Comfort nursing

[Rhapsodi]

DS (6do) is a slow poke when nursing. He will fall asleep within seconds on the breast then will nurse, comfort suck, then sleep. I have to constantly tap his feet or bottom to keep going. He will do to his for hours! Which cause my nipples to hurt. (This am when I pumped due to DH taking DS on errands so I could get extra sleep, I had some blood in the milk from the cracks on a. Nipple. Which I'm assuming he can't have/will refuse. Right?)

At night he will latch, comfort suck and sleep, but if I put my breast away he will start crying. Last night I was covered in milk due to this, I tried everything, but just kept getting frustrated.

Yet if I give hima bottle he can down 4oz in less than 20mins. I want to nurse him as much as possible, but the bottle seems more efficient not to mention I think he's getting more.

Ideas? Tips? What to do?

 

[staralfur]

It's normal and at that age very necessary for bringing your supply in. If you want to keep breastfeeding then it's important to just let him suck whenever he wants to (I know that's frustrating when you're in pain). It WILL get better.

As for the pumped milk with blood, it's fine, and he probably won't even notice (assuming it's not a ton of blood). He's probably getting just as much when he nurses directly, you just don't see it. You might want to turn the suction down a bit on your pump - it'll take longer but it will be kinder to your nipples.

 

[noon_child]

Like the pp said - totally normal at that age. Don't suffer in silence though; if his latch slips when he gets sleepy and it causes pain, unlatch him (which may well wake him up!) and reposition him.

 

[Rhapsodi]

He unlatches himself but if I put it away he wakes up. If I just keep it out he is just fine. (But causes me to be soaked in milk. Which is irritating and causes more soreness.)

The biggest pain is him head thrashing before latching(sometimes he'll do it with my nipple in his mouth too, ouch!). I know he does it because my right side is flat (he does it on both) and needs the stimulation to perk up (I try to get it perky before I offer, but he still does it.)

How do I know if he is getting enough? Also I thought the stool should be yellow his is more orange is that normal?

We are thinking to give him a bottle at night (pumped from my right/the flat side during the day) to see if that helps with the cluster feeding at bedtime (which is when I get the most sore).

 

[noon_child]

The biggest pain is him head thrashing before latching(sometimes he'll do it with my nipple in his mouth too, ouch!). I know he does it because my right side is flat (he does it on both) and needs the stimulation to perk up (I try to get it perky before I offer, but he still does it.)

How do I know if he is getting enough? Also I thought the stool should be yellow his is more orange is that normal?

We are thinking to give him a bottle at night (pumped from my right/the flat side during the day) to see if that helps with the cluster feeding at bedtime (which is when I get the most sore).

The head thrashing or "bobbing" as it is referred to in the literature is normal newborn breastfeeding behaviour which is how he would find the nipple and stimulate milk "in the wild" i.e if we weren't 'helping' with positioning. If you ever see pigs (or any other farm animal) nursing you'll see they do exactly the same (including with nipple in mouth) and it looks so painful with 12 piglets all doing it together, then suddenly all will go calm as the milk lets down and everyone relaxes in to the flow of the feed.

Poo varies, between orange and yellow seems familiar to me.

Bottles are totally your choice BUT cluster feeding is really important to build your supply. If you aren't feeding him during the evening you would be advised to pump instead and I have no idea how to gauge how long you need to pump for to replace cluster feeding!! As soon as you introduce pumping instead of feeding directly from the breast you are in to 'guess work' as to how much to pump, how much he needs in a bottle. Breastfeeding you don't guess anything, you leave it to LO to decide how much to take. 6 days in is also quite young to introduce a bottle. Most people recommend 3 weeks in order for baby not to develop confusion (although I did it at about 2 weeks due to a bad latch and static weight gain).

 

[Rhapsodi]

Last night went much much better!
I let him cluster feed from 6p-12m (luckily I was able to sleep on and off during this time. And because I let him go to town on the left I didn't have any major leaking issues if I just kept it out. I did pump my right side instead of having him nurse from that side. (Today I did pick up a nipple shield to see if that helps.) which I think helped reduce the frustration (in both of us!) He did wake up around 4:30 to feed again. Then I pumped once we both were up at 8. My husband finished feeding him this morning as I had an appointment. Then I fed him again when I got home.

I do need to make sure I keep the supply going in both sides. But it felt much more relaxed. I think he also has some reflux if he lays flat to eat so I was able to prop him up more.

The only issue today is my nipples are very sore.

I know I introduced a bottle early but I'm likely having surgery in a few weeks and he needs to take a bottle during that recovery. Luckily we haven't had any nipple confusion yet. He doesn't like the bottle but will do it if he's hungry enough.

 

[noon_child]

I know I introduced a bottle early but I'm likely having surgery in a few weeks and he needs to take a bottle during that recovery. Luckily we haven't had any nipple confusion yet. He doesn't like the bottle but will do it if he's hungry enough.

That's great - not the surgery, the lack of confusion!

 

[luz]

It's totally normal! make sure you use some sort of cream (lanishoh works great) to help with the soreness until you toughen up a bit

 

[luvymom]

I don't have any nursing advice but as for the sore bleeding nipples, I just went through that. I use Medela nipple cream after every feed. But to heal my nipples I would also first put on coconut oil.