Bittersweet

I feel for you. This was me for 8 weeks and I relied on a nipple shield 100% because she just would not latch! I read a few times on here that they just latch overnight and eventually that happened for us. She will be 3 months tomorrow and we have had 5 solid weeks of her latching without any issues but I know exactly how you feel so do what is best for you. We now have the added drama of her snubbing expressed milk in a bottle. Since discovering how to latch. It truly is never ending!

did you just keep offering it? It’s so hard when it seems like she hates it cuz she has to wait for my let down… pumping is hard But it makes me feel just a tad okay that she drinking my milk

My LO is 4 months I gave up trying when he was 2 months.. He would latch sometimes but didn’t want to work for the milk. He would get so upset to the point he began to cry when I would even begin to attempt!! I randomly tried a few days ago and he Latched and stayed on for 5 min. He has continued to nurse multiple times a day since then!! So don’t stress things just give it time. : ) Your doing great!

My baby is 1 month and latch for the first time last week! Same situation as yours. One day I tired randomly and he latched and stayed on for 20 minutes! Sucked me dry! I use a nipple shield and it’s the only way he will latch. I highly recommend one. It’s okay if it doesn’t happen mama. And it’s okay to stop trying. That doesn’t mean you are giving up, you are simply making a decision that supports your mental health and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Either way you are a great mama and doing what’s best for you and your baby

Try pumping for a couple minutes before to get your milk flowing then put baby on!

Also don’t try for more than 5-10 minutes. The more stressed out you and baby get the harder it will be to want to keep trying. I stopped trying after 5 minutes and would give him a bottle then pump. Like I said he eventually latched

I have the same experience in the first 2 months and thought i would have to give up. Then, one day, when my baby was half sleeping on the bed, he just started latching while we were both laying in bed. I recognized that my baby only latched when he was fully relaxed on bed. After that, I breastfeed him in bed every time for a month until he gets used to latch on my hand. Some of my friends did that, and they said it worked. Hope it will help you

I’m the opposite of most folks in here, I think. We tried for 2 solid months and had the exact situation- she’d cry, sometimes get some milk but it was just too hard. I decided to let go of trying to latch because it does take such a toll on my mental health and I couldn’t handle triple feeding once my husband went back to work.

Now I’m focusing on things like getting quality snuggles, playtime, stories, all the good things that I wasn’t able to appreciate when I was pushing so hard to nurse. I still get sad sometimes but I’m working on accepting things I cannot change (aka my silly baby who just don’t wanna latch!). So if you decide to let go of nursing to take care of your own mental health, that is ok too!

I did keep offering but the nipple shield made it possible in the first few weeks. The only problem is they are annoying as hell and the baby becomes dependent on them. I just kept offering it with and without the shield and as others have said they seem to latch better when relaxed. My girl latched almost everytime during the night feeds so I knew she could do it without the sheild. Eventually she just got better and better and I ditched the shields.