starting over

[CableGirl]

ok, I've posted about my BF issues countless times so far. In my last post I announced I was giving up. Well, I've been off the roller coaster for almost 2 weeks now.. but I finally found access to Domperidone and I plan to start using that. What I need is some advice. How do I start getting my baby girl back on the breast if she's been off it? I know I'll have to pump like a mad fiend to try to get the supply back at all.... mind you, before I ever gave up she was getting less than an ounce at each feeding (so said the LC who was weighing her before and after each feeding)

DD only ever really used me as a paci before I gave up. Her suck was not nearly strong enough to get much of anything.

[timneh_mom]

I am really happy to hear you want to give this another try! I am definitely 100% supportive of you!

I have a couple of ideas. The first one is to try to woo her back to the breast like you might if she were on a nursing strike. Try a warm bath together, getting her on when she is sleepy, etc. My other thought is the possibility of getting a SNS or Lactaid, are you familiar with them? Both are of similar design but made by different companies. You put formula or pumped milk in a small container that hangs around your neck. There are two thin tubes coming from the container that you tape to your breasts so the tubes end at your nipples. She will be sucking and stimulating your breasts while still getting milk through the tubing. Moms who have really low supply, need to supplement, or are trying to relactate or induce lactation for an adoption often use these.

I hope this helps you and I hope that others will chime in with some more suggestions!

[2 in August]

I agree with what the pp said, but what struck me is how you said she had a weak suck. My ds had that too and we ended up using a Haberman feeder to help him learn to suck harder. Depending on how you line up the nipple in your baby's mouth, she'll have to barely suck or suck fairly hard. Your lc should be able to help you with it. My ds could barely get anything out on the easiest level to begin with and now at the hardest level he doesn't have a problem at all. I've heard you can do something similar with a sns or lactaid, but I haven't done it myself. The sns will help her get an easier flow at the breast and entice her to stay on and after she gets comfortable with it you can start to wean her off it. I liked that depending on where I put the bottle (I had an sns starter system) it made it easier or harder for him to get the supplement.

[CableGirl]

my problem from the start was the dd was not sucking hard enough to get anything from me. When we used the SNS it just encouraged her to be lazy since she didn't have to pull hard to get supplement. I've never heard of a Haberman.. where does one get it?

timneh_mom thanks for the support.

[CathMac]

Cable Girl,
I have no BTDT advice for you. But I do have a bunch of links I periodically post when I see a question like this (see further below). From everything I've read on wooing baby back, a relaxed atmosphere is critical. Catching them when they aren't too hungry is important which is why I think co-sleeping is a great idea.

I thought the "Re-birthing" technique (described in one of the links below) sounded a little wacky until I read a story about a woman who seemed to discover this technique by accident. Her husband coerced her into weaning her DD at 3 months and she really regretted it. Months later she was taking a bath with her DD when she reached up and playfully latched on. I vaguely remember a followup post saying that she went on to nurse her again. I have no idea for how long. As one or more of the article on this technique emphasize, safety is really important so you would probably want a "spotter" on hand just in case, but they would probably need to be unobtrusive.

Also, I did come across a recent thread on nursing in the bathtub. It alludes to some of the elements that might be conducive to wooing baby back: a womblike environment, warmth, relaxation, comfort, skin to skin contact, etc. I have included a link to this thread beneath the article on Re-Birthing.

I don't know which, if any, of these article deal with weak suck. But if you go to Kellymom and look you might find something a little more specific to that issue.

HTH, ~Cath

LINKS
Relactation and Induced Lactation Resources
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/adopt/rel...resources.html

Adoptive Breastfeeding & Relactation
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/adopt/index.html

Relactation and Adoptive Breastfeeding: The Basics
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/supply/relactation.html

Help -- My Baby Won't Nurse!
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/...to-breast.html

Re-Birthing: Help For Latch On Problems
http://www.lactationconsultant.info/rebirth.html

MDC link to thread on Nursing In The Bathtub
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ighlight=water

When a Baby Refuses to Nurse
http://www.mobimotherhood.org/MM/article-refusal.aspx

Helping a Mother with a Baby Who Is Reluctant to Nurse
http://www.lalecheleague.org/llleade...tNov99p99.html

My Baby Just Doesn't Get It
http://www.wiessinger.baka.com/bfing...e/babyget.html

~Cath

[CableGirl]

Cath - thank you, those links are very helpful. I just got an email confirmation that the domperidone is on it's way. Here's to hoping it helps!

[mamamelia]

have u tried fenugreek? i needed to take 9000mg daily before it made any difference for me. that's double the maximum recomended daily amount.

[mamamelia]

btw - i am right there with you.. my dd also has a weak suck and a somewhat high palate, and i resorted to pumping/bottle feeding. i am trying now to put her back onto the breast and it's torture everytime we try. she just screams and screams and screams at me and i swear all i want to do is sit there and cry

hang in there mama...

[timneh_mom]

Haberman feeders are made by Medela, you could do a search online or if you are working with a lactation consultant, she might be able to sell you one or tell you who might sell them in your area. It's kind of a specialized bottle. They are often used with babies with suck problems.

[CathMac]

Cable Girl,
NAK.

Glad some of those links were helpful.

I just searched "weak suck" at Kellymom. Here are a couple of other links. Hope they aren't duplicates.

http://www.kellymom.com/newman/26bab..._to_latch.html
http://www.kellymom.com/newman/15bre...mpression.html
http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/reflux.html
http://www.kellymom.com/newman/04enough_milk.html

~Cath