Needing your help! Please! (Shield)

libby+nate

Hello! I'm EBF my daughter Piper and am a FTM. Be warned: LONG

A little background:
LO is 9 weeks today. She was growth restricted and dropped to 5lbs 3oz. In the hospital she could not latch. I have somewhat flat nipples but more "borderline" as one LC called them. In the hospital after seeing 4 LC's she finally latched with a shield. They let her scream 6 hours straight on day 2 and she had not latched at all prior. We were sent home with shield and I was told she was physically small and probably needed to grow. I pumped and used cup feeding and syringe feeding in addition to lots of nursing until she was two weeks and regained birthweight. (She lost 12% and they didn't want her under 5lbs) I have seen a LC sense and she said she does have a lip tie and possibly a very small posterior tie that she couldn't see. She evaluated her suck on her finger and said she was great and not to worry about that aspect. If there is one, it wasn't affecting her bad enough to have it corrected. Again, said she would grow out of it.
She has given me three total feeds without the shield so long as I kept my breast compressed and did great! She hasn't latched for two weeks now. There was no pattern to when she would do this (I try daily)
I have pumped first, used morning milk squirting some in her mouth, stopped mid feed and slipped shield off, manually tried to pull them out and tried in the evening when she is sleepy. I have tried not hungry and really hungry. Skin to skin also.
I am okay with using the shield BUT it takes her 1hr + each feed still. I feel like she is constantly nursing, which is okay except I feel like it is a lot of work for her. We are still waking every 3 hrs at night which would be fine but it takes 2 hours to feed burp and get her back to sleep and I go back to work in three weeks and that leaves me with 3-4 hrs of sleep. She also cluster feeds EVERY night from 5 - 10:30 except one hr break for bedtime routine. She was 7lbs 6oz at her one month appt and was 4th percentile but wasn't even on the chart at birth. We get weighed Thursday but she is getting some rolls and is gaining well!
I pump every morning after her feed and get 3-4 oz and the shield is always filled with milk, baby always has milk all over her face so I don't feel like there is a supply issue. She has plenty of wet/dirty. I stop her and burp her and she cries until I put her back on and then eventually unlatches and falls asleep.

Basically I want to know if it's normal for her to still be nursing 60 + minutes a feed and needing to cluster feed every night? I have CONSIDERED EP with some comfort nursing because it would take less time to pump, feed and wash supplies at this point! I just don't want to throw in the towel on nursing but I have no time to do anything during the day and she isn't taking good naps because she just wants to eat. Maybe a comfort nurser? Is this all related to the shield? She does have silent GERD but isn't a fussy baby.

Thank you if you got through all of that!!!
If this is normal, I apologize!

mammatoomc

So I am also a FTM. Supply wasn't coming in and we struggled with latching until we finally got a shield. Once supply came the goal was to wean from the shield. LO wanted no part of it. It was also taking me well over an hour to feed and still a struggle. I pumped for MOTN feedings and bottle fed them so I could take less time feeding and get more sleep. That is possibly an option for you. At this point LO is 5w3d and I am mostly EPing. I very rarely nurse now. I find it more stressful to get him on the shield and to have to take it places and fumble with it. It was to hard to accept at first but now Im in a good routine with pumping and feeding. It also will help you monitor exactly how much your LO is getting at each feeding because you'll know how much you put into the bottle. I felt my LO was drinking plenty but he was extremely fussy when I was nursing. When I started pumping more and bottle feeding he became less fussy and I think it was because he was still hungry even though I had good supply at that point and same as you with milk in the shield, hearing him swallow and plenty of diapers. GL to you! Just know that pumping doesn't mean you failed! Baby is still getting at the benefits of boobie milk!!

libby+nate

@stefdolly‌ feels good to know I'm not alone but sorry you faced the same challenges! I think I may try the pumping in motn and nurse during the day! Thanks for your help!

jmjacquemin

We sound like we have similar stories. I had an IUGR premie 4lb 5oz 34 weeker who came home after 15 NICU days under 5 lbs. I also have flat/inverted nipples. My LO didn't have a tongue tie or lip tie though. We used a nipple shild every feeding till exactly 6 months when she gave it up. She is still nursing once a day at 16 months old. Feeds were always close to an hour long till about 4 months actual. Then the duration slowly crept down. They were every 3 hours for most of that time (NICU schedule). She would cluster in the evening too. Evening cluster helps them bulk up for overnight. Things got easier nursing wise as my daughter got bigger. She wasn't on the chart at birth and has stayed in the 1st-5th percentile ever since even adjusted. As long as your LO stays on the same curve and doesn't drop off you should be fine.

libby+nate

@jmjacquemin‌ sounds so similar! Yeah they suspected IUGR on my LO be my fundal height was 5 weeks off and I had low fluid. They measured her at 6lbs10oz so they left her to cook. She was born 5lbs 14 oz at 39 weeks. Head in 50th and body not on chart. Thank goodness it didn't end differently and I'm so glad your little one was born healthy! It sounds like maybe she just needs to get bigger/stronger! I'm going to go see another LC next week to do a weighted feed so I know how much to send for work and maybe I will get more tips. I wish that evening feeding was giving me more of a pay off at night we clocked in 6 hrs and still going strong now! We stopped for a bath and book and at it again!
Eta: 16 months! Congrats mama!

@MelW629‌ painful latch is no fun! Congrats on ditching the shield! I bet that feels like a relief to not have to go hunting all the time for it!

I am feeling a lot better knowing it will get better! Nobody tells you how hard this is and I have IRL who support me but haven't ebf themselves

libby+nate

@JudyBlume14‌ thanks for the encouragement! I'm glad your LO was able to wean! I do need the reminder that the shield is not the enemy, but a tool that allowed us to nurse. She loves to be burped so that's a good idea. She will be happy and not starving! Thanks again!