Hello mommies! I had my daughter on December 28, 2015. Ever since i was pregnant it was my goal to…
Hello mommies!
I had my daughter on December 28, 2015. Ever since i was pregnant it was my goal to have instant skin to skin with her, create that wonderful bond and to instantly start breastfeeding. Well i learned the hard way that labor and delivery NEVER goes the way you planned it to be. My daughter ended up stressing out during delivery and her first breath ended up being about 3-4 oz of meconium. So she was instantly taken from me to the NICU and i didn't even get to see her until about three hours after she was born. One of the hardest things to hear being a first time mom is that your baby is fighting for her life. With her, she had two different ventilators breathing for her plus a feeding tube that all took place in her mouth so breastfeeding wasn't an option the first week of her being born. They were swabbing her mouth with the colostrum i was pumping. And then they started to freeze my milk once my milk came in. Instead of allowing me to breastfeed her, they went to a bottle so they could "keep track of the amount she was intaking" which didn't make sense to me.. But oh well. She is now a few days away from being released.. I am still exclusively pumping to keep my milk supply up because i still want to breastfeed! I want her off the bottle!! I never wanted her to be on a bottle or at least not yet any ways..
So i have been able to put her to breast three times now. She wants to breastfeed. She does the (im not sure if there is a name for it) cute mouth open shaking her head around to get to my nipple. She will latch on to me but then gets mad that it doesn't flow like the bottle does. She doesnt always open her mouth wide enough either. I tried a nipple shield for the first time with her yesterday and it worked, we breastfed for about 5 minutes then she got flustered again. I have talked and had help from the lactation consultants but i felt like she was just trying to tare off my nipple instead of explaining to me what to do and what all this stuff means... So advice please, im not sure what im doing how to get her to properly latch. Any other mommies went from a bottle to breast? Or had success with a NICU baby going to breast? Anything helps! Please! I so desperately want this to work .
Sarah·
Мама двоих (младенец)
My 2 year old was NICU as well but didn't take to the breast (she didn't even get any colostrum in any ways until she was about 3.5 days old so I understand what you went through) and ultimately did better with the bottle. I have heard success stories from women that continued using shields, got LC help, or actually pumped a few minutes prior to trying to put baby to breast (sometimes mom's letdown is too strong or mom's nipple isn't optimal for a good latch and pumping helps it). It could also be that she can't properly transfer milk which leads to her getting frustrated because she's hungry. I wish you a TON of luck in getting her to breast, though, and congratulations on getting to bring her home!!!
Shawna Santistevan·
It's a good sign that she's showing signs of wanting to feed on the breast. You just have to keep at it eventually she will get used to working for her milk. The best way to get her to open her mouth more is to run your nipple from the tip of her nose to her mouth the lactation consultant I seen said that was the best way to get baby's mouth open wide. Also start feeding her when she shows the first signs of hunger, like putting her hands in her mouth that'll help so she doesn't get too frustrated
Mychelle·
Мама двоих (младенец)
You do have to remember that your nipples have to get tougher! When you start breastfeeding it takes about 2 weeks for them to get tougher and for you and baby to get comfortable feeding this way. Keep at it! and like @santistevanmommie said feed your baby on cue! When she starts stirring and you'll soon figure out what kind of noises she makes when shes hungry (my girl grunts like a piggy). If she starts crying its too late. She'll be too hungry and want the milk to come out faster and she'll get frustrated. Best of luck and again keep at it!!!
Kimberly ·
My 29 weeker spent 7 weeks in the nicu. We were able to do lots of non nutritive sucking that helped us ease into breastfeeding. @santistevanmommie suggested running your nipple across baby's mouth- that's what was suggested to me as well. And when baby roots (that's what you were going for) then offer the boob. Basically offer her the boob first thing she she wakes up. Snuggled with baby. Do tons of skin to skin. And relax. It's hard work getting a baby to breastfeed. Just keep trying!
Ashlea·
I know when I had my son I tried having him straight on the nipple but he just refused to latch right causing my nipples to crack so I had to use a shield. I started giving him bottles of breast milk here and there so my husband can feed him and give mr a break he is now 8 weeks old and I just got him to latch without a shield and oh boy does it hurt really bad when he first latches but after that first few seconds all is fine. your nipples have to get used to it so it actually does feel like your getting them ripped off at first and do lots of skin to skin it helps they can smell your milk and will try to find it. Just have a lot of patience and relax oh and make sure her lips are flared when she nurses if not it will hurt the whole time