Two week old will not breastfeed

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:You need to wait until he's hungry and have dad give him the bottle. Make it a high-flow nipple and just keep sticking it in his mouth. He'll take it. My DS spit out the pacifier repeatedly at 3 weeks but I was determined to make him take it, so I just held it in there. I don't mean you traumatize the baby, but you just keep on trying.

OP here. I will try to high flow. We have I think a newborn or slow flow nipple. We have 3 different brand bottles and he won’t take any of them. We have tried various milk temps, formula, and him being really hungry. He still refused and screamed. He is not a big fan of the syringe but he is used to it now. We feed every 1-2 hours because that’s when he wants to eat. He will take 1 ounce every hour or 2 ounces every two hours. We let him decide and he does turn his head and spit it out even he doesn’t want it. We don’t just feed him to feed him. We don’t go more than two hours between feedings but he always lets us know when he is hungry and he always wants to eat every 1-2 hours. The odd thing is he hates the nipple shield and won’t take a bottle but he will take a pacifier.

He's lazy and likes the syringe, it's easier for him!

What do you suggest she does? If she stops syringe feeding that means he gets no milk.

He will eventually take the bottle.

That is dangerous advice for a mother of a 2 week old who is not suckling. Not all babies will EVENTUALLY take a bottle

But the vast majority will. OP needs better support from a real doctor, not an LC. A newborn cannot eat from a syringe permanently - will not get enough food that way, and caregivers cannot keep it up. The bottle think is mostly psychological if it is not physiological, and the doctor needs to help figure it out.

And OP needs to show the baby some tough love and not use a syringe for at least a day. The baby is likely just lazy and prefers the syringe. It has no understanding that this method isn’t sustainable.

It’s not even safe to have a baby who won’t take the breast or a bottle. What if something happens to OP? Who is going to dedicate a year of their life to syringe feeding a baby? Eventually it would require 24-7 feeding since a syringe holds so little liquid.

This is truly a safety thing and OP needs to drop the syringe and continue to offer bottles. After 8 hours or so, she needs to hand the baby over to dad and leave the house if the baby still won’t take a bottle.

OP here. He’s my child, not yours. I’m been very open and receptive to all advice on here so far. I’ve order everything people have mentioned to try. I’m going to see a new lactation consultant and will be pushing hard to get him evaluated when we see the pediatrician next week. I will not starve my baby. He is only two weeks old and needs calories and nutrition. We are still trying all the methods, but I will not force him to go without food to try to get him to take a bottle. He would take my breasts if he could. Same with the bottle. I’m not going to stop feeding him. He will eventually get this.

OP, please ignore this silly person. My baby never took a bottle. Obviously, it would have been a difficult situation if anything had happened to me, but (a) nothing happened to me, as is true for most American mothers and (b) if something had happened to me, his father and grandparents would have figured out how to get him fed. Please don't spend one minute worrying about PP's catastrophizing.

OP’s baby won’t nurse OR take a bottle. Totally different problem.

How dumb are you? In order for the baby to get better at nursing, you need to let baby nurse and be on the breast often. The baby will likely never end up breastfeeding if she doesn’t continue to latch him. Also, OP said he does nurse and does get some milk out. He had a hard time because of her flat nipples.

I see. Your goal is breastfeeding at all costs so you think it is actually good that the baby rejects the bottle. Well OP you can decide what works for you. What you’re doing right now sounds pretty insanely miserable to me and unsustainable.

OP is trying to give him a bottle too. She said she ordered more bottles to try and a SNS.

Yeah that’s what OP says. I’m trying to figure out why PP is triggered by the posters suggesting more structured attempts to offer only the bottle to increase chances baby will take it. I have concluded that PP is a breastfeeding fanatic who things the goal is breastfeeding at all costs.

Still irrelevant

Only irrelevant if you have some kind of ideological objection to bottle feeding. I’m still not quite sure what your issue is.

The issue is your looking for agendas and badgering this new mother. No one is having an issue with bottles, minus this tiny baby who is still learning how to suckle. So stop. The OP is doing a fabulous job of adapting and trying a few feeding methods as her son gets big enough to feed better. She’s calm and taking in lots if advice which is mostly open minded and constructive. You’ve said your peace, now cool out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to wait until he's hungry and have dad give him the bottle. Make it a high-flow nipple and just keep sticking it in his mouth. He'll take it. My DS spit out the pacifier repeatedly at 3 weeks but I was determined to make him take it, so I just held it in there. I don't mean you traumatize the baby, but you just keep on trying.

OP here. I will try to high flow. We have I think a newborn or slow flow nipple. We have 3 different brand bottles and he won’t take any of them. We have tried various milk temps, formula, and him being really hungry. He still refused and screamed. He is not a big fan of the syringe but he is used to it now. We feed every 1-2 hours because that’s when he wants to eat. He will take 1 ounce every hour or 2 ounces every two hours. We let him decide and he does turn his head and spit it out even he doesn’t want it. We don’t just feed him to feed him. We don’t go more than two hours between feedings but he always lets us know when he is hungry and he always wants to eat every 1-2 hours. The odd thing is he hates the nipple shield and won’t take a bottle but he will take a pacifier.

He's lazy and likes the syringe, it's easier for him!

What do you suggest she does? If she stops syringe feeding that means he gets no milk.

He will eventually take the bottle.

That is dangerous advice for a mother of a 2 week old who is not suckling. Not all babies will EVENTUALLY take a bottle

But the vast majority will. OP needs better support from a real doctor, not an LC. A newborn cannot eat from a syringe permanently - will not get enough food that way, and caregivers cannot keep it up. The bottle think is mostly psychological if it is not physiological, and the doctor needs to help figure it out.

And OP needs to show the baby some tough love and not use a syringe for at least a day. The baby is likely just lazy and prefers the syringe. It has no understanding that this method isn’t sustainable.

It’s not even safe to have a baby who won’t take the breast or a bottle. What if something happens to OP? Who is going to dedicate a year of their life to syringe feeding a baby? Eventually it would require 24-7 feeding since a syringe holds so little liquid.

This is truly a safety thing and OP needs to drop the syringe and continue to offer bottles. After 8 hours or so, she needs to hand the baby over to dad and leave the house if the baby still won’t take a bottle.

OP here. He’s my child, not yours. I’m been very open and receptive to all advice on here so far. I’ve order everything people have mentioned to try. I’m going to see a new lactation consultant and will be pushing hard to get him evaluated when we see the pediatrician next week. I will not starve my baby. He is only two weeks old and needs calories and nutrition. We are still trying all the methods, but I will not force him to go without food to try to get him to take a bottle. He would take my breasts if he could. Same with the bottle. I’m not going to stop feeding him. He will eventually get this.

OP, please ignore this silly person. My baby never took a bottle. Obviously, it would have been a difficult situation if anything had happened to me, but (a) nothing happened to me, as is true for most American mothers and (b) if something had happened to me, his father and grandparents would have figured out how to get him fed. Please don't spend one minute worrying about PP's catastrophizing.

OP’s baby won’t nurse OR take a bottle. Totally different problem.

How dumb are you? In order for the baby to get better at nursing, you need to let baby nurse and be on the breast often. The baby will likely never end up breastfeeding if she doesn’t continue to latch him. Also, OP said he does nurse and does get some milk out. He had a hard time because of her flat nipples.

I see. Your goal is breastfeeding at all costs so you think it is actually good that the baby rejects the bottle. Well OP you can decide what works for you. What you’re doing right now sounds pretty insanely miserable to me and unsustainable.

OP is trying to give him a bottle too. She said she ordered more bottles to try and a SNS.

Yeah that’s what OP says. I’m trying to figure out why PP is triggered by the posters suggesting more structured attempts to offer only the bottle to increase chances baby will take it. I have concluded that PP is a breastfeeding fanatic who things the goal is breastfeeding at all costs.

No. I’m simply stating that isn’t not wrong for OP to offer breast and bottle to encourage the baby to nurse or use a bottle. This is what you’re supposed to do.

FYI - both of my kids were bottle fed after 6 months.

It could be wrong - we don’t know. What OP is doing now isn’t working. It’s totally normal advice to simplify and schedule. My LC specifically told me not to pump because it was too much, and to put the baby on more of a schedule (every 3 hrs instead of long comfort feeding sessions) when he wasn’t nursing well.

No one cares what you think, including OP. She is doing the best she can with the tools she has.

She will loose her supply if her baby can’t latch. Your baby doesn’t seem to have the issues OP baby has. It’s not the same thing. He only talks half an ounce every two hours. He can’t latch deep enough to get more milk. She needs to pump to keep up her supply or else her body will think she needs to make just half an ounce and she will lose her supply. You don’t seem to understand that this is a different baby with different issues that needs different methods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to wait until he's hungry and have dad give him the bottle. Make it a high-flow nipple and just keep sticking it in his mouth. He'll take it. My DS spit out the pacifier repeatedly at 3 weeks but I was determined to make him take it, so I just held it in there. I don't mean you traumatize the baby, but you just keep on trying.

OP here. I will try to high flow. We have I think a newborn or slow flow nipple. We have 3 different brand bottles and he won’t take any of them. We have tried various milk temps, formula, and him being really hungry. He still refused and screamed. He is not a big fan of the syringe but he is used to it now. We feed every 1-2 hours because that’s when he wants to eat. He will take 1 ounce every hour or 2 ounces every two hours. We let him decide and he does turn his head and spit it out even he doesn’t want it. We don’t just feed him to feed him. We don’t go more than two hours between feedings but he always lets us know when he is hungry and he always wants to eat every 1-2 hours. The odd thing is he hates the nipple shield and won’t take a bottle but he will take a pacifier.

He's lazy and likes the syringe, it's easier for him!

What do you suggest she does? If she stops syringe feeding that means he gets no milk.

He will eventually take the bottle.

That is dangerous advice for a mother of a 2 week old who is not suckling. Not all babies will EVENTUALLY take a bottle

But the vast majority will. OP needs better support from a real doctor, not an LC. A newborn cannot eat from a syringe permanently - will not get enough food that way, and caregivers cannot keep it up. The bottle think is mostly psychological if it is not physiological, and the doctor needs to help figure it out.

And OP needs to show the baby some tough love and not use a syringe for at least a day. The baby is likely just lazy and prefers the syringe. It has no understanding that this method isn’t sustainable.

It’s not even safe to have a baby who won’t take the breast or a bottle. What if something happens to OP? Who is going to dedicate a year of their life to syringe feeding a baby? Eventually it would require 24-7 feeding since a syringe holds so little liquid.

This is truly a safety thing and OP needs to drop the syringe and continue to offer bottles. After 8 hours or so, she needs to hand the baby over to dad and leave the house if the baby still won’t take a bottle.

OP here. He’s my child, not yours. I’m been very open and receptive to all advice on here so far. I’ve order everything people have mentioned to try. I’m going to see a new lactation consultant and will be pushing hard to get him evaluated when we see the pediatrician next week. I will not starve my baby. He is only two weeks old and needs calories and nutrition. We are still trying all the methods, but I will not force him to go without food to try to get him to take a bottle. He would take my breasts if he could. Same with the bottle. I’m not going to stop feeding him. He will eventually get this.

OP, please ignore this silly person. My baby never took a bottle. Obviously, it would have been a difficult situation if anything had happened to me, but (a) nothing happened to me, as is true for most American mothers and (b) if something had happened to me, his father and grandparents would have figured out how to get him fed. Please don't spend one minute worrying about PP's catastrophizing.

OP’s baby won’t nurse OR take a bottle. Totally different problem.

How dumb are you? In order for the baby to get better at nursing, you need to let baby nurse and be on the breast often. The baby will likely never end up breastfeeding if she doesn’t continue to latch him. Also, OP said he does nurse and does get some milk out. He had a hard time because of her flat nipples.

I see. Your goal is breastfeeding at all costs so you think it is actually good that the baby rejects the bottle. Well OP you can decide what works for you. What you’re doing right now sounds pretty insanely miserable to me and unsustainable.

OP is trying to give him a bottle too. She said she ordered more bottles to try and a SNS.

Yeah that’s what OP says. I’m trying to figure out why PP is triggered by the posters suggesting more structured attempts to offer only the bottle to increase chances baby will take it. I have concluded that PP is a breastfeeding fanatic who things the goal is breastfeeding at all costs.

No. I’m simply stating that isn’t not wrong for OP to offer breast and bottle to encourage the baby to nurse or use a bottle. This is what you’re supposed to do.

FYI - both of my kids were bottle fed after 6 months.

It could be wrong - we don’t know. What OP is doing now isn’t working. It’s totally normal advice to simplify and schedule. My LC specifically told me not to pump because it was too much, and to put the baby on more of a schedule (every 3 hrs instead of long comfort feeding sessions) when he wasn’t nursing well.

No one cares what you think, including OP. She is doing the best she can with the tools she has.

She will loose her supply if her baby can’t latch. Your baby doesn’t seem to have the issues OP baby has. It’s not the same thing. He only talks half an ounce every two hours. He can’t latch deep enough to get more milk. She needs to pump to keep up her supply or else her body will think she needs to make just half an ounce and she will lose her supply. You don’t seem to understand that this is a different baby with different issues that needs different methods.

Why are you being so nasty? OP asked for advice so people give advice, that's how messageboards typically function.

[Anonymous]

Exact same situation with the boob set up. My kid hated my flat nipples. But she took a bottle. Has the baby been evaluated for a tongue tie? High flow bottle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to wait until he's hungry and have dad give him the bottle. Make it a high-flow nipple and just keep sticking it in his mouth. He'll take it. My DS spit out the pacifier repeatedly at 3 weeks but I was determined to make him take it, so I just held it in there. I don't mean you traumatize the baby, but you just keep on trying.

OP here. I will try to high flow. We have I think a newborn or slow flow nipple. We have 3 different brand bottles and he won’t take any of them. We have tried various milk temps, formula, and him being really hungry. He still refused and screamed. He is not a big fan of the syringe but he is used to it now. We feed every 1-2 hours because that’s when he wants to eat. He will take 1 ounce every hour or 2 ounces every two hours. We let him decide and he does turn his head and spit it out even he doesn’t want it. We don’t just feed him to feed him. We don’t go more than two hours between feedings but he always lets us know when he is hungry and he always wants to eat every 1-2 hours. The odd thing is he hates the nipple shield and won’t take a bottle but he will take a pacifier.

He's lazy and likes the syringe, it's easier for him!

What do you suggest she does? If she stops syringe feeding that means he gets no milk.

He will eventually take the bottle.

That is dangerous advice for a mother of a 2 week old who is not suckling. Not all babies will EVENTUALLY take a bottle

But the vast majority will. OP needs better support from a real doctor, not an LC. A newborn cannot eat from a syringe permanently - will not get enough food that way, and caregivers cannot keep it up. The bottle think is mostly psychological if it is not physiological, and the doctor needs to help figure it out.

And OP needs to show the baby some tough love and not use a syringe for at least a day. The baby is likely just lazy and prefers the syringe. It has no understanding that this method isn’t sustainable.

It’s not even safe to have a baby who won’t take the breast or a bottle. What if something happens to OP? Who is going to dedicate a year of their life to syringe feeding a baby? Eventually it would require 24-7 feeding since a syringe holds so little liquid.

This is truly a safety thing and OP needs to drop the syringe and continue to offer bottles. After 8 hours or so, she needs to hand the baby over to dad and leave the house if the baby still won’t take a bottle.

OP here. He’s my child, not yours. I’m been very open and receptive to all advice on here so far. I’ve order everything people have mentioned to try. I’m going to see a new lactation consultant and will be pushing hard to get him evaluated when we see the pediatrician next week. I will not starve my baby. He is only two weeks old and needs calories and nutrition. We are still trying all the methods, but I will not force him to go without food to try to get him to take a bottle. He would take my breasts if he could. Same with the bottle. I’m not going to stop feeding him. He will eventually get this.

OP, please ignore this silly person. My baby never took a bottle. Obviously, it would have been a difficult situation if anything had happened to me, but (a) nothing happened to me, as is true for most American mothers and (b) if something had happened to me, his father and grandparents would have figured out how to get him fed. Please don't spend one minute worrying about PP's catastrophizing.

OP’s baby won’t nurse OR take a bottle. Totally different problem.

How dumb are you? In order for the baby to get better at nursing, you need to let baby nurse and be on the breast often. The baby will likely never end up breastfeeding if she doesn’t continue to latch him. Also, OP said he does nurse and does get some milk out. He had a hard time because of her flat nipples.

I see. Your goal is breastfeeding at all costs so you think it is actually good that the baby rejects the bottle. Well OP you can decide what works for you. What you’re doing right now sounds pretty insanely miserable to me and unsustainable.

OP is trying to give him a bottle too. She said she ordered more bottles to try and a SNS.

Yeah that’s what OP says. I’m trying to figure out why PP is triggered by the posters suggesting more structured attempts to offer only the bottle to increase chances baby will take it. I have concluded that PP is a breastfeeding fanatic who things the goal is breastfeeding at all costs.

No. I’m simply stating that isn’t not wrong for OP to offer breast and bottle to encourage the baby to nurse or use a bottle. This is what you’re supposed to do.

FYI - both of my kids were bottle fed after 6 months.

It could be wrong - we don’t know. What OP is doing now isn’t working. It’s totally normal advice to simplify and schedule. My LC specifically told me not to pump because it was too much, and to put the baby on more of a schedule (every 3 hrs instead of long comfort feeding sessions) when he wasn’t nursing well.

No one cares what you think, including OP. She is doing the best she can with the tools she has.

She will loose her supply if her baby can’t latch. Your baby doesn’t seem to have the issues OP baby has. It’s not the same thing. He only talks half an ounce every two hours. He can’t latch deep enough to get more milk. She needs to pump to keep up her supply or else her body will think she needs to make just half an ounce and she will lose her supply. You don’t seem to understand that this is a different baby with different issues that needs different methods.

Why are you being so nasty? OP asked for advice so people give advice, that's how messageboards typically function.

It’s no longer advice. It’s the same couple of posters telling OP she is wrong and basically telling her that she should listen to them over medical professionals. OP doesn’t need to told she is doing everything wrong when she is already struggling

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Exact same situation with the boob set up. My kid hated my flat nipples. But she took a bottle. Has the baby been evaluated for a tongue tie? High flow bottle?

Did your baby end up nursing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - does your baby suckle on anything? Their hand/finger, a pacifier, anything at all?

I am just wildly impressed that the baby is gaining weight with syringe feeds - you are clearly working SO HARD.

If the baby is not sucking on anything I am, like other posters said, concerned about a tongue tie or some other structural mouth issue that has not been caught yet.

OP here. He will breastfeed but can’t get a good latch because of small flat nipples. He will extract like 0.5 out when he does. We tried a nipple shield and he doesn’t like it and will refuse to use it. He will suckle on my breast shallow for comfort. He won’t take a bottle but we are still trying. He will take a pacifier.

We make sure to feed him 1-2 ounces every 1-2 hours. Sometimes when he is really hungry he will suck on it to get the milk out as soon as we put the syringe in his mouth. Most times we go slowly and squirt it into his cheek. The feedings can take about 30 minutes. He eats 20-24 ounces a day.

If he does this than the SNS could work. My daughter was like this and the SNS was a lifesaver for use. We used a DIY SNS systen with feeding tube and by varying the height of the bottle you can control how much effort he has to put in to get milk out. It’s a siphon system so at the beginning of deeds I had the bottle up high so basically got milk with shallow latch and disorganized suck. And lowered it later in the feed when I thought she was mainly comfort nursing. We saw an osteopath who did some bodywork on her and that made a big difference in her ability to suck effectively. Pre SNS we did a lot of syringe feeding but stopped that when we got the SNS to work.

Good luck! I know it is so hard!

OP here. I ordered one but it won’t get here until next week.

As has been posted by other posters up thread - call your LC or ped and see about getting some NG tubes to use the same way you would use the SNS in the meantime. You can start today.

[Anonymous]

Op I have no advice. Good for you for checking every option. I hope your little one will take one or the other very soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - does your baby suckle on anything? Their hand/finger, a pacifier, anything at all?

I am just wildly impressed that the baby is gaining weight with syringe feeds - you are clearly working SO HARD.

If the baby is not sucking on anything I am, like other posters said, concerned about a tongue tie or some other structural mouth issue that has not been caught yet.

OP here. He will breastfeed but can’t get a good latch because of small flat nipples. He will extract like 0.5 out when he does. We tried a nipple shield and he doesn’t like it and will refuse to use it. He will suckle on my breast shallow for comfort. He won’t take a bottle but we are still trying. He will take a pacifier.

We make sure to feed him 1-2 ounces every 1-2 hours. Sometimes when he is really hungry he will suck on it to get the milk out as soon as we put the syringe in his mouth. Most times we go slowly and squirt it into his cheek. The feedings can take about 30 minutes. He eats 20-24 ounces a day.

If he does this than the SNS could work. My daughter was like this and the SNS was a lifesaver for use. We used a DIY SNS systen with feeding tube and by varying the height of the bottle you can control how much effort he has to put in to get milk out. It’s a siphon system so at the beginning of deeds I had the bottle up high so basically got milk with shallow latch and disorganized suck. And lowered it later in the feed when I thought she was mainly comfort nursing. We saw an osteopath who did some bodywork on her and that made a big difference in her ability to suck effectively. Pre SNS we did a lot of syringe feeding but stopped that when we got the SNS to work.

Good luck! I know it is so hard!

OP here. I ordered one but it won’t get here until next week.

As has been posted by other posters up thread - call your LC or ped and see about getting some NG tubes to use the same way you would use the SNS in the meantime. You can start today.

The baby doesn’t need a feeding tube.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to wait until he's hungry and have dad give him the bottle. Make it a high-flow nipple and just keep sticking it in his mouth. He'll take it. My DS spit out the pacifier repeatedly at 3 weeks but I was determined to make him take it, so I just held it in there. I don't mean you traumatize the baby, but you just keep on trying.

OP here. I will try to high flow. We have I think a newborn or slow flow nipple. We have 3 different brand bottles and he won’t take any of them. We have tried various milk temps, formula, and him being really hungry. He still refused and screamed. He is not a big fan of the syringe but he is used to it now. We feed every 1-2 hours because that’s when he wants to eat. He will take 1 ounce every hour or 2 ounces every two hours. We let him decide and he does turn his head and spit it out even he doesn’t want it. We don’t just feed him to feed him. We don’t go more than two hours between feedings but he always lets us know when he is hungry and he always wants to eat every 1-2 hours. The odd thing is he hates the nipple shield and won’t take a bottle but he will take a pacifier.

He's lazy and likes the syringe, it's easier for him!

What do you suggest she does? If she stops syringe feeding that means he gets no milk.

He will eventually take the bottle.

That is dangerous advice for a mother of a 2 week old who is not suckling. Not all babies will EVENTUALLY take a bottle

But the vast majority will. OP needs better support from a real doctor, not an LC. A newborn cannot eat from a syringe permanently - will not get enough food that way, and caregivers cannot keep it up. The bottle think is mostly psychological if it is not physiological, and the doctor needs to help figure it out.

And OP needs to show the baby some tough love and not use a syringe for at least a day. The baby is likely just lazy and prefers the syringe. It has no understanding that this method isn’t sustainable.

It’s not even safe to have a baby who won’t take the breast or a bottle. What if something happens to OP? Who is going to dedicate a year of their life to syringe feeding a baby? Eventually it would require 24-7 feeding since a syringe holds so little liquid.

This is truly a safety thing and OP needs to drop the syringe and continue to offer bottles. After 8 hours or so, she needs to hand the baby over to dad and leave the house if the baby still won’t take a bottle.

OP here. He’s my child, not yours. I’m been very open and receptive to all advice on here so far. I’ve order everything people have mentioned to try. I’m going to see a new lactation consultant and will be pushing hard to get him evaluated when we see the pediatrician next week. I will not starve my baby. He is only two weeks old and needs calories and nutrition. We are still trying all the methods, but I will not force him to go without food to try to get him to take a bottle. He would take my breasts if he could. Same with the bottle. I’m not going to stop feeding him. He will eventually get this.

OP, please ignore this silly person. My baby never took a bottle. Obviously, it would have been a difficult situation if anything had happened to me, but (a) nothing happened to me, as is true for most American mothers and (b) if something had happened to me, his father and grandparents would have figured out how to get him fed. Please don't spend one minute worrying about PP's catastrophizing.

OP’s baby won’t nurse OR take a bottle. Totally different problem.

How dumb are you? In order for the baby to get better at nursing, you need to let baby nurse and be on the breast often. The baby will likely never end up breastfeeding if she doesn’t continue to latch him. Also, OP said he does nurse and does get some milk out. He had a hard time because of her flat nipples.

I see. Your goal is breastfeeding at all costs so you think it is actually good that the baby rejects the bottle. Well OP you can decide what works for you. What you’re doing right now sounds pretty insanely miserable to me and unsustainable.

OP is trying to give him a bottle too. She said she ordered more bottles to try and a SNS.

Yeah that’s what OP says. I’m trying to figure out why PP is triggered by the posters suggesting more structured attempts to offer only the bottle to increase chances baby will take it. I have concluded that PP is a breastfeeding fanatic who things the goal is breastfeeding at all costs.

No. I’m simply stating that isn’t not wrong for OP to offer breast and bottle to encourage the baby to nurse or use a bottle. This is what you’re supposed to do.

FYI - both of my kids were bottle fed after 6 months.

It could be wrong - we don’t know. What OP is doing now isn’t working. It’s totally normal advice to simplify and schedule. My LC specifically told me not to pump because it was too much, and to put the baby on more of a schedule (every 3 hrs instead of long comfort feeding sessions) when he wasn’t nursing well.

No one cares what you think, including OP. She is doing the best she can with the tools she has.

She will loose her supply if her baby can’t latch. Your baby doesn’t seem to have the issues OP baby has. It’s not the same thing. He only talks half an ounce every two hours. He can’t latch deep enough to get more milk. She needs to pump to keep up her supply or else her body will think she needs to make just half an ounce and she will lose her supply. You don’t seem to understand that this is a different baby with different issues that needs different methods.

Why are you being so nasty? OP asked for advice so people give advice, that's how messageboards typically function.

It’s no longer advice. It’s the same couple of posters telling OP she is wrong and basically telling her that she should listen to them over medical professionals. OP doesn’t need to told she is doing everything wrong when she is already struggling

that’s actually not what’s happening… you for some reason are attempting to aggressively gatekeep advice you disagree with.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:OP - does your baby suckle on anything? Their hand/finger, a pacifier, anything at all?

I am just wildly impressed that the baby is gaining weight with syringe feeds - you are clearly working SO HARD.

If the baby is not sucking on anything I am, like other posters said, concerned about a tongue tie or some other structural mouth issue that has not been caught yet.

OP here. He will breastfeed but can’t get a good latch because of small flat nipples. He will extract like 0.5 out when he does. We tried a nipple shield and he doesn’t like it and will refuse to use it. He will suckle on my breast shallow for comfort. He won’t take a bottle but we are still trying. He will take a pacifier.

We make sure to feed him 1-2 ounces every 1-2 hours. Sometimes when he is really hungry he will suck on it to get the milk out as soon as we put the syringe in his mouth. Most times we go slowly and squirt it into his cheek. The feedings can take about 30 minutes. He eats 20-24 ounces a day.

If he does this than the SNS could work. My daughter was like this and the SNS was a lifesaver for use. We used a DIY SNS systen with feeding tube and by varying the height of the bottle you can control how much effort he has to put in to get milk out. It’s a siphon system so at the beginning of deeds I had the bottle up high so basically got milk with shallow latch and disorganized suck. And lowered it later in the feed when I thought she was mainly comfort nursing. We saw an osteopath who did some bodywork on her and that made a big difference in her ability to suck effectively. Pre SNS we did a lot of syringe feeding but stopped that when we got the SNS to work.

Good luck! I know it is so hard!

OP here. I ordered one but it won’t get here until next week.

As has been posted by other posters up thread - call your LC or ped and see about getting some NG tubes to use the same way you would use the SNS in the meantime. You can start today.

The baby doesn’t need a feeding tube.

Not a feeding tube - using the NG tube as an SNS sytem - where you put the tube next to the nipple so baby can get more milk while nursing. Seems like a potentially good solution while OP figures out the baby’s latch issue or oral aversion to the bottle.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:You need to wait until he's hungry and have dad give him the bottle. Make it a high-flow nipple and just keep sticking it in his mouth. He'll take it. My DS spit out the pacifier repeatedly at 3 weeks but I was determined to make him take it, so I just held it in there. I don't mean you traumatize the baby, but you just keep on trying.

OP here. I will try to high flow. We have I think a newborn or slow flow nipple. We have 3 different brand bottles and he won’t take any of them. We have tried various milk temps, formula, and him being really hungry. He still refused and screamed. He is not a big fan of the syringe but he is used to it now. We feed every 1-2 hours because that’s when he wants to eat. He will take 1 ounce every hour or 2 ounces every two hours. We let him decide and he does turn his head and spit it out even he doesn’t want it. We don’t just feed him to feed him. We don’t go more than two hours between feedings but he always lets us know when he is hungry and he always wants to eat every 1-2 hours. The odd thing is he hates the nipple shield and won’t take a bottle but he will take a pacifier.

He's lazy and likes the syringe, it's easier for him!

What do you suggest she does? If she stops syringe feeding that means he gets no milk.

He will eventually take the bottle.

That is dangerous advice for a mother of a 2 week old who is not suckling. Not all babies will EVENTUALLY take a bottle

But the vast majority will. OP needs better support from a real doctor, not an LC. A newborn cannot eat from a syringe permanently - will not get enough food that way, and caregivers cannot keep it up. The bottle think is mostly psychological if it is not physiological, and the doctor needs to help figure it out.

And OP needs to show the baby some tough love and not use a syringe for at least a day. The baby is likely just lazy and prefers the syringe. It has no understanding that this method isn’t sustainable.

It’s not even safe to have a baby who won’t take the breast or a bottle. What if something happens to OP? Who is going to dedicate a year of their life to syringe feeding a baby? Eventually it would require 24-7 feeding since a syringe holds so little liquid.

This is truly a safety thing and OP needs to drop the syringe and continue to offer bottles. After 8 hours or so, she needs to hand the baby over to dad and leave the house if the baby still won’t take a bottle.

OP here. He’s my child, not yours. I’m been very open and receptive to all advice on here so far. I’ve order everything people have mentioned to try. I’m going to see a new lactation consultant and will be pushing hard to get him evaluated when we see the pediatrician next week. I will not starve my baby. He is only two weeks old and needs calories and nutrition. We are still trying all the methods, but I will not force him to go without food to try to get him to take a bottle. He would take my breasts if he could. Same with the bottle. I’m not going to stop feeding him. He will eventually get this.

OP, please ignore this silly person. My baby never took a bottle. Obviously, it would have been a difficult situation if anything had happened to me, but (a) nothing happened to me, as is true for most American mothers and (b) if something had happened to me, his father and grandparents would have figured out how to get him fed. Please don't spend one minute worrying about PP's catastrophizing.

OP’s baby won’t nurse OR take a bottle. Totally different problem.

How dumb are you? In order for the baby to get better at nursing, you need to let baby nurse and be on the breast often. The baby will likely never end up breastfeeding if she doesn’t continue to latch him. Also, OP said he does nurse and does get some milk out. He had a hard time because of her flat nipples.

I see. Your goal is breastfeeding at all costs so you think it is actually good that the baby rejects the bottle. Well OP you can decide what works for you. What you’re doing right now sounds pretty insanely miserable to me and unsustainable.

OP is trying to give him a bottle too. She said she ordered more bottles to try and a SNS.

Yeah that’s what OP says. I’m trying to figure out why PP is triggered by the posters suggesting more structured attempts to offer only the bottle to increase chances baby will take it. I have concluded that PP is a breastfeeding fanatic who things the goal is breastfeeding at all costs.

No. I’m simply stating that isn’t not wrong for OP to offer breast and bottle to encourage the baby to nurse or use a bottle. This is what you’re supposed to do.

FYI - both of my kids were bottle fed after 6 months.

It could be wrong - we don’t know. What OP is doing now isn’t working. It’s totally normal advice to simplify and schedule. My LC specifically told me not to pump because it was too much, and to put the baby on more of a schedule (every 3 hrs instead of long comfort feeding sessions) when he wasn’t nursing well.

No one cares what you think, including OP. She is doing the best she can with the tools she has.

She will loose her supply if her baby can’t latch. Your baby doesn’t seem to have the issues OP baby has. It’s not the same thing. He only talks half an ounce every two hours. He can’t latch deep enough to get more milk. She needs to pump to keep up her supply or else her body will think she needs to make just half an ounce and she will lose her supply. You don’t seem to understand that this is a different baby with different issues that needs different methods.

Why are you being so nasty? OP asked for advice so people give advice, that's how messageboards typically function.

It’s no longer advice. It’s the same couple of posters telling OP she is wrong and basically telling her that she should listen to them over medical professionals. OP doesn’t need to told she is doing everything wrong when she is already struggling

that’s actually not what’s happening… you for some reason are attempting to aggressively gatekeep advice you disagree with.

Several of us are asking you to give op space. It’s not gatekeeping, or aggressive. Though your language seems especially loaded for bear. You offered suggestions- great. Now let her process everything.

She’s gotten a lot of info. Has appointments scheduled. Options on order. A supportive co parent. Now it’s time and perseverance for the family.

[Anonymous]

OP- I had exact same issue with my now 12 week old. Have flat nipples… baby would only take 10mls from a 30 min nursing session with the shield. I pumped and bottle fed the pumped milk to not lose supply. Also struggled at the bottle and would only eat 17-18 oz a day and take an hour to eat 2oz. LC and ped told me no ties and would grow into it by 8 weeks. I carried on and at 8 weeks no improvement. Stopped trying to nurse out of exhaustion as pumping was more efficient. Saw a feeding therapist-SLP- who recommended tie revision and oral strengthening exercises at 8 weeks. Got it done with an ENT- who said baby was a gray zone case and it might not help. She had immediate improvement and is now bottle feeding well. I regret not getting more opinions earlier since may have allowed me to nurse as well and overall not suffered as long.

I recommend consult with a ped dentist/ feeding therapist SLP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - does your baby suckle on anything? Their hand/finger, a pacifier, anything at all?

I am just wildly impressed that the baby is gaining weight with syringe feeds - you are clearly working SO HARD.

If the baby is not sucking on anything I am, like other posters said, concerned about a tongue tie or some other structural mouth issue that has not been caught yet.

OP here. He will breastfeed but can’t get a good latch because of small flat nipples. He will extract like 0.5 out when he does. We tried a nipple shield and he doesn’t like it and will refuse to use it. He will suckle on my breast shallow for comfort. He won’t take a bottle but we are still trying. He will take a pacifier.

We make sure to feed him 1-2 ounces every 1-2 hours. Sometimes when he is really hungry he will suck on it to get the milk out as soon as we put the syringe in his mouth. Most times we go slowly and squirt it into his cheek. The feedings can take about 30 minutes. He eats 20-24 ounces a day.

If he does this than the SNS could work. My daughter was like this and the SNS was a lifesaver for use. We used a DIY SNS systen with feeding tube and by varying the height of the bottle you can control how much effort he has to put in to get milk out. It’s a siphon system so at the beginning of deeds I had the bottle up high so basically got milk with shallow latch and disorganized suck. And lowered it later in the feed when I thought she was mainly comfort nursing. We saw an osteopath who did some bodywork on her and that made a big difference in her ability to suck effectively. Pre SNS we did a lot of syringe feeding but stopped that when we got the SNS to work.

Good luck! I know it is so hard!

OP here. I ordered one but it won’t get here until next week.

As has been posted by other posters up thread - call your LC or ped and see about getting some NG tubes to use the same way you would use the SNS in the meantime. You can start today.

The baby doesn’t need a feeding tube.

Baby is feeding fine. There is no need for a feeding tube. She does need to call her ped and see a GI or feeding specialist or both. An LC isn't going ot help at this point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:You need to wait until he's hungry and have dad give him the bottle. Make it a high-flow nipple and just keep sticking it in his mouth. He'll take it. My DS spit out the pacifier repeatedly at 3 weeks but I was determined to make him take it, so I just held it in there. I don't mean you traumatize the baby, but you just keep on trying.

OP here. I will try to high flow. We have I think a newborn or slow flow nipple. We have 3 different brand bottles and he won’t take any of them. We have tried various milk temps, formula, and him being really hungry. He still refused and screamed. He is not a big fan of the syringe but he is used to it now. We feed every 1-2 hours because that’s when he wants to eat. He will take 1 ounce every hour or 2 ounces every two hours. We let him decide and he does turn his head and spit it out even he doesn’t want it. We don’t just feed him to feed him. We don’t go more than two hours between feedings but he always lets us know when he is hungry and he always wants to eat every 1-2 hours. The odd thing is he hates the nipple shield and won’t take a bottle but he will take a pacifier.

He's lazy and likes the syringe, it's easier for him!

What do you suggest she does? If she stops syringe feeding that means he gets no milk.

He will eventually take the bottle.

That is dangerous advice for a mother of a 2 week old who is not suckling. Not all babies will EVENTUALLY take a bottle

But the vast majority will. OP needs better support from a real doctor, not an LC. A newborn cannot eat from a syringe permanently - will not get enough food that way, and caregivers cannot keep it up. The bottle think is mostly psychological if it is not physiological, and the doctor needs to help figure it out.

And OP needs to show the baby some tough love and not use a syringe for at least a day. The baby is likely just lazy and prefers the syringe. It has no understanding that this method isn’t sustainable.

It’s not even safe to have a baby who won’t take the breast or a bottle. What if something happens to OP? Who is going to dedicate a year of their life to syringe feeding a baby? Eventually it would require 24-7 feeding since a syringe holds so little liquid.

This is truly a safety thing and OP needs to drop the syringe and continue to offer bottles. After 8 hours or so, she needs to hand the baby over to dad and leave the house if the baby still won’t take a bottle.

OP here. He’s my child, not yours. I’m been very open and receptive to all advice on here so far. I’ve order everything people have mentioned to try. I’m going to see a new lactation consultant and will be pushing hard to get him evaluated when we see the pediatrician next week. I will not starve my baby. He is only two weeks old and needs calories and nutrition. We are still trying all the methods, but I will not force him to go without food to try to get him to take a bottle. He would take my breasts if he could. Same with the bottle. I’m not going to stop feeding him. He will eventually get this.

OP, please ignore this silly person. My baby never took a bottle. Obviously, it would have been a difficult situation if anything had happened to me, but (a) nothing happened to me, as is true for most American mothers and (b) if something had happened to me, his father and grandparents would have figured out how to get him fed. Please don't spend one minute worrying about PP's catastrophizing.

OP’s baby won’t nurse OR take a bottle. Totally different problem.

How dumb are you? In order for the baby to get better at nursing, you need to let baby nurse and be on the breast often. The baby will likely never end up breastfeeding if she doesn’t continue to latch him. Also, OP said he does nurse and does get some milk out. He had a hard time because of her flat nipples.

I see. Your goal is breastfeeding at all costs so you think it is actually good that the baby rejects the bottle. Well OP you can decide what works for you. What you’re doing right now sounds pretty insanely miserable to me and unsustainable.

OP is trying to give him a bottle too. She said she ordered more bottles to try and a SNS.

Yeah that’s what OP says. I’m trying to figure out why PP is triggered by the posters suggesting more structured attempts to offer only the bottle to increase chances baby will take it. I have concluded that PP is a breastfeeding fanatic who things the goal is breastfeeding at all costs.

No. I’m simply stating that isn’t not wrong for OP to offer breast and bottle to encourage the baby to nurse or use a bottle. This is what you’re supposed to do.

FYI - both of my kids were bottle fed after 6 months.

It could be wrong - we don’t know. What OP is doing now isn’t working. It’s totally normal advice to simplify and schedule. My LC specifically told me not to pump because it was too much, and to put the baby on more of a schedule (every 3 hrs instead of long comfort feeding sessions) when he wasn’t nursing well.

No one cares what you think, including OP. She is doing the best she can with the tools she has.

She will loose her supply if her baby can’t latch. Your baby doesn’t seem to have the issues OP baby has. It’s not the same thing. He only talks half an ounce every two hours. He can’t latch deep enough to get more milk. She needs to pump to keep up her supply or else her body will think she needs to make just half an ounce and she will lose her supply. You don’t seem to understand that this is a different baby with different issues that needs different methods.

Why are you being so nasty? OP asked for advice so people give advice, that's how messageboards typically function.

It’s no longer advice. It’s the same couple of posters telling OP she is wrong and basically telling her that she should listen to them over medical professionals. OP doesn’t need to told she is doing everything wrong when she is already struggling

that’s actually not what’s happening… you for some reason are attempting to aggressively gatekeep advice you disagree with.

Several of us are asking you to give op space. It’s not gatekeeping, or aggressive. Though your language seems especially loaded for bear. You offered suggestions- great. Now let her process everything.

She’s gotten a lot of info. Has appointments scheduled. Options on order. A supportive co parent. Now it’s time and perseverance for the family.

this is the internet … it’s weird that you’re acting like you are OP’s protector. OP can ask for the thread to be deleted if she wants.