Carla's mantra is "no battles at the breast". She says if there is a battle, go straight to the bottle and try again later. Well.....we're improving. We haven't had a 'battle at the breast' for a couple of days now. Carter is latching on (and staying on) for ten minutes straight now. He is getting something, but still not enough to meet his nutritional needs, so we continue to give him the bottle. It's a small step, but progress nonetheless, and we'll take it!
PS: When it works, it is SO AWESOME!
A Full Time JobSo the routine is this: Prepare formula bottle, get pumping supplies ready, undress Carter (skin to skin is the best for b'feeds) get comfy with the pillows, b-feed for 20 minutes, give Carter to Dave for formula feed, attach b-feed pump, pump for 15 minutes, clean all bottles, equipment, clean Carter, rinse and repeat.
Each feeding session takes about one hour. Eight times a day. Feeding is full-time job. Thanks for understanding that I can't keep up with correspondence. :)
