breast feeding pumping

My son is 5 days old and i've chosen to breastfeed. Well for some reason i've never been able to get him to latch on just yet. At the hospital the lactacting nurse gave me a nipple sheild to help get my nipple further in his mouth. So i'm guessing that my nipples are too small and have a problem getting hard. So he is attached to this sheild and wont even try my nipple anymore. So i've been using the sheild and pumping. How do i know how much to feed him out of the bottle after i pump. At the hospital they werent really informative about this so i'm needing some help. My son already lost 10% of his weight from when he was born and i really want to get that back up before our appointment Monday. So can anybody please help me with this? How much is the right amount to feed a newborn baby?

2-4 oz every 2-3 hours or so.

Quoting Alissa (lissapfa):“ 2-4 oz every 2-3 hours or so.”

Yeah that's right. Also it's normal for them to drop some weight after birth, so i wouldn't stress about that. Good luck, I plan on breastfeeding my next one, but I've heard it can be a struggle. Hang in there.

It is, i just wish there was something i could do about my nipple not going all the way in his mouth

Quoting Taylor_baby08:“ It is, i just wish there was something i could do about my nipple not going all the way in his mouth”

I have the same problem with Angelle. We just always use the shield. It's what she is used to now (2 months). My nipples just don't go far enough into her mouth. I just pump as often as I can at work. When she's full from the bottle, she lets me know. Your little guy should gain well... especially from BFing  

I have a similar problem my daughter was born on July 1st 2008 and she has a very very weak sucking I even had 4 lactation nurses help me and they said she was about the weaskest they have seen for sucking we tried the shield and everything even still she can't suck very good using the shield so I am now just pumping. My daughter eats 4 ounces evey 3-4 hours and is gaining weight big time she is gaining about an ounce a day.And sometimes she eats 5 ounces. But I start out giving her 4 and then if she is still hungry I give her a ounce at at time that way I don't waste any milk. But I pump and freeze any extra.Good luck I hope everything works out for you. I know they told me that when she gets older she would latch on better and her sucking would improve but I haven't had luck with it yet.

Quoting Taylor_baby08:“ My son is 5 days old and i've chosen to breastfeed. Well for some reason i've never been able to get ... [snip!] ... up before our appointment Monday. So can anybody please help me with this? How much is the right amount to feed a newborn baby?”

I think you are my twin!! My daughter and I are going through the SAME thing. They gave me the nipple shield as well to help pull my nipple out, and told me to stop using it after two days. Yeah right!! She's almost three weeks old and will not feed without it! So I started pumping as well this week. She eats right around three ounces every three hours... it does take her about an hour and half to eat that though!! If he is just eating from your breast I say let him go for as long as he wants (we fed for about two hours this morning) he'll fall asleep when he's done or just be relaxed. Three hours from the time he finished you should be trying to get him to feed again!
Our biggest problem now is they are telling me she isn't gaining enough weight... (she came home 5 lbs, 10 ounces and was 6 lbs 3 ounces on Thursday)

Yeah, so I have an update... our dog ate my nipple shield! My MIL put the diaper bag on the floor in her kitchen (where the dog was) and he got into it. Next thing I know, my husband is telling him to drop whatever he's chewing on. Low and behold, it's my only nipple shield and a Saturday night. Where am I supposed to get one at that time of day? I was really worried, but Angelle adapted very well to breast feeding without it. Thank God!

OT- I get really peeved at our dog. He's eaten three things of mine so far. When I first moved in, he ate one sock (just one) of my favorite pair of wool socks. Then, when we brought baby home, he chewed my shoelaces off my Nike's. He ended up puking them back up in the corner by the back door (nice). Now, the nipple shield. He only eats MY stuff! Grrrrrrrrrr! 

Quoting Mommy Pullin:“ Yeah, so I have an update... our dog ate my nipple shield! My MIL put the diaper bag on the floor in ... [snip!] ... up puking them back up in the corner by the back door (nice). Now, the nipple shield. He only eats MY stuff! Grrrrrrrrrr! ”

yay!!!!!! thats so my fear! loosing it....

we are still shield users....  

Quoting Mommy Pullin:“ Yeah, so I have an update... our dog ate my nipple shield! My MIL put the diaper bag on the floor in ... [snip!] ... up puking them back up in the corner by the back door (nice). Now, the nipple shield. He only eats MY stuff! Grrrrrrrrrr! ”

Target sells them. So I would assume WalMart might as well.