Help me troubleshoot the problem?

brandyleighxx

Logan was born via unplanned c-section 10 days ago.

The hospital had DH give him a bottle first night because I was so weak, pale, and out of it. We began trying to BF the next day and it was uncomfortable. A nipple shield was introduced and that definitely helped.

When we came home, I continued trying to BF both with and without shield and it was becoming increasingly more uncomfortable.I started pumping and giving him the breastmilk in a bottle. We were worried he wasn't getting enough and after he had a dark orange urine (possibly indicating dehydration) we started supplementing formula.

Breastmilk and formula was given via a finger tube for 2 days until we could meet with the lactation consultant because I didn't want to introduce any bad habits by giving a bottle.

A home visit with a lactation consultant 2 days after discharge showed that I have "great equipment" to work with and he has a nice latch but that he may have a tight frenulum (tongue-tie) which means his tongue isn't moving far forward enough to stroke the nipple properly and bring milk out.

After the home visit, I decided it was too much to continue feeding with a finger tube, so a bottle was introduced.

Ideally, a mother with a non nursing baby should be pumping 8-10 times a day. I cannot pump every 2 to 3 hours. It's just physically and emotionally draining and I can't dedicate myself to it. I want to enjoy my newborn, my first child. I don't want to spend my 6 weeks at home with him dreading pumping for him. That being said, I'm pumping about 5 or 6 times a day. As of now, I'm getting about 2-2.5 ounces per pumping session, sometimes more. 

The problem with this is that, I can't keep up with him. And because I still desperately want to BF, I let him nurse once in a 24 hour period. So he gets mostly pumped breastmilk, nurses once a day, & getting formula 1-2 times a day as last resort. 

At his 1 week check up 2 days ago, he was doing fantastic. He was 2 ounces away from his birth weight (8 days after birth!) so I know he's getting enough now. His pediatrician agreed he might benefit from having his frenulum snipped but had to refer us to an ears,nose, & throat specialist. His appointment with ENT was yesterday and he disagreed that DS needed to have it snipped. He used an instrument to pull the tongue up and with good lighting, I could see there actually was nothing to clip. Also, he was pulling his tongue past the gumline very nicely during the exam. 

After the appointment, I met with the lactation consultant and we attempted a BFing session. It went great. He latched on perfect, no shield, and it was slightly uncomfortable at first then ok!

Fast forward about 3 hours yesterday afternoon, at home, and I bring him to breast. Ouch! I tried both sides and it's like he'd completely forgotten how to latch. I considered maybe my breasts were too engorged so I pumped and gave it to him in a bottle. 

I tried again overnight last night and still, it was like he had no clue what he was doing. I again thought, maybe too engorged, so I pumped for about 5 minutes then brought him back to breast. This helped but it was completely painful. I kept re-latching and nothing was working. It was a toe-curling pain, too. 

Again, this morning, I attempted to bring him to breast. Latch was a little better but excruciating. 

Anyone see any problems here? Anything I'm overlooking, not doing correctly? 

jlsimon56

Whoever said it doesn't hurt is lying.  It does hurt....at first.  Both you and he are learning.  Give it time.  Make sure his latch is good - if it's not, unlatch him and start over.  He may get annoyed with that but you MUST do it.  He needs to learn the right way to latch so he can be the most effective at removing the milk from your breasts.

Try BFing at night and first thing in the AM, at least.  That is when baby is most willing.  Try to nurse before he shows hunger cues, so he doesn't get mad when he's not getting food in his belly asap.  Try nursing using skin-to-skin, which will help both of you. 

I think you're doing great!  FWIW, the hospital didn't need to give that bottle the first night.

brandyleighxx

jlsimon56:

Whoever said it doesn't hurt is lying.  It does hurt....at first.  Both you and he are learning.  Give it time.  Make sure his latch is good - if it's not, unlatch him and start over.  He may get annoyed with that but you MUST do it.  He needs to learn the right way to latch so he can be the most effective at removing the milk from your breasts.

Try BFing at night and first thing in the AM, at least.  That is when baby is most willing.  Try to nurse before he shows hunger cues, so he doesn't get mad when he's not getting food in his belly asap.  Try nursing using skin-to-skin, which will help both of you. 

I think you're doing great!  FWIW, the hospital didn't need to give that bottle the first night.

I agree that if someone says it doesn't hurt, it's a lie. Lactation consultants keep insisting it shouldn't.