I just gave birth on Tuesday to my beautiful daughter. The first couple days in the hospital, she ate like a champ. Latched on perfectly, sucked perfectly, no problems. Well, starting yesterday morning, she is refusing the breast. I put her on and she sucks for a second and then shakes her head around like she is looking for breast, but it's in her mouth and she sucks for 1 or 2 seconds and then stops and starts screaming. My milk is definitely in. I have tried every position but nothing works. She ends up screaming and screaming and then it's this huge ordeal to get her to calm down. I don't want to give her a pacifier to get her to calm down, but I did have to a couple times. What could be wrong? I am going to see the lactation consultant hopefully tomorrow, but I just wanted to know if anyone had any experience with this. FYI- She EVENTUALLY gets on the breast and she is pooping about 5 times a day and peeing normally.
I just wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful advice! It's so good to know that I am not alone; I was feeling like such a failure. I did have to give her 2 bottles because she wouldn't eat otherwise. However, the lactation consultant was awesome; turns out she wasn't positioned on me right (she must be picky) and not latched on well, so she wasn't getting a lot of milk. I came home, did it like she said, and she has latched perfectly ever since! Thank you all so much!
Hey M.,
What I did when that was happening with my daughters was I didn't wait until they were hungry to eat. I would feed them a little bit before they were going to melt down. That way they weren't sucking for a few seconds and getting frustrated because they are hungry.
I agree with Carmen. It sounds like she is confused when milk does not come out right away. Maybe try to begin milk letdown before she latches on. Good job on choosing to breastfeed! It does get easier.
Hi M.,
She may be tongue tied. This is when the frenula (sp?) is too tight and doesn't allow her to suck well. Many moms miss this because the babies nurse in the first few days quite well. Then, when they have to start sucking more efficiently, they get frustrated and upset. If she is tongue tied, you would take her to an ENT and he/she could clip it. It's a quick (2 sec) procedure and there may be a little blood. I know several moms who've had this done and the baby recovers almost instantly.
Best to you and your new little angel,
S.
Congratulations!!! The 1st 3 weeks of nursing were really frustrating for me and I almost quit. I think the main thing is the peeing & pooping so just keep at it. Although they say not to, we did use a pacifier for a month or 2 and it didn't seem to interfere. Sometimes they just need to suck to be conforted. Our daughter gained weight like she should and had enough dirty/wet diapers.
Trying some pumped milk from a bottle is an option to see if she is having a hard time with the breast or doesnt' want milk in gerneral. That may lead to more confusion...
Your lactation specialist will help and just be patient. The 1st month or so is the hardest!
Hi M.- Congratulations on your new baby! I'm hoping you get the help you need at the LC. There might be a few things going on- one, the way your breast feels in the baby's mouth may be different now that your milk is in. If you are engorged, it might be difficult for the baby to latch on. You might try hand expressing a little before you start nursing. I also agree with Carmen about trying to start nursing before the baby gets hungry. The other possibility is that the screaming is not because she's not getting enough milk but the opposite and the forceful letdown is upsetting her. Is she arching her back and pulling away too? That also might be helped by expressing a little before hand. It sounds like she is peeing and pooping good so I'm sure she'll get it together soon. I also agree with the other poster who said try to avoid the bottles- too confusing potentially. Good luck and you can always check out lllflorida.com and call a La Leche League leader if you still need help....
I had a similiar problem and what I started using was a nipple guard. They are made by medela and I could only find them at Target or in the baby section at Burlington coat factory. It is kind of like using a bottle but she is on you. I also had to just pump and give hetr a bottle for a few days before I found this thing. We used that for a while and then all of a sudden she just started latching on again. She is 6 months old now and still nurses. Good luck!
Please call the La Leche League in your area! They will be a fabulous service and ease your mind. Plus, if you go to meetings, you will meet other new moms and it's fun. The volunteers are knowledgeable and can definitely help you.
good luck,
L.
PS - Breastfeeding is so important - don't give up!
M., you have to keep in mind that sometimes depending on what you eat the taste of the milk may change and sometimes not for the better. Spicy foods tend to take some of the sweetness away.
Hope this helps,
A.
M., first you are doing a GREAT thing by breastfeeding your baby. You are giving her a gift of health that will last the rest of her life!
Second, I have to say the advice to give her a bottle first is a huge mistake. Bottles work very differently than the breast - milk comes immediately, whereas at the breast, they have to suck to initiate a letdown of milk. If you did what the woman suggested, you would just make it worse, because your daughter would never want to suck to initiate the letdown - she would become used to milk immediately.
I do agree that what's going on here is the baby wants milk right away, and doesn't want to suck to get the letdown. However, you are doing everything right! If she is having the right amount of wet & poopy diapers, then she is getting plenty of milk and doing great.
I don't think you need to change much. Your breasts will learn to respond to her sucking and they will let down more quickly. She will also learn to suck to get the initial let down.
You should try feeding her before she gets very hungry. I would just try to get her on the breast at the very first sign of hunger.
Please avoid introducing a bottle right away. I did because my daughter wasn't gaining weight, but she had terrible nipple confusion and rejected the breast for a while. It was one of the worst experiences of my life - I was crying all the time, depressed, but I had to keep trying to get her back to the breast. Eventually it worked but it was a nightmare for weeks.
Have you been to any La Leche League meetings? If not, you should consider it - they are groups of nursing moms who can help out because they've been there. Also, the LLL leaders will come visit you at no charge. You can find a local group here: http://www.lllusa.org/groups.php
Also, a FANTASTIC resource is http://kellymom.com/ - you will find anything you need to know about breastfeeding here!
Finally, you should consider joining a yahoo group for breastfeeding. You can ask questions of hundreds of other nursing moms. A good one is http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/breastfeeding/
Hope this helps and feel free to email me or send me a message!
Hi M.... I am a Neonatal ICU nurse and have helped many moms breast feed! It sounds like maybe your baby is just ravenously hungry when she first attempts to nurse and maybe the milk is not coming into her mouth fast enough to calm her down. I don't know if you are strictly breastfeeding, but with my babies at work we will sometimes give the babies just a little bit of formula, or pumped breastmilk in a bottle just to get them out of that frantic state and more aggreeable to nurse!Good luck to you!...smile... I see that you are a work at home Mom too... checkout www.ExpectDreams.com and see what we're doing. You can email me at ____@____.com for more info... I'm loving it! Take Care, D. ###-###-####
I just had the same exact problem 3 weeks ago when my son was born. He latched on great the first few day then refused it. You probably need to pump your breasts a little so that they are not so full. Also do not let the baby go too long without eating anything. My pediatrician was extremely upset when I told her that the lactation specialist told me to only give the baby a half ounce of formula, she informed me that I should have given him at least 2 ounces. My son lost weight during this period, but by keeping at it he now latches on beautifully. I was very worried about him wanting the bottle more than the breast, that is why I was scared to give him, but that has not been the case at all. Just be careful because I think that at times the Lactation people tend to be vigilantes. Keep giving him the breast and he will eventually get the hang of it.
Try doing some breast massage for a few minutes before putting baby to the breast. This will stimulate your milk to flow and she won't have to work as hard when she first latches on. She may just be impatient waiting for the milk to let down.
Also try to avoid waiting until she is really ravenous. Crying is a late sign of hunger. Early hunger cues are tongue thrusting, rooting, more active behavior. If you catch her when she is in the early hunger stage she may be less likely to get frustrated.
Hi M.,
I had the same trouble with my son. I saw the lactation consultant and what we ended up doing (because he too would become VERY upset, and it was difficult to calm him down) was giving him a small supplement of glucose in water. It would wake him up and calm him down, and then he would nurse. We only needed it for about 3 days, very minimally, and he's nursed like a pro ever since (22 weeks now).
Hello M., I had a simiar thing happen with my last child many years ago and they said she was not a "preemie" but was early and was having trouble "latching"on as you say. There was a very sweet nurse there and she went and got a preemie nipple that you would put on a bottle but we put it over MY nipple and then our daughter was able to latch on and stay on long enough for her feeding. Worked like a charm!! I hope it helps you too since the bonding is so special at those times with your children.
hugs from Florida, C.
Anything you ingest carries into the breastmilk. Take a little taste and see if it carries a strong flavor. She may not be liking the taste of something you ate. In such a scenario drink lots of water and express to flush the milk through. Babies can also experience gas while eating which is uncomfortable for them...eating stimulates the bowels.
What does SAHM and WAHM stand for? Seen it and not sure. Thanks! :)
H. M.
Your milk may be coming out to fast. I had that problem with my first daughter. She acted exactly like you are saying your daughter is acting. Try pumping a little of the milk out before feedings. Set in a comfy rocker and relax while nursing. If you are relaxed she will relax. Babies can sense when you are nervous or upset.
I had the same problem with 2 of mine. I went to a lactation consultant about 3 times and they helped me figure out what the problem was. Each time it was a different problem. You may have to go a few times but it's worth it. Let them give you direction and until then it sound like your little one is getting enough so don't stress out.
I just had my son 6 weeks ago. He would not latch for the first 3 days. It was miserable. He went from a state of hysterical crying to a sound sleep. The lactation specialist was awesome. She would come in and pop him on my breast like it was nothing. However only my right breast. I was persistent and refused to give him formula. Finally on day 3 I got him on all by myself. I was so releived. Still everytime I put him on it would take me almost a half hour. I would pump after his feeding and give it to him in the bottle so that I can be sure that he was full and not tired from his efforts of latching on. It was alot of work. I would say it took a good two weeks for him to get really good at latching on. Also your let down could be too fast which may be why she keeps going on and off your boob. Definetly go see your lactation specilist. She may know of lactation groups where you can talk to other moms. My hospital has a group every 2 weeks and it helps talking to other moms. Hang in there be persistent. It gets easier and its so worth it.
...S.
I hope you kept with it and she is nursing wonderfully now! My thought are with you! I have a nursing strike going on at 8.5 months of age. I feel for you having it in the first days! take care!
