help with breast feeding

i delivered my baby on june 13th --wanted to know how many days does it take for the baby to start on with sucking? my baby doesn't hold my nipples --if i force her she starts crying and  gets tired and goes to sleep. i am not even giving her bottle but trying to spoon feed her.i don't have huge flow now but milk has started flowing , i am bit nervous if she doesn't suck i might loose milk and won't be able to breast feed her. please help with any suggestion how to make my baby suck

[kylesMom09]

Have you worked with a lactation consultant?  My baby took right to the breast at birth, but i know when my milk came in a couple days later that she had a hard time latching on b/c they were too full.  i worked with a LC in the hospital even though she was doing well b/c they had a lot fo great knowledge to share and ways to make it a little easier for baby and myself.  Sorry i don't have any great advice other than to seek some outside help. Good luck and you may want to post in the breastfeeding forum b/c they may be able to give some more advice!!

[tekgirl78]

The only thing that I can suggest is that you make sure her tongue gets under the nipple. I always put the tip of my nipple under my son's nose which made him open really wide and reach way up to get it....Let her come to you with a wide mouth....good luck!

Oh, and maybe check out some books. I had one by the La Leche league...It really helped me...If your breasts seem too full that the nipple is flat, go in the shower and gentle massage your breasts to allow milk to leak out

[megmil]

There could be a number of things going on. With my first the milk wouldn't come out but you did say you do have a flow. With my second he was not strong enough to get the milk out and would get tired. See a breastfeeding specialist. If you are afraid of it drying up try to use a breast pump to keep it coming. Everyone I know has trouble using a breast pump, say it doesn't work and didn't for me but you could give it a try.

[diana1975]

i have got hand breast pump but the catalogue says it works in 2 to 4 weeks of delivery. and yeah regarding breastfeeding consultant my insurance doesn't cover that so maybe tomorrow I am going to find abt the charges.today an hr ago she sucked for 5 min. i hope slowly she becomes regular and keeps her consistency

[tiredbuthappy]

contact your hospital and see if they offer lactation consulting services to patients who delivered there. Many do.
I paid out of pocket for a LC. it was worth every penny and she was very knowledgable. You can also contact your local LLL- they may be able to help you.

I actually had a lot of success with the pump, although in this situation a hand pump is probably not going to be sufficient. You can rent a good pump from the hospital (or some local pharmacies- i think medela's website can direct you to local places that rent pumps). Or, you can purchase a hospital-grade double electric pump. I did very well with the medela pump in style advance, but it is very pricey. I have also heard very good things about the ameda purely yours, and the lansinoh double electric pump. The lansinoh pump is supposed to be the same thing as the ameda, except it's purple and you can get it relatively cheap through Target.

If you are cocnerned that she is not getting enough milk, please contact your pediatrician and have her weighed and checked for signs of jaundice.

Some tips that were recommended to me-
as much skin-to-skin contact as possible. let her nap on your bare chest.
Around feeding time, have her rest on your breast near you nipple. See if she'll seek it out on her own.
Express some milk to get the flow going. Place some drops on her lips to see if she'll latch on
don't wait until she's too hungry. Offer the breast a bit earlier and she may not be as frustrated
Some people do well with a nipple shield, although it is recommended that a LC help you with that decision.

All of these did not work for me, but my LC helped me figure out what was wrong with my little one. In fact, my LC gave me so much more insight into my daughter's feeding issues than the pediatrician. While waiting for help, make sure you express regularly to make sure your supply remains steady. At this point, you should be expressing every 2-3 hours.

good luck, and let us know how everything works out.

[melimeli]

you may need to get nipple shields  I had so many problems with breast feeding. I was crying because I was so afraid for my baby, I started hand pumping at 3 days and had to bottle feed her that because she was screaming from hunger but with the breast shields she finally began sucking.. it made the nipple long enough for her to feel in on the roof of her mouth and thus starting the sucking reflex... at about 4 weeks I was able to ditch the shields and she just nursed normally until I was done and back at work at 7 months.. don't give up..

the lactation consultant told me to pump 20 minutes on each breast every 4 hours and to give that to the baby.. that way my milk came in more, didn't dry up and the baby got the colostrum that is so important...