How can I make sure my DD is getting enough suppliment? She isn't getting much from the SNS but also not much from the breast. This happened before and the IBCLC said she just wasn't sucking well enough (tongue tie) but the tongue tie was clipped (we may have to do it again, but, she was transfering milk great until my supply dropped) and I'm thinking maybe she just still isn't sucking well enough for it to work. I have not tried the faster flow tubing yet. I have to squeeze the bottle to get her started then she does take some while nursing, but, very little. She's been crying all the time and nursing all the time for over a week and I just thought it was her reflux getting worse but after seeing the IBCLC today and doing the weight etc. I think she was crying from hunger :-( I don't want to give her a bottle when I am with her because I don't want her to prefer it and also I don't want to have to add pumping on top of everything else (I am home alone with my kids at night after working all day).
Are you aware that the milk in the sns should be bubbling if it is placed properly? I ask this because I tried to use the sns with my first DS and he took very little from it and I didn't know why. I had a great LC with my second and she knew right away if it wasn't placed right. Keep moving the tube around until you find a placement where the milk bubbles. Also, place the milk holder high if you want quick flow, lower for slower flow.
If you just can't get the sns to work, get some oral syringes (used for after oral surgery) and you can squirt milk into side of babe's mouth. Can be done rather quickly at the end of a bf session.
Are you aware that the milk in the sns should be bubbling if it is placed properly? I ask this because I tried to use the sns with my first DS and he took very little from it and I didn't know why. I had a great LC with my second and she knew right away if it wasn't placed right. Keep moving the tube around until you find a placement where the milk bubbles. Also, place the milk holder high if you want quick flow, lower for slower flow.
If you just can't get the sns to work, get some oral syringes (used for after oral surgery) and you can squirt milk into side of babe's mouth. Can be done rather quickly at the end of a bf session.
Good luck!
I didn't know the bubbling had to do with placement! The one LC I saw to get help with the SNS (not the ones I usually see) said because it wasn't bubbling my DD didn't need it! Could my tubing be too long?? I have the container pretty high. Where can I get the syringes? I've heard of syringe feeding but never understood it...somehow the way you worded it finally makes sense to me...I think I could do that! she probably needs like 1-2oz of suppliment...LC said I would need to feed her every 1-1.5hrs with how much she is transfering on her own right now, and she also thinks feeding her that often wouldn't be the best idea because she burns so many calories eating and is having a lot of problems gaining weight already. Ideally we would be at about 3hrs, but, even 2hrs inbetween would be better.
Yeah, if the tube isn't placed correctly, it doesn't get any suction and no milk (or very little) gets sucked out, so experiment. I don't know if the tubing can be too long, you want some flexibility in placing the bottle of milk. I used to place the tube diagonally across the top of the breast with the end I think just at the tip of the nipple or maybe even a little forward. I could never get the milk to bubble with football hold, only really with a regular across-chest hold (although latch was better in general with football hold). I think you will find within one feeding that you will have a better hang of it looking for the bubbles. Once the babe is gaining better, if you want to start weaning off the supplementer, keep lowering the milk bottle so babe has to work harder for the milk (no gravity to help). Or if you are in a hurry, put it up high to get that milk into her (him?).
I got my syringes from my LC at first, but then I don't remember exactly. I believe you should be able to get them at a pharmacy or just call your dentist and see if they can get you some. If I remember correctly (my youngest is 9, so it has been a while) the syringes hold about 1/2 an ounce, so I would prepare maybe two or three for my DS. Sometimes I would even slide the syringe in the corner of his mouth while nursing. Be careful to aim into his/her cheek and not straight back! Also, go fairly slow, I guess you can overwhelm them (I think I went way too fast, although he never had a problem with it). I didn't know about this and would just pour the milk in. The suction does wear out on the syringes after a while and you have to get new ones, but they aren't expensive.
You are doing a great job!!! It is so hard when babe isn't gaining well, I had two of those. I ended up nursing DS1 for 3.5 yrs and DS2 for 4 years (through a pregnancy and tandem for a year), so don't feel all doom and gloom about your long-term prospects. I found four months to be the magic age for both of mine where either I lightened up, or they turned a corner. I wonder if we had some undiagnosed tongue-tie issues.
I had the tube under before, I put it more on top and saw a few bubbles inside the container! She drank about 1/2 an ounce from it in one feeding, which was better I think! I'm going to keep at it through the weekend and try a syringe on Monday if it's still not working. Thanks for the tip on where to obtain them...my DH's cousin is a dentist so I am going to ask him. We did try a medicine dropper at one point because she couldn't even take a bottle and she choked a lot, so I will definitly go slow if I use the syringe.
DD is 4mos now, so who knows...maybe it will start getting better! My older 2 I think had undiagnosed tongue tie issues as well...I only figured it out this time because of the constant weight loss the first few weeks and it felt so strange feeding her...finally a LLL leader suggested it and we had every single sign...it was super tight and she couldn't really move her tongue at all...she's much better since, but far from perfect..I think it is a combination of still having some remaining tight frenulum and her tongue muscle just being weak, since she didn't get to exercise it in the womb...not until she was 7 weeks old.
I'm glad it's working better for you. If babe is sucking, you should continue to see bubbles, which indicates milk is being removed. If it stops bubbling, try to just move the tube slightly while baby is still latched to adjust the position. I was thinking more about it and I did try to position tube so it stuck out just past the nipple ( maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch). This was per LC instructions. Do you use tape to hold the tube in place? I would use tape, but not close enough for tape to be in baby's mouth.
If you decide to try the syringes, I had a lot of luck with giving it right at the breast with baby side-lying. I didn't have any choking or gagging issues, this position might be better than the regular bottle-feeding position. My DS would change his latch slightly and kind of suck on the syringe, it was pretty cute!
I tried tape the first go round with SNS and found it was just one extra step too many...s I am not using it.
She continued to take about 1/2 ounce during her feedings but got frustrated by the evening and just kept unlatching (or she might have just been tired from nursing so often today) and I ended up feeling desperate and giving her 2oz from a bottle...she fell straight to sleep. I'm going to work with the SNS some more tomorrow though. I've gotten ok doing it in public, but, church is going to really be a new one! Eek!
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