Nipple Confusion

[Treehuggin'Mama]

I've been pumping and giving dd breastmilk in a bottle... and (big surprise ) now she gets absolutely hysterical when I put her to my breast. I've tried nursing her when she's calm, but then she screams. I've tried nursing her when she's screaming, but she just screams some more. She was practically a pro from birth... but I wimped out from the pain and leaned more toward pumping, something that was introduced to me when I became engorged and developed mastitis. The pump felt so much better than her stinging suck that I favored it... and now she loves bottles... and I feel so stupid and don't know what to do!

[emma_goldman]

So sorry! You are in the right place for getting advice from mamasisters who can give you amazing info and hope. hugs.

[Love my 2]

Have you tried using a nipple shield? Also lots of time skin to skin, if bottle feeding, feed right at the breast so she associates the breast with a good place to be.

[melbb]

I EP because my daughter also screams at my breasts. She is too old to go back to BFing, I think, but I still try. One thing I recommend is to not push it. As soon as she gets upset, stop trying to "force" the breast on her. I know I had better luck if I did that and took breaks from trying. She will very rarely latch on, and never really sucks. I think she forgot what my breasts are for. With your baby being so young, I would think you have a good chance for success. Do lots of skin to skin if you can and ditto on the bottlefeeding while holding in a nursing position. DD used to get upset if I held her that way, except when bottlefeeding. Now I can hold her that way without a bottle and she doesn't get upset. They need to learn that the breast is a place of comfort (and food) without feeling pressured. Good luck.

[donnar]

keep trying, keep trying, keep trying........ my first ds was premature and started out on my milk in bottles. when we tried bf'ing, he would get absolutely hysterical and of course, like you, I hated to see him so desperate for food and so upset about the boob, that I would cave in and give him a bottle. i EP'd for almost 6 months, but every day, i'd bring him into our bed for the first feed of the day, and he would nurse that way and that one time during the day. first thing in the AM, laying down in our bed. we'd fall asleep and catch a little cat nap, and the rest of the day would be bottles. one magical day when he was almost 6 months old, he protested the bottles all morning, until noon when I finally thought to myself "wonder if he would nurse?" So we tried, normal position sitting upright in the livingroom chair, and voila! he never looked back to his bottling days. i don't know why he chose the laying down position in the early days, maybe it was just the most comfortable to him? and why he switched over at 6 months is beyond me. but i just encourage you to keep trying, try something different maybe, and know that we are here for you. i know its hard.......... (((((((hugs))))))))

[GooeyRN]

Originally Posted by donnar

keep trying, keep trying, keep trying........ my first ds was premature and started out on my milk in bottles. when we tried bf'ing, he would get absolutely hysterical and of course, like you, I hated to see him so desperate for food and so upset about the boob, that I would cave in and give him a bottle. i EP'd for almost 6 months, but every day, i'd bring him into our bed for the first feed of the day, and he would nurse that way and that one time during the day. first thing in the AM, laying down in our bed. we'd fall asleep and catch a little cat nap, and the rest of the day would be bottles. one magical day when he was almost 6 months old, he protested the bottles all morning, until noon when I finally thought to myself "wonder if he would nurse?" So we tried, normal position sitting upright in the livingroom chair, and voila! he never looked back to his bottling days. i don't know why he chose the laying down position in the early days, maybe it was just the most comfortable to him? and why he switched over at 6 months is beyond me. but i just encourage you to keep trying, try something different maybe, and know that we are here for you. i know its hard.......... (((((((hugs))))))))

Wow! You are so lucky! I am EPing now for 9 months. DD was never a good nurser (could not at first) and was never able to take an entire "meal" at the breast. She completely quit at 3 months. I am pumping as I type this... Please, ditch the bottles and use a syringe, medicine cup, fingerfeeder, or something. I heard of one mom getting success by putting a rubber bottle nipple over her own nipple. I would try the nipple shield. Pump for a minute before bfing, to get a letdown so if she does latch with the shield, she wont get frustrated waiting for the milk. Even if you are stuck using a nipple shield, I would imagine it would be better than EPing for however long you planned to bf. (believe me, it gets much more difficult once they are mobile and you cant pump with them in your lap)

[ornateuro]

Congratulations on the birth of your little girl!

WOW to all the moms who exclusivly pump! That takes quite a bit of dedication. What a wonderful and loving thing to do for your little ones!

When Lily came home from the hosptal, she also suffered from nipple confusion because the nurses in the hospital gave her a bottle of formula without my consent. Every time I put her to the breast she would cry. It was horrible! I began pumping and bottle feeding. We tried feeding her with a srynge and a dropper, but I was too worried that she wasn't getting enough that way. This is what I ended up doing: First I would hand express a little milk from my breast so she could smell/taste it. Then I put her to the breast. If she cried I would just hold her with her cheek against my breast while feeding her pumped milk from the bottle. After she would fall asleep I would literally sit in my rocker pumping and crying. I felt so sad that she wasn't nursing. This went on for five weeks. I would offer the breast, she'd refuse, then she'd get her bottle. Finally one day she decided to latch on. I couldn't believe it! She hasn't had a bottle since then. I couldn't even get her to take a bottle when someone else watched her. She is 11 months old and is showing no signs of slowing down with her nursing.

So my best advice to you is not to give up, but don't force it either. It may just take time for your baby to become reacquainted with the breast again. Good luck to you!

[coloradoalice]

Well, my advice is a little stronger than a lot of the advice you've been given so far. I would say to push it, to make it your mission. Then you will succeed.

I was in a similar situation with dd. She was in the NICU and we used many methods of getting milk into her the 6 days she was there, hoping that she wouldn't get too confused. Well, she was. The first days at home of just breastfeeding were horrible and my mind was a disaster, so I started to exclusively pump and give bottles. When she was almost 4 weeks old I went to a LLL meeting and one of the leaders was very encouraging and she just repeated to me like 3 times. "You can do it, she won't starve, she will latch, but you have to get rid of the bottles." She gave me resolve!!

So, the next day I threw everything out (bottles and pacifiers) and started "breastfeeding bootcamp". I turned of the phone, closed the shades, took off my shirt, and stripped her down to her diaper. She stayed on my body the entire day. Everytime she did anything I offered her the breast. It was a nightmare. She screamed at me and was so mad, but I persisted. She was working through her anger and I was learning patience. We did it together. We didn't have any good latches that day. All throught the night I kept it up. The second day she finally latched on well. It was a miracle!!! She had a long nurse and I was so hopeful. It came and went all that day, sometimes screaming, sometimes latching. Same MO, no phone, skin to skin, etc.... the second night came and went. The third day she latched on every single time. We never looked back. I tried to reintroduce a bottle a couple months later, just in case I needed a back-up for anything, but it was a no-go. She never took another bottle after that day at the LLL meeting.

You can do it, you just need to be prepared mentally because it will be difficult. But remember, you can do it, she will not starve, she will latch, but you gotta get rid of the bottles!!

I wish you luck!!

[JunipersMom]

Yeah I'm going against the grain here too.. if breastfeeding is your goal - stop giving her bottles and work on getting her to latch again. You can finger feed or even cup feed (harder than a bottle, but it will stop the nipple confusion while she gets nutrition).
Alot of moms find babes latch on in a nice warm bath or some other relaxing skin to skin setting. It will probably take some work, but its totally worth the effort IMHO

[Fiestabeth]

I haven't had this issue so I have no advice to offer. I just wanted to say I am so moved and impressed by the determination of you mommas to nurse your babies!! It's so beautiful.

[Treehuggin'Mama]

First off, I want to thank you for all of your responses! It means so much and it's so encouraging.

Second... I tried using a nipple shield today (only once so far, though) and she went right for it like she does with the bottles! She even took both sides and nursed 'til she fell asleep. Granted, it was only once, maybe an hour ago, but I'm definitely going to try it again and see if she will eventually get used to my breasts again. She can do it, I know she can. And so can I. I'm ridiculously excited that she took my boob without question. Even if it was gloved.

[GooeyRN]

Im so glad you had some success! After using the shield a few more times maybe she will take your breast ungloved, since she will be used to eating from them again. Good luck!