Please help me get my baby back to the breast!

[DesperaSolution]

My baby girl is now 7 months olds.  She was latching on perfectly well from birth but I out of ignorance started pumping assuming it was faster and since thats what working women do.  I had no help at home so I was anxious.  Before I realized I was giving up a privilege and that people are desperate to get their babies to latch my baby stopped latching on.  She stopped latching on since 6 weeks.  I have been trying trying and trying to get her back to the breast.  I WANT TO BREASTFEED HER AGAIN.  The guilt is killing me. 

Can somebody please help me?  Please?  I have been trying skin to skin but still need help.

[womenswisdom]

I would contact your local LLL and have someone give you some hands-on help. Also google "laid back breastfeeding" and try that. It takes advantage of you baby's instincts and gives her the benefit of more skin-to-skin time. It's likely that you can get your DD back to breastfeeding if you really want to

[DesperaSolution]

I contacted my Lactation consultant and contact several La Leche League leaders.  I was soo disappointed.  They began saying hw well I have been doing and not to feel bad if she doesn't latch on.  They gave me a nipple shield and had "me" try it and my LO wouldn't even look at my breast or come near it.  I was soo disappointed.  No one seemed like they even wanted to try and treated me like a "gone" case.  I feel awefull....

However guess its up to me to keep trying.  Both LC and LLL suggested skin to skin, and frequent warm baths together and to keep trying.  Doesn't anyone know how to bring an older baby back to breast.  MY LO is now 8 months old.

[skycheattraffic]

At that age, it's tough. They are starting to get really active so the best time is when baby is very drowsy. The nipple shield helped us a lot since baby was so used to the bottle. I would express milk onto the outside of the shield so baby would taste it and have an incentive to suck. Does baby fall asleep with a pacifier? If yes then I would gently switch to the breast when baby is almost asleep and do it earlier as she progresses. If you can get her to latch at bedtime and naptime then you can work on other feedings. You can offer the breast when she pauses with the bottle and if she takes it then you can work on making the switch earlier. In the beginning I even offered after a bottle since DD was happy and relaxed and would be more willing to humor me.

The biggest piece of advice I can give you is to not push it. If baby doesn't want it or gets upset, offer the bottle or binky again. This should be a no pressure, relaxed charming back to the breast, not a pushy, stressful process. My DD was much younger but the second she sensed I was stressing over it, she wanted nothing to do with it. If she wasnt receptive, the session was over in a minute and we tried again later. Find another LC if you didn't get good support the first time. I won't lie, the chances aren't great but babies are remarkable creatures, full of surprises. Hang in there and keep me posted. Good luck

[Asiago]

Motion may help her latch. Offering the breast frequently will give her more opportunities to latch also.

By motion I mean either gently bouncing her or swaying, dance type motion, or walking around. Putting her on your body in a sling or carrier is ideal. You can go about your day and the motion, along with close proximity to the breast should encourage her to naturally latch on. More or less, she will not even be thinking about it and just do what comes naturally to an infant. I didn't use bottles, but my son was a challenge to latch because he feared my overactive letdown. Warm baths did not help us for latching, where as taking his mind off of things and just moving about helped him naturally search for the nipple and latch on.

[Mom4Mom]

I am so sorry to hear of the difficulties you have run into trying to find help to get your baby back to the breast.  Unfortunately most LC's and LLL leaders may not have much experience getting an older baby back to the breast. 

However, I know that there are LCs who have worked with premature infants who were not able to even begin to breastfeed until they were 6 months or older although they may be much harder to locate as their service is a specialty. 

Good advice from both skycheattraffic and Asiago.  If you are not using a bottle that responds similar to the breast, you can switch to a bottle like the Breastflow system.  Retraining baby to suck in this fashion may take a few days, and she may be fussy due to having to learn something different. 

One of the ways that as a Lactation Consultant I assisted moms with older babies to latch and nurse at the breast was to have mom and baby skin to skin in a wrap carrier that would easily allow baby to smell the milk and mom could then slide baby into position.  If your daughter still likes to be carried, especially when she is tired, this may be a good way to get her to latch. 

If this is something you really want you can achieve it.  I hope you feel more encouraged.  I'd love to know if you have found anything that has worked so far and how you are doing.