Two week old will not breastfeed

[Anonymous]

There are posterior tongue ties that are more subtle and difficult to diagnose. You need an ENT who specializes in them. The guy we went to aha since retired. This is so hard to deal with on no sleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is he gaining weight? If he is, I would just give it time. If not, you need to see a specialist.

OP here. His weight is not an issue. I bought a scale and weighed him today. He was born 8lbs 2oz and then 7lbs 12oz day 3. He was 8lbs 7oz. He is starting to outgrow most of his newborn clothes. He eats 20-24 ounces total per day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, I am so sorry you’re going through this. We syringe fed my daughter from about 2-5 weeks. She could latch but not well and I was in too much pain to nurse (bleeding nipples). The first lactation counselor we saw who said DD did not have ties also terrified me that if we switched to bottle she would never nurse. So we syringe fed. It was awful.

We did end up seeing a different lactation counselor who identified ties, and referred us to a pediatric ent who corrected the tie. Things got a lot better after that.

I know it’s not exactly what you’re going through, but I do remember how difficult that was. You’re not alone. Maybe try a new lactation consultant? I hope it gets better soon!

OP here. I will bring it up with the pediatrician again next week and I will look for another lactation consultant. He does latch - he just has a more shallow suck because my nipple is small. The nipple shield was supposed to help correct it but he doesn’t like it. I’ve tried pinching my nipples, squeezing my breast to get my nipple and areola in his mouth, and using a pump before I feed to get my nipple out. None of that has really worked. He still does comfort nurse a lot and I spend most of the day just letting him try to latch and eat between syringe feeding. We tried a cup and bottle and formula and he rejected all of it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are posterior tongue ties that are more subtle and difficult to diagnose. You need an ENT who specializes in them. The guy we went to aha since retired. This is so hard to deal with on no sleep.

OP here. I’m not getting a ton of sleep but I sleep when I can and I do take naps when I can. My husband is off for another two weeks and we take shifts for feeding so we can both get sleep.

[Anonymous]

Have someone else feed him bottles. He's not going to nurse and you can't keep this up. He'll take bottles from his dad/other parent/nanny, and from you eventually.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have someone else feed him bottles. He's not going to nurse and you can't keep this up. He'll take bottles from his dad/other parent/nanny, and from you eventually.

OP here. We have tried that. My husband does half of the feedings. He will not take a bottle. He wouldn’t take a bottle for the lactation consultant either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have someone else feed him bottles. He's not going to nurse and you can't keep this up. He'll take bottles from his dad/other parent/nanny, and from you eventually.

OP here. We have tried that. My husband does half of the feedings. He will not take a bottle. He wouldn’t take a bottle for the lactation consultant either.

He'll take the bottle. You just have to keep on trying and not give him the syringe. This is why you need to talk to the pediatrician ASAP, to make sure you do this safely. Maybe hire a night nanny too.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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!

[Anonymous]

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.

What bottles are you using? Maybe try other brands?

[Anonymous]

It really may be an issue with his tongue/mouth. I had the same problem with my DC. Would not latch and I finally gave up and went to formula. But bottle feeding was also challenging since they couldn't seem to drink the bottle without half of it streaming it down their neck. Fast forward 10 years and DC had a slight speech impediment so we went to a therapist. Turns out it was all connected to muscle weakness in their mouth. All is well now, but I beat myself up so much during those early days and blamed myself. Be kind to yourself. You will get through this.

[Anonymous]

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.

Are the bottle nipples you’ve tried made of the same material as the pacifier he likes? Mine was fine with a softer latex pacifier, but couldn’t keep the stiffer silicone ones in her mouth. Same brand, same shape, just different materials. But the silicone ones just popped right back out, every time.

That might be something to consider if you continue to try bottles.

[Anonymous]

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.

What bottles are you using? Maybe try other brands?

We have tried a Medela bottle, Dr.Browns, and Avent.

[Anonymous]

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.

Are the bottle nipples you’ve tried made of the same material as the pacifier he likes? Mine was fine with a softer latex pacifier, but couldn’t keep the stiffer silicone ones in her mouth. Same brand, same shape, just different materials. But the silicone ones just popped right back out, every time.

That might be something to consider if you continue to try bottles.

OP here. I don’t really know. He takes the green Avent ones but they do fall out of his mouth. He will take the MAM ones.