My newborn won't feed?

[LittleLala]

Aw no I got so anxious and upset for you when I read what you wrote but I saw your latest update and felt such relief. I'm so happy for you that your lo is drinking.

Newborns are so precious and amazing and bring so much joy, but gosh the first three weeks made me feel so many emotions-- mainly anxiety related to feeding-- I just totally understand what you have been feeling and want to give you a big hug.

You are doing so well. Keep being amazing

 

[Bevziibubble]

Oh you've had your baby!! Congratulations!!


Glad to hear he is feeding now. Hope everything is going well

 

[Qmama79]

Great news that he's had a good feed!! X

 

[lau86]

Glad things have improved!

 

[babyjan]

Feeding going well, he only woke once himself this morning at 7am. Throughout the night I'm waking him up for feeds but my god my breasts hurt sooooo much! My left one especially is so hard and lumpy even when he feeds from it and the nipple hurts so bad and is bloody looking! I'm guessing that's caused by poor latch?

Sometimes he can latch on very quickly and other times it takes a bit of time with him getting very upset and moving his face a lot.

What can I do to relieve the pain or do I just have to wait till my breast calm down and know how much he needs? :/

 

[babyjan]

Oh you've had your baby!! Congratulations!!


Glad to hear he is feeding now. Hope everything is going well

Thanks you

 

[happynewmom1]

I've heard coconut milk works well.. I just used Nipple cream. We had a poor latch in the beginning and I put that on before and after nursing. I had super painful blood blisters on the Nipples and this seemed to help me. Also if he isn't emptying the breast when nursing I would pump just a little here and there. Having full breasts all the time can lead to clogged milk ducts which are painful and that could lead to mastitis. I'm so sorry you are having a rough start! You are doing great!

 

[zorak]

I've heard coconut milk works well.. I just used Nipple cream. We had a poor latch in the beginning and I put that on before and after nursing. I had super painful blood blisters on the Nipples and this seemed to help me. Also if he isn't emptying the breast when nursing I would pump just a little here and there. Having full breasts all the time can lead to clogged milk ducts which are painful and that could lead to mastitis. I'm so sorry you are having a rough start! You are doing great!

I'd caution against pumping when establishing supply. I was told to do this and it led to massive and incredibly painful over supply.

Op I'd try and see a lactation consultant quickly to help with the latch issues.

 

[noon_child]

My left one especially is so hard and lumpy even when he feeds from it and the nipple hurts so bad and is bloody looking! I'm guessing that's caused by poor latch?

Sounds like LO can't latch as deeply on that side (or feels uncomfortable latching on that side) and so is damaging your nipple and not getting the milk out which is leading to blockages (the hard lumps). You need to be wary of developing mastitis on that side. While I wouldn't advise long term pumping as a solution (you don't want to increase your supply artificially) you may need to hand express or pump to clear any blockages if LO doesn't clear them by feeding. Doing this in the shower or with a warm compress can help it flow more easily.

Have you tried something like the football hold on the left side so that LO is in the same position he would be to feed from the right? Some babies prefer being on one side or have muscle spasm from birth (especially forceps) that means they can't open their mouth on one side properly (osteopaths/chiropractors sometimes help in these circumstances).

Sometimes he can latch on very quickly and other times it takes a bit of time with him getting very upset and moving his face a lot.

The moving of the face (called head bobbing) is a normal newborn feeding reflex. It is thought to help the baby locate the nipple for themselves (they don't know we are holding them right next to it - they are expecting to have to help find it themselves) and some babies really don't like being pushed on to a nipple before they are ready, they want to do it in their own time. Laid back breastfeeding also known as biological nurturing uses these "bobbing" reflexes to allow baby to find the nipple themselves (although we can help them to get there too) and with baby lying supported on your body a deeper latch can often also be accomplished. Also some newborns pull back from a nipple which lets down too forcefully (creating a shallow latch) but with laid back feeding the milk has to work against gravity so letdowns are often less fierce. All of this can help when a baby is not latching quite right, so laid back feeding is really a great idea for summary feeding problems.
[/QUOTE]

What can I do to relieve the pain or do I just have to wait till my breast calm down and know how much he needs? :/

You can take a mild painkiller such as paracetamol, but really you shouldn't have to just persevere through pain. Pain is telling you something isn't right. If you contact your local NCT or LLL or the infant feeding team at the hospital they should be able to send people to your house to observe feeds from start to finish. they can help with getting laid back feeding right (it can be tricky to start with) some can even check for tongue tie or recommend if a tongue tie assessment is needed or not.

 

[happynewmom1]

I've heard coconut milk works well.. I just used Nipple cream. We had a poor latch in the beginning and I put that on before and after nursing. I had super painful blood blisters on the Nipples and this seemed to help me. Also if he isn't emptying the breast when nursing I would pump just a little here and there. Having full breasts all the time can lead to clogged milk ducts which are painful and that could lead to mastitis. I'm so sorry you are having a rough start! You are doing great!

I'd caution against pumping when establishing supply. I was told to do this and it led to massive and incredibly painful over supply.

Op I'd try and see a lactation consultant quickly to help with the latch issues.

Hmmm ok. Sorry if I was giving bad advise. I only know from what I experienced. With all three of mine as soon as I started producing milk it was over supply so only pumped probably 2 Oz all day just to keep it down enough not to get clogged ducts.

Definitely talk to your lactation consultant before doing this then. Again I'm sorry if it was wrong to mention that. It's just what worked for me.. Doesn't mean it is right for everyone I guess.

 

[_Meep_]

I too had to pump to take the edge off a bit to begin with and soften the breast to help LO latch, not to mention tone down the firehose of milk ... I already had oversupply, as do a lot of women with a healthy milk supply in the beginning, as the hormone-driven body starts off making enough milk for twins/multiples, then gradually adjusts to meet the demand.

I wouldn't even have noticed had it made the problem worse as it was already awful anyway! I could spray-fill a 4 oz bottle in about 30 seconds with just a few squeezes of my pump. Terrible! There was so much of it that we just had to dump it. We actually gave it to the dog ...

 

[zorak]

I too had to pump to take the edge off a bit to begin with and soften the breast to help LO latch, not to mention tone down the firehose of milk ... I already had oversupply, as do a lot of women with a healthy milk supply in the beginning, as the hormone-driven body starts off making enough milk for twins/multiples, then gradually adjusts to meet the demand.

I wouldn't even have noticed had it made the problem worse as it was already awful anyway! I could spray-fill a 4 oz bottle in about 30 seconds with just a few squeezes of my pump. Terrible! There was so much of it that we just had to dump it. We actually gave it to the dog ...

I was the same it was insane spraying everywhere so my lactation consultant told me with my second not to go near a pump and if really needed just manually express to soften the breast a bit. Oversupply is such a nightmare to deal with you are almost damned if you pump and damned if you don't.

 

[happynewmom1]

I too had to pump to take the edge off a bit to begin with and soften the breast to help LO latch, not to mention tone down the firehose of milk ... I already had oversupply, as do a lot of women with a healthy milk supply in the beginning, as the hormone-driven body starts off making enough milk for twins/multiples, then gradually adjusts to meet the demand.

I wouldn't even have noticed had it made the problem worse as it was already awful anyway! I could spray-fill a 4 oz bottle in about 30 seconds with just a few squeezes of my pump. Terrible! There was so much of it that we just had to dump it. We actually gave it to the dog ...

This was me too. Its gotten a lot better and don't have to pump nearly as much. Of course it helps she is bigger and latches better as well but in the beginning she would start nursing and fall back sputtering and choking so I had to do something. I slacked on pumping just a couple days and got mastitis.. Was horrible. It can definitely be hard in the beginning.

 

[_Meep_]

My poor LO got choked every time too. It took six months before they finally calmed down! Utter nightmare! I had let downs all the time for no reason at all ...

 

[happynewmom1]

My poor LO got choked every time too. It took six months before they finally calmed down! Utter nightmare! I had let downs all the time for no reason at all ...

Wow that had to have been frustrating! That's great you stuck with it all that time!! Great job!

Op, I hope your LO is eating better and you are doing well and getting some help if needed.

 

[noon_child]

My left one especially is so hard and lumpy even when he feeds from it and the nipple hurts so bad and is bloody looking! I'm guessing that's caused by poor latch?

Sounds like LO can't latch as deeply on that side (or feels uncomfortable latching on that side) and so is damaging your nipple and not getting the milk out which is leading to blockages (the hard lumps). You need to be wary of developing mastitis on that side. While I wouldn't advise long term pumping as a solution (you don't want to increase your supply artificially) you may need to hand express or pump to clear any blockages if LO doesn't clear them by feeding. Doing this in the shower or with a warm compress can help it flow more easily.

Have you tried something like the football hold on the left side so that LO is in the same position he would be to feed from the right? Some babies prefer being on one side or have muscle spasm from birth (especially forceps) that means they can't open their mouth on one side properly (osteopaths/chiropractors sometimes help in these circumstances).

Sometimes he can latch on very quickly and other times it takes a bit of time with him getting very upset and moving his face a lot.

The moving of the face (called head bobbing) is a normal newborn feeding reflex. It is thought to help the baby locate the nipple for themselves (they don't know we are holding them right next to it - they are expecting to have to help find it themselves) and some babies really don't like being pushed on to a nipple before they are ready, they want to do it in their own time. Laid back breastfeeding also known as biological nurturing uses these "bobbing" reflexes to allow baby to find the nipple themselves (although we can help them to get there too) and with baby lying supported on your body a deeper latch can often also be accomplished. Also some newborns pull back from a nipple which lets down too forcefully (creating a shallow latch) but with laid back feeding the milk has to work against gravity so letdowns are often less fierce. All of this can help when a baby is not latching quite right, so laid back feeding is really a great idea for summary feeding problems.

What can I do to relieve the pain or do I just have to wait till my breast calm down and know how much he needs? :/

You can take a mild painkiller such as paracetamol, but really you shouldn't have to just persevere through pain. Pain is telling you something isn't right. If you contact your local NCT or LLL or the infant feeding team at the hospital they should be able to send people to your house to observe feeds from start to finish. they can help with getting laid back feeding right (it can be tricky to start with) some can even check for tongue tie or recommend if a tongue tie assessment is needed or not.[/QUOTE]

Forgot to include:
https://www.laleche.org.uk/telephone-helpline/
https://www.nationalbreastfeedinghelpline.org.uk
https://www.nct.org.uk/about-us/contact-us

 

[babyjan]

Thanks for all the advice ladies! Completely forgot to update on our bf situation

Well since last Saturday his been latching to both breast, the fullness disappeared and sometimes I actually wonder if I have any milk in there as the breast just feel soft lol... I do feel the occasional let down.

We seem to have another problem now, I'm not sure if I'm over feeding him but his vomiting a lot! Almost em after every feed I'm changing clothes or washing his stuff! He will feed from one breast then be looking for another feed straight after so I give him it and he just puked whilst still latched on and ended up with vomit in his eyes and nose and was gasping for breath he did the same thing this morning.

Less then 5 mins after the big vomit he was looking for the breast again by sucking his fingers and moving his head around whilst laying on my chest. Do you think he could be just looking to suck for comfort? Or is he actually that hungry? I just don't know why his bringing everything back up. His 9 days old and tomorrow we have appointment at the baby clinic so will mention it then.

My first vomited a lot as a baby and was prescribed infant gaviscon. I don't know what to think?