Question for non-breastfeeding mums

Melinda - posted on 05/11/2010

I have 3 kids, and I tried 3 times to breastfeed, and I failed 3 times. I have flat short nipples, all 3 of my kids were born with super high palates which causes latch problems as well, I have very little gland tissue (my breasts don't change during pregnancy), I also possibly have Reynauds of the nipple though I haven't had it diagnosed (causes extreme pain due to constriction of blood vessels), and 3 lactation consultants told me I would never be able to exclusively breastfeed any baby. So, after the initial horrible pain of trying to get breastfeeding going (my nipples were raw within a day, I could rarely get a nipple shield to even stay on, and when I could, couldn't get baby to latch on correctly even with the nipple shield), I just pumped what I could (usually about 1/2 ounce total every 2-3 hours after 20 minutes of pumping each side) and gave it to my baby with the formula feeding until my supply dried up. Yeah, I'm disappointed, but at the same time, none of my kids have ever had an ear infection, and they are all healthy, so instead I just count myself blessed!

*Lisa* - posted on 05/11/2010

And a big thankyou to everyone else for your comments. You are all a bunch of great mums.

*Lisa* - posted on 05/11/2010

@ Tracey Avis: What an experience!!! And you are so right that you are made to feel a lot of 'guilt' for not continuing to breast feed. But in some cases, formula is really necessary! I am glad your child survived. But what a story! Thanks for sharing.

Wendy - posted on 05/11/2010

my son was 5 weeks premature, we had problems with latching and i had a low milk supply despite pumping every 3 hours. pumping more was not an option since it took over an hour to pump not even a meal out for him. he was becoming more and more alert as time went on. then mastitis hit. what a painful nightmare! i kept clogging 2-3 times a week! i was put on an antibiotic, which i had an allergic reaction to. i basically decided spending time with my son was more important to me than breastmilk. then we found out he is allergic to cows milk... ugh! but now is thriving on soy formula.

Merri - posted on 05/11/2010

I wanted to make sure he was getting all the stuff he needed, I was affraid I would have had low iron or low vitaims or something, Also once he took to the formula it worked really well for him so I did not want to switch off formule for breastmilk.

Jackie - posted on 05/11/2010

I had major complications that involved my bleeding and so I was out for almost 24 hours after birth. Obviously, they had to supplement him until I was with it. By then, he was used to the other and I was having enough issues healing myself that I only tried for about a day and we were having to coax him with formula tube put on the nipple anyways.

Tracey - posted on 05/11/2010

There is such pressure to breast feed that when you can't you feel terrible & in my case the midwives belief that I could almost caused my 2nd child to die. My 1st son was born barely alive (blood sugars of 0.4) so was taken immediately to SCBU, as I had to express milk it soon became obvious I had no milk, the situation didn't change when he came out of SCBU. My 2nd some was born healthy after an emergency ceasaerian, latched on perfectly (which my 1st couldnt do). Again it was obvious to me I wasn't producing milk but during the 3 days I stayed in with my sons the midwives were insistant it would be fine, even tho they took him away at one point because he wouldn't stop crying. On the day we were to go home they were concerned about the appearance of my son & that he had gone from 5lb 7 to 4lb 14 but still decided we could go home amoungst insistance that he would get enough milk. Just before I was to leave for home my son stopped breathing, was rescuscitated by 2 consultant who happened to be nearby, he then fitted for 48hrs. His blood sugars had dropped to 0.5 because he hadn't had enough milk!!! We went thru hell waiting to see if he'd survive & if he did whether he would be brain damaged. He had to have an MRI scan & lumber puncturem. He was watched til he was 2 to be sure no jarm was done. We were very lucky he survived & he is fine now but although ideallly breast is best, midwives need to be aware that it's not the case for everybody it is not always natural & those of that can't shouldn't have to be made to feel bad!!!

Carla - posted on 05/11/2010

I wanted to breast feed but my son just would not do it. I think my milk wasn't coming in fast enough. He was jaudice and had been given formula. Tried really hard to get him to then my milk dryed up really early.

Robyn - posted on 05/11/2010

I tried to but nursing for an hour and then baby wanted a bottle. Wasn't getting any sleep.

Jessica - posted on 05/11/2010

My son was 3 weeks premature due to preeclempsia on my part. I was not producing anything at all for him, not even colostrum, so he ended up in the NICU for a few days from low blood sugar. Once my milk finally did come in almost a week later he had no interest in trying to latch on and would push me away screaming. I finally stopped trying, why force something when he's perfectly happy and healthy on formula. Not to say that I won't try with the next one.

Laura - posted on 05/11/2010

Overweight and too much breast! Without milk in them I am a 50DDD and on top of that my nipples were really low. There was never going to be a time I could just hold him in my arms and feed him. It had to be with him on my lap, on a pillow and me holding my breast in such a way that he wouldn't smoother. It was far easier and far more bonding to pick him up and put him in my arms to feed him ...I would have missed out on so much of the bonding had I not been able to do that.

After that when the other two came it wasn't even a question, just went straight to formula. All three boys are mostly grown now (15, 16 & 20) and all very healthy and all very smart :)

Rosie - posted on 05/11/2010

i tried with my first one, hated it. my nipples bled, i felt like he wasn't getting anything to eat, he acted like he was starving, and it completely drained me emotionally, and physically.

with my other 2 i was married and wanted my husband to help feed, along with my experience from my first time.

Sayward - posted on 05/11/2010

I fully planned to breastfeed, thought ppl. who said they "couldn't" just "wouldn't"... however, due to poor latch, little help in hospital, nipples that cracked and bled within two days, my daughter losing weight and dehydrating b/c milk was not coming in, having to beg to see the in-hospital lactation consultant, said consultant recommending pumping while breasts healed/milk came in and supplementing, pumping for three weeks postpartum w/ a hospital-grade pump every 2.5 hours, not being able to afford our own good LC, public health not being able to provide enough support to help us, and milk never coming in... and feeling like a failure b/c my body wasn't working, crying in pain b/c my breasts didn't heal while pumpimg to create a supply that was obv. not there, and crying at every bottle feeding b/c I was failing my daughter. It was emotional hell, and I still feel like I failed even though she is now thriving.

I hope your research/interest sheds light that not BFing is not always a choice, and that it is literally not possible for some women to do this. I find it insulting when ppl. say things like, "Throw away bottles and formula and BF," (as tho it's a choice and/or easy) or formula companies carry more breastfeeding info than they do bottle info. Formula is food, not poison, and it's a modern miracle, IMO.

Shelley - posted on 05/11/2010

I actually wanted to BF. That was my plan from the beginning. But I had a very rough labor and delivery (I also lost a lot of blood), and despite all my efforts to help it along, my body never produced any milk. So I really didn't have a choice.

Gloria - posted on 05/11/2010

A baby is a lot of work, but they're every bit worth it!!

Shanelle - posted on 05/11/2010

My son was never into being held and refused to Latch on even with a week of appts with a LLL. I pumped for 4 months and he took that in a bottle just fine until I couldn't keep up with his demands then formula was the next choice. It worked out for us.

Jessica - posted on 05/11/2010

I didn't want to really. I figured bottle feeding is just as good for them and personally i think if you don't take care of yourself like you really are supposed to bottle feeding can actually be better for them because then you know your baby is getting all the nutriton that they need. Also I can't do it all myself nor did I want to. I like the fact that my husband feeds our baby just as much as I do, he also likes it.

Chantelle - posted on 05/11/2010

only 17yrs old when i had my beautifull daughter heard all the scary stories and was too scared by the time she turned 3 to 4months old i wanted to and very much so regarting not doing so in the begining so sad i missed my chance now shes 10months old very happy and healthy and for sure on the next one which will not be for atleast 10yrs lol i plan on breast feeding i literally mean 10yrs my daughter is all i can handle and shes finally sleeping throu the night she needs all of her daddy's attention and mine she won't be able to handle another baby

Joanne - posted on 05/11/2010

have a disease that would do more harm than good to the child.

Cristal - posted on 05/11/2010

I couldn't see him for 24 hours bc he was 5 weeks early and had to be fed through his nose. With my first one I didn't either I was you at the time I wanted to try this time but couldn't

Guille - posted on 05/11/2010

I started bf, but being a first time mom I did not get that my baby was not gaining any weight, because she was growing really well.By the second month my little girl ended up presenting malnutrition. So I pumped for a month and a half so that I could measure how much she was eating. I could only stand the breastpump for that long, otherwise I would have continued. Next baby I hope no emergency C-section is made and hopefully that will help my bm production. I will for sure try bf longer.

Alisha - posted on 05/11/2010

I had my daughter 3 weeks past my due date. I was in labour 40 hours and then had a C-section. My blood pressure was quite high the last 2 months of my pregnancy. When they did the C-section I lost a lot of blood. I had to have a blood transfusion. My incision got infected. I tried breast feeding for 2 weeks but because my body suffered so much trauma my body didn'y produce enough of a milk supply. Olivia had latching issues.Babies are only aloud to lose 10% of their body weight after birth, She lost 15%. I had to start supplementing her along with breast feeding her because she was starving. Then I had to stop all together beacuse my blood pressure became dangerously high and they were going to hospitalize me. So I had to go on blood pressure medication. You can't breast feed while you are on the meds as it is passed through the breast milk. So in the end the decision was taken out of my hands. I'm glad I tried and I will try again with another child I have. I am quite comfortable with FF now. Olivia is quite happy and healthy. Her daddy got to have some bonding time with her as well.

Gloria - posted on 05/11/2010

I wasn't emotionally able. But breast-feeding is the best nurishment, any baby can get.

Amy - posted on 05/11/2010

I had to have surgury after having my son and asked for a bottle before going in so i could feed him quickly, after it was all over the midwives just presumed i didnt want to try breast feeding and left me too it, i was on a lot of medication and by the time i felt like i was myself i felt it was too late to try. i am so disapointed in myself

Amy - posted on 05/11/2010

My milk never came in. My son was born with acid reflux so he had to have a special formula anyway.

Kathryn - posted on 05/11/2010

I had twins, one was in the hospital for 5 weeks with complications and the other was itty-bitty and had trouble latching. Besides, I take anti-seizure meds that can cause harm to the baby. At first, I felt like a bad mom but I got over it real quick- especially when my husband could get up in the middle of the night and feel one of the twins.

Cara - posted on 05/11/2010

I have Breast fed and not breast fed. My first born I was young and so scared that I just could not bring myself to feed that way. The second and Third I breast fed and they were happy healthy babies.

Huda - posted on 05/11/2010

i breastfed for 6 months, but it was so exhausting. and throughout my breastfeeding , actually i was expressing rather than directly breastfeeding. every time i tried to breastfeed my son he would fall asleep on my breast, when i remove him, he would wake up and start crying out of hunger again, so i found expressing much easier and fullfilling for him, as he would have enough and get satisfied easily. my mother-in-law encouraged me to express too, as she wanted to hold him and feed him her self, so it wasnt my idea alone. as he grew , expressing was tiring too. so i switched to formula.

Emily - posted on 05/11/2010

I had twins, so I knew breastfeeding would be more challenging than for a mom with a single, so I was mentally prepared for at least having to supliment. I know several children who were only formula fed for a variety of reasons, and they are healthy weights, rarely sick, and thriving. I did start to nurse, however my son had a tonge tie which prevented proper latching, so I bled a lot with both, and it was incredibly painful. However, despite this, I wanted to at least try to continue, and also pump. We bought the pump, I didn't have much at all, as it took my milk about four days to come in, so we did give the twins some formula as well. I was also quite sick with partial kidney failure and recovering from pre-eclampsia, so was in the hospital for 6 days. When I went home, I got extremely sick, I couldn't even keep down water for almost a week, even after that it took another week for me to be able to keep down more than pedialyte and a bit of chicken soup - I was in emerg getting rehydrated. Needless to say, the milk supply just was not there for one much less two babies, and I just did not have the energy to nurse two, I needed the sleep to get better. I did continue to pump a few times a day, not enough I realize, but as much as I could, to at least get the milk going. However, by that point the little ones were pretty much used to the bottle, so I pumped some for the next few weeks (six weeks total), and then after that, as my milk really never was even close to sufficient, I gave up.
Having two, we likely aren't going to try again, but if we did, I certainly would give it another stab. Hopefully I wouldn't be so sick again, which would certainly help, but quite frankly, if it seemed that formula was the way to go again, it wouldnt' bother me nearly as much as it bothered me this time round. Every mom has to do what is right for them and their babies, and should not be judged for that.

Kelly - posted on 05/11/2010

My Daughter had issues latching from day one and she was born with a little numbness in her right side of face which dissapered with time she all good now and also i could not produce enough milk for her so after many doctors and nurses and Latitions i decided it was best to bottle feed and it worked out fine... Great sleeper no issues i will also bottle feed number 2 which we are trying for now....

Crystal - posted on 05/11/2010

I had a terrible time getting my kids to latch on properly. But after they were 6 weeks old they started being able to nurse without making me bleed. I was able to breast feed my first one for 13 month (yay for me) and then he weened himself. But with my second son, it was the same 6 weeks until he got the hang of it. I did not supplement, just dealt with the scabs and the pain as best I could. Yet when we took him in for his 9 month check up he had not gained ANY weight from his 6 month check up. I told them that he was getting skinny, but they didn't do anything about it because they stop doing weight checks at 1 month. Anyway they had me nurse him as usual and they weighed him. I was only producing 1 ounce, not the 8 ounces I had at that point with my eldest. My milk was drying up. They diagnosed him as FTT and put him on formula to fatten him back up while I tried to increase my supply. I tried fenugeek and several other things, but nothing helped. They also had me keep a food diary for him. I Think that they figured that I wasn't feeding him babyfood even though I said that I was. But no, he was eating more calories than I was!!! So they had me add margarine, cheese, and sugar to all of his foods. I even had to add vanilla instant breakfast to his formula to make it have more calories (babies under 12 months aren't allowed to have Strawberry or Chocolate because of allergy). OH, and his formula was mixed 5 scoops instead of 4 per 8 ounce bottle. Then he caught the rotavirus, was hospitalized and couldn't nurse for a week (was on IVs for his fluids but couldn't hold down food). After that my milk dried up the rest of the way.

With my third she started looking skinny at 4 months. I took her in, and told them that I wanted a pre and post nursing weight check whether they liked it or not. I was down to 2 ounces with her. She had NOT started babyfood yet, so with the Dr.'s go ahead I began feeding her like I had my middle son. Putting margarine on her baby rice cereal, mixing in the vanilla instant breakfast to her 5/4 formula which I had to supplement with. But I started taking the fenugeek and drinking mother's milk tea and other such stuff. I pumped every 2-3 hours at night while she slept. I finally gave up after my milk turned sour. It was still only a small amount and it smelled terrible, like sour milk, when it came out. I watched what I ate too. No stinky foods, no gassy foods, very little dairy. My milk just wasn't fit to drink. No wonder she was refusing to drink it. I had been sneaking it into her food for a while after she started turning her nose up at it.

I hope that when I have #4 I'll be able to nurse as well as I did with #1, but if the trend continues, I'd better bring bottles to the hospital.

Jessica - posted on 05/11/2010

I think my little one got used to the bottle at the hospital. I tried many times but she didnt like it. Had lactation consultants come in and all. I would pump but it got harder when she came home. I dried out..

Tanya - posted on 05/11/2010

I'm a mom of six children and they were all bottle fed and are growing up healthly and doing great in school!

Reason number one for not breastfeeding - was just could not and did not feel comfortable doing it. Tried it 3 times and could not tolerate the pain it caused to my nipples and waiting for baby to latch on. Whatever choice a woman makes is the right choice, there is no wrong choice when it come to feeding your baby.

Ann - posted on 05/11/2010

I did not breast feed either of my 2 children. I think it is a personal decision to make. I did try with my first one, but we became so stressed out that I decided it wasn't worth it, and I didn't even try the second time. I know there are a lot of reasons to breastfeed, but My kids are happy, healthy, and the only illnesses are just typical viruses that go round. But like I said personal decision and every family has to make the decision that is best for their family.

Katie - posted on 05/11/2010

I am someone who wanted to breastfeed, did breastfeed and 7 months later wishes I could still breastfeed. I went through all the "horrible" and painful issues many mom's did. Cracked nipples, infections, bleeding, LLL had to help, pumping, creams, medication, etc. Finally after a month I had the whole breastfeeding thing down to a T. My daughter started a bottle a day of formula when she was 3 months old before her father deployed to Afghanistan for a year. 1 bottle then lead to 2 once the stress of being alone kicked in. 2 then turned into 3 because my milk supply decreased. Soon all she wanted was bottles. I am taking blessed thistle, fenugreek, drinking tea and eatting any food that is said to improve milk supply. I pump 3 times a day (getting a little over an oz total per day) and manage 1 morning feeding bc that's the only time she will stay latched. It pains me to no end that I want to breast feed but can't. My daughter, however, loves bottles, doesn't mind if it's formula or not and keeping her healthy and happy is far more important than the ease and convience of breastfeeding.

Petrina - posted on 05/11/2010

Tried to exclusively breastfeed my little one...but after a month of trying (and he was a very good little nurser...so it was no error on his end) he was not gaining weight as he should have (i guess i wasnt producing enough milk or the milk i was making wasnt "full bodied" enough for him) so at his doctors appointment they decided to put him on formula and he gain almost a full pound in 4 days. Ever since then we have stuck to the formula and i'm happy to say my little man is thriving and growing right on target! Hoping to try exclusively breastfeed with my next little one...so we shall see in the future how that turns out!

Lara - posted on 05/11/2010

I had mastitis 3 times in two months, causing fevers and pain. Nothing helped. I went to see lactation consultants every other day and nursed in front of them. I pumped or nursed every three hours 24/7. It was horrible and nursing hurt me. I also hated being sucked on all the time. I was resenting my son for putting me through this. I decided to stop breast feeding so I would love my son and not be angry at him for making me go through daily agony. It was the best thing I could have ever done. I started sleeping. My son took to the bottle fine. I wanted to breast feed, but am glad I made it through the peer pressure to do what I needed to do for everyone's sanity.

Carol - posted on 05/11/2010

well with #1 I did breastfeed for 4 weeks, then I got nervous one afternoon getting ready to leave for the weekend and my milk dried up, #2 my milk only came in on one side, I tried drinking beer, I was told that makes LOTS of milk, found out that beer and I don't mix, and since the baby still seemed hungry he went on the bottle, #3 I was breastfeeding for 4 months, I thought he was doing fine, when I took him in for a well baby check up discovered he had gained 2oz since 2 weeks old, so he went on the bottle, he was starving and I didn't realize it! #4I BF for 4 months and that worked fine til I got called back to court by #3's father, she went ont he bottle, #5 was born with health issues, having seizures and was too tired to nurse, and when she was in the hospital 2/3 of her life by 6weeks old the cow just dried up. I have had a sister-in-law who tried and on baby #3 we found out she has a special condition that causes the ends of the nipples to get sore much like the feet or fingers do during the cold, and between that and mastitis the first two she gave up, the 3rd she accidently found out what the problem was talked to her dr. and she gave her some meds and that solved the problem. She is still nursing 6 months later with good results.

Cindy - posted on 05/11/2010

I tried to breast feed my son, did in the hospital but was unable to successfully breatfeed him. There were several reasons why. First I had a very difficult labor/delivery so they tried to keep him to let me rest and when they brought him to me to be fed, they did it every 3-4 hours not every hour, so naturally he was starving. I'd eaten something that gave him gas, and first time mother, had no gas drops to give him. Also because of the labor/delivery being so difficult, I couldn't have any pain medicine while nursing, and I'm also very addicted to caffiene. We started supplementing formula in the hospital because he'd dropped weight, and immediately started doing better, so when we came home we made the descision to bottle feed because of my caffiene intake, my nerves over what to eat, not to eat and I was in so much pain I had to take something stronger than tylenol when I got home. Best descision we made because my son has been healthy ever since!

Catherine - posted on 05/11/2010

I couldn't produce enough milk to feed my child. I was even given a prescription that apparently increases milk production and nothing. He would suckle for hours and not be satisfied. I was heartbroken when I had to switch to formula, and it's still a tender issue with me now

Marla - posted on 05/11/2010

I had many factors that I considered when deciding to stop breast feeding. I had some serious medical issue's from my son's delivery and he had some issue's that sent him to the NICU for 3 days. I did end up breast feeding for 3 weeks. He kinda refused during the night to nurse plus it was easier and faster to give him a bottle since I needed to rest as much as possible. I also have some big knockers.......I wasn't comfortable nursing in public or in front of my family. During that time I had a foster child that I didn't feel comfortable nursing in front of. I also had Post Partum Depression. With all these factor's combined I chose not to continue breast feeding. Now I'm kinda sad that I didn't continue since this was my last baby!! I wanted a perfect normal (non C-Section) birth and ended up almost having a stroke, bleeding out twice and required multiple blood transfusions. Liam was transferred to another hospital via ambulance because his blood was to thick for his heart to pump correctly. After my release I got very sick with some sort of infection. About a month after that I ended up bleeding out again and required emergency surgery to stop the bleeding. I don't remember most of the birth or hospital stay and now that he is almost a year old I'm looking back and becoming very sad by that. I just wanted one thing to go right and be happy to remember a positive birthing experience not the fact that I almost died twice, but we are alive and he is perfect and normal!!! We have alot to be thankful for!!!

Tracy - posted on 05/11/2010

My daughter couldn't latch, and with some health issues she had it was very difficult, so we gave formula. She slept better, and this way daddy could help! There's all the nutrients you need in formula..even more depending how you look at it. I like to eat healthy and found it extremely important to eat healthy while pregnant. I think you have to really watch what you eat when you are breastfeeding as well. Seems like today's society a lot of people don't watch well enough to what they are eating. Baby needs the proper nutritian, so I think if you can't control your eating habits, then you should use formula...It has everything baby needs!

Tania - posted on 05/11/2010

I take anti rejection medication. I also know I am not harming my child by fornula feeding.

Stephanie - posted on 05/11/2010

I had always planned on breastfeeding and knew that it was probably going to be hard, and it was. My daughter had a very hard time latching on which made her very upset. There were many times where I'd sit there and try all the different ways in the book to get her to latch on, but nothing worked. Thankfully I had a breast pump where I was able to pump often, however there wasn't much milk. I would mix the breast milk and formula for about a month or so, but it ended up being to time consuming for the amount of milk I'd produce. I'm definitely going to try to breastfeed my next baby and hopefully it goes a bit smoother!

Viviana - posted on 05/11/2010

For me too breastfeeding was not "natural" - I have flat/inverted nipples and my son couldn't latch...finally got him on one side for a couple months and tried pumping out the other. I was ready when my second came along and LLL gave me a nursing bottle, where you fill a bottle hanging from your neck and tape tiny tubes to your breast so baby seems to be getting fed from your breast - the idea being that eventually it would work. It was too hard plus of course I had to avoid friends and family while I struggled with this.

Michele - posted on 05/11/2010

I started out breastfeeding (almost) exclusively the first 6 weeks of her life.
While pregnant with my daughter I had kidney stones due to pregnancy, six weeks after my c-section I had another kidney stone. While in the ER the Dr gave me morphine which made me itchy so he counteracted it with Benadryl.
The Dr knew I was breastfeeding, but apparently didn't know that Benadryl would dry up a nursing mother. I was in so much pain I wasn't thinking about drying up, I was only thinking about how the morphine would affect my baby. The Dr assured me the morphine would only make her a little drowsy, I thought back to the kidney stones I had when I was 28 weeks pregnant the very little morphine they gave me did make her drowsy and she is perfectly fine.
I knew not to take ANY drying medicine including Benadryl, but I wasn't thinking clearly. Plus I trusted the Dr to do what was best for me. I learned a very valuable lesson that day.
Anyways, I called everyone I could, researched everything I could, and tried everything I could and I still could not get the milk back like she needed. She would cry because she wasn't getting anything and it broke my heart. I cried with her.
At 8 weeks she became exclusively bottle fed with very little pumped breast milk and mostly formula.
I hope with my next child I will be able to feed them for several months.

Denyse - posted on 05/11/2010

I actually really wanted to breast feed. Unfortunately, my son was born 12 weeks early and had to have a feeding tube. Because of the tube he never really had the opportunity to learn how to breast feed.

Joan - posted on 05/11/2010

hi

i have epilepsy. the dr said it was safe to get pregnant,but once my kids were born i didn't think it was in their best interest to continue to give them all of the meds that i had to consume on a daily basis.

Brooke - posted on 05/11/2010

I had a lot of difficulty breastfeeding with my first child. I ended up getting milk fevers. Then my child favored one side over the other which made things complicated. I pumped while breastfeeding as well and I jsut wasn't producing enough milk. I bottle fed my second child and it was so much easier and less messy.

Tamara - posted on 05/11/2010

both of my children were born at 36 weeks.
#1 had not developed the sucking reflex so the nurses worked with her in the nursery with a bottle. I was on so much magnesium that I really didn't care. Tried to bf but even 2 days with the LLL didn't help. In the long run, my daughter did NOT want to be held close while eating even a bottle, we had to lay her down and take the blankets off for her to eat.
#2 was much bigger baby and he was eating all the time straight out of the womb it seemed! I did bf for the first day but with great difficulty and just gave in....too much stress for both of us.