I am so excited a baby whom I have been working with is finally nursing at
the breast.
Baby was born premature (we had about 8 of these births during a hot spell in
early August--preterm labor due to maternal dehydration) Baby was intubated
for 2 days and then tube fed for about a week. Of course the first feeding
was a bottle. He was discharged from the hospital at 2 weeks. We tried
everything to get the baby to latch on while mom dilegently pumped to keep up
a supply. At first he just seemed too weak to sustatin a latch. Then all of a
sudden he seemed to be *Breast phobic* I found out mom had tried to latch the
little guy on for 6 hours one night. So I had her forget about latching on
and feed the baby with the bottle next to her naked breast. Got him over the
phobia. Tried a feeding tube, finger feeding and yes even a nipple shield--no
luck baby would latch on but just sort of hang out. I suggested she try
"rebirthing" while her husband was home over the weekend.
If you remember from ILCA the baby is placed in the water and then brought up
out of the water to mom's tummy. Dad is there for safety and to keep baby
warm.
The first time the baby crawled up but didn't latch on- just snuggled close
to the breast. Then the next morning mom and dad tried it again the little
guy crawled up her tummy and latched right on to the breast and nursed in the
tub for 20 minutes. That was Saturday morning.
I saw her yesterday (Tues) and the little guy has been nursing like a champ
ever since. Mom was elated and I was thrilled. 6 weeks of patience paid off.
I love it when things work,
Marie Davis