https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 13 Apr 2026 18:00:57 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-have-experiences-bringing-baby-back-to-breast#post-1901449 Wed, 15 Oct 2014 08:10:16 +0000 stargal 1901449@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yes! D's nursed when he was born and then stopped latching while we were in the hospital. I exclusively pumped until he was 2 weeks old and on a whim tried to get him to latch and he did. Been nursing e er since and he's almost 2 months </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-have-experiences-bringing-baby-back-to-breast#post-1901417 Wed, 15 Oct 2014 07:58:10 +0000 ElbieKay 1901417@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No experience with this, but good luck and don't beat yourself too much over it.</p> <p>I spent a lot of time pumping during the first eight weeks because nursing was so painful that I needed frequent breaks. I hated hated hated it.</p> <p>The pain issue went away, and actually the experience made it much easier to transition to work since I had already mastered the logistics of pumping. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-have-experiences-bringing-baby-back-to-breast#post-1901398 Wed, 15 Oct 2014 07:39:22 +0000 mediagirl 1901398@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bamblm: 2 months, I think? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-have-experiences-bringing-baby-back-to-breast#post-1901023 Tue, 14 Oct 2014 17:39:53 +0000 lady grey 1901023@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Maybe you are covered by the speech therapist, but you could also consider seeing an pediatric OT who specialized in feeding issues. Many that I have come across are also certified in lactation so super knowledgeable! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-have-experiences-bringing-baby-back-to-breast#post-1900953 Tue, 14 Oct 2014 16:03:59 +0000 blackbird 1900953@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bamblm: a month maybe? I ended up EPing and then moving to formula. The pump couldnt give me a full supply </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-have-experiences-bringing-baby-back-to-breast#post-1900946 Tue, 14 Oct 2014 16:01:24 +0000 Mrs.Someone 1900946@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bamblm: Its a type of massage aimed towards "loosening" up a tight baby. DS's latch got way better after 2 sessions, which is how he finally was able to ditch the shield. We're still dealing with lots of issues though, so there may be more going on. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-have-experiences-bringing-baby-back-to-breast#post-1900940 Tue, 14 Oct 2014 15:56:35 +0000 bamblm 1900940@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mediagirl: How old was your LO when you tried again?</p> <p>@HappyBaker: Thank you! so far i'm hanging in there, my LC actually suggested taking a one or two day break and EP'ing only, but I think I'm good with trying for another week or two, since she is four weeks now. Was yours a gradual process, or did she just "get it" all of a sudden?</p> <p>@blackbird: How long did you try?</p> <p>@Baby Boy Mom: This gives me hope!!!</p> <p>@Mrs.Someone: What does CST do? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-have-experiences-bringing-baby-back-to-breast#post-1900883 Tue, 14 Oct 2014 15:20:23 +0000 Mrs.Someone 1900883@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're in the middle of a similar situation right now! I was given a nipple shield at the hospital and was stuck with it for about 6w. I started working with a LC trying to get off of it, and we discovered that it damaged my milk supply, and baby wasn't able to get enough out of the breast before getting tired. She sent us to cranial sacral therapy (CST), and had me pumping and supplementing after feedings in the meantime. After 2 sessions of CST, baby was able to latch on to the breast. After about a week though, he started having trouble again and is now very fussy at the breast. </p> <p>Its tough, and I'm exhausted with it all too! But it is possible to get baby onto the breast, just keep trying. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-have-experiences-bringing-baby-back-to-breast#post-1900642 Tue, 14 Oct 2014 13:01:07 +0000 Baby Boy Mom 1900642@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Yes, we were a success story (nursed to age 3). It took a lot of work those first few weeks but was very worthwhile. LO was tiny/had difficulty latching…ended up with nipple confusion, i.e. wouldn't latch to breast only bottle. We had to switch to syringe feeding- one ml at a time! So it would go something like this- feed with syringe, have him practice sucking on my pinkie, then try to transfer to breast. We did this a bunch of times until he got the full feeding via syringe. Then pump! It took between 4-6 weeks, but around the six week growth spurt he got the hang of it, partially I think because his mouth got bigger. :goodluck: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-have-experiences-bringing-baby-back-to-breast#post-1900622 Tue, 14 Oct 2014 12:53:47 +0000 blackbird 1900622@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I never had any success. E was in the NICU for a week and I could never get her to take to it. Cest la vie. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-have-experiences-bringing-baby-back-to-breast#post-1900616 Tue, 14 Oct 2014 12:49:05 +0000 HappyBaker 1900616@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Man, I am feeling for you, sounds very similar to what we went through and I am almost in tears just thinking of how frustrating / awful it was!</p> <p> In the end we WERE able to successfully get back to nursing 100% and nursed until she was almost a year old. It took working with a lactation consultant once every few days in the first couple of weeks, and then until she was about 6-8 weeks old before she was fully back on just the breast. Our LC said I had to "try" the breast before every.single.feeding, which was exhausting and felt like it wasn't helping at all, but eventually DD figured it out and was able to do it. </p> <p>In hindsight, I wish had either switched to EP-ing or formula feeding MUCH sooner instead of trying for weeks to get her back to nursing. I was an emotional wreck, and the nursing/pumping/formula feeding/washing schedule really does not allow you to get any sleep whatsoever which doesn't help things at all. </p> <p>So I guess my point is, yes there are definitely success stories out there, but don't beat yourself up for switching to EP-ing or formula feeding. I felt SO much guilt which is why I hung in there and kept trying, but now I realize I would have been a MUCH better mother if I had just stopped sooner and got my emotional well-being under control. Good luck, thinking of you! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-have-experiences-bringing-baby-back-to-breast#post-1900430 Tue, 14 Oct 2014 11:26:24 +0000 mediagirl 1900430@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I did. I EP'ed for a while because M wouldn't open her mouth wide enough to nurse effectively (sounds like your lo). She lost weight, we had to supplement with formula, etc. It was all very stressful. One day I decided enough was enough. I threw her on the boob to see if she would take it and she did. We never had an amazing nursing relationship but it was successful, it lasted until 17 months! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/anyone-have-experiences-bringing-baby-back-to-breast#post-1900417 Tue, 14 Oct 2014 11:17:31 +0000 bamblm 1900417@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hi, does anyone have any experience bringing baby back to breast? If so how long did it take to get your LO learn to breast feed and were there any special techniques you used?</p> <p>My story is I had to use the nipple shield from day one since LO wouldn't open her mouth wide enough, that went well for a couple of days, but she didn't gain weight well and wasn't having enough wet diapers, so we switched to pumping and bottle feeding. She also had a lip tie and tongue tie corrected two weeks ago and we have been doing the exercises and stretches. I'm working with a lactation consultant and a speech pathologist to help, but I am getting frustrated since she basically screams her face off any time I try to get her to latch. Right now I am trying twice a day with no success. I would be happy even if I could get her to breastfeed with the shield, I'm just so tired of the endless pump/feed/clean and change cycle, and I am feeling tied to the pump and losing my motivation to try getting her to latch. The lactation consultant called her a "resistant nurser" and most of the recommendations about positioning and skin to skin care are almost impossible with trying to pump also. The speech pathologist specializes in working with NICU babies who have not been breast or bottle fed for weeks or even months, so I don't want to give up since she seems very optimistic. I guess I'd like to know if there are any success stories out there, or if/when I should just give up and focus on exclusively pumping. </p>