I agree your wife may be experiencing more than just a mild case of the baby blues. Just fyi, mom absolutley can be treated for depression-even medication- without weaning.
on the other hand, when I was pumping after every nursing session with a poorly latching baby, and ready to pass out with exhaustion and frustration in the first few weeks with my oldest, I did some major crying as well, and I was fine once breastfeeding started going well.
Please see my pp about taking a break. if the sns is not working and adding to the frustration, I suggest stop using it for a bit. Will baby nurse without the sns?
this is truly fantastic. Your wife makes enough milk, that is 1/2 the battle won. If baby will nurse well enough to get milk, you can do away with everything else and just nurse. Weak suck or no, you are almost there!Right now my wife's milk supply seems to be doing better and better. She's getting around 2oz per pumping session and we've stashed about 8oz or so in the fridge, which means we are staying ahead of our baby's feeding schedule and are off formula now. Finally!
Nursing with a good latch does not feel like when baby sucks on a finger. That would hurt! A good latch and suck feels like a gentle tugging. Also a good latch may look 'shallow' and still be good. Basically if baby is getting enough milk and it does not hurt, its a good latch. At this age many babies take 30 minutes or more per nursing session and nurse 10-12 times OR MORE a day.But then on the boob my wife reports a very weak suck, almost just like a lick. It seems like baby is just unable to latch fully (only takes in just a bit more than the nipple), and then proceeds to feebly suckle.
Was there a before and after nursing weight check done without the sns?
Dr. Jack Newman has some very good information sheets and videos on using a lactation aid (like the sns) finger feeding, and also how to observe for swallowing etc. http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=...tpage&Itemid=1
I also think this is a helpful article. It's important to know what is normal in terms of behavior in these early days. http://kellymom.com/bf/normal/newborn-nursing/