Amanda - posted on 07/08/2010 ( 4 moms have responded )
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I want to breastfeed my baby. When she was born she was admitted into the nursery. She is about a month early and was having a little trouble breathing. She is fine now but when she finally started to eat it was through a tube. Then they had me pump and started to give her breast milk out of the bottle. Now I can't get her to take to my nipple... What should I do?
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Christy - posted on 01/18/2012
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nipple sheild worked great when I had flat nipples with my first. He was only two weeks early but didn't have as strong of a suck to draw out the nipple and so the sheild really helped him have something to latch onto.
Heather - posted on 07/08/2010
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You could also try a nipple shield. You can use those to transition kids from breastfeeding to bottles, so I would think you could use them the opposite way, too. I agree, too, about getting yourself to letdown, so baby doesn't have to work as hard at first. Sometimes they get frustrated when switching from something so immediate as a bottle to breastfeeding, which requires harder work and patience.
Good luck!!! And remember- even if you just keep giving her breastmilk through bottles, she's still getting it! =)
Celeste - posted on 07/08/2010
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Sounds like nipple confusion! Similar thing happened to my twin boys. They were born 6 weeks early, given bottles and one of them refused to nurse..I was able to get them to latch after 6 weeks. I'll share what worked for us:
-Skin to skin. Lots of skin to skin! You with no shirt and no bra, baby in just a diaper. Put her on your chest. I think that this is the main thing that really helped. After a few times, he started to search for the nipple on his own.
-Pump to get letdown going, then try to latch
-Put some milk on your nipples to try to coax her
-breast compressions http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=com_...
One thing to keep in mind is to try to nurse her as soon as she shows signs of hunger (ie. rooting, sucking on her fist). I found that if I waited too long and was crying (crying is a late sign of hunger), it made things more difficult and many times, the session would go down the tubes.
Here is more info:
http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/baby...
Lindsey - posted on 07/08/2010
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Hi Amanda,
Is your daughter still at the hospital? If so, how often are you with her?
My daughter was born 2 1/2 mos early and she was in a hospital over an hour away and I have two other children so I could only nurse her twice a day and the rest were bottle feedings. She took to nursing and the bottle quite well, but maybe if you offer your daughter the bottle less or try for a little while longer to get her to take the breast... It sounds mean, but if they're hungry enough, they'll eat.
Have you done skin-to-skin?
I'm sorry you're having such a difficult time with her and I hope you're able to start nursing her soon!
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