Breastfeeding

So my breastfeeding has not been going well. While we were in the hospital Ryan dropped a significant amount of weight, 1 lb, so the nurses recommended that we supplement his feeding with formula. So we were feeding him formula, and I was expressing breast milk when I was able to, and feeding him from a bottle. By the time my milk came in he had eaten more from a bottle than from the breast. I have a very lazy baby. He's cute, but lazy. He wanted to eat the easy way, not the hard way. Every time I would try to breastfeed him, he would get so frustrated and start to cry. Which always made me upset. I saw a lactation consultant in the hospital, and a few times after I was discharged, but nothing was working. It doesn't help that we have a significant size discrepancy between my breasts and his mouth.

I tried using a tube inserted with the nipple, several types of holds, and positions, as well as a plastic nipple cover. In the end it proved so frustrating and stressful for me and the baby, that I decided I would just give him my breast milk from the bottle. So I started expressing breast milk for every feeding, and giving it to him from the bottle. My husband went out and rented me a good electric pump from Shopper's Drug Mart, because I wasn't getting any rest using my manual one. It's worked out well, because I'm now able to pump every 6 hours for 30 mins, and get enough food for two feedings. He eats about 4 ounces every 3 hours. I figure that even if I can't breast feed him, at least he's getting the benefits of the breast milk.

There will be no bottle for my next child - not for at least the first 6 weeks.