Anonymous wrote:Do you mind sharing your day to day routine? I had a baby similar to yours that required syringe and cup feeding for the first month until he took to breastfeeding. Maybe I can offer you some solutions or tips if I see an overview of what your day looks like.

OP here. This is what a day to day life looks like. It has changed since last week when we were very new to this and I was just hand expressing because I thought he would take to a nipple shield or bottle.

6am - I will put him on the breast ( both sides) and let him try to eat. I will try the nipple shield ( he often will refuse) and I end up squeezing my breast to push my nipple and areola it as far as possible. He will usually get about .5. This lasts for about 10 minutes until he pulls away and cries for food. My husband takes him and will syringe feed him 2oz while I pump.

8am - My husband will feed him 2oz. This takes about 30 minutes, sometimes a little longer. He is used to it now but fought in the first week. I don’t think he likes it, but he doesn’t fight it like he did the first week.

9am - I pump. He will comfort nurse on me for about 10-20 minutes.

10am - Try the breast. Husband feeds 2oz

12pm - Feed him 2oz. I pump. I put him on after I pump and sometimes before to see if he will eat anything.

2pm - Husband feeds 2oz. We try the bottle but he will refuse it.

3pm - I pump. We put him on breast.

4pm - Feeds 2oz. Try the bottle.

6pm - Feed him 2oz. I pump. Try the breast after I pump.

8pm - I feed him 2oz. He likes to comfort in the evenings. I let him do it as much as he wants.

9pm - I pump. Comfort nurse.

10pm - Husband feed him 2oz. Comfort nurse after I pump

12am - Feed 2oz. I pump

2am - Feed 2oz.

3am - I pump

4am - Feed 2oz.

We take shifts. I will feed most of the morning, my husband does the afternoon while I nap between pumps and trying to breastfeed. We both take the evening. He takes the night while I wake up to pump.

This is on a day where he eats every two hours. He has days where he will eat 1oz every hour in the morning and/or evening. He gets 20-24oz a day. We feed him on average 10-12 times a day and sometimes more when he eats every hour. He used to eat every hour the first week but he now usually does 2oz every two hours most days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Try swaddling the baby while you feed him the bottle. Also try bottle feeding in the side lying position. Lansinoh bottles worked for my baby when others didn’t.

OP here. I ordered more options. We have tried holding at different positions, laying down on side propped on boppy, slipping the nipple in his mouth after he is on the breast, etc. He gets really mad and starts crying.

he’s getting mad because you’re taking away the breast. and you need to get less worried about him getting mad. parenting is all about structure! tough lesson to learn so early, I know. nobody wants to starve your baby but you need to be firm and figure out if there is anything physical going on.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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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

OP here. We will continue to try to breastfeed but feeding him and comfort nursing. We will continue to try to give him a bottle. We will not stop syringe feeding. He is only two weeks old and he needs the calories and nutrition. It’s not like he’s an older baby that will take a bottle eventually. He is too young to pull the “ wait it out” game. This is what the lactation consultant told us.

you need to talk to the ped and get another LC. he’s probably not getting enough calories, and it only gets harder to change habits, not easier. nobody wants you to starve your baby but you can’t keep syringe feeding.

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!

Do you mind sharing your day to day routine? I had a baby similar to yours that required syringe and cup feeding for the first month until he took to breastfeeding. Maybe I can offer you some solutions or tips if I see an overview of what your day looks like.

OP, you sound like a good mom. I would be sounding the alarm with the pediatrician and the new LC. I would make a ped appointment and make him/her observe a feeding. If the ped keeps blowing you off, I'd honestly switch practices.

This is NOT a "no big deal" or "wait and see" scenario. This is serious. Keep doing what you are doing in the meantime, but I don't see any signs that the situation is going to resolve on its own. I would continue to escalate with the professionals.

Anonymous wrote:Try swaddling the baby while you feed him the bottle. Also try bottle feeding in the side lying position. Lansinoh bottles worked for my baby when others didn’t.

OP here. I ordered more options. We have tried holding at different positions, laying down on side propped on boppy, slipping the nipple in his mouth after he is on the breast, etc. He gets really mad and starts crying.

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.

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

OP here. We will continue to try to breastfeed but feeding him and comfort nursing. We will continue to try to give him a bottle. We will not stop syringe feeding. He is only two weeks old and he needs the calories and nutrition. It’s not like he’s an older baby that will take a bottle eventually. He is too young to pull the “ wait it out” game. This is what the lactation consultant told us.

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.

Try swaddling the baby while you feed him the bottle. Also try bottle feeding in the side lying position. Lansinoh bottles worked for my baby when others didn’t.

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.

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

Then it will need to be hospitalized.

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.

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