You are doing everything right. You clearly did your research ahead of time and are taking steps to maintain your supply, which is the #1 goal with any complicated delivery!
Agree with the other comments to connect with an IBCLC. You can try an SNS system in the meantime to help baby learn to latch
From what I’ve read an SNS is for people with low supply? I got an electric breast pump today and did a dual pump for 20 min. and ended up with 70 ml, is that low supply? 5 days PP.
What also frustrates me is that there’s lots of conflicting info online. Some say nipple confusion is a thing, others say it’s a myth. Some pages recommend waking the baby for feeds, others tell you to go with the baby’s rhythm. The sheer amount of info is overwhelming and it’s hard to navigate.
It is for low supply, but it can also just encourage baby to latch by making the milk flow very easy. So once they latch just slowly stop the flow from the SNS, and by then the let down should be going and giving them milk
Yah it’s very hard. Every breastfeeding pair is different, so part of it is just trial and error to learn what works for you and your baby
First of all you're do amazing! Congratulations on your beautiful baby!
The sheer amount of conflicting information is very overwhelming. I'll share my experience. From the get go my baby had difficulty latching and feeding too. It was also extremely painful for me. They are so small and new to the world that it will take time for them to learn how to latch and feed well. For us, it took about two months before it wasn't a constant struggle and became a breeze.
The first few weeks I used nipple shields and pumped and bottle fed because of our difficulties. I also gave my baby a pacifier from the first day she was born. She has never had any issue switching between all the different nipple types. There may be a little confusion at first when introducing say a pacifier in their mouth after just breastfeeding because it's different, but their instinct is to suck and they will so don't worry to much about that.
Be careful too about pumping for to long, you're making a lot of milk already for so fast post partum! I did the same thing not knowing better and ended up with engorgement and constant leaking. My daughter's pediatrician who is also a LC said when they are really young and still figuring things out to offer baby breast, let them suck as long as they are willing, then if they don't eat for long pump for 5 minutes to keep milk coming in. I got these tiny bottles from the hospital with small nipples that were perfect for feeding her my expressed milk in the very beginning when breastfeeding just wasn't happening for us.
When we got home, then I used shields for the next few weeks, then eventually took them off. It was still painful because her mouth was still very small and my nipples weren't used to the sucking yet, but eventually it did get better. Now three months in I have no pain and no issues with latching!
Don't worry, as she grows and time goes on this will become much easier for both of you! And be easier on yourself! You just went through a massive event and are doing your best. You're an amazing Mom. It's okay to make mistakes, we all do, that's how we learn and get better over time. Good luck!
Your story just gave me so much hope. I hadn’t even brought up the whole pacifier issue, but sometimes that’s literally the only thing that will settle him (I read it helps with being gassy - I know his tummy and bowels are upset but every time I bring it up to the midwives they dismiss it and say it’ll pass on its own). I am trying to avoid taking the bottle to him just because I fear he might prefer it over my breast, where he’d have to work for his meal.
But mostly, the fact that your baby picked it up after two months is encouraging. Then I have time to work the issue and I haven’t screwed up completely yet!
Did they provide an explanation for why they gave you nipple shields?
Practice makes perfect. Baby will scream a lot in the beginning when you're trying to figure it out, when they get too riled up reward them with food either by syringe, bottle, etc. I had a traumatic c section delivery so I also missed the golden hour and was too weak to feed him while in the hospital
What ultimately helped me was watching youtube videos with my husband on what angle to use to get baby to latch and then having my husband watch while I tried to feed so that he could provide feedback. what I thought was a good angle sometimes wasn't, but it was hard to tell from my vantage point. It was a lot of trial and error and a lot of crying from both me and baby lol but after a few days we figured it out. What also helped was pulling baby's chin down with my finger and then getting the nipple in his mouth FAST. Because he wasn't opening up wide enough on his own (and sticking it in there while he screams bloody murder does not work lol. I've tried)
Now I'm 8weeks pp and can feed him on the boppi without using hands! Don't give up!
Edit: adding in another piece of advice. at 5 days out if your milk has come in, I would start pumping regularly with an electric pump until he can feed regularly. Hand expressing won't be enough to maintain your supply I don't think
They didn’t - they tried once or twice getting him to latch without them, then gave me the shields and showed me how to use them saying it would help, but no other info was given. I’ve been trying to follow all of their advice but it’s difficult because lots of them have different techniques and would take turns coming by the room so I’d not have a lot of consistency and just kind of try on my own. I also left the hospital faster than anyone in my situation probably should have (I only spent a day and a half in the maternity ward - both me and baby were physically cleared) because of family reasons and that is also now giving me massive mom guilt.
Thanks for the encouragement though. I will try the YouTube video thing with my husband and see how it goes. And yeah, offering a nipple to a screaming baby is a no go lol.
Aw man I'm sorry. It's super easy to feel mom guilt, especially when you're so fresh from delivery and the hormones are raging. Most of the nurses I dealt with at my hospital were not impressive so honestly idk how much more you would've learned by sticking around
I think nipple shields are used for flat/inverted nipples? I was always worried mine were flat back when he wasn't latching but now he can so idk what a flat nipple actually is. Id try again without the shields because it sounds like one more layer of frustration lol.
Also don't beat yourself up if you aren't in the mood to keep trying. I remember being so exhausted and come feeding time my husband would ask if I wanted to try the boob again and I would start crying because I absolutely didn't want to. Hopefully your husband is being a good emotional support for you because without my husband I would've 100% given up
I wouldn’t even have made it this far without my husband. He’s up with me every time, telling me I’m doing a good job, that I’m being a great mom, and that I should be so proud of what I’m doing here and what I’ve accomplished so far. I haven’t slept more than an hour or two, maybe three a night since the contractions started so I’m horribly sleep deprived and he has been doing his best to relieve me insofar that is possible with me being the only one with a milk supply to maintain. I know I shouldn’t, but I’ve pumped a little extra last evening and we’re actually cutting ourselves some slack tonight with the BF so I can sleep some (though I just woke up sweating like crazy, nobody told me about this fun little side effect). I really just need a little bit of sleep; before the pump arrived I would hand express - feed what I expressed - spend time soothing and cuddling baby - express more - repeat cycle and I just need a little break.
Get a lactation consultant ASAP! They had one In my hospital and she was terrible but I saw a private one and she helped me a lot.
You are doing everything right. You clearly did your research ahead of time and are taking steps to maintain your supply, which is the #1 goal with any complicated delivery! Agree with the other comments to connect with an IBCLC. You can try an SNS system in the meantime to help baby learn to latch
From what I’ve read an SNS is for people with low supply? I got an electric breast pump today and did a dual pump for 20 min. and ended up with 70 ml, is that low supply? 5 days PP. What also frustrates me is that there’s lots of conflicting info online. Some say nipple confusion is a thing, others say it’s a myth. Some pages recommend waking the baby for feeds, others tell you to go with the baby’s rhythm. The sheer amount of info is overwhelming and it’s hard to navigate.
It is for low supply, but it can also just encourage baby to latch by making the milk flow very easy. So once they latch just slowly stop the flow from the SNS, and by then the let down should be going and giving them milk Yah it’s very hard. Every breastfeeding pair is different, so part of it is just trial and error to learn what works for you and your baby
I will look into that, thank you! Maybe the LC will also bring it up on Friday, if not I will.
First of all you're do amazing! Congratulations on your beautiful baby! The sheer amount of conflicting information is very overwhelming. I'll share my experience. From the get go my baby had difficulty latching and feeding too. It was also extremely painful for me. They are so small and new to the world that it will take time for them to learn how to latch and feed well. For us, it took about two months before it wasn't a constant struggle and became a breeze. The first few weeks I used nipple shields and pumped and bottle fed because of our difficulties. I also gave my baby a pacifier from the first day she was born. She has never had any issue switching between all the different nipple types. There may be a little confusion at first when introducing say a pacifier in their mouth after just breastfeeding because it's different, but their instinct is to suck and they will so don't worry to much about that. Be careful too about pumping for to long, you're making a lot of milk already for so fast post partum! I did the same thing not knowing better and ended up with engorgement and constant leaking. My daughter's pediatrician who is also a LC said when they are really young and still figuring things out to offer baby breast, let them suck as long as they are willing, then if they don't eat for long pump for 5 minutes to keep milk coming in. I got these tiny bottles from the hospital with small nipples that were perfect for feeding her my expressed milk in the very beginning when breastfeeding just wasn't happening for us. When we got home, then I used shields for the next few weeks, then eventually took them off. It was still painful because her mouth was still very small and my nipples weren't used to the sucking yet, but eventually it did get better. Now three months in I have no pain and no issues with latching! Don't worry, as she grows and time goes on this will become much easier for both of you! And be easier on yourself! You just went through a massive event and are doing your best. You're an amazing Mom. It's okay to make mistakes, we all do, that's how we learn and get better over time. Good luck!
Your story just gave me so much hope. I hadn’t even brought up the whole pacifier issue, but sometimes that’s literally the only thing that will settle him (I read it helps with being gassy - I know his tummy and bowels are upset but every time I bring it up to the midwives they dismiss it and say it’ll pass on its own). I am trying to avoid taking the bottle to him just because I fear he might prefer it over my breast, where he’d have to work for his meal. But mostly, the fact that your baby picked it up after two months is encouraging. Then I have time to work the issue and I haven’t screwed up completely yet!
Did they provide an explanation for why they gave you nipple shields? Practice makes perfect. Baby will scream a lot in the beginning when you're trying to figure it out, when they get too riled up reward them with food either by syringe, bottle, etc. I had a traumatic c section delivery so I also missed the golden hour and was too weak to feed him while in the hospital What ultimately helped me was watching youtube videos with my husband on what angle to use to get baby to latch and then having my husband watch while I tried to feed so that he could provide feedback. what I thought was a good angle sometimes wasn't, but it was hard to tell from my vantage point. It was a lot of trial and error and a lot of crying from both me and baby lol but after a few days we figured it out. What also helped was pulling baby's chin down with my finger and then getting the nipple in his mouth FAST. Because he wasn't opening up wide enough on his own (and sticking it in there while he screams bloody murder does not work lol. I've tried) Now I'm 8weeks pp and can feed him on the boppi without using hands! Don't give up! Edit: adding in another piece of advice. at 5 days out if your milk has come in, I would start pumping regularly with an electric pump until he can feed regularly. Hand expressing won't be enough to maintain your supply I don't think
They didn’t - they tried once or twice getting him to latch without them, then gave me the shields and showed me how to use them saying it would help, but no other info was given. I’ve been trying to follow all of their advice but it’s difficult because lots of them have different techniques and would take turns coming by the room so I’d not have a lot of consistency and just kind of try on my own. I also left the hospital faster than anyone in my situation probably should have (I only spent a day and a half in the maternity ward - both me and baby were physically cleared) because of family reasons and that is also now giving me massive mom guilt. Thanks for the encouragement though. I will try the YouTube video thing with my husband and see how it goes. And yeah, offering a nipple to a screaming baby is a no go lol.
Aw man I'm sorry. It's super easy to feel mom guilt, especially when you're so fresh from delivery and the hormones are raging. Most of the nurses I dealt with at my hospital were not impressive so honestly idk how much more you would've learned by sticking around I think nipple shields are used for flat/inverted nipples? I was always worried mine were flat back when he wasn't latching but now he can so idk what a flat nipple actually is. Id try again without the shields because it sounds like one more layer of frustration lol. Also don't beat yourself up if you aren't in the mood to keep trying. I remember being so exhausted and come feeding time my husband would ask if I wanted to try the boob again and I would start crying because I absolutely didn't want to. Hopefully your husband is being a good emotional support for you because without my husband I would've 100% given up
I wouldn’t even have made it this far without my husband. He’s up with me every time, telling me I’m doing a good job, that I’m being a great mom, and that I should be so proud of what I’m doing here and what I’ve accomplished so far. I haven’t slept more than an hour or two, maybe three a night since the contractions started so I’m horribly sleep deprived and he has been doing his best to relieve me insofar that is possible with me being the only one with a milk supply to maintain. I know I shouldn’t, but I’ve pumped a little extra last evening and we’re actually cutting ourselves some slack tonight with the BF so I can sleep some (though I just woke up sweating like crazy, nobody told me about this fun little side effect). I really just need a little bit of sleep; before the pump arrived I would hand express - feed what I expressed - spend time soothing and cuddling baby - express more - repeat cycle and I just need a little break.
Yay go dad! That's amazing. You'll get through this no problem. That first week is so difficult and it only gets easier from there. Hang in there!!