[StarMama]

I need to know what I can use that is going to give the least amount of nipple confusion to ds. I'm starting to have tooth pain, so that probably means a root canal, and that means being away from ds for 2-3 hours (my dentist is 30 minutes away from here). I can wait another week or two, until he's closer to 6 weeks old (the age your supposed to wait before you introduce any bottles)... but I NEED to have a way to feed Orion when I'm not available for that situation, and possible other ones.

No I can't really bring him with me. Or have someone else bring him and watch him for me to nurse. He nurses for 40 minutes, and it more like 10 minutes on, 10 minutes sleeping, 5 on, 20 minutes sleeping, 20 on, ect, ect... takes a long time to feed him... my dentist is pretty darn booked, she's good, so I know it really wouldn't work to have to walk away from the chair at any moment for a potential hour...

We tried finger feeding him. He screams and screams for a long time before he'll take that. So I don't like that idea, too much stress for the poor guy. I found this product which looks really nice: http://www.nurser.com/index.html which says less nipple confusion, but it doesn't elaborate or really explain how... I've also heard of haberman feeders, but when I look into them they don't specifically say how they work or that they make the baby use them like they would nurse...

So can anyone help? What products really work? Thanks so much!

 

[rrr]

can you start talking to an anesthesiologist now about best medications for nursing mother?

LLL has a book, MEDICATIONS AND MOTHERS' MILK, 10TH EDITION

by thomas hale, phd

this new edition has 50 new drugs and the theoretic infant dose, the lactation risk category.

the LLL catalogue also sell the FOLEY CUP FEEDER. look into that. it's $6.50 for 3 of them. they are soft.

talk to an anesthesiologist seperate from your actual dentist, who may not be that breastfeeding savvy. they often recommend more seperation from baby than is necessary.

rrr

 

[StarMama]

Oh they won't knock me out for the root canal. I've had several of them done a few years ago, and its just an injection of novicane, which from what I've read is safe for breastfeeding moms. And for pain they usually give me vicodine and/or which one is it... I can't recall if its acetamenophen or ibprofin that is for swelling, that's what really helps... and I know vicodine is safe for breastfeeding moms, but not sure about the one for swelling (which I know wasn't safe for pregnancy but I'm fairly sure is ok for breastfeeding moms...).

So yeah, I can add that to my Q... whichever one is for swelling is that safe?

And the cup feeders, do babes have trouble figuring those out? I know the idea is to let them kinda lick up the milk, but I know my ds can choke sometimes on the SNS so I'm concerrned about that...

 

[rrr]

if you use sns, you must have an LC, they should know more about soft cup feeders than i do.

also call LLL

rrr

 

[DaryLLL]

Your dh can use your SNS on his finger. No need for a bottle. Or use a baby spoon or small paper cup.

 

[laurag]

I just ordered 2 of those Adiri Breastbottles. Haven't got them yet but I will let you know as soon as we try them

 

[SheBear]

Hey Lisa! Sorry to hear you are having dental problems! I had to have all my wisdom teeth removed when ds was wee, and it wasn't fun!

I know absolutely nothing about bottles--we were fortunate that we never had to use them. Sorry I can't help there!

I did use to work in a crisis nursery and have some experience with a Haberman....I'm really not sure how it could help avoid nipple confusion, though! We used it with babies who had trouble sucking on regular bottle nipples--for example, one baby had a severe cleft palate and could not create a vacuum around a regular nipple. The Haberman allowed her to get formula with much less effort, and helped her avoid swallowing as much air.

Anyway, that's the extent of my experience....

WRT the dental experience itself, I'd recommend you try to get an appointment scheduled when O is most likely to be napping. Nurse him down before you leave, make sure the dentist knows you have a newborn and cannot afford to be left waiting in the waiting room! My dentist was great about this--I called right before I left, and they practically ushered me straight in!

Anyway, take whatever measures you can to make the separation as brief as possible, and make sure the dentist knows how crucial your time is.

As for your pain, I would HIGHLY recommend that you take homeopathic Arnica! Take several times a day the day (or two) before your appointment, then immediately before you go in, after they finish, and for the next several days while you are recovering! Cross post to dental to get exact dosages and frequency, etc...

When my wisdom teeth were removed (and the 2 bottom were....what's the word when the roots are growing on to the bone? impacted?) I used arnica faithfully before and after, and I had NO swelling at all. No bruising, either. And I took only a couple of the pain pills they gave me, which I believe was oxycodone (the same as the vicodine, isn't it?).

The arnica was simply amazing! It isn't expensive, and should be pretty easy to find at any health food store.

Good luck to you and God bess!

 

[SpiralWoman]

hi Lisa Lynn,
when it rains it pours doesn't it! Like Dary said, my DH has fed DS with the SNS taped to his feeder, but it was a slow & tedious process & my DS isn't too patient when he's hungry! But it certainly is an option. We got our Haberman feeder from our LC. You can probably go to a LC shop to get one. Ours cost $27 but was well worth it. They are made by Medela. The only problems with a Haberman, as any bottle, is that the baby does not have a wide gape as would on the breast, but if DH finger feeds with the SNS, there will be no wide gape as well, right?

Here's the way the Haberman works: have you seen a picture of one? The long nipple extends to the back of the mouth the way your nipple does & keeps the back of the tounge down, not humped up as with a shorter nipple. If Orion hasn't been drawing the nipple far back, this could cause a "gagging" type reflex until he gets used to it. It took Griffin about a day to be ok with it everytime. Then the wide resevoir causes the baby to flange his lips out, like at the breast, tounge out over the lower lip, massaging the nipple to get the milk. You control the flow by rotating the bottle. The opening in the nipple is such that the baby has to suck. If you decide to use one, I'd be happy to PM you exactly how our LC taught us to use it, what positions to hold baby in, etc.

You are doing so good to try to find the thing that works best for you & Orion. It was so hard for me to let go & put Griffin "on a bottle." DH had to stay home from work for 2 days to do it. But, it really is sweet now to see them together & I know I am doing all this to get us to a working breastfeeding relationship, so I know it will be ok.
blessings, Maria

 

[StarMama]

Ah ha thank you for explaining how that works! I was confused because all I found online about the haberman feeders were they were good for cleft palette babies... I have seen one, both photos, and a friend who has a babe who's got a significant cleft palette has used one and I've seen her's.

I'd love to hear more about how you use it correctly to help keep it the most like breastfeeding...

I was also going to post something encouraging on your thread, but it seemed like I was always NAK when I remembered... But I just wanted to say you're doing a great job for your little one too!!

I called and left a message with the LC at Kaiser, so we shall see what they say when they call back...

Oh yeah, and we've tried having Dh feed Orion with the SNS on his finger. Ds won't take it. Screams. And screams. And screams. For a very long time. Takes over an hour to get him on. And that only happened when I was SO sacked out I didn't know he was screaming that long (I wouldn't have let him scream that long otherwise trying to get on). So finger feeding isn't an option.

He will take a normal bottle as I found out when I woke and Dh had fed ds part of a bottle when I had specifically told him not to so ds wouldn't get nipple confusion. ARG!

He was "just trying to let me sleep"... yeah, so he got yelled at today... so I need to get something that dh can use occasionally in case he wants to "help" some more...

 

[shelbean91]

We used the Avent bottles and they did ok. If the SNS by itself (as with fingerfeeding) is too slow- you could try the larger size tube (unless you're already on the highest size). When I was using the SNS at the breast- we used the middle size, then went to the smaller as my supply increased, but when we were using it as a finger feeder- we would use the larger size b/c ds would take the better part of an hour to get a full feeding otherwise.

The basic premis of the finger feeder, or bottle for that matter, is to have the baby take the same amount of time to feed from the substitute as he would from the breast. So, if it takes 20 minutes to nurse him, it should take 20 minutes from the bottle or fingerfeeder or whatever. If it's too fast, they could get lazy and nipple preference, if too slow, they could get frustrated. I hope that makes sense.

I second the recommendation to try to time it around a 'regular' nap. I know that's not too realistic at this age, but if he's showing any signs of a pattern at all, try to find it and schedule your appointment around it.

 

[StarMama]

Ah, I'll have Dh try the large setting. Ds is on the smallest setting, but that's just cuz the tube on the med one broke (we're getting replacements for that). It takes him 20-40 minutes to finish eatting. Thanks for that idea, I'll have Dh try that... I think Ds just doesn't understand that there is FOOD attached to the finger, maybe the diff size will help with that.

Unfortuantly there is NO schedule or anything remotely resembling one right now. I will do my best to feed him right before I leave though... Then maybe he will sleep through and I can come home and he'll just be waking. That would be great!