HELP - trouble latching 5 day old son

slukmdem2

I had my son 5 days ago via c-section. He had latching issues throughout my hospital stay but the nurses and LCs said I was doing everything correctly and that it would take time. After trying and trying I was only able to get him to latch a handful of times so I had to supplement with formula because he was losing too much weight. I then started pumping in the hospital and realized that I have a big supply so I've been doing that and giving him my milk in a Breastflow bottle which he takes. 

Basically he will take formula and my milk from a bottle but actually refuses to take it from my nipple. He screams, turns bright red and pushes it away and then gets upset and falls asleep. I've tried skin to skin, different positions, nipple shield, squeezing milk around his lips first, pumping first to start the milk flow and then giving my breast but nothing has got him to latch on consistently and I really don't want to give up on nursing.

I heard that the medications I was given for my c-section and not being able to nurse as soon as he was born might be contributing to the latching issues.  

Has this happened to anyone else? Any advice? 

loramag48

Try reading up on nipple confusion. Sounds like that's whats going on.

MrsOjoButtons

I had something similar happening with one of my babies. He was initially pulling his tongue to the back of his mouth, rather than thrusting forward. Once we got that straightened out, it turned out he couldn't keep up with my letdown. He refused to latch when we got home from the hospital, so I had to pump for him after nursing the other baby. We eventually found a strange position that worked for him and although a LC would say his latch isn't right, it works for him and it doesn't cause me any discomfort. He makes clicking noises with his tongue, basically to keep the milk out of his mouth while he tries to keep up.

Definitely find a lactation consultant sooner rather than later. Sometimes just having an optimistic person on your side is all it takes. Hang in there!

ETA: My baby with the latch issues was born vaginally without any meds. My other twin was delivered via csection and latched like a champ as soon as I met him, so mine actually happened opposite of how I would have expected.