My daughter is 3 days old and I just got my milk in. All yesterday we were having issues getting her to latch w/o galling asleep on my breast. She also sleeps so much that when she starts wailing its nearly impossible to get her calm enough to latch.
Tonight after 3 hours of trying to feed I broke down and pumped. Because my breasts hurt so badly. We Gave her the bottle. Because she is so new do you think we ruined our chances.of getting her to latch?
We do plan on going back yo the lactation consultant but I thought it would be nice to hear from you ladies.
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I don't think you ruined it at all. My LO is 6 weeks and he did bottle for the first month because he wouldn't latch. Now he latches perfectly, but I don't have enough milk for him so we still have to do partial formula.
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I don't think it's too late either. I would continue to try to get her to latch and would pump to keep your milk supply up and to help with engorgement.
You should go see a specialist asap though.
Good luck! -
No, definitely not, but seek out a lactation consultant right away to help with the latch issues. Good luck and congrats!!!
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First of all, take a deep breath - it's not an easy thing to learn and it takes time for both, you and your LO, to figure out. My LO is 6 weeks and we're still getting the latch down.
My LO would always fall asleep at the breast (and still tries to!) and had some trouble latching so we used a combination of a nipple shield and a pacifier. We would start with the pacifier (a finger works too), and gently apply some downward pressure on the tongue to get the baby to start sucking and "train" her tongue. While that was happening I would put the nipple shield on and then when the baby had a good sucking rhythm going, we would transfer her over to the breast.
I used the nipple shield for 3 weeks and then eventually weaned her to just the breast. There were times where I did have to supplement with formula, but I think, by using the nipple shield, it actually helped to prevent nipple confusion. And now, she switches back and forth between the pacifier, bottle and breast with no problems.
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Absolutely not! My milk didn't come in until day 4, and I literally could only pump a teaspoon of milk, which we fed to LO through a syringe! We finger-fed her formula, too. We went to a breastfeeding clinic and learned that LO couldn't latch because she was tongue-tied. It took a long time before LO became a champion latcher. Hang in there, you didn't mess it up - it just takes time!
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Thanks ladies. We are definitely going to talk to someone but I just needed to hear something good.to calm my nerves for the rest of the night...well morning now.
I am just glad that at least we are trying and I was able to give her breast milk even if it was from a bottle. -
We had latching/supply issues for a while too, and supplemented with formula once or twice a day for the first 4 or 5 days of LO's life, and from then on we didn't need to use formula anymore but I pumped a lot and we gave LO at least one bottle of pumped milk every day.... and this was on the recommendation of our lactation consultant. She said that for most babies, one bottle a day shouldn't affect breastfeeding, plus it gets them used to a bottle, plus it gives mom a break.
Worked fine for us.... I did sometimes find that if we gave LO say, 3 bottles, in one day, the next day he'd be fussier than normal, but then we'd just go a day or two without a bottle and it would be fine.
You have definitely, definitely, 100% NOT messed anything up, and you can absolutely go on to exclusively breastfeed for as long as you want. -
Congrats on the new baby!
Have you tried the 5 S's from happiest baby. Sometimes that calmed down my LO just briefly enough to help her latch. When she was swaddled there was less she could flail and she had to be more focused. You definitely didn't ruin anything, many babies get a bottle and go onto nurse wonderfully. If you give her a little from the bottle to help calm her she might be more receptive to nursing once she knows food is nearby, I'd always put a little milk on my LOs lips so she knew there was milk. -
@His Barista: Good luck with everything! You are doing such a good job for your baby girl! It is really hard to keep them awake at this stage. A few tips would include completely undressing them down to the diaper, rubbing/tickling their feet, and even a cool wet wash cloth.
I don't know what your pedi says or what your daughter weighs but the first while we also fed every 1.5-2 hours (max 3 hours if she was sleeping during the day). Not feeding any sooner than 1.5 hours helped her build up an "appetite".
I also had to pump at first and my LO still loves to nurse. She's older now so she nurses to sleep at night but during the day will eat a full meal and then be wide awake.
If you do have trouble latching you can make sure to have lots of skin to skin bonding time to help out!
Also, if you do need to call someone, look up your local LaLecheLeague and they typically have phone numbers of people you can call.
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olive was exclusively bottle fed for almost a month before she became exclusively breastfed. don't worry - one time isn't going to mess things up at all!
the lactation consultant will be a big help with your latch. good luck and don't stress out so much. i know it's hard, but you'll get there!
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nope, it wont mess things up. Promise. Liv was bottle fed for 4 full days (and half of a 5th) before I got the LC to come to my house and teach her a proper latch. I had her EBF shortly thereafer
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Don't stress it at all. As the others have said, this thing happens, and babies have been able to seamlessly transition back to the breast. Your lactation consultant will be a great resource. Good luck! And congrats on your new baby
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Thanks Ladies. I feel better now that we have had more sleep.
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Hang in there, mama! My LO took half of her meals from bottles for the first 2 weeks, and now at almost 5 months, she vastly prefers the boob over the bottle. It will get easier
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Give her enough to calm down by bottle and then go back to trying the latch when she's less hungry. She'll get there!
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Just echoing the others.... my son had formula from a bottle at 5 days old while I had emergency surgery. He went right back to nursing hours later and we're still nursing at 11.5 months. Hang in there, it does get easier!
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Thanks ladies! I have found that if I pump first she will latch easier. Then if she gets frustrated we switch to bottle. She isn't having too much confusion. I feel so much better today and a lot more confident.
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Every baby is different, but it wasn't a problem in our case! Our son went to the NICU for 48 hours when he was 2 days old and was supplemented by a bottle with formula at that time. Breastfeeding wasn't going great, so we would practice for 20-30 minutes at each feeding, then finish him with a bottle of formula. He would fall asleep at boob, my husband would drip cold water on him to keep him nursing- you do what you gotta do!
At 8 weeks he happily takes both bottle (of pumped milk) and boob, which gives me a great break too! I make sure to reinforce the bottle every day since he prefers boob.
Do you have any lactation consultants available to help you? Meeting with an LC helped calm me down and gave me new techniques to try when I got frustrated.
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@lemondrop: LO has an appointment at the hospital on Friday for her hearing test. I am going to speak with their LC before we leave so that we can figure out new techniques.
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@His Barista: it took us a while to get things functioning to where I wasn't going completely crazy- hang in there, it isn't easy, but it is worth it. Hope things shake out better for you guys soon! And congrats on the little one!
Also your hospital may have a breastfeeding support group- something to ask about (I found out about ours when I registered for birth classes).
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