DD has been in NICU/SCN since June after arriving at 25+6 gestation. Her corrected age is 39 weeks and over the last few weeks I have been putting her to the breast to get her suck feeds established with the goal of bringing her home fully breastfed, with EBM top ups if necessary.
We are having some difficulties getting attachment right and its not doing my nipples any favours so I need some tips and hints from people who might have been through similar. She is a great feeder - she wakes for feeds, roots around a lot and searches for the boob and knows the nipple is there when I position her. She coordinates her suck, breath, swallow routine very well and stays at the breast for a reasonable amount of time.
I believe a lot of the problems relate to her size - she is still only 2.3kg and I know that with time & growth her mouth will get bigger, but I am struggling to get enough boob into her mouth and hence coming out with a pinched nipple and soreness. I've got lots of support from the LCs and nurses in SCN and they're are working through it with me. Today we tried the football hold and it seems to have made a bit of difference but not alot.
I'm sort of wondering if I'm actually trying to hard IYKWIM? You know, the whole shape the breast, position her chin & nose in the right spot etc. etc. its confusing! Maybe I'm intefering with the whole process so I'm going to do a bit of a search for some baby-led attachment stuff now. But today when I just put her near my boob and let her get on herself she just grabbed the end of the nipple and sucked away OUCHIES!
Any suggestions? I know time and growth will help us, but I don't want ruined nipples in the meantime. I am very prone to nipple trauma for some reason - it was my downfall with DS - and I don't want the same experience again.
i had 30 weekers and same problem as they were too small to get a good amount of boob
nipple sheilds helped- but get the ones for premmies!
i highly recommend using a Lactation consultant!! Wished i had have- would have saved me trying to second guess myself all the time!
take care and you are doing an awesome job!!
They suggested a nipple shield to me today so I'm going to give it a go tomorrow. They said it can help in the early stages when they can't quite get enough boob in and hopefully reduces the nipple damage. Did the sheilds make a difference for you? When I was trying to b/f DS (who was a perfectly normal term baby) I avoided shields - scared off by unhelpful midwives telling me my supply would dwindle (which I know can happen but I wished I'd tried it.) I ended up giving up with him because my nipples were so battered.
*det* a lot of the senior nurses in SCN are LCs and I'm finding them very supportive and encouraging. I've put them on high alert that we NEED support and help to get this right. I have a tendency to just get on with things and not ask for help but we really need it to make this work. I did see a private LC a few weeks ago but she wasn't real helpful I must admit.
The shields were great for us, eventually I just forgot to put it on one day and we worked it out. Using a pillow to position her head helped to. I used a medela brand shield I tried an avent one but it was too big.
We just went through similar (DS was 36 weeks & 2.8kgs so tiny little mouth as well).
I'm definately another one to suggest the shield... I struggled hugely with cracked/bleeding nipples as he was only grabbing the end of the nipple and pinching... ouchies!!
When I left the hospital, I was using the shileds, but otherwise we were having no other issues.
Make sure you get the premmie size though - I used the avent one, theres a normal size & a prem size. Apparently the prem ones are hard to get but if you have any issues PM me & I can post you ours... I bought a few sets
FWIW I had to use shields with both my DS1 (he was just lazy, lol) & DS2 - only in the beginning with both... and it made absolutely no difference with my supply.
It wasn't a hard task to wean off the shield as DS2 got bigger either... didn't take long at all.
Good luck & you sound like you're doing fabulously
My DD was born at 34 weeks and was 2.405kg born and 2.165kg on discharge from hospital on day 15. We left hospital on full suck feeds from the breast but I could tell attachment wasn't great (ouchy woah waa) I did a lot of baby led attachment with her and contacted the ABA for advice and we are happily continuing our breastfeeding now at almost 14 months.
I too was worried about using nipple shields because of the supply issue but I recently read (or maybe it was a midwife that told me, I cant remember) that its more of an issue if your supply isnt established yet. With DD1 I used a shield from the very start in hospital because she just couldnt attach at all. This may be easier said than done, but once she gets the hang of feeding on the shield and her mouth is a bit bigger, you could try taking it off during a feed and see how she goes.
BF & attachment with premature babies
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but we really need it to make this work. I did see a private LC a few weeks ago but she wasn't real helpful I must admit.
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