gums, he was able to move his tongue and nursed well. Hopefully the lactation specialist can help.

I also wanted to ask if you had thought about working from home now around your schedule with your little ones. I know you are taking a course to be able to later, but it is possible to do now...with out financal risk (which was important for us, because we didn't have lots of money to begin with). I can direct you to some information if you think you want to learn more about it.

Again, I hope you can get the nursing situation back under control and if I can help you in any way to be able to create income from home NOW, please let me know!

Have a Blessed Day R.!

M. L.
www.WorkAtHomeUnited.com/mlarkey

Dear R.,
I also had some latching problems and I constantly called the lactation nurses at the hospital where my baby was born. I never took them up on thier offer to come to the hospital for help, but you could try that if you're desperate. If not anything else they will give you emotional support. Keep up the good work and don't give up!

C.

Sorry to hear that you are having trouble getting your daughter to latch. My daughter was 5 weeks premature and she couldn't stay latched on for anything and I was so determined to breastfeed that we had to start using a nipple guard. They are a very thin silicone guard that is the shape of a nipple. My daughter latched on perfectly with it and I still use it today she is 7 months old and still breastfeeding. You can find them at either Babies R Us or at Target. I know it is a bit of a pain to keep up with but for us it works wonderful and my daughter is able to eat. Hope that this helps. Take Care!!!!

Hi, R. -

We sound similar! My children are 5 (boy, August 2001), 3 (girl, December 2003), 24 months (boy, February 2005), and 6 months (boy, August 2006). Interested in a playdate? (Seriously!) I've been through all sorts of ups and downs in nursing my children, and I've definitely dealt with babies who suddenly didn't want to nurse anymore. Once they get used to the faster flow of a bottle, they get frustrated with the slower flow of the breast and they protest. I can only recommend that you try to eliminate all bottles if at all possible, and force your daughter to exclusively nurse until she gets used to it again. I planned to nurse my daughter for at least a year, but when she started taking bottles around 2 months old, she started refusing the breast and throwing a fit until I gave her a bottle. I gave up eventually and now I regret not trying harder to get her back to nursing. It will be hard but your daughter will eat if she is hungry, so I would really consider doing a big push for nursing and not giving bottles for a while.

-R.

PS I'm serious about the playdate!

My daughter had problems latching on from Day 1. I told the nurses at the hospital that I wanted to breastfeed and I did NOT want her having any bottles. I was lactating at 7 months pregnant, so my flow was not a problem, it was my daughter's latch. They brought in a bottle of formula and put it in a syringe and I was told to hold the syringe on top of my nipple and squeeze out a little formula at a time so Kaley would realize that's where the food came from. She was too smart for that so she took her mouth of the nipple and started licking the syringe. About 5 weeks old I went to a lactation consultant and she showed my that the entire nipple has to be in the babies mouth. Pull their lips out so that their entire mouth is covering the areola. Kaley was doing a lot better since that meeting, but I was still having problems. Finally, she introduced me to the "Nipple Protectors." Although, it's mainly used for use when your nipples are sore or cracked, it really helped Kaley latch on because it's shaped almost like a nipple to a bottle so since I had been giving her breastmilk out of a bottle, it was easy for her to latch on to the "nipple protector." Once the flow was good and she was eating very well, I'd pull her off (she didn't like that) and i'd take the protector off and put her back on. After about 2 months, she was a PRO. Also, I knew that giving bottles was a lot easier as far as the flow, so if you only offer them preemie bottles, they won't be attracted to the bottle more because of the flow. On a preemie bottle, the release is very very slow so they'd actually drink faster from the breast. I hope this helps.