I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl just over four weeks ago. While I was in hospital she had a lot of trouble attaching and they suggested a nipple shield. She was using this however she would never stay on for very long, five minutes max. When we came home she started to become jaundiced and dehydrated. The midwife came and she had lost a fair bit of weight. She suggested formula feeding. She has been on bottles for 3 weeks. Now my question is, would it be ridiculous to buy a breast pump and express as I still have some milk? Would I be able to build up a bit of supply to even feed her one breast milk bottle? Is this just a stupid idea?
3 Replies
No way is this a stupid idea! Good on you mumma! First step would be get in touch with a lactation consultant and she can give you proper advice. You can buy a pump and express or you can put babe to your breast as often as possible and it will stimulate your milk sipply. Basically the more you feed, the more milk you'll produce! If bub is having trouble latching then you may need to have her checked for a tongue tie. The bottle is easier and not as much effort to drink from so don't be surprised if she fusses around on the breast at first.
Google lactation cookies and make up a batch. See your natropath and buy some fenugreek which helps build milk supply.
If you need to use the sheild then do so, once proper latching is established then she may not need the shield anymore. Also important to remember is how much milk you pump is not indicative of how much milk the baby will get straight from your breast. The suckling of a bub is more effective then a pump so lets say you only pump 50mls, it doesn't mean that's all she will get when she feeds of the breast. She is more efficent than a pump.
Re lactching is definitely possible! Personally I would stay at home for a few days, go shirtless as much as possible and put baby to breast as much as I could. Before every formula feed.
Good luck! Make sure you see the lactation consultant :):):):):):)
Firstly, congratulations on your little bundle :) My little man also would not latch with out the assistance with a nipple guard. Though he would stay at the breast for about an hour as he would continuously fall asleep but still wouldn't get a full feed so he would want a top up of formula after each feed. We struggled with this for six weeks until I decided to just express full feeds (he would have the bottle, then I would express after each feed to keep up with him). We went from an uncomfortable hour + long feed to 20 minutes (10 minutes for him to drink his bottle and 10 minutes for me to express with a manual pump) and I managed to keep it going until he was 8 months. At times my supply would dwindle but by expressing in between feeds my supply would come back to normal again. The main thing is to do what is comfortable for you and your little one.
Reposted on the facebook group too and I hope it helps! x
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