I have to say, I never really predicted that one day, I would be on Verastic and complaining about someone not sucking my breasts. But here we are. My baby, Ada Verastic has utterly refused to suck my breasts. She latches on to my nipple sometimes and sucks for a few minutes, the she lets go and starts crying. More like screeching. Then her hands start flailing all over the place and she starts kicking rapidly. If you did not know why she was crying, you probably think that I pinched her really hard and then squirted peppery lemon juice in her eyes. But no, it’s just a breast problem.
Right from when Ada Verastic was born, she just never had a real interest in my breasts. She got her colustrum, but even that was a problem because we had to sometimes spoon-feed it to her. So I feed her with a feeding bottle. I do not feed her anything other than breast milk, but I have to pump it out and then feed her through her bottle. Good thing I spent $30 buying a stylish nursing coverup that I will not get to use (unless my next baby decides to put Ada Verastic to shame).
Why isn’t she sucking? I don’t know for sure, but I suspect it might have something to do with my nipple. You see, I have a porblem you might be all too familiar with: the big for nothing problem. In other words, big breasts, small nipples. It’s all too real. Who would have thought?
“But why aren’t you feeding the baby?” the inquisitive minds of my parents want to know. Although I have explained to them (mom especially) that Ada Verastic has a preference and she’s not afraid to let it be known, I am still consistently asked the same question. Apparently, in the minds of my parents, not feeding her through my nipples ultimately means not feeding her at all. By now, you know the kind of parents that I have, so I will not be bothering to argue with them. Mom especially.
At first, I was very concerned about Ada Verastic not wanting to latch on because I thought maybe she does not like breast milk, but I felt a lot better once I realized that she actually likes breast milk. So for now, she’s strictly on the breast milk diet, and every now and then, we try the nipple thing. She latches on and sucks when she feels like it.
I have been given many theories about babies and their likelihood to like breast milk. I have been told that baby boys tend to like their mommy’s breast more than baby girls. I don’t know if there is any truth to this, but I have filed this right under Old Midwife Tales, just as people tried to predict if I was having a boy or a girl based on how I was carrying. Side note, most people predicted that I would have a boy. Ha! Where are all of you now oh?
Hi Vera, you realise the kind of mental image you are putting iny innocent and sanctified mind? Big boobs and small nipples, Hian!!! Hahaha
Anyways seriously sha, the issue might be a tongue tie. It happened with my daughter when she refused to latch on. Your baby is probably crying in frustration. It is easy to sort though if that’s what it is. It’s just a clip to the bit under the tongue and it’s relatively painless. I held my daughter when it was done and she dud not cry apart from being miffed from being disturbed from sleep.
Check it out. I can’t seem to past a link her or I’d have done do. It’s tongue tie.
Good luck
My son initially refused one of my breast and then at about 3 months totally refused both. I thought I was not producing enough milk and he was doing too much work for little milk. I went on to have a daughter who wanted only breast and no bottle. Had to force to wean her at one year. We never can understand kids. Once she’s feeding don’t bother
Awww..dont worry..shes probably crying out of frustration… my daugther started sucking very well at 3 months..by then all our practicing made d nipple keep pulling out..oh well… what i mean is the nipple wud pop out later..just keep giving her the breast…this sounds so funny
Hi Vera. Congrats on the birth of your baby girl. May the Lord guard her, keep her and bless the whole Family in Jesus Mighty Name, Amen. The issue may be an “Overactive let down” I remember in one of your post, you mentioned that your breast milk sprays (that’s a sign of over active letdown) Most women feel it when it’s about to happen, is likes right tingling of your breast whilst your baby sucks. if that’s the case, your baby maybe protesting and refusing to go on the breast. This is because the milk flow is too fast and she can’t keep up. This may cause her to gag or splutter. What you can do is (if it’s an overactive letdown) once you feel she is about to pull off, check the milk flow, it it’s too fast, take her off and let the milk stop spraying, before you offer the breast. You can read up on “overactive let down” Inpersonally don’t think it’s a tongue tie.
#learning mode#
Congratulations to you and Igwe. Welcome to Ada Verastic. My sister had a baby a few months back and her daughter also had problems sucking directly from the breast. She got this Medela contact nipple shield from target for about $5 and her baby was able to latch on that way. But whenever she tries to feed the baby without the nipple shield she sucks for a seconds then starts crying till she puts the nipple shield back on. You can give that a try. * On to see pictures of Ada from previous posts*
???? knowledge from everywhere on this blog lately.