do you know anyone that

couldnt breastfeed their first born but was successful at breast feeding their second born??

i ask because i couldnt breast feed kaydance. we tried for 7 days. 7 days of pure hell lol. basically it was half my problem, half hers. i apparently have inverted nipples, and she could NOT latch for some reason. seriously, it wasnt that she would let go or anything, she just couldnt get on to begin with. it was rough, to say the least. she lived off of one 3 oz bottle a day (usually in the middle of the night when we were absolutley desperate) for 7 days. neither of us got more than 2 hours of sleep a night for the first 7 days. and she started to loose enough weight that the Dr wanted her on formula, at least to supplement. (with my inverted nipples, pumping turned out to be a slow, tedius, painful process lol). so i threw in the towel and we went to full time formula when she was 8 days old. it was like a 180! lol, she slept at night, she ate heartily, and she was happy and stopped fussing all the time. plus, she took to the bottle immediately, no searching or having trouble eating properly. it was pure bliss lol!

now im almost afraid to even try again. it was very very difficult to go through last time. i know it was only a week, but it was so hard. expecially since i pretty much felt like i gave up, maybe i should have tried harder or done something differently. i dont know. i just know that if baby #2 has as many problems i dont know if i can go through it again.

i know no one can tell me what will happen unless i just try it, but maybe hearing some sucess stories about baby #1 on formula, and baby #2 BFing will make me feel more confident to try.

if it was just kaydances latching on problem i would defiantely try again, but it was partly my problem too...

Nika - I don't know anyone in person who did not nurse with their first but successfully did with their second. However, I do read another parenting forum and I read several times that Moms successfully breastfed their second even though they couldn't with their first. So I do think there is hope.

Now about your nipples being inverted: My nurses at the hospital told me that my nipples were inverted and that I would never be able to breastfeed (yeah right...). Anyways, they pretty much told me I should feed him formula since it just wouldn't work. Then, I talked to a lactation consultant and she told me that babies learn how to breastfeed even from inverted nipples and that babies are actually so much better in pulling out the nip than a pump is. So they encouraged me to try and I really wanted to, so I tried. And it was horrible in the beginning - seriously. Lots of crying on both sides (was even harder since Kian stayed in the hospital for one week after birth and had bottles there) for a few days, but he learned and he is a champ at it now. I am planning to at least continue BFing until he is 1 year old.

I have some tips for you (I got those from books and lactation consultants): when you first try (shortly after birth and then at home) use your pump for a couple of minutes (this will pull out the nipple) and then put baby on. Also, as a VERY LAST resort (really last, last) you might use a nipple shield (my lactation consultant said it would NOT be necessary).

Anyways, sorry for the long post. I hope that helps.

Girl I personally do know someone who wasn't able to breast feed her first born, but did fine with her second and now third baby. Her first born (her son) had jaundice just like my LM did, and he had to have bottles to get his liver working, and he got nipple confusion and ended up on bottles. BUT.... with her second she knew better and her second child (her daughter) had a really hard time latching on for some reason, but she used this :

http://www.medelabreastfeedingus.com/products/breastfeeding-devices/52/starter-supplemental-nursing-system-sns

AND it worked great. If I had known about this handy device a head of time, I NEVER would have given LM a bottle. I would have kept on trying with the breast feeding supplemented through the line with formula and it probably would have worked out fine. However... LM is a very healthy and happy formula fed baby, and I do not feel guilty that breast feeding didn't work out. Sometimes I long to breast feed her still... I know that sounds super weird, but it's true, and I think that breast feeding is a very natural instinct between mother and baby.

I plan to try to breast feed my next baby. I do however want the baby to know how to take a bottle. I will not put as much pressure on myself as I did with LM to make breast feeding work though... I was just a wreck about it before and I drove myself crazy.

I hope it works for you honey. I know that many women have successfully breast fed who have inverted nipples, Skyllar is proof of that.

hey hun
i have flat nippled and Kyrah wasnt able to suck them right back far enought o keep drinking, one midwife suggested i use nipple shields and they worked a dream, however they all said you have to wean her off them so after about 6 weeks i paid a fortune for a lactation consultant to come out and she said my nipple just wouldnt stretch enough to stay at the back of Kyrahs mouth so i had to continue using nipple shields and i had a fantastic milk supply and they worked great !!

I think MOJJ used the line with Kiers..... you may want to talk to her about that.

I know that some babies latch on better than others so you may have more success just because it's a different child too!
Plus, now that you kind of know what to expect I think you'll be in better shape. You may also want to discuss it with a lactation consultant before the baby is born just so you can have a game plan together!

I'm glad to hear you are going to try with this baby but if it doesn't work you do know that your baby can thrive on formula too! I'll bet the whole experience will be less stressful just because of all you have learned with Kaydee!

I am one of those people nika! Jesse was breastfed for 6 days then was put on formula. I however didnt have a nipple problem. Jess was jaundice and we were feeding fine, i hadnt been shown how to BF apart from just after he was born but was to tired to remember! When he was 12 hours old the midwife wanted to know exactly how much he was having due to the jaundice. There was only the one midwife on and the 3 rooms were full with ALL FIRST time mums, plus she had the out patients too. Anyway she had me expressing from the time he was 12 hours old. By the time he was 4 days another midwife came on and i was ready to go home, she wanted me to give jesse a BF before we went home, he latched on wrong (in her books) but i was comfortable with the way i was doing it, the way she got me doing it was horrible and he wouldnt suck, i persevered for hours but by the time he was 6 days old, my boobs were so soft and i couldnt even express more than 10mls, so mum got some formula. I was gutted and felt really bad for months about it. I was adamant i would BF my next baby for at least 6 months and do it MY way.
So when i was pregnant with Kieran in my last trimester i got hold of the Lactation consultant through the kids health provider, she was free. i had a few talks with her and she gave me a rhyme which ill write out at the end.

When Kiers was born, he latched on strait away and was an awesome feeder and the midwife (a different one) couldnt believe i never BF jess. I was so calm and relaxed with it. Kiers also had silent reflux which he got at around 3 weeks old and from then on it was a nightmare to feed but i still done it. I introduced 1 bottle of formula a day when he was 14 weeks old as i was really sick and wasnt eating right to keep my supply up, but got that sorted when i got better.
In my opinion with your first you are learning EVERYTHING for the first time which makes bf a bit harder, your learning how to hold, dress, chnage, sleep EVERYTHING> with the 2nd all that comes flooding back within the first 24 hours and you are so confident with everything alot sooner. which lets you have so much more time for focusing on BF. Just stay calm and relaxed, have a talk to a lactation concultant if possible, and i found having her at home was so much more comfortable and she came around once a week for the first 3 months and if i needed her she was right there when i called at any time, she was FANTASTIC.
Kiers is now 8 months and no longer on the boob, i done 7 months and am proud of myself for that, i gave up when i was ready too and have no regrets.
Im here if you want someone to talk to or answer any questions.

now the poem i used to recite to myself everytime i fed Kieran helped me sooo much it was the first thing i said in my head with his first ever feed and i found myself still saying it when he was having his last! lol

Tummy to tummy
Nipple to Nose
Mouth wide open
Up and on they go

Hey Ladies!!

Mum of JJ your poem was so helpful to me back in the "due in June" thread it helped me bf jasmin! How are you hun btw its been ages

Congrats on BF Kieran for so long, well done

And health professionals dont always know best

usually mommy knows best

I have firm skin and flat nipples so Jasmin could latch on , but had trouble, and due to jaundice they gave her bottle. It was all down hill from there , she wouldnt latch at all, and I hated givng her bottles. Good thing too as she turned out to be allergic to milk anyway. But I tried really hard and after a few weeks she was latching on with nipple shields. I pumped to preserve my supply

The midwife tried for 2 weeks to get her off this nipple shield every day, but she screamed and it upset her so much, and caused me so much stress.

So I carried on with nipple shields until she was 3 months and they were really good as they kept our breast feeding going.

Then my grandma came from cyprus and she showed me how to sandwich my boob (as we have the same boobs - I took after her) and Jasmin latched on herself, and she weaned herself off of nipple shields.

My nipples are no longer flat look a lot better now

I hope breast feeding wont be so tough with next baby