Not what I had in mind...

[@llli*mommasnark]

My son is 8 weeks old and was born via c-section after 24 hours of very hard, very painful labor. After the first two breastfeeding sessions he had bruised my nipples so badly (by biting them) that I couldn't feed him without crying. I was brought a pump and was able to pump and feed him expressed milk. Despite that he was supposed to be rooming in with me, the nurses took him anywhere from 2-3 times daily and wouldn't bring him back for several hours. One of these times I fell asleep while they were gone and when the nurse FINALLY brought him back I had gotten an excellent 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. She asked me when he was last fed and I replied based on the time I remembered being awake. Naturally she had a fit because he hadn't eaten in 6 hours and insisted that he couldn't wait for me to pump and had to be given formula immediately. Every day a lactation consultant came in and spent a few minutes with me. They seemed to think everything was fine since he latched on well, but shortly after they left he would bite again. Since I got no useful suggestions and was sent home with a large can of formula, when the trend continued at home and I cried for 16 hours straight, I gave in and fed my son formula... again. He now will happily suck (and bite) at my breast for as long as I'll allow it (usually at least an hour) but will then take 6oz of formula, since my supply has dropped drastically. I've gotten an "oh well" approach from the medical community in my area, and every suggestion I've gotten has been from family members and friends. I cry at every feeding, and I'm starting to believe I deserve this for letting myself be bullied into giving him formula in the first place. I have a hospital grade pump but it takes me a full day to get an ounce of breast milk now (I got an ounce per session in the hospital, but didn't have a pump when I came home, took several weeks to finally get one). I refuse to give up even tho I feel like I must be out of my mind to even try anymore. Please... this is my last resort and I feel like I'm failing my son. Does anyone know of anything that could help me?

[@llli*mommal]

Welcome and congratulations on the new baby! I'm sorry you've had such a tough time. Your hospital stay sounds like a true horror story. I can't believe how badly you and your baby were treated- particularly how your baby was separated from you for hours and hours, and how you were denied an opportunity to feed him the way you wanted to. That's just unacceptable and I hope that you will write a letter to the hospital describing the poor treatment you received.

Okay, that's all the the past- let's get to the present. Believe it or not, it sounds like things could be worse: at least your baby will latch on and suck. Lots of babies who have been pushed into bottles and formula lose that ability, and it's a lot harder to get nursing re-started when the baby doesn't want anything to do with the breast. And you already have a really important piece of equipment: the hospital-grade pump. If you're religious about using it, I think you can resurrect your milk supply.

Here are some things which may help fix your situation:
- See a lactation consultant, preferably an IBCLC (they tend to have the best training). Nothing beats hands-on help! I would ask the LC to check the baby's mouth for tongue-tie (which could explain the nipple pain and "biting"), get her to observe a nursing and a pumping session and give you tips, and do a test weight (weigh baby, nurse baby, weigh baby) to determine how much milk your baby is transferring when nursing. You may want to rent a professional scale, and do your own weights at home, so that you get a really good picture of how much your baby is taking in when nursing.
- Nurse as much as possible.
- Pump as frequently as possible. When I had supply issues, my LC had me pump both sides for 10 minutes per side every 2 hours during the day and every 3 at night.
- Try power pumping. Pump both sides for 10 minutes, rest for 10, pump for 10 minutes, rest for 10, and finally pump one last time for 10 minutes for a total of 30 minutes of pumping in a one-hour period. Power pumping is supposed to mimic the way a baby feeds and boosts mom's supply during a growth spurt.
- Consider supplementing at the breast using a supplemental nursing system. The SNS can be tricky to master, but if you can then you can ditch the bottles. And since the baby latches onto both SNS tube and breast, he will stimulate your supply even as he feeds from the tube.
- If you need to use a bottle, make bottle-feeding as much like breastfeeding as possible. Use the slowest-flow bottle nipples available. When it's time to bottle-feed, open your blouse, pull the baby close to your bare breast, and tickle his lips with the bottle nipple until he opens WIDE. Don't let him learn sloppy latch habits from getting a bottle slipped into a half-open mouth. Pause the feeding after every oz or so of fluid to get baby used to the ebb and flow rhythm of breastfeeding.
- Herbs. Fenugreek, Blessed Thistle, and ordinary oatmeal are all good for supply.
- Drugs. Reglan (available in the US) and Domperidone (Canada and the UK) are prescription anti-nausea drugs which can increase milk supply as a side-effect. Both drugs have additional side-effects and are not for every mom, so discuss these medications with your midwife or doctor before taking either one.

Finally, here's a link which may help you: Weaning from Formula Supplements.

[@llli*mama.mia]

1. You DO NOT deserve this! You didn't do this to yourself!

2. You are not failing your son! You are doing the very best with the resources you have.

3. You have already learned so much that you will be able to pass on to someone else so they don't have to go through this.

What a difficult delivery! This is a hard start. But it's not too late for you.

Have you contacted a LLL leader? Their help is FREE. They love to help moms struggling with breastfeeding. Lactation consultants are great, too.

It sounds like you need help figuring out latch. I can't tell by your post what the problem might be, but a patient LLL leader or LC will surely help.

You may need some tips for pumping more. You might have to pump more often (every two hours or more often, day and night, for a while). You might need to pump longer (wait for a second let-down).

Here is a video that might help you maximize production:

http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastf...roduction.html