Hi everyone, and help with frustrated baby « Back to Group Discussions

[bostonmummy]

Hey mamas! I've so missed being here! One of these days I'll get back here again with more consistency and to tell my birth story. Our sweet Aniela is 6 weeks today and a total joy. She's starting to coo and smile at us, and I honestly don't know how parents don't just burst with love and happiness. 

Anyway, I'm here hoping for my some suggestions. My daughter has been having a lot of trouble relearning how to breastfeed. Starting at 2 weeks I began pumping exclusively for a couple of weeks to give my nipples a chance to heal because I was in so much pain (she had both a lip tie and a tongue tie that we took care of and hopefully will start to make a difference in her latch). Now when I try to feed her, if she latches on, she only stays on for a couple of minutes, sometimes up to 10 minutes at the most, and then she either falls asleep or gets so frustrated that she starts screaming. I've been trying to keep her as close to me as possible by wearing her and holding her and doing as much skin to skin as I can, the way kellymom.com suggests, but it's not helping. Does anyone have any ideas about how to help her learn that the breast is the best place for comfort and food? I posted this question over on the breastfeeding forum, but I thought I'd ask you experienced mamas here, too. Thanks!

[Vegan Princess]

Hi Bostonmummy,

Glad to hear you check in! Ive been wondering about you. I'm so sorry to hear you've been dealing with tongue/lip tie. Aria had both as well. We finally just got her lip done this week and her tongue done for the 3rd time! I had horrible pain in the beginning as well. Thankfully I got her tongue done for the 1st time (albeit not far back enough) at 2 weeks old - so things felt a lot better after that. I've always kept her at the breast but I've been pumping after every feed for 7 weeks now bc she isn't getting all the milk out. Ugh.

Aria falls asleep at the breast a lot too. I think that is a characteristic of tongue tie - they get tired bc they aren't sucking effectively and go to sleep. OR the flow slows down and they lose interest. I'd say in your case, it may be more flow related since she got used to the bottle. I have 2 pieces of advice for you. The first is to start using Breastflow bottles (no idea what you are using now?). They mimic nursing as close as a bottle can. When my first daughter got nipple confusion from supplementing with bottles, the breastflow bottle actually fixed her latch. My second suggestion is to get an SNS or Lactaid. I much prefer the Lactaid, though you'd likely have to mail order it, whereas an SNS you can get from a lactation consultant locally. Anyway, I used the lactaid for most feeds bc she nurses then conks out - then I wake her up and relatch her with the lactaid and bc the flow is faster, she will finish the feed. I'd think that if Aniela falls alseep or gets upset bc the flow slows down, this would keep her at the breast.

Of course I'm still hoping to ditch the lactaid altogether - I'd prefer she just nurse and get the milk out on her own. But we're not quite there yet. Definitely getting closer after this last tongue tie revision. 

Hang in there!!

Cindy

[springmum]

Boston - Congratulations and hello!

We're dealing with tongue/lip tie issues too - though we're later at finding out. DS is 5 weeks now and we just had the posterior tongue tie done last week, and are trying to find someone to do the lip tie (going with my IBLC to a ped dentist who addresses them this week) My oversupply dropped and we're now struggling and latch is not completely fixed yet. His tongue tie doesn't look like it's healing (I'm doing the post care every day and osteo work), but I'm wondering if they cut deep enough....

Vegan has some great suggestions already. 

The only  things I can suggest are lots of skin to skin time, try to nurse her when she wakes up (sleepy nursing seems to be most successful for us) and nurse with the shower running or even in the shower (obviously not getting her fully under the water, but nice and warm on you - be careful of slippery baby though) Though it seems you're probably way past these.

DS doesn't nurse longer than 10 min's either - 5 min's is the norm here, then I do brest compressions to try to keep the flow up. When that fails, burp, diaper change and offer the other side. Then be prepared for the nursing 1-2 hours around the clock to make up for the lack of milk in one session.

I'm sure those short sessions are frustrating, but keep at it and hopefully it gets easier soon!

Just wanted to add to keep up with the aftercare massaging and excercises they gave you to be sure the ties don't reattach, b/c then you'll be back at square one.

[bostonmummy]

Cindy - thank you so much for your suggestions. I so appreciate them! I'm going to order the Lact-aid system. It looks so helpful! One question: do you recommend ordering extra bags beyond the initial 2-week supply? I'm not sure how long I'll need to use the Lact-aid. How long have you been using yours with Aria?

Thanks, Springmum, for your suggestions, too. All great!

Will be back later . . .

[Vegan Princess]

Ive never bought bags. I've had a ton given to me by friends who had extra. I used the lactaid to supplement my first daughter for about a year. I know they say not to but I reuse the bags. I wash them and use them a 2nd time. So doing that, the 2 week supply should be enough to let you decide if you'll want to continue using it. I hope it does the trick for you!

[bostonmummy]

Very helpful, Cindy. Thanks!

[Vegan Princess]

Oh btw I forgot to mention how long I've been using w/aria. Most of her life. I think I started when she was a few days old bc that is when she stopped sucking to get milk out. For about a week she just would latch and not suck. Then we got her clipped the first time and I stopped using it for about a week. But then her weight gain slowed and she wasn't transferring well anymore (probably bc I wasnt doing the exercises and it readhered and also wasn't done enough anyway) - so then I started again. I've been using it ever since for most feeds, though I've been steadily decreasing the amount in it. Right now I put 1 ounce per feed and she gets that after she has stopped nursing well without it. I have a rented medela scale so I do weights before and after nursing - if she's actually transferred well, I skip the supplement. Not sure what I'll do once I have to give the scale back - it's SO nice knowing what she is getting from me! It's expensive though - $90/mo! 

Cindy

[sillymom44]

I agree about the lac-taid or sns!!!  She'll get it!!  It's great to hear from you!!!!

[Vegan Princess]

Bostonmummy: Let us know how it goes with the lactaid! Also, feel free to PM me if you want help with it. There is definitely a learning curve to getting baby latched on with it. But once you get it down, it's pretty easy. I hope things are going better for you now!

Cindy