Sorry to hear about the challenges your daughter is having with
breastfeeding your grandson.   I guess I missed the first information you
posted but I gather that the baby is about two weeks old now.  Is that
correct?  What I am thinking is that, since it looks like getting her milk
supply going is taking a while, I would put getting the baby feeding at the
breast on high priority.  The longer the baby goes without learning to
associate the breast with food, the higher the possibility that he will have
difficulty taking it, even when milk supply increases.  Of course, it is
possible to get nearly all babies to take the breast, with enough patience
and creativity, but it is easier to avoid such problems in the first place.
So, what I would do is get mom started doing all feeding at the breast,
using a nursing supplementer, as soon as possible.  Getting the
breastfeeding relationship established is half the battle, allowing both
baby and mom to relax and learn to love the experience, while doing whatever
is needed to increase supply.  The time spent at the breast will also help
with milk supply, to some extent, even if the baby's suck is not the
greatest at this time.  It might even have a dramatic effect, by eliminating
the anxiety that can come from looking into a pump bottle not seeing much.

The biggest benefit to that, though, is ensuring that the baby will keep
taking the breast, rather than just get breast milk from a bottle.  One fact
that I think is often not thought about is that a baby who is feeding at the
breast is alot more likely to keep getting some amount of breast milk for a
longer time.  Not many moms keep pumping for more than a year,
understandably, where breastfeeding a few times a day can be done very
easily, with an older child.

I usually recommend the Lact-Aid, especially for situations where it appears
that supplementation will be needed for a significant period of time.  If
the baby's suck is really weak, the medium or large tubing of the SNS might
help (the smallest tubing is closest to the Lact-Aid's rate of flow).
However, I would use the slowest flow that he can (or will) feed
sufficiently with.  Also, you can get a tube like Dr. Newman recommends but
I suggest threading the tube through a large needle and pulling it through
the existing hole in a bottle nipple, rather than enlarging the hole.  That
way, the tube will stay secure.  Mom can then stick the bottle down into the
middle of the bra, to hold it, or sew a cloth pouch onto her bra, or onto a
neck cord, to hold it, so that she doesn't need to worry about the tube
getting pulled out, the bottle spilling, etc..

Anyway, please keep us posted.  I can just imagine how it is to want this so
badly for your daughter and grandson and be faced with such challenges, but
I think it can be worked out, especially if your daughter really wants it
to.

Aloha,
Darillyn

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html