Amanda - posted on 10/27/2009 ( 5 moms have responded )
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My son was 4 weeks early and had many latching problems while we were still in the hospital due to the size of his mouth and lethargy. While in the hospital, my son's weight dropped from 7 lbs to 6 lbs 5 oz, and I was forced to supplement with formula in order to bring his weight back up. He had a small bought with jaundice and had to be under lights and on a bili-blanket, which caused him to become drowsy and dehydrated. We first tried the Supplemental Nursing System by recommendation of the lactation consultant, but it was very frustrating and messy for the both of us. Out of frustration and exhaustion (I was recovering from pre-ecclampsia and a classical-incision c-section) I gave him a bottle. During his first couple weeks I continued to try feeding him directly from the breast but had a lot of difficulty. My milk came in very early (by day 2 I was pumping 2 oz between the two breasts) so I could stop the formula, but I still had to give bottles to satisfy him. I tried the breastshield, and he wanted nothing to do with it for quite some time. I continued to pump and feed him expressed milk for many weeks following. At 6 weeks I had to give him formula for a few days to get rid of the jaundice...which surprisingly worked. He is now 12 weeks old and still prefers the bottle over the breast. He is satisfied only with the morning feed since he sleeps all night (about 7-10 hours), and I have a lot of milk available. We've been trying to do a couple of oz from the bottle then finishing on the breast, but it only works about half of the time. Here's my predicament...I work two 24-hour shifts as a paramedic, and he is given about 6-8 bottles in a row at least twice a week. This is also a problem because I don't get the chance to pump sometimes for 10 hours due to being out on a call away from my pump. Any suggestions? I would really like to exclusively breastfeed him while I am home so it is easier on both of us. It's getting very tiring pumping and feeding him like I do since I rarely have time to do anything else. He eats between 4-5 oz of milk every 3-5 hours, and I barely produce (by pump) 4 oz after 5 hours. Please help!
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