First 2 days in the hospital:
When my DS was born things were difficult (birth was traumatic, and he wasn't breathing, wasn't placed on my chest, student nurses etc. interfering in our family time & privacy)... DS didn't latch well and being a FTM I didn't know how BF'ing was supposed to feel or anything. He ate round the clock -- and I don't mean every 2 hours around the clock like people complain about. I mean he ate CONSTANTLY. The first 2 days in the hospital, I think I got about 1 hour sleep total. He slept about 2 hours total. The rest of the time he was eating (or trying to). He spit up frequently, and I didn't know if this was normal, at least not in the quantity/frequency he was doing it. Anyway... so the hospital had me keeping track of how often and how long he was eating. If he tried to eat for 20 minutes but only got about 3 minutes of active sucking, I wrote 3 minutes down. So I guess that was my bad, I should've just written down 20 minutes since that's what they wanted to see. He was really fussy. So the nurse kept coming in and saying if I didn't get him to eat more & all that we would need to give him formula. They kept saying I didn't make enough milk. I was soooo frustrated, I knew they were wrong but wasn't sure how much authority they had. I know he's my son but could they actually force me to give him formula, would social services get involved, etc? So I actually lied to them once or twice & exaggerated how much he ate. Well that wasn't enough for them & he kept crying. They kept taking him to test for low blood sugar, and I kept trying to tell them he was just stressed 'cause they wouldn't let him rest (and the nurse replied, "BABIES DON'T GET STRESSED!") His blood sugar was normal each time. But they came back the second night & said the pedi said he was getting dehydrated and we HAD to give him formula. Tired of fighting, I gave him about an ounce from the bottle they handed me. He spit up a HUGE amount and then slept about 4 hours straight. Of course then my milk came in, so I had to get up and pump since he was full of formula. Then next day as we were planning to discharge ourselves against medical advice, the LC FINALLY came and showed me how to correct his bad latch and he started eating properly and I cried, I was sooo grateful that finally someone not only helped me but believed I could BF!!!! However she told me I shouldn't have supplememnted with formula (duh I KNOW that but the nurse/pedi forced it on us!) He still wanted to eat non-stop & still wouldn't sleep so the LC made me give him a paci. The LC also had to help us latch frequently throughout the day. We left the hospital the next day, GOOD RIDANCE!!!
So we get home & throw out the paci. Each feeding was a battle, I had to pump a minute to draw the nipple out and then DH had to drip sugar water on my nipple while I tried to latch DS. Rinse, repeat... He ate every 1/2 hour or so for the first 4 months and then finally now at 8 months is eating every 1-2 hours around the clock. I had oversupply and had to block feed. He hasn't had a paci since we left the hospital & no bottles except that one oz of formula in the hospital, & his weight gain has been perfect and his spitting up went away on its own around 6-7 months. He was & still is a very fussy baby, that's just his temperment.
ANYWAY!!
So why am I writing all this? Well for one, I'm still frustrated at the hospital. I needed to vent. And I want to know who was "right" -- me or them. And why do they act pro-BF and then interfere every step of the way (there was a lot more that happened but I was trying to keep it brief). Also I want to know what are my rights as a parent, do I have to feed formula (next time around) if the hospital insists, or do I have the right to refuse?? Could they report that to CPS if they felt my child was getting malnourished (at 1 day old)? Was my BF experience unusual? Was my hospital experience typical?
When my DS was born things were difficult (birth was traumatic, and he wasn't breathing, wasn't placed on my chest, student nurses etc. interfering in our family time & privacy)... DS didn't latch well and being a FTM I didn't know how BF'ing was supposed to feel or anything. He ate round the clock -- and I don't mean every 2 hours around the clock like people complain about. I mean he ate CONSTANTLY. The first 2 days in the hospital, I think I got about 1 hour sleep total. He slept about 2 hours total. The rest of the time he was eating (or trying to). He spit up frequently, and I didn't know if this was normal, at least not in the quantity/frequency he was doing it. Anyway... so the hospital had me keeping track of how often and how long he was eating. If he tried to eat for 20 minutes but only got about 3 minutes of active sucking, I wrote 3 minutes down. So I guess that was my bad, I should've just written down 20 minutes since that's what they wanted to see. He was really fussy. So the nurse kept coming in and saying if I didn't get him to eat more & all that we would need to give him formula. They kept saying I didn't make enough milk. I was soooo frustrated, I knew they were wrong but wasn't sure how much authority they had. I know he's my son but could they actually force me to give him formula, would social services get involved, etc? So I actually lied to them once or twice & exaggerated how much he ate. Well that wasn't enough for them & he kept crying. They kept taking him to test for low blood sugar, and I kept trying to tell them he was just stressed 'cause they wouldn't let him rest (and the nurse replied, "BABIES DON'T GET STRESSED!") His blood sugar was normal each time. But they came back the second night & said the pedi said he was getting dehydrated and we HAD to give him formula. Tired of fighting, I gave him about an ounce from the bottle they handed me. He spit up a HUGE amount and then slept about 4 hours straight. Of course then my milk came in, so I had to get up and pump since he was full of formula. Then next day as we were planning to discharge ourselves against medical advice, the LC FINALLY came and showed me how to correct his bad latch and he started eating properly and I cried, I was sooo grateful that finally someone not only helped me but believed I could BF!!!! However she told me I shouldn't have supplememnted with formula (duh I KNOW that but the nurse/pedi forced it on us!) He still wanted to eat non-stop & still wouldn't sleep so the LC made me give him a paci. The LC also had to help us latch frequently throughout the day. We left the hospital the next day, GOOD RIDANCE!!!
So we get home & throw out the paci. Each feeding was a battle, I had to pump a minute to draw the nipple out and then DH had to drip sugar water on my nipple while I tried to latch DS. Rinse, repeat... He ate every 1/2 hour or so for the first 4 months and then finally now at 8 months is eating every 1-2 hours around the clock. I had oversupply and had to block feed. He hasn't had a paci since we left the hospital & no bottles except that one oz of formula in the hospital, & his weight gain has been perfect and his spitting up went away on its own around 6-7 months. He was & still is a very fussy baby, that's just his temperment.
ANYWAY!!
So why am I writing all this? Well for one, I'm still frustrated at the hospital. I needed to vent. And I want to know who was "right" -- me or them. And why do they act pro-BF and then interfere every step of the way (there was a lot more that happened but I was trying to keep it brief). Also I want to know what are my rights as a parent, do I have to feed formula (next time around) if the hospital insists, or do I have the right to refuse?? Could they report that to CPS if they felt my child was getting malnourished (at 1 day old)? Was my BF experience unusual? Was my hospital experience typical?
s he sounds kind of like my first DS 2.5 years ago - we actually stayed in the hospital for 3 or 4 days just because he too could *not* figure out how to latch on and nurse. On day 2 or 3 we too gave him 3/4 of an oz of formula just so he had SOMETHING in his stomach (he had nursed for maybe 10-20 minutes total at that point. Maybe.). The first few weeks were HARD - I had to sit in ONE chair in ONE position with pillos just-so for him to latch on and nurse. But he did figure it out eventually. I think you did OK - I know I don't feel bad abou the 3/4 oz of formula my DS had that one time and IMO it did help him wake up and nurse properly later on - he was just SOO sleepy and lethargic those first few days!!
)
