I completely forgot that nearly a year ago I promised here that I would share the files Dr. Jack Newman sent me about getting ready to breastfeed a potentially hypotonic newborn. I asked him if he had any experience with newborns with achondroplasia, which he didn't, nevertheless this information will be extremely helpful to anyone expecting to breastfeed their baby.
Fi had really good tone, the only thing was that she was only 45 cm at birth, which is exactly 2 inches shorter than my other children, I suppose each newborn is different, and feeding each of my kids has been different, but with Fi, I had to focus on the head positioning (making sure I was watching her neck as we had no confirmed diagnosis at the time) and she was so much shorter that I could not push her bottom towards me with my elbow. It took about 3 days to sort it out and then she grew loads and is still feeding away a million times every day at nearly 1 year old (lucky I work from home).
Anyhow, here are the files:
Getting off to a good start: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B23x_OlN3FTNT3JDXzEteEQzTmM/edit?pli=1
Ok, this one is amazing: my manual dexterity is literally 0 and I am not a visual learner, I learn by reading and understanding... This file has everything... What is a good latch: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B23x_OlN3FTNcnFjX0JkWGpOS0U/edit
Causes of latch problems:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B23x_OlN3FTNUmpiWTM3Y0lydnc/edit
When baby won't latch: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B23x_OlN3FTNX1JkTnZUa0d2VnM/edit
There are also really good videos on his web-site for the more visual learners.
Petite yet fierce - Ramblings of a pathologically information hungry mother about hypochondroplasia, about rearing 3 girls in a foreign country and about all the random thoughts my sleep deprived and over-stimulated brain can come up with.
:( Our pediatrician didn't think we should breastfeed Reid because he was having some "dusky" episodes in the NICU where his O@ levels would drop. I pumped as long as I could but it went away. :( Very difficult to get to do it with my other two and not my baby boy. I wish I had been more assertive during that time and maybe tried a little harder.
ReplyDeleteI am sorry to hear that, I know how hard and hateful pumping is...It is astonishing how the vast majority of health professionals will use almost any medical or other issue to promote bottle feeding. Ireland has the lowest rate of bf-ing among the OECD countries and it's not surprising, even after having spent 3 years bf-ing before I had Fi, I was being made insecure during our 3 day stay at the hospital...
ReplyDeleteWow I live in knoxville tn in the us and pressure u hard to breastfeed which I have with all three of my others but its dimenising my breast I wasnt planning on it this time before I knew but idk now
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