You know how everyone says that breastfeeding is a MUST and that it is the healthiest choice for the baby. Well... breastfeeding is the healthiest choice but sometimes it just doesn't work for everyone.
My daughter was born exactly one month before her due date. She did not have a strong suck, so she just couldn't latch! I really wanted to breastfeed so I decided I would do whatever it took. I had to pump off milk and feed my daughter from a tube for the first couple of weeks. I then tried to tape the tube to my breast (suggested to help in the suckling strength) so that it would seem like the milk was coming from the nipple, when in fact I was controlling the amount of flow. That didn't work well at all. So back to finger feeding it was. I was very stressed out because if you have already had a child, you know how often they eat and how long it takes at each feeding those first few weeks. Not to mention I had to sterilize and pump again before each feeding!
Finally at about three and a half weeks, the public nurse introduced me to a nipple shield. It was a miracle! My daughter latched on to that and I never looked back!
They don't often tell you about the nipple shield when you're breastfeeding because apparently it can interfere with the process, but it didn't with us. Thank goodness because after a month I was about to give up!
I wanted so badly to breastfeed, especially when my daughter came early but to be quite honest, I could never find enough energy to do that for a second child.
It's okay if for some reason breastfeeding doesn't work for you. It simply is not for everybody!
