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Old January 3rd 08, 03:37 PM posted to misc.kids.breastfeeding
Jodi B
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Posts: 23
Default HELP ASAP baby wont latch on was hospitalized for Jaundice and feed with bottle!!

wrote:

Please help!! My one week old baby girl almost refuses to latch on.
She was doing very well nursing initially but she was readmitted for
Jaundice the evening we were discharged. I went to the hospital while
she was under light treatment to breast feed her and they used a
bottle when I was not there. We brought her home and had to take her
back to the ER new years eve for Jaundice again and now she is finally
home. But she does not want to latch on at all so I've been pumping
and bottle feeding her. When I try to breast feed her she gets real
fussy and starts crying I even try keeping my nipple there and there
is plenty of milk I can squirt her in the mouth!! Any suggestions ASAP
would be greatly appreciated.


I have a three month old, and we went through a really rough time at the
beginning. Getting him to latch on properly and reliably took about a week
and a half. I would nurse him as much as he would stand and then pump the
rest and feed it to him by bottle because the doctors were worried about
his weight loss (he wasn't jaundiced though). In that first week, it would
take a good 15-20 minutes to get my son to latch on. He would bounce off,
cry, get fussy, then I would be crying out of frustration, and somewhere
in there he would start nursing.

Have you tried giving her a little bit from the bottle at the beginning of
a feed so that she is less hungry and more calm when you put her to the breast?
Or instead of a bottle you could try cup or syringe feeding. It is more
time consuming but may lessen any nipple confusion she might have.

Have you tried different positions and holds for her? For some reason in
the beginning my son would only latch on when we were skin to skin and I
was standing up.

I know how tough those first days can be; I remember crying everytime my
DH gave my son a bottle because I thought it meant I was failing him somehow.
Just remember your first priority is to *feed the baby*. You are doing
great, keep at it!!