Screwed it all up

[flower01]

Hi all

Feeling really depressed this morning.
M baby is 9 days old and we were doing ok with feeding but I gave her a dummy a few dates ago and now I'm wondering if I've messed it all up.

She screams every time she comes near the breast and then messes about playing with the nipple before latching on and then coming off and doing this over and over. At 3am it's not funny.

Somehow I've now ended up with one huge breast and one small one, all from 1 feed yesterday. It doesn't seem to be refilling!

She was born with 2 bottom teeth and I'm wondering if they are starting to affect her as they are cutting thru at the mo.

I am on the verge if giving it all up and going to formula which I'm sad about I at least wanted to do 6 weeks of breastfeeding.

Utterly depressed and don't know what to do

X

 

[annio84]

If you want to keep going a bit longer i'd stop the dummy and just feed her as much as possible. Grace did this when we first introduced bottles so we took them away and she got over it.

Maybe hand express a little before you try to latch to get things going and give her the taste?

As for the unequal boobs, mine have been uneven since she was very small and i know 2 of my friends who bf have the same thing.

 

[Mrs HM]

Both of my LO's have had dummies very early on and I bf one for a year and this one now for 11weeks so far. Some babies are confused by dummies, bottles etc but some aren't so don't worry too much about that messing things up. If you want to keep bf just keep on offering the breast. If you want to keep on offering the dummy and it is the problem your LO will learn to tell the difference and you can keep on feeding. Or you can ditch the dummy and see how you get on. TBH most of the bf mums I know also use dummies although I suppose some may have introduced them later on.

My Lo is sometimes still fussy at the breast, usually she's tired and is annoyed that her latch is rubbish and she can't get enough quickly enough. Your LO is very young, and it takes time for bf to become established and for them (and us) to learn what to do. Are you bringing your baby's head to the breast quickly enough when her mouth is wide open? I know that my DD hates it if I try to get her on before she's properly ready. That's when she trashes about and almost recoils and I realise that I'm rushing her too much.

I hope that helps.

 

[noon_child]

I think pacifiers/dummies are not recommended more because they can interfere with building supply rather than because they confuse LOs; after all if she's hungry then she won't want the thing that doesn't give milk!

If she's fussing after the initial latch it could be a growth spurt and she's frustrated that the milk isn't coming fast enough. If she's fussy before latching she might have bad associations from a very strong flow of milk overwhelming her.

Sorry I can't offer much advice as to how to diagnose which one!

To be honest sometimes they just dick about at the breast when they are that young, putting their hands in the way at just the wrong moment and deciding to scream because they are hungry rather than latch. I cried and ranted a lot during that time!!

 

[Lizzybee]

I cried and ranted too!!! He went through a phase likes yours is. Be persistent even when it is frustrating. You will get there.