1) does he have a tongue tie? Can you get him to suck on your finger? Is he actually sucking at breast or just letting your milk pour in and compressing the nipple to pause the flow? He may have a posterior tongue tie if he has such difficulty sucking. 2) another nipple to try is the Avent variable flow nipple. It has a slit rather than a hole and if you rotate it, it goes from slow to medium to fast flow. I use it with kids who need thickened feeds, but it can also be successful for kids with a mashing type suck rather than a true suction-y suck because of the opening. If none of those work, another option is a soft spout sippy such as the Munchkin Latch Transition Cup. There is always spoon or small open cup as a last resort!
1). No. I'm an experienced nursery nurse. I've seen a lot of tongue ties, and I've checked him, even looked for posterior. He sucks very well on my finger and has an excellent latch and suck on the breast. (I can see that "wave" motion while he sucks)
We had some mild success tonight. Lansinoh slow flow nipple in the Avent bottle (only because I already had the bottle, I'm trying to reduce how much I'm buying!), very warm, and laying flat on my lap. And I have to point the nipple up to the roof of his mouth, aiming for that spot where the hard palate meets the soft palate. We did 2 successful feedings today, of an ounce and ounce and a half.
I want to try for a few more days before declaring success, but I'm encouraged!
Now... why doesn't Lansinoh make a pacifier with the same nipple shape?
If you end up using the avent bottles and want some more, let me know. I still have a ton left over from DS2.
Thank you for the offer, I may take you up on that!
E2 chugged a bottle from DH last night! I think we found our magic combination!
Congrats! I never got DD to take a bottle (I was off for 12 months) so I had no useful recommendations. I think that the hotter bottle might have made a difference. We never tried that.