Just in case I didn’t make the point perfectly clear in my last blog, the easiest thing to do is to avoid nipple confusion entirely by not giving the baby anything besides your breast until breastfeeding is well established–this includes pacifiers and/or bottles of expressed milk!
However, if your baby is hospitalized that just might not be possible. For us, we already had other children at home and I simply couldn’t be at the hospital for every feeding. There was no other alternative but to feed Meghan bottles while I was not there. While most babies transition easily between breast and bottle, some don’t. Un-confusing a baby is a time consuming and tricky proposition but it is totally worth it once the two of you establish a breastfeeding relationship. Here are a few tips on how to fix nipple confusion:
#1. Ditch the bottles and pacifiers. It will likely require your baby to be at the breast 24/7 for a few days and it can be draining. However, doing this will ensure that your baby builds your supply, and gets adequate nutrition. I highly recommend having someone help you during this transition period so that all you have to do is nurse the baby and someone else can worry about lunch, dinner or older children.
#2. Use a cup or eye dropper. If you have to supplement your nursing sessions don’t use a bottle to do it. Use a sippy cup with the non-spill feature removed or an eye dropper. If you do it this way, it’s a lot less likely that you’ll be supplementing forever.
#3. Know when to see a lactation consultant. It’s funny but in the pediatric world, very few doctors recommend the services of a lactation consultant. It is much more common in my experience to hear a doctor or nurse say, “Well some babies don’t take to the breast. Just feed them formula. Oh–and here’s the bag with all the free goodies!” It is sad to me because a good lactation consultant will be able to get the baby to latch on immediately or at the very least help you take corrective measures. The point is, a lactation consultant can provide almost immediate results in some form or another. (If you have to pump they can help you manage pumping as well.)
#4. Soothies and Lansinoh are a nursing mom’s best friend! Both of these products are designed to ease the sore nipples. They are both great products and really help. However, it is important to note that if your nipples are cracked or bleeding–your baby is not latched on and/or sucking properly.
#5. In extreme cases of nipple confusion (this most often will happen with preemies) rather than full term infants) there are exercises you can do to retrain the baby’s suck. Again, you will need to learn them from a qualified lactation consultant.