This information is presented to assist breastfeeding mothers who have been advised to supplement in addition to feeding on demand at the breast or who have infants unable to nurse at the breast. Expressed Breastmilk is the preferred substance to supplement with. If your doctor is not breastfeeding friendly you may want to consult with other sources before supplementing. Also note that it can take a few days for your milk to even come in, but until then all that is needed is the colostrum.
http://www.leron-line.com/Alternative_Methods.htm
{b}Alternative Feeding Methods
for Breastfed Babies: Finger Feeding[/b]To avoid iatrogenic problems, finger feeding is one of several techniques that may be substituted until the baby can be brought back to the breast.
Advantages:* Avoids nipple confusion
* Helps correct incorrect tongue motions while sucking
* Brings infant's tongue forward rather than back
* Infant can pace the rapidity and quantity of his feed
Disadvantages:* Harder to learn
* More intrusive
* Infant may become dependent on method
* Infant can "forget" jaw excursion (moving the jaw up and down during sucking
Situations where finger feeding may help:* Improper sucking technique
* Nipple confusion
* Jaundiced infant
* Poor urinary output or high urine specific gravity
* Refusal to latch-on
* Neurological disorders
* Low blood sugar
Procedure for finger feeding:Position the infant in a semi-upright position. Wash hands (non-family members should wear a glove or finger cot with powder rinsed off). Introduce the finger into infantâs mouth pad up, slowly moving it back to the juncture between the hard and the soft palate. If baby resists, withdraw finger slightly, pause until the baby is comfortable and gently continue to advance the finger to the soft palate.
Place a 5 Fr catheter, feeding tube device or periodontal syringe next to your finger. As the infant sucks, reward correct sucking motions with a small bolus of milk.
Alternative Feeding Methods
for Breastfed Babies: Cup or spoon feedingTo avoid iatrogenic problems, cup or spoon feeding is one of several techniques that may be substituted until the baby can be brought back to the breast.
Advantages:* Avoids nipple confusion
* Non-intrusive
* Brings infant's tongue forward rather than back
* Infant can pace the rapidity and quantity of his feeds
* Easy to learn
Disadvantages:* Does not fulfill the infant's need to suck
* May become dependent on method
* May be messy
* Can be easily substituted for breastfeeding because it is so easy
Indications for cup or spoon feeding:* Nipple confusion
* Jaundiced infant
* Poor urinary output or high urine specific gravity
* Refusal to latch-on
* Low blood sugar
* Flat nipples
Procedure for cup or spoon feeding:* Swaddle infant and hold in a semi-upright sitting position
* Fill the spoon or a 1 ounce medicine cup (or any shot glass, medicine spoon or other small clean container) at least ½ full of pumped breastmilk or formula
* Place the container to infant's mouth, touching the corners of the upper lip
* Allow the spoon or cup to rest gently on the lower lip
* Tip the spoon or cup so milk is just touching infant's lips
* A few drops may be trickled into infant's mouth to start
* The infant may keep his tongue forward and drink sips or lap from the spoon or cup
* Allow the infant time to swallow
* Do not pour milk into the infant's mouth
* Leave the spoon or cup in position, refilling only when necessary
* Let the infant pace the feeding
* Stop to burp from time to time
* Spoon or cup feeding is easily learned and can be taught to parents if their baby will need supplemental feedings.
Alternative Feeding Methods for Breastfed Babies:
Complimentary Feeding at the Breast
Advantages:* Avoids nipple confusion
* Involves the mother
* Keeps the infant in contact with the breast
* Infant can pace the rapidity and quantity of his own feeds
* Encourages stronger suck and swallow
* Allows stimulation of mother's breasts
Disadvantages:* Mother may need the help of another person
* May be awkward to use and time consuming
* Cost varies from $3 to $45 depending on equipment used
Indications for complimenting at the breast:* Nipple confusion
* Jaundiced infant
* Poor urinary output or high urine specific gravity
* Low blood sugar
* Low milk supply
Procedure for complimentary feeding at the breast* Place infant at breast in cradle or football hold.
* Assist infant to latch-on.
* Slip 5 Fr feeding tube, a commercially available feeding tube device or periodontal syringe into corner of infant's mouth
or
* Tape the tubing to the breast so the infant takes both the breast and the tubing in during latch-on. The tubing will be less obtrusive to the infant if it is placed in the corner of the mouth.
* Reward sucking with small bolus of milk.
* Observe for swallowing and signs of too fast or slow milkThis technique can be taught to a family member to assist the breastfeeding mother.
This technique will not correct an improper sucking technique.Rinse the apparatus with cool water to prevent coagulation of the proteins before washing with hot, soapy water. Force water through the tubing. Allow to air dry.
I finger fed so if anyone has any quetions, pm me.
Really?!?! I did too- I thought I was the only one...
Yep. J lost too much weight and was jaundiced, so I had to pump and feed ebm with a tube after every feeding.
will yall tell us about it? I never cup, spoon, or finger fed but the ideas intrigue me.
nipple confusion is definitely something there's not enough information about. dylan got bottles of pumped milk in the hospital and no one ever said a word about it, except that it was a myth. i got lucky that he would still nurse, but i'm sure for many women it's gone differently :(
Hmm let's see. Jocelyn lost too much weight, was dehydrated and jaundiced, and was passing uric acid crystals (brick coloured stuff in the diaper if anyone needs to know.)
My midwife came over and helped me with getting her latched properly. We used a nipple shield for a couple weeks because J was so sleepy from the lack of food that she couldn't really work at latching or bfing.
I had to feed her at least every three hours, but usually more, for at least twenty minutes.
I had to pump, put the milk in a shot glass, put in this tube, hold the other end against my finger, suck on it to get the milk going, then put my finger and tube in J's mouth. She would then suck kinda like bfing to get the milk out. We had to keep the glass lower than her mouth or the milk ould just pour through the tube and choke her. A couple times I taped the tube to my nipple as a makeshift sns. Mostly, I would let scott finger feed her when I got ahead, so I could keep up with my pumping at the same time. It was very exhausting to feed her every 1-3 hours for at least 20 minutes, very challenging to keep her awake, then pump, finger feed her, clean and dry the pump, and then it was time to do it all over again.
We watched a lot of tv seasons on dvd then. It was total sleepless zombie time. When j got back up to her birthwight, I got to stop the feeding regimen, and it was so happy and relieving.
I couldn't latch M on- believe it or not- he didn't get the bottle thing either and spit it out and screamed.
So I had a feeding tube that I put next to my finger and a syringe was attached to that. He really didn't get the sucking thing with the tube on so I generally had to push the plunger the whole feeding for him to get anything.
The weird thing was all his suck issues went away when I got the nipple shield. It helped if I walked while he was nursing. I had a really lazy baby so I had to do "mean" stuff to him to keep him nursing and awake. He was an easily overwhelmed baby, which looks like a sleepy baby but is a little different.
Bumping this up :D
bump again.
this is really good info.. could we make this a sticky??
That's exactly what the nurses told me at the hospital!!! I was crying because my daughter couldn't latch on properly at the hospital (I had size 38H breasts BEFORE i got pregnant) and asked to see the lactation consultant. The nurse outright refused to get her for me and said We can BRING YOU A BOTTLE, it does NOT hurt to supplement! There's not even such a thing as nipple confusion!"
I refused to do so because I was so deadset on breastfeeding my baby, so I sent my mother home to get my breast pump and a bottle or two "just in case". Fortunately, I didn't need to use it. Emmie starting nursing a bit better.
The answer I found when supplementing was the Avent bottle system. The nipple truly is the most like a mother's nipple can get for commercial bottles. The system is great, everything works with the breast pump, and the system is completely interchangeable. Even though it's more pricey in the beginning, the bottles have other uses. Later, you can buy sippy spouts and handles for the bottles and convert them to sippy cups, and the "magic" sippy cups are interchangable with the bottles, so you can put a nipple on them when teaching your baby to hold a cup, if you'd like. The bottles can also be used as baby food containers, they sell caps seperately. Also, the design of the bottle cut down on gas signifigantly when i was pumping/feeding. I've only used half a bottle of mylicon since she was born, and my baby is four months and i had to stop breastfeeding when she was six weeks, so it seems like the system has been a blessing.
Also, the price of the breast pump isn't too bad. 40 dollars, give or take, for the manual Isis system, which is pretty much as fast as an electric pump.
These bottles were great for supplementing, though!! I highly recommend this system!