Establishing breastfeed after bottle (1 week old)

Urgh, sorry, my e-mail went down in the middle of replying to you and now it's just not working. I'll keep trying tonight, but if it doesn't work I won't be able to reply till tomorrow. So sorry!

You might like these stories, all of babies who were initially unable to breastfeed but who got there in the end :) http://www.normalfed.com/Help/babyget.html

See? She's a star :D.

(Thanks for the heads up, DubaiCat!) Congratulations on the birth of your son, nams_new! It sounds as if he had a very rocky start - it must have been very stressful for you. It is very common for late pre-term (slightly early) babies to have problems breastfeeding; please be reassured, however, that once he reaches his gestational age of 40 weeks things are very likely to "click" breastfeeding-wise. In the meantime, it is *brilliant* that you are expressing milk to establish your supply. Even when he first starts to take the breast, he may find it difficult to fully empty the breast (sometimes with early arrivals they may appear to be feeding effectively but in actual fact are not yet taking much milk), so continuing to express after every feed will firstly provide you with top-up milk for him, and secondly ensure that your supply keeps up. (Do you have a hospital-grade pump? If not, you might like to consider hiring one as these are considered the best for establishing supply in the early weeks. With any luck you won't be needing it for long!) Lots of skin-to-skin cuddles, learning to recognise his hunger (or "ready for food") cues and offering the breast first at every feed will ensure that he has the opportunity to get acquainted with the breast. Please don't feel under any pressure to get him to feed now. When he is ready, he will! And in the meantime, you get to enjoy lots of snuggles with him. You might find that he latches better with a shield (available from BabyShop in the UAE, and other retailers). If it helps, you could continue to use it until he reaches 40 weeks, then try to wean him off it. As mentioned above, do continue to express after a feed with a shield as your breast may not receive enough stimulation to continue producing enough milk. Hang in there! Your baby *will* get it, although it may take some patience and a bit of creativity on your part. I second Joanna's suggestion of a consult with a qualified Lactation Consultant. If you're in the UAE, details of Board-certified LCs in the UAE (including Paula Miller) are in the "Breastfeeding Support in the UAE" thread, which I'll bump for you now. Hopefully you'll get some more replies from the lovely mamas here. If you'd like to chat about this by e-mail or on the phone, please free to contact me. My name is Sian, and I am a Breastfeeding Counsellor with the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers. I am more than happy to provide ongoing support and information until you get this figured out and have a successful breastfeeding relationship with your son. My e-mail is khoury at null dot net, and my phone no is 050-4705577 (evenings 5:30-9pm). xx edited by BFC on 25/09/2011 <em>edited by BFC on 25/09/2011</em>

namsnew, Congratulations! Your LO will have to learn how to latch. below is the link to dr. Newmann's website - he is amazing and I hope you will find it helpful. http://www.breastfeedinginc.ca/ I also would recommend a lactation consultant - it is nice to speak to somone who will reassure you that you are doing all right things to establish BF. I can recommend Paul Miller. I am sure her number will come up if you will do a search on the Forum. Good luck! x

I'm pretty sure BFC would be able to give you excellent advice on this one. I'll see if I can dig out her email and drop her a note to ask her to look at your thread :).