advice pls

Hi girls wondered if you could help with some advice, a friend of mine has a baby under a week old and has had latch problems her hv advised her to give a bottle for now, i was dissapointed in this advise as she really wants to :boob: and thought she would be better offering her a bf counsellor Am i right also in thinking that offering a bottle this soon will mean the baby is unlikely to then take to the breast as :boob: wasnt established first. We all know how hard it is with our 1st baby worring all the time if your doing things right & how much support you need so heres sending you a :aww:

Oh no! This is exactly what happened with my 1st 2, and the same rotten advise

Im certainly no expert and im not a BF counciller, but they should be helping her with her latch, and as you say, referring her to someone that can help.

Im sure one of our experts will be along soon to point you / her in the right direction!

:aww: to your friend.

You are right offering a bottle is not going to help. 2 things will happen the baby may refuse to go back on the breast at all (nipple confusion) because the sucking action is completely different between an artificial teat and a breast. Also because the baby will not be stimulating the breast your friends milk supply will fall which will make it even harder to get the baby back on the breast.

It is very important to offer the breast frequently to build up supply.

If they are supplementing the baby because of weight gain issues then your friend could maybe offer the breast first and then the supplement preferably in a cup not a bottle to avoid the nipple confusion.

She could also express to make up for her baby not stimulating her milk. Any milk she expresses could be offered in acup.

Is she getting sore?

When she is latching the baby on she needs to make sure the baby has a gaping wide mouth and takes abig mouthful of breast not just nipple. The baby's cheeks should be rounded and puffed out and the lips flanged outwards.
The baby's body should be in a straight line and held in close "tummy to Mummy" and "nipple to nose"

I think it would help for your friend to talk to a counsellor. The new national breastfeeding helpline number is 0844 20 909 20

:aww:

Nichola x

Thanks Nichola, I have given her that number. Some good news having spoken to her again today, she has been offering breast & expressing & baby took to breast last night, she is really trying but is very sore & lack of support from hv doesnt help. I wondered if baby took in the night as she was more relaxed then.

You could be right being relaxed will help.

to help with the sore nipples she could try holding the baby in a different position maybe try rugby ball hold?

Also she could hand express to get the milk flowing before she latches baby on so he will not need to nurse vigourously to get let down as the milk will already be flowing.

She could try nursing from the least sore side first then switching when the milk is flowing.

Has she any Lansinoh cream? She shoould apply it liberally it doesn't need to be washed off before a feed.

Rubbing alittle expressed breastmilk on to her nipples will help them to heal too.

Nichola