From the day she was born, Claire had trouble nursing. I blame this partly to the fact that they didn't let me try to nurse her until she was well over 3 hours old. She never could get a latch. We finally tried a nipple shield and she would latch a little bit but still couldn't get much out. We had to stay in the hospital for five days after she was born because she had jaundice so badly. We had to put her under the Billi-Lights which I did NOT like but Claire seemed to enjoy the warmth. We finally got discharged home after giving her formula to help get rid of the billirubin. One week later, I got a horrible case of mastitis because my milk had come in and she had still not figured out how to nurse right. I finally got the mastitis cleared out (after feeling like I was on my deathbed for a solid week) and she still wasn't nursing right or gaining weight. Then, I got mastitis again (double mastitis at that). This go round lasted much longer. By the time Claire was four months old (and I was still trying to nurse her through the nipple shield every 2-3 hours even at night time), she still could not latch on and was hardly gaining any weight. I decided to start pumping and feeding her through the bottle. It took me about four weeks or so to really get my milk supply up. She instantly gained weight and started sleeping better at night time. I still tried nursing her up until she was six months old. She never did get a good latch and eventually quit trying to nurse. I guess she just wasn't meant to nurse. I pumped and fed her bottled breastmilk until she was one year old. It was definitely worth it! She didn't get sick one single time that entire year.
Although, the week we took her off breastmilk, she got a cold believe it or not!! Coincidence?? I think not :)
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