bookworm0901
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I just wanted to share my story for other women who may be struggling with BFing and don't know why. 
When LO was born, I was so excited to breastfeed! I didn't have any false ideas of it being easy, I knew it would be hard but I still wanted to persevere with it.
The first time I tried to breastfeed was a disaster. He wouldn't latch on at all. No matter what I did, I spent hours attempting to get him latched and nothing was working! The lactation consultants at my hospital were very kind but unconcerned and told me to just keep trying- he's a newborn, he's sleepy, he needs time to learn, etc. Finally, after hours of breastfeeding attempts I was able to discover tricks to help him latch. One trick was making sure my nipple was hard before I tried to BF, the other was pinching my nipple when I put it into his mouth.
I took him home and it was such a struggle. I was constantly trying new positions to help him. He couldn't latch very well, he was constantly falling off the breast, every once in a while he would breastfeed well and it would give me hope. But those sessions were few and far between. He was also constantly pulling off of the breast as if he was frustrated. He was constantly choking, making gulping noises, and acting uncomfortable and was diagnosed with acid reflux. He started medication but was still unable to breastfeed effectively. When my milk came in, I had oversupply issues. I thought the letdown was too strong for him and causing him discomfort. I tried tricks to decrease my supply but I was constantly engorged and I had mastitis THREE times.
I finally downloaded a nursing app on my Iphone that let me time his breastfeeding sessions. I forced him to breastfeed for 15 minutes (minimum) per feed because I knew he was giving up on the breast too easily and wasn't getting enough. By 6 weeks old, he was 12 lbs. No one was taking my breastfeeding concerns seriously because he was gaining weight, but I knew there was something wrong.
I finally gave up, and started exclusively pumping. For 4 weeks, I pumped every bottle. My freezer is full the top with milk. But to my shock and surprise, he was still unable to eat! Giving him a bottle was just as frustrating as breastfeeding. Well, not just as frustrating but close. I leave LO with my mom twice a week while I'm at school, and she could never get him to take a bottle. DH struggled as well and I was the only one able to bottle feed my baby. He acted the same way he did on the breast: struggling, pulling off, acting frustrated, squirming. At a pediatrician appt, she told me that he only eats half of what he should be eating at his age. At this point, formula was beginning to look like heaven. But I was determined to figure out what the problem might be. As a SAHM with only one baby, I had the time to pump all the time but if I were a working mom or a mom to more than one child, I believe I would have switched to formula long ago.
I always suspected my baby had tongue tie, because my mom and brother both do, but every time I try to check his mouth it doesn't seem to be a problem. Finally, during a night of research, I heard of something called lip tie. It's the same as tongue tie, but instead of the frenulum under the tongue, it's the frenulum under the top lip where it connects to the gums. I looked under my baby's mouth and this is what I saw:
I knew I had found the answer. I researched lip tie and found conflicting results: some moms had trouble BFing a lip tie baby and some didn't. I contacted a pediatric dentist in my area and he said leave it alone- it won't effect the baby until he is older and is getting adult teeth. This seemed to be a general consensus. This answer wasn't good enough for me, my baby can't even drink a bottle! Finally, I discovered a doctor 3 hours away from me who specializes in frenectomies (cutting the tie) on infants.
Yesterday, my mom and I drove LO 3 hours for a consultation. The result is severe lip tie and a posterior tongue tie. A posterior tongue tie isn't visible in the way a regular tongue tie is, and babies with posterior tie often look like their tongues are normal. He performed a laser procedure yesterday (painless) and fixed my baby's mouth. LO had a swollen lip and seems to have a sore mouth, but is already doing infinitely better. He hasn't had a single bottle since the procedure (about 18 hours ago) and is breastfeeding again!! It's definitely not perfect yet because he is learning to breastfeed and to use his mouth differently, but he is already doing amazingly better than he ever has.
I am so thankful that I didn't take no for an answer, I feel like I can actually feed my baby now. His mouth is sore, but he breastfed from me all night last night so contently. I'm so glad I didn't give up. My LO has never had formula. There's nothing wrong with supplementing formula, or FFing but with all of my struggles I am proud that I still provided breastmilk for my LO.
Our journey isn't over yet, but I am so grateful for where we are now.
When LO was born, I was so excited to breastfeed! I didn't have any false ideas of it being easy, I knew it would be hard but I still wanted to persevere with it.
The first time I tried to breastfeed was a disaster. He wouldn't latch on at all. No matter what I did, I spent hours attempting to get him latched and nothing was working! The lactation consultants at my hospital were very kind but unconcerned and told me to just keep trying- he's a newborn, he's sleepy, he needs time to learn, etc. Finally, after hours of breastfeeding attempts I was able to discover tricks to help him latch. One trick was making sure my nipple was hard before I tried to BF, the other was pinching my nipple when I put it into his mouth.
I took him home and it was such a struggle. I was constantly trying new positions to help him. He couldn't latch very well, he was constantly falling off the breast, every once in a while he would breastfeed well and it would give me hope. But those sessions were few and far between. He was also constantly pulling off of the breast as if he was frustrated. He was constantly choking, making gulping noises, and acting uncomfortable and was diagnosed with acid reflux. He started medication but was still unable to breastfeed effectively. When my milk came in, I had oversupply issues. I thought the letdown was too strong for him and causing him discomfort. I tried tricks to decrease my supply but I was constantly engorged and I had mastitis THREE times.
I finally downloaded a nursing app on my Iphone that let me time his breastfeeding sessions. I forced him to breastfeed for 15 minutes (minimum) per feed because I knew he was giving up on the breast too easily and wasn't getting enough. By 6 weeks old, he was 12 lbs. No one was taking my breastfeeding concerns seriously because he was gaining weight, but I knew there was something wrong.
I finally gave up, and started exclusively pumping. For 4 weeks, I pumped every bottle. My freezer is full the top with milk. But to my shock and surprise, he was still unable to eat! Giving him a bottle was just as frustrating as breastfeeding. Well, not just as frustrating but close. I leave LO with my mom twice a week while I'm at school, and she could never get him to take a bottle. DH struggled as well and I was the only one able to bottle feed my baby. He acted the same way he did on the breast: struggling, pulling off, acting frustrated, squirming. At a pediatrician appt, she told me that he only eats half of what he should be eating at his age. At this point, formula was beginning to look like heaven. But I was determined to figure out what the problem might be. As a SAHM with only one baby, I had the time to pump all the time but if I were a working mom or a mom to more than one child, I believe I would have switched to formula long ago.
I always suspected my baby had tongue tie, because my mom and brother both do, but every time I try to check his mouth it doesn't seem to be a problem. Finally, during a night of research, I heard of something called lip tie. It's the same as tongue tie, but instead of the frenulum under the tongue, it's the frenulum under the top lip where it connects to the gums. I looked under my baby's mouth and this is what I saw:
I knew I had found the answer. I researched lip tie and found conflicting results: some moms had trouble BFing a lip tie baby and some didn't. I contacted a pediatric dentist in my area and he said leave it alone- it won't effect the baby until he is older and is getting adult teeth. This seemed to be a general consensus. This answer wasn't good enough for me, my baby can't even drink a bottle! Finally, I discovered a doctor 3 hours away from me who specializes in frenectomies (cutting the tie) on infants.
Yesterday, my mom and I drove LO 3 hours for a consultation. The result is severe lip tie and a posterior tongue tie. A posterior tongue tie isn't visible in the way a regular tongue tie is, and babies with posterior tie often look like their tongues are normal. He performed a laser procedure yesterday (painless) and fixed my baby's mouth. LO had a swollen lip and seems to have a sore mouth, but is already doing infinitely better. He hasn't had a single bottle since the procedure (about 18 hours ago) and is breastfeeding again!! It's definitely not perfect yet because he is learning to breastfeed and to use his mouth differently, but he is already doing amazingly better than he ever has.
I am so thankful that I didn't take no for an answer, I feel like I can actually feed my baby now. His mouth is sore, but he breastfed from me all night last night so contently. I'm so glad I didn't give up. My LO has never had formula. There's nothing wrong with supplementing formula, or FFing but with all of my struggles I am proud that I still provided breastmilk for my LO.
Our journey isn't over yet, but I am so grateful for where we are now.
I too had a very difficult start but determinedly stuck at it and refused to give up. It was so worth it, and I hope your story can inspire other mummy's who are struggling. Well done on overcoming so many obstacles 
But I am so proud that at nearly a year we are still bf. 
.
happydance
