Hi Jane,

Welcome! No need to feel sorry about anything here. These darn forums can be difficult sometimes. Glad to see you. If you'd like to email me your user name I'll be happy to see what I can do. I'll email you a password to get you in and then you can change it once you're in.

You're best bet for getting your baby to the breast is to try a lot of skin to skin contact without any breastfeeding. If she goes in that direction, fine, but don't make an issue of it. Bathing together is wonderful for promoting breastfeeding behaviour. Once she's aclimated to the skin to skin contact you can begin to offer the breast. There are steps that you ar are best off doing with a lactation consultant present.

If you haven't done so already, now is the time to get in touch with a board certified lactation consultant. You can find one here www.iblce.org just click on the international registry and locate one near you.

Getting baby back to breast takes time but it can be done. We usually begin with the nipple that baby is used to, held over your own breast with some of your expressed milk inside. If your own milk doesn't flow fast enough you may have to use a Lact-aid supplmentary tubing device or SNS to assist you. Your LC can show you how to thread the tubing through the artificial nipple. Tubing goes against your skin and exits the nipple just barely (1/4 cm) and into baby's mouth. As baby latches you'll need to use breast compression to assist and promote the desired behaviour. You'll need a Medela newborn small, nipple shield (not a shell) which you can replace the bottle nipple with. You'll have to go back and forth until she takes the nipple shield and then gradually offer your breast without the shield. It may take about 2 weeks, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.

Warmest regards,