How to transition?

tetiananina · November 2012

I know Jackson is only 6 days old and I've had milk for 2 days but what was the best way to transition from bottle to breast? I still pump now so I can get my milk flow up. Plus it helps if I nap since I wake up all night to feed him. DH helps me in the am. In the hospital Jackson latched on like a pro. Got his colostrum and when it was gone we had to give him formula. He's loving breast milk from the bottle but when I put him to latch he just plays with it. He sucks for a little then gives up. I don't mind pumping but I would love to do both. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

melly918 · November 2012

Have you tried a nipple shield? We had to use it for the first few weeks until BFing was consistent then I started weaning DS off the shield by wearing it first then interrupting his feed to peel it off and have him latch right onto the nipple. It took a few tries and then it all worked out well.

VeilSdeGTO · November 2012

I think you just have to keep offering the boob. I read somewhere that bottles are easier to get milk from so they might prefer it to the boob. However, if you offer the boob first consistently, eventually he'll get the picture. Good luck!

tetiananina · November 2012

I did the boob only at first but I had nothing for 5 days and him being preemie with low blood sugar I had to supplement. Yeah they don't have to suck as hard from a bottle. Guess ill be patient and hope it works. I will look into the shield. He can latch on he just choose to play with my nipples. He's 6 days old and I've had milk for 2 days guess I can't get too upset.

hopingwaiting · November 2012

Maybe try a nursein with lots of skintoskin, holding, offer very frequently while you're awake. If he's used to instant gratification of the bottle, you can pump until letdown then offer boob and do compressions to help flow. He may be more amenable to boob when he's sleepy/relaxed instead of really hungry. Do you have a LC you can consult to make sure his latch is good and for general advice?

tetiananina · November 2012

theresat858:
tetiananina:
I did the boob only at first but I had nothing for 5 days and him being preemie with low blood sugar I had to supplement. Yeah they don't have to suck as hard from a bottle. Guess ill be patient and hope it works. I will look into the shield. He can latch on he just choose to play with my nipples. He's 6 days old and I've had milk for 2 days guess I can't get too upset.
You can slow down the bottles, too, to make it more like eating from the breast. On day 4 we switched to Tommee Tippee bottles and started taking at least 20 min to give a bottle (2oz at that age).  You can tilt the bottle downwards so they have to work harder for it - it actually isn't harmful to suck a little air. 
Offer the breast first for every feeding. Pump any time you supplement to keep your supply up.  
I would also contact a lactation consultant and get an in-home consult...they are the best for making sure babies latch is good and giving you a good plan to get baby back (or mostly back) on the breast - we did from weeks 2-3.

Thank You. I will try this. I definitely have been tilting it so it's easier on him. I will look into a lactation consultant as well. I want him to nurse more than anything.

luvmyducks · November 2012

We had to do the same thing with DD bc my milk didn't come in until 5 days PP. We just put the bottles away and kept offering the breast. They eat if they are hungry enough no matter the sourceusually. GL!

Scooby2358 · November 2012

hopingwaiting:
Maybe try a nursein with lots of skintoskin, holding, offer very frequently while you're awake. If he's used to instant gratification of the bottle, you can pump until letdown then offer boob and do compressions to help flow. He may be more amenable to boob when he's sleepy/relaxed instead of really hungry. Do you have a LC you can consult to make sure his latch is good and for general advice?

This really helped us with DD. I would try to nurse her first (we started by going no longer than 5 min because she was burning too many calories nursing, but that would depend on how fast your little guy is gaining), and I would pump beforehand just until letdown so she got milk right away. We did use a nipple shield for quite a while, and another way to go about it is to use a syringe or dropper to squirt a little milk inside the nipple shield - again, give your LO the idea that there's good stuff in there. The problem with that approach is you need at least four arms to do it!

If you can slow down the bottle flow and speed up the BFing flow as much as possible by pumping and compressions, maybe you can sort of meet in the middle so he can transition over to BFing.

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