5 days in and having issues

gradbeth · May 2013

Having breast feeding issues already. My LO is 5 days old. Any advice would be appreciated! She latched on great in the hospital and at home when I was producing colostrum, but when my milk came in she stopped latching! I thought it was because my breast were too hard, so I expressed using a manual pump for about 2 minutes just to soften them up, and that worked for about 2 feedings, but now she won't latch at all! I have broken down twice and given her formula (which probably didn't help with the latch, but Baby has to eat!) Now I just used the electric pump to get some for her to eat and barely managed an ounce! I am at my wits end, any tips??

KMLilly143 · May 2013

Have you tried a nipple shield? It's def worth it in my book. Be careful with the pump. It messed me up with #1 and my boobs just got harder and more engorged. This time around I would ice them between feedings and use warm compress right before feedings and message them to help soften them.

pitterpatter129 · May 2013

You need to call your hospital and speak to the LC/make an appt with the LC to get some help. In the meantime, keep trying! Breastfeeding has a big learning curve for both mama and baby! Don't decide to use a nipple shield without consulting your LC first, as they can decrease supply and are difficult to wean off of, especially if you didn't need it in the first place. (I used one with DS1.)

bigmamaisback · May 2013

Go ahead and call the labor and delivery floor where you delivered her and ask if they have a lactation consultant on staff. If not, ask for the names of local ones and look them up. You don't want to put this off at all.

To make enough milk for baby you are going to need to breastfeed all the time, (it's a lot at this age) or use a hospital grade electric pump to pump every 2 hours during the day and every 3 hours overnight.

Most health insurances cover the cost of these. The LC will work with you to get baby latched back on.

Once you get this worked out, you will see an increase in production over the next several days. Herbs can help boost your supply as well. If you end up pumping the majority of the time, you might want to keep herbs on hand as well. Try the lactation tea from https://www.breastfeedingherbs.com and use daily till you don't need the extra milk anymore.

MississippiCatfish · May 2013

pitterpatter129:
You need to call your hospital and speak to the LC/make an appt with the LC to get some help.nbsp; In the meantime, keep trying!nbsp; Breastfeeding has a big learning curve for both mama and baby!nbsp; Don't decide to use a nipple shield without consulting your LC first, as they can decrease supply and are difficult to wean off of, especially if you didn't need it in the first place.nbsp; I used one with DS1. nbsp;nbsp;

This.

Danni7535 · May 2013

First, I want to say that the first response you got was probably by a mobile user, which eliminates hyphens. She meant 1 to 1 and a half ounces, not 11 ounces. I agree that you need to put the bottles down for several reasons. If you feed her too much from a bottle, you're going to stretch her stomach, and she'll never be satisfied with how much BM your body is making. Next, drinking from a bottle is easier than nursing, so she might begin to prefer bottles over nursing. Finally, anytime you feed a bottle, you need to empty your breasts with a pump, or your supply will decrease. So, I would call a lactation consultant ASAP. Then, I would do skin to skin with the baby. You want to remind them how nice and comforting breastfeeding is for them. I would sit on the couch with lo. Make the room dark and quiet. Be calm and try nursing with skin to skin. Also, mmake sure you're offering the breast every 90 minutes and watch for early hunger cues. Crying is the last hunger cue. It's much easier to get a tired baby to latch than a crying baby. Good luck and don't give up! The first month is hard, but it gets so easy and rewarding.

APendola · May 2013

I had similar issues. When she was about 5 days old, she refused to latch and cried and cried when I tried to get her to. I ended up pumping and giving her bottles, which made the issue worse. So be careful about the bottles. Giving a bottle too early can make them refuse the breast because the bottle flows faster.

Sometimes babies need to be calmed a little before they will eat. Try to follow the feeding cues so that you feed her before she gets to upset. If she is really upset, try rocking her and cuddling her before you feed her. Spend lots of skin to skin time.

Get your husband or others to help with meals, diaper changes etc so that you can relax as much as possible.

If you do supplement with a bottle, you need to pump every time she has a bottle to keep your supply up. 10-15 minutes each side.

Talking to an LC or breastfeeding support group can be a big help.

Good luck hun. I had a hard time in the early weeks but I am so glad I stuck with it.

jkuhmann · May 2013

I highly recommend making an appointment with an LC ASAP. We were also having issues after my milk came in and the LC helped us so much. We haven't had problems since that I couldn't solve myself.

I agree, keep trying to feed and try to not pump until you are more established; it can really mess up your supply and make things worse.

This also really helped when I was engorged and baby was having trouble latching: https://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/rev_pressure_soft_cotterman/

Good luck!

5 days in and having issues

Re: 5 days in and having issues

Choose Another Board

Search Boards