lsmith@ut-ngp.UUCP (lsmith) (01/15/86)
My new baby was born by C-section, so he was in the nursery for a day. While he was there, the nurses fed him sugar water in those bottles with nice big nipples with big holes that are easy to suck. As a result, he began to turn down the breast, very angrily I might add. My wife ended up pumping her milk and putting it in a bottle. We then got a breast sheild, which is a bottle-like nipple on a ribber disk that the mother puts over her nipple. He likes that just fine, so the problem isn't that the breast is too hard to suck. I have a five-day-old rubber fetishist! What can we do? Why do hospitals do things like this to us?
avolio@decuac.UUCP (Lisa Avolio) (01/18/86)
In article <2817@ut-ngp.UUCP>, lsmith@ut-ngp.UUCP (lsmith) writes: > My new baby was born by C-section, so he was in the nursery for a day. > While he was there, the nurses fed him sugar water in those bottles ... > We then got a breast sheild, which is a bottle-like nipple on a ribber disk > that the mother puts over her nipple. He likes that just fine, so > the problem isn't that the breast is too hard to suck. Hospitals do it because 1) they are used to doing it, 2) they are afraid of the baby dehydrating, and 3) water helps break down bilirubin (which will cause jaundice). You can ask the pediatrician to authorize *plain* water rather than sugar water -- this is what we did. Nursing will get easier for your wife. Also, it will get easier for your son. Have your wife KEEP DOING WHAT SHE IS DOING. Let him be cranky if he wants to be. He'll get used to it. She will then be able to wean him from the breast shield. You should encourage her as it is best for both her and him that she help him through this time. SHe can also ask that her son be brought to her more frequently *if* he needs nursing. Finally, ASAP contact La Leche League in your area (in the phone book). They will know people who have gone through the same exact things. They will support you and your wife and give great suggestions. (And it's free with no propagation delay :-).)