It happened! After a measly two days away from Chloe the bottle has stolen Chloe's love from me! I tried to breastfeed today for 30 minutes and Chloe would give some little sucks and then just sit there waiting for the milk to flow into her mouth. Then, when nothing flowed into her mouth she'd get annoyed and turn away.
For those breastfeeding vs. bottle novices: it's WAY easier for a baby to get milk from a bottle than the breast. They actually have to do a little work to get it from the breast - sucking, jaw action, pressure, etc. With the bottle, on the other hand, the milk will pretty much just dribble out with little effort on the part of the baby. Chloe quickly decided that she prefers the easy method to get her meals.
(Note: Solana spent two days in the nursery when she was born and was given a bottle. I didn't know any better than to tell the nurses "um, okay" when they asked if they could feed my oh-so-hungry baby a bottle since my milk hadn't come in, yet. I then spend the next 6 months pumping full time for her because she wouldn't latch on afterwards.)
While it's certainly not the end of the world to have another non-breastfeeding baby I'm not giving up. The lactation consultant (who I really like) will be in tomorrow and I'm cornering her for as long as it takes to get Chloe latched on again. I only hope she's seen this before and has some good tricks up her sleeve. She told me that preemies usually go back and forth from bottle to breast with no problem. I'm holding her to that.
I've also purchased some bottles my SIL told me about called Breastflow. They supposedly require the same kind of latch-on sucking that breastfeeding does. Maybe if we can get Chloe to eat from those bottles we can get her to latch on...?
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Cyndi - Don't give up. I'm sure as Chloe grows stronger she'll do more breastfeeding. Right now, she's probably just so pooped after trying she doesn't want to keep trying - she's just hungry! :-) I'm glad you have a good lactation consultant. Don't be afraid to ask a million questions and keep asking until you get the answers you need. Also, you might check to see if there is a local La Leche League (your consultant should know) and they can help you with support on the breastfeeding issue.
ReplyDeleteOh, that's a bummer. But don't be discouraged. I think with a good lactation consultant, you will get her to latch on again. And definitely try different bottles. A lot of nursing moms like Dr. Brown's - we like them even though I don't nurse. It was too much effort for D when she had the heart defect, and by the time she came home and got her heart fixed, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and had to stop pumping... Anyway, don't give up! Find a lactation consultant with experience with preemies and have her number on speed-dial. Let Chloe take those bottles and get nice and chunky so you can get her home.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be praying really hard for Chloe to start breastfeeding better!!
ReplyDeleteI certainly have no advice on this issue, but I definitely understand the frustration!!
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