On the fast track protocol

November 12, 2010

I have seen several moms try to feed with bottles and get the baby to take the breast, in addition to that. I haven't seen many get very far without using a Lact-Aid or SNS, unless they were all ready producing quite a bit of milk, to start with. Most newborns will accept the breast with no milk coming from it. However, they will learn to do non-nutritive suckling, which does not stimulate milk production as well. What usually happens is that the baby will comfort nurse at the breast, but only for the first few months. This is actually pretty much what happened with my first baby. I had a hard time with Lact-Aid, didn't want to let anyone know I was nursing, and didn't think I had any milk. That comfort nursing was still beneficial, with bonding. I was especially thankful for it when he got his first set of immunizations. He had a bad reaction and screamed all night, except when on the breast. He refused his bottle. By the time he was three months old, however, we weren't nursing at all, any more. Some kids will keep comfort nursing longer, but you can't predict that. It really depends a lot on what your goals are. If you want to establish a long term breastfeeding situation, beyond the first few months, and a significant milk supply, I strongly suggest using the Lact-Aid. Many moms have figured out how to use it, and you can too! I not only figured it out, but got where I could literally put one together in the dark without putting down the baby.

You don't have to nurse for every feeding. It is permissable to use an occasional bottle, if someone is around that you aren't comfortable nursing in front of. It may reduce your milk supply, a little bit, but you will certainly produce more milk by nursing with the Lact-Aid three fourths of the time and giving a few bottles, than if you bottle feed all the time. Also, what I found was that, once I got the nerve to start nursing in front of people, it really wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. People were much more accepting than I expected, too.

The Lact-Aids are really quite easy to clean, much easier than the SNS, and no more difficult than cleaning bottles. You need a syringe, which comes with the kit, and a pipe cleaner. It is much easier if you have six or more complete units, so you only have to clean them once or twice a day. You can get the deluxe kit, which has two complete units, and then the package of four units that Lact-Aid offers. That is more economical than getting more kits. What I did was get a bowl of water and throw the Lact-Aids into it when I was finished with them, to avoid milk getting dried in them. When they were all dirty, I replaced the water with hot water with a few drops of detergent in it. I lined up all of the main bodies, upside down, in one hand, sucked up some water in the syringe, and then forced water through each, until they ran clear. That takes only a few seconds. Then, I threw all of the pieces into the bowl. I didn't put anything into the water until I had flushed out the feeding tubes, to avoid getting any little bits of dried milk that happened to be in the extension tubes into it. Next, I lined up the extension tubes in my hand and popped the pipe cleaner through each one. Then, I ran the end of the pipe cleaner under the edge of the Lact-Aid body, where the bag attaches. I just briefly rubbed each of the clamping tubes and the outsides of the bodies. Then, I replaced the water with clear, hot water, swished it all around, and then forced a little water through the feeding tubes. It didn't take any longer for me to clean six of them than it just did for me to type this. In addition, I boiled them with a little vinegar about once every two weeks. It is also easier to fill all of them at once, after cleaning, rather than individually. Another option for dealing with Lact-Aids is to try to get your husband to take over that part.

When my babies got a little bit older, I started reusing each one,with the bag, once, kind of like adding milk to bottles. I would just refill them right after we got done with one. However, if one ended up sitting around for a while, I didn't reuse it. This isn't what the manufacturer recommends, but quite a few moms do that, or rinse the bags out and reuse them.

I suspect that your nine year old will accept an explanation of what you are doing, too, and maybe even be willing to help out with things, so that you can relax and nurse. I found that my older kids were quite proud of it, really.

Maybe spending some time, now, practicing cleaning and putting together Lact-Aids will help ease your mind. You can practice getting the tube positioned, with a breast pump, to give you an idea of how it works with a baby.

Try not to worry!

Darillyn