Is she getting enough? First time mom, CLUELESS. - Page 2

[boobs4milk]

just wanted to let you know that my baby started on bottles and the nipple shield and we are at 99% bf now. she's gets a bottle when she gets her vitamins or (like tonight) when i'm away. she's almost 10 wks, was completely bottle fed from weeks 2-4, and it took us about 3 wks to get to all bf. she was 5 wks premature and her first nippling was done with bottles. the shields we only used for about a week because she had weak suck and tired out easily.

for inverted nipples, i suggest that mom pump to pull the nipples out and use the booby sandwich technique to get baby latched on. basically, you cup your hand around the outside part of the areola and gently squish your nipple into a smaller 'sandwich' and then get baby to latch. also, you can get the baby to latch with shield on until nipples are drawn out, remove baby and shield and try re-latching without the shield.

good luck!

[buttercups.nest]

awwwww!!! I read your paragraph about the lactation consultant and my eyes teared up!

I was going to say something about the nipple shield but I don't think that applies anymore. I do want to mention though....my little guy had some horrible nights in the beginning so I too pumped a little bit to give to him when he was unconsolable. Unfortunately that got a little out of hand and he began to favor the syringe. I realized it when he was just flutter sucking at my breast then he sucked back syringe of milk in no time!!! Little stinker. I took it away, spent the next day at home and just kept putting him to my breast. Kept myself calm and by the end of the day he had it figured out. No more syringe! I don't know you, your daughter, or the situation (I mean I know what I've read on here, but being there in person is SOO much different!) so I am just saying be careful.

Good luck! I hope your breastfeeding relationship goes awesome!!!

[ZoraP]

Just here to add support -- great that your LC was so helpful! Hang in there and keep taking it one day at a time. One day you'll wake up and realize that you and baby have got it down, and you'll be so proud of yourselves. I had a rough start with my dd1, but at 6 weeks we were great and stayed that way through toddlerhood. You will, too.

[allisonrose]

It's so great that you found someone to help you! Using a nipple shield for a while isn't a horrible thing. I used a nipple shield with my guy for the first two weeks exclusively. I didn't have a great explanation for why since everyone who looked at our latch said we were fine and yet I was in pain! But I worked on weaning him off the shield and I believe it took about two weeks to banish it during daytime sessions and then another two weeks later, I believe I phased it out of night sessions as well. At 14 months, we are still going strong with nursing.

Breastfeeding a newborn is a lot more work than you get told sometimes, but it gets easier as they get older.

[DCMama01]

I just wanted to tell you that this thread has been inspiring!! My baby was born the day before yours (Nov 19) and breastfeeding has been a nightmare! I'm meeting with a LC on Friday evening and hope its as informative as yours was. I learned alot just from reading about your appt with your LC (the foremilk only issue hits home along with being fussy.

[mamabutterfly]

Yay! Good for you, mama, for hanging in there. It is hard to over-state how rough that first few days can be. Not to mention hormonal rollercoaster, lol. Shouldn't it be mandatory to line up an LC visit for day 3 or 4 at home? Like just in case. It's so miserable to have to research all that when you're in the depths of dispair.

You're doing great. Keep it up!!

[ps4624]

Hugs to you as well as congratulations!

I had flat nipples (not the same as inverted, but close) when I started BF. DD could not latch on. I sent hubby down to Target to but the $29 hand pump. I would use the pump to pop my nipple out and then immediately put DD to breast. Weirdly enough, she waited patiently during this process.

About 3 weeks of this and my nipples figured out what to do - we've been breastfeeding for 9 months.

Just trying to pass on some hope that things will work out. There's a member here who has a tag line along the lines of "Everything will be OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end". Repeat to yourself as often as necessary.

Just noticed that you named your baby Piper - that's my name! Yay!

[Savoir Faire]

Coming late to the party-- but I had troubles in the beginning with my daughter and I went to the pump. It was extremely hard for me to keep up supply. The pump does not mimic the baby and somehow, your brain just knows this.

(I breastfed a second child without ever using the pump and there were no supply issues.)

Just keep going-- you're still very new at this.

[november]

Thank you so much everyone for your continued support and advice. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. When things get hard, I come back here and read all of your encouraging words and it gives me the drive to keep going.

That said, things have been going really, really well the past three days. She has been eating very consistently, typically every 2 hours, sometimes 1.5 and sometimes pushing three hours, but never more. I am still using the shield but I'm hoping to start trying to work on getting her to latch to my nipple within the next week or so. I just can't do it quite yet after all the frustration with trying it the first few days post-partum. I did actually try to get her to latch on to my nipple earlier today and she wasn't AS anti-flesh as she was so I'm hoping it gets better every time I try.

I haven't cried in frustration since I got help from the LC so that has to be a good sign! We had her 1-week weight check today and she's only 4.5 ounces away from her birth weight already so that's reassuring to know. Must be doing something right! :0) She is a MUCH different baby now that she is getting in on the hindmilk .. truly. Just as happy as can be!

There is some occassional bleeding on my left nipple, but I think that has more to do with the initial latch on when she gets to the REALLY hungry point. I'm trying to avoid the hysterics and feeding her at first signs of hunger to keep the latch on more gentle. It hurts REALLY bad when it bleeds and I have to switch to the other side. I've been slathering both nipples in Lansinoh between feedings and that seems to help as well. Will this eventually quit happening? Is this just part of the nipple 'toughening up' process or is it probably because of the shield/suction?

[Krystal323]

yay for good updates!

keep it up with the lansinoh--i don't know if it's due to the shields or not, but in my case, my nipples scabbed over (the lansinoh made that bearable), then a layer of skin actually peeled away (TMI i know--sorry!). After that happens, they don't hurt anymore. Nik's 11 days and the nipple pain's been gone for several days at least. It was the same with my other kids, and I never pumped or used shields.


Hang in there mama--you are doing AWESOME!!

[Mommy2Liz]

I just skimmed the previous posts, and I wanted to give you this and this

You have gotten some wonderful advice here. Isn't this place great?? It also sounds like you found a great LC. I'm so glad! BF is not always as easy as we hope it will be. I struggled so much in the beginning with my daughter. I cried and cried and felt awful. She is still nursing at 2.5 and my DS is 3 weeks old and nursing strong. I'm so glad I hung in there! Good luck, you are doing great!! Congrats on the baby.