Won't stay latched on

Mr&MrsMTA · July 2014

So my LO is only 5 days old we are having issues. We have a good latch once she stops fidgeting around and she was staying latched for a good 10-20min. But now i canter her to stay one for more then 5 min and then she starts screaming and is still hungry. What do I do? Am I k Not producing enough and she is getting frustrated I hate leaving her hungry but she refuses to re attach.......help any suggestions very close to Just throwing in the towel.

flcl · July 2014

I know it's tough but try to relax as much as possible when you're feeding LO. DS and I had a rocky start too and the more tense I got, the tougher the feeding was. Can you get in touch with a LC? Mine was so helpful...she really helped us get things off the ground. Do you know if your milk's in yet? Does LO take a bottle? If so, you can try giving a little of the bottle first and then offering her the breast, or you can alternate b/w the two. If not, you can try nursing her when she's a little sleepy, sometimes that helps. If she's upset, take a break and try again a bit later. There are lots of strategies to build up your supply (lots of water, pump, nurse often, eat well, etc). Kellymom.com is another great resource. A lot of the ladies here have said "never quit on a bad day" and that's helped me stick with it. Hang in there, BF is hard work. GL!

Mr&MrsMTA · July 2014

Thank you this was very encouraging...I am going to just keep trying.

chrinikki1 · July 2014

I've had this problem a couple times... Both following our intro to pacifiers. After an hour of fighting LO to stay latched, I threw all pacifiers out. Not one of my finest moments but those little things caused the 2 worst days I've had in our 3 weeks together.

dozierma · July 2014

I had the same problem with my DD who is now 4 months old & EBF. Every baby is different but it sounds to me like there's not enough milk supply or she's already drained that breast (& some babies can drain a breast in 5 min. if there is not a huge amount of milk or they are really hungry). Or it could just be that your letdown reflex is not fast if your milk has come in. How much are you able to pump from a breast...& how fast does it start flowing after you start pumping? That was my issue...my letdown took almost 45-60 sec. & she would just get impatient. For a few days I had to pump for about 20-30 sec. before BF her she wouldn't have to suck so long before letdown. Good luck...you're doing great!!!!! :-)

dozierma · July 2014

Also there is NOTHING wrong with giving her a little formula or pumped milk from a bottle...like I say, every baby is different but for most babies I think "nipple confusion" is a bunch of BS. I gave my DD a bottle of formula @ night before my milk came in (starting in the hospital right after she was born) & introduced her to a paci after she was born & she has never had a problem with "NC".

Dzejmij912 · July 2014

I would see a lactation consultant ASAP before introducing a bottle at that age or formula (sorry, jmo). I intro'd a bottle at 2 weeks which was really early and never used a pacifier. If you supplement you may end up hurting supply. At that age just keep them to the breast as much as possible all the time to stimulate milk production. This is so important! I saw an LC in the hospital and even went back at 5 days (painful latch!!) but it didn't get better until I paid out of pocket and had an LC (finally, and I was mad I waited so long) to come to my house and spend time with me and LO. I also tried to read as much as possible, even looked up tons of diagrams to figure out his latching issue. This will get easier!! Good luck!!

brooklynesque · July 2014

This was happening to me a few days ago and my lactation consultant had me drip a ml or two of breastmilk or formula into her little mouth with a syringe before attempting again to relatch her if she was being fussy. It took just enough of the edge off to calm her down. You can also dribble a bit with the syringe into the corner of LO's mouth as she is feeding if you need to supplement just a bit. My LO weighed 9 lbs at birth and was clearly frustrated that my milk wasn't coming in fast enough -- even though it came in like clockwork 72 hours after birth.