Nikki Lee Health

Here is a classic situation:  A mother calls a breastfeeding hotline. She says, “My baby is 4 days old. She was nursing great in the hospital until yesterday, when she wouldn’t latch on. She would go to my breast and just cry. So I’ve been pumping and bottle-feeding. Now she won’t even try to latch on. What can I do?”

So often the reason for the sudden breast refusal is that the mother’s milk volume has increased and her breasts are too hard and full for her baby to attach. The remedies are free and easy:

1) Keep baby skin to skin as much as possible.  If the baby is not available, use warm wet hand towels on your breasts for 10 minutes before taking milk out. Stay in a private, warm room so you feel comfortable experimenting with what comes next.

2) Here are two different ways to use your hands to help your baby to attach:

A)  Hand express milk to soften the dark area around the nipple. There are youtube videos that show hand expression. There are many different ways tohand express. Here are some videos that show how:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZViuYKX5LU    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi-7FddKHjo   Collect your milk in a spoon or a bowl or a measuring cup.

B)  Use reverse pressure softening to make space for your baby’s mouth. Here’s what that looks like:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_RD9HNrOJ8

4) Should you prefer to pump, do it after doing #1.

5) You can feed the milk you collect by 2(A) or (4) to your baby with a spoon or a bottle.

A) If you use a bottle, do it in breastfeeding style. Put the bottle nipple in the groove between your baby’s upper lip and nose. Let your baby take the nippleinto her mouth. Hold the bottle horizontal, and your baby upright. Let your baby pause to breathe.

6) Hand express or pump every hour or two while you are awake. You can stop this once your baby breastfeeds.

7) Offer the softened bare breast when your baby shows feeding cues. If your baby refuses or cries at the sight of a bare breast, give milk in a spoon or a bottle.

8) Your baby will return to breastfeeding when he feels safe and comfortable and it is easy. No one can say when that will be; even a few days or a week. You can lead the baby to breast, but you can’t make him nurse….unless he wants. In the meantime, lots of skin to skin care will help. Check out this website for ideas about positioning so that your baby has complete control of latching-on. www.biologicalnurturing.com

9) If, after a week, baby still isn’t breastfeeding, seek help from a lactation professional.

10) This situation is very common, so much so that I am confident your baby will breastfeed again after you follow this care plan.