Bottle to breast?

[ParkersMom12]

I've been absolutely heartbroken the last week that my LO won't latch. He was toungue tied at birth and it was corrected at 4 days old. He is 10 days now.

I've been pumping and bottle feeding but I'm so scared we won't be able to transition back to the breast. I've seen a LC 6 times now. But no one can seem to say why he's rejecting the breast now (he nursed initially but it was painful which is how we discovered toungue tie). He hasn't nursed well since the correction and the last few days have been straight up rejection of the breast at all. Ive tried a nipple shield but he reacts the same way. That, and if I can get him to latch on the sheild, there is never enough stimulation to get y milk to let down with that thing on.

I'm so scared of not being able to BF. would love to hear from anyone in a similar situation or BTDT mom's that have transitioned from bottle to breast successfully.

[JudiAU]

It is possible. I'd reduce the number of bottles at possible and always try to nurse first. Are you offering the lowest flow nipple possible? Can he nurse at all or does he just prefer the bottle. My sister had good luck syringe feeding and nursing. My cousin finally got her LO to nurse at four months after ep'ing.

[roseaustinus]

I am sorry that's happening to you, it was incredibly frustrating and sad when my boy refused. I was able to get my LO back to breast after initially combing breast and bottle, then getting to a point where he was completely refusing breast (although only for 36 hrs, at about 10 days old). I was able to go back to exclusively breastfeeding for a while. 

When he refused, I was devastated -  i really feel for you. The nipple shield helped me get him back, but I latched him on after he had already gotten a bottle - not completely over full, but bottle enough to definitely not been starving. He was also somewhat sleepy, and was ok with me manuvering the nipple with the nipple shield in. He then started suckling like on a pacifier and because I timed it so that it had been awhile since had been pumping milk was basically ready to drip out just from me giving the breast a slight squeeze. So he was sucking from the breast while in a half sleep. I repeated that set up for several days and increased frequency, eventually he latched right on to the shield, then we transitioned to latching without shield.

Good luck to you!!

[roseaustinus]

I am sorry that's happening to you, it was incredibly frustrating and sad when my boy refused. I was able to get my LO back to breast after initially combing breast and bottle, then getting to a point where he was completely refusing breast (although only for 36 hrs, at about 10 days old). I was able to go back to exclusively breastfeeding for a while. 

When he refused, I was devastated -  i really feel for you. The nipple shield helped me get him back, but I latched him on after he had already gotten a bottle - not completely over full, but bottle enough to definitely not been starving. He was also somewhat sleepy, and was ok with me manuvering the nipple with the nipple shield in. He then started suckling like on a pacifier and because I timed it so that it had been awhile since had been pumping milk was basically ready to drip out just from me giving the breast a slight squeeze. So he was sucking from the breast while in a half sleep. I repeated that set up for several days and increased frequency, eventually he latched right on to the shield, then we transitioned to latching without shield.

Good luck to you!!

[skycheattraffic]

I think this may be a duplicate thread. Here's the link to the other thread which includes other replies.

http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1363580/bottle-to-breast

[aok062709]

Don't be discouraged!! I had a similar issue. Sorry for the long response but I feel like you need the full story. My son latched fine in the hospital but was very jaundice so I had to pump as well to finger feed extra colostrum. I ended up with damage to the nipple either from him or the pump, we aren't sure which but after the first 24 hours(nursing&pumping combo) it was very painful to feed. Once I got home and my son was eating more it got worse. We met with the lactation consultant multiple times and the latching just wasn't going well. I ended up with mastitis and decided to pump for a few days to let everything heal up. I tried for weeks to get J latching correctly and it didn't work so at around 5 weeks I decided to just exclusively pump and bottle feed. 

I was finally coming to terms with it at the 2 month mark and one day J was incredibly hungry and I needed to pump badly(I had waited 2 hours longer than usual). I decided to just try, I mean what did I have to lose right? Well, he latched and is now 3 months and we've been exclusively nursing for a month. PTL! 

I never asked anyone, but have wondered if there is a tongue tie issue, his tongue doesn't come out much further than his gums and tends to go back rather than come forward. I think he has probably trained himself (and maybe the tongue tie stretched a bit?? is that even possible?) He also was refusing to even try the breast for awhile. Now he's happier with breast than bottle! 

Also if you are pumping and plan to continue, I found that if I tried to stretch the time between pumpings my supply went down, I really had to stick to a rigid schedule. It seemed annoying but I knew my baby was getting the best he could get and that made it worth it. Plus, it really helped to have my husband be able to assist in feedings during those first couple of months. I was sick and exhausted and sometimes just needed to rest. 

Don't give up, and remember even if you have to pump your baby is still getting the best nutrition possible, and you can still cuddle and bond just as much as if he were nursing directly. I was so protective of feeding times, the only person other than myself that was allowed to feed my baby was my husband. That was our bonding time with him, and even though I felt a little funny at first I realized that if I was breastfeeding no one else could have that time!