First of all, a summary of my situation: My daughter is now two weeks old. She was born a bit early (36 weeks 6 days) and spent 4 days in NICU. While there she had formula from a bottle despite my pleas. As a result, she was slow to catch on the breastfeeding. I am happy to report that she has had nothing but breastmilk since last Saturday, but I have some concerns over how breastfeeding in general is going.
First, the lactation consultant at the hospital told me I needed to use nipple shields because my nipples are too short. So I've been using them, but in doing a bit of research I've seen some information that indicates using nipple shields reduces supply and may cause early weaning. I try to offer my breast without the shield every couple of feedings, but so far my daughter has not been enthusiastic about taking it--she's only done so twice. So my questions regarding this are: is it true that the nipple shields have the above negative effects? and how can I persuade my daughter to nurse without them?
Second, the above lactation consultant implied that my daughter would establish a nursing pattern by now. As near as I can tell, there's no pattern. Sometimes she goes an hour between nursing sessions, sometimes three. Every once in a while, she goes four-five hours. And when she's nursing, the amount of time she spends at the breast is quite variable--anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour. One marathon nursing session lasted an hour and a half. Is this normal or at least not indicative of a problem?
Third, I'm pumping about once a day when she goes longer between feedings in hopes of keeping the supply from dwindling. I usually get about 2-4 ounces. Does that seem like a normal supply?
Please help if you can. I have dial-up Internet at the moment and just don't have time to spend surfing for the answers to my questions.
TIA!
Jenn
First, the lactation consultant at the hospital told me I needed to use nipple shields because my nipples are too short. So I've been using them, but in doing a bit of research I've seen some information that indicates using nipple shields reduces supply and may cause early weaning. I try to offer my breast without the shield every couple of feedings, but so far my daughter has not been enthusiastic about taking it--she's only done so twice. So my questions regarding this are: is it true that the nipple shields have the above negative effects? and how can I persuade my daughter to nurse without them?
Second, the above lactation consultant implied that my daughter would establish a nursing pattern by now. As near as I can tell, there's no pattern. Sometimes she goes an hour between nursing sessions, sometimes three. Every once in a while, she goes four-five hours. And when she's nursing, the amount of time she spends at the breast is quite variable--anywhere from 20 minutes to over an hour. One marathon nursing session lasted an hour and a half. Is this normal or at least not indicative of a problem?
Third, I'm pumping about once a day when she goes longer between feedings in hopes of keeping the supply from dwindling. I usually get about 2-4 ounces. Does that seem like a normal supply?
Please help if you can. I have dial-up Internet at the moment and just don't have time to spend surfing for the answers to my questions.
TIA!
Jenn
