Re-starting breastfeeding?

[waitinghoping]

My DD will be 13 weeks old tomorrow and I b/f up until she was 8 weeks old. She had trouble attaching right from the beginning, and it never really improved causing my supply to drop and it was making me (and her!) very stressed. So I started to give EBM full time. Im still expressing every feed but its such an effort and soooo time consuming... She has occasionally had a breastfeed since, when she is willing to attach, but more often than not I find that when I put her near the breast she SCREAMS!!!!!

Ideally I would love to get her back to b/feeding, I want to give it another go before I can say that I've tried everything... Is this possible? Has anyone else successfully done this? Id love to hear anyone elses experiences of this and any suggestions. I plan to contact ABA and get on to a lactation consultant but any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Tam-I-Am]

It's absolutely possible, especially given that you've still got a milk supply and won't have to work as hard as somebody who'd switched to formula to build it back up.

Contact the ABA, for sure, but also think about getting in touch with a lactation consultant who can see you face-to-face and give you advice about getting her re-attached. If it were me, and your supply is good, I would personally decide to ditch the bottles altogether, and give your DD no option BUT the breast. Make sure you've got plenty of support when you do it, and just spend 3 - 4 days in bed with her, naked from the waist up. Offer her the breast at every opportunity and work on her attachment, and just concentrate on breastfeeding and NOTHING else.

Good luck! I can't wait to hear your success story :hugs:

[CazHazKidz]

Hey WH. As you know, I was also expressing all of Hayden's feeds due to wind issues.

I'm back full time breastfeeding now. I don't express any feeds for him anymore.

It was a struggle to start with, he would suck for a while while the breast was full and it was easy to get milk out, and then he would SCREAM as if there was no milk left and he was starving. I Just kept reattaching him until he would calm down, and then give him the other side and do the same thing again.

It took a week or so to get him used to having to work a bit harder for his milk, but he's all good now and we are full time breastfeeding again.

So I don't know if that was much help at all. Mostly just wanted to let you know it IS possible!

[AM]

There is a system called SNS (supplementary Nursing System) which is basically a pouch of EBM which is connected to a very thin tube you tape close to your nipple so when bub sucks, she will get the EBM, and your breasts will get the necessary stimulation to start producing the right amount of milk, with far less expressing needed...

But yes, definitely definitely talk to an LC, the ABA, and also check out www.kellymom.com (http://www.kellymom.com) it is a great resource for all things breastfeeding...

All the best with it, I hope your bub takes to the breast once more, I am a hopeless expresser, I take my hat off to anyone who can or has to do it!