My son is 9 days old and wont latch anymore. He was very jaundice and his ped wanted me to pump and bottle feed to make sure he was getting at least 3 oz each feed. Now I want to put him back on the breast as pumping is way too inconvenient but I refuse to switch to formula. My question is, how can I get him to latch back on? I try and try and just get frustrated. I skin to skin all the time with him. Let him sleep by my breast and skin to skin against my breast while he's awake. I'm at my wits end! I just want to breast feed my boy and get rid of this stupid pump!
Try putting him as close to the nipple as possible (almost latched!) and use a bottle to drip a few drops of breast milk into the side of his mouth. Hopefully he might start to swallow and suckle! Good luck!
The vicious cycle of bottles. I really don't think doctors get much if any lactation training. They create lazy latches getting moms to use bottles early on. Keep doing what you are doing. I was in the same boat in the beginning. I was strong armed into giving a bottle of formula at the hospital because LO went 24hr without peeing. It screwed me up for the 1st week. He still prefers the faster flow of a bottle but I basically refused to let him refuse the boob. Try hand expressing a little milk to get a couple drops on your nipple or do what PP said. It could get him to suck. I also squeezed myself to get the milk out faster while he was nursing then eventually was able to stop. Good luck.
Try feeding him an ounce or two in the bottle, pump a couple minutes to get your milk flowing and then put him to breast. If he has a little in his stomach from a bottle then he won't feel frantic to eat and may latch easier. You can slowly give less in the bottle and hopefully be done with them soon. Also use a slow flow nipple, if you aren't already, so he has to work with the bottle too. Good luck!
Any luck for anyone with a nipple shield? LC recommended one and I bought one last night. I'm nervous to use though. I've heard it hurts really bad and I just got these nipples healed!!
Re: nipple confusion