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floppy nipples/breasts, baby won't latch, Long

BlondeBeachBride08BlondeBeachBride08
in Breastfeeding

Let me preface this by saying that since last Friday we've been sucessfully latching without a nipple shield.

My baby was in the NICU so I was exclusively pumping for the first 5 days and my milk supply came in really well. My breasts were huge and felt very full. I have stopped pumping now that she is on the breast and I've noticed that they don't feel as full.

The problem is, before then they were feeling full, my nipples were a bit more stiff or engaged and she latched with on. Now my boobs seems like deflated water balloons and when I do the 'sandwich' grip on the areola to guide it into her mouth, it's super floppy and hard for me to hold on to.

Today has been kind of a disaster with this. I busted out the nipple shield again and had some success with that on each breast but only for a few minutes. I ended up just feeding her a pumped bottle because she was becoming hysterical and I knew she was very hungry.

Has anyone else dealt with this? I know the milk is there even though they don't feel full. I pumped after giving her the bottle and got 5 ounces between the two breasts.

I've called my lactation consultant 3 times today with no call back so this is kind of a last resort. 

Siggy Deleted Due to Internet Stalking. Mama to Q, born July 2010
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Re: floppy nipples/breasts, baby won't latch, Long

  • orienaeorienae
    What I do is kind of milk myself if you will.  Once I get her latched on I squeeze my boob in a downward fashion, kind of as if you were milking a cow.  It really makes the milk come down much faster with a stronger flow.  Good luck.
    Lilypie Premature Baby tickers Trying to Conceive Ticker
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  • leah1615leah1615
    The best thing you can do right now is ditch the pump and bottle for a few weeks.  Using bottles in the beginning can truly sabotage everything (because the milk comes out of the bottle faster then it does your boob).  After a few weeks of BFing my boobs also seemed "deflated" even though I had no issues with supply whatsoever.  That is normal.  You are probably just experiencing this sooner.  Any time I was having trouble in the beginning I thought to myself "what would I have done if I was living in the 1800s?" and the answer is usually to just let nature take it's course and let baby do his thing.  Not to use a fancy pump or supplement or whatever.   
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  • cindyhowcindyhow

    The best thing for your supply is to nurse and nurse, every time she wants to nurse, even if she's fussy.  Babies at that age are fussy, so just hold her tummy to your tummy, skin to skin and do the best you can to get her latched, try different holds. Also doing breast compressions while nursing will help get the milk flowing down faster to her. Hang in there!

     

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