Suckling reflex

23rd July 2016, 10 days old Elly, he was just coming from the newborns unit after 3 days of photo therapy because he had jaundice. 

I never fed him for the 7 days he was in the ICU, and in the newborns unit he had a pipe going through his nose, i would manually express breast milk, measure it with a syringe and slowly feed him through the pipe in his nose. 

A day before we were discharged i was asked to breast feed him, he could not suckle. 

When the discharge news came, i asked the nurses and doctors there why he could not suckle and what i was suppose to do to help him with that. They all told me that with time he will learn and all i have to do is to keep trying! 

That first night at home, my mum was with me, we tried everything to no success! Mama then advised me to express milk and spoon feed my boy. 

I did that for a month or so, and at the same time i kept trying to breastfeed him. My milk supply went down by the day, this boy would cry so much sometimes. Not knowing what to do i flew to my parents in Kisumu with a two month old child. 

My dad suggested we try baby formula, and i Rose A Angira refused that idea because the pediatrician warned me not to give anything until he was 6 months old!  My dad yelled “How old is that pediatrician? Must be your age mate  practicing what he read and no experience😂Do you know how many kids i have seen growing? And you Rose, do you know you ate ugali at 3 days old and you still alive and healthy😂😂, nonsense, 6 months my foot, what about those children whose mothers die immediately they are born?”

Anyway, Elly’s first tin of formula was bought by my dad, and just like that Elly grew with that till he was 7 months old.

Lack of suckling reflex in most cases can be a sign of brain damage, i came to know that later. 

I kept trying to give Elly liquids with the feeding bottle and at two years old he finally learnt to suckle, he is not very good at it but atleast he tries, i mean it takes nearly an hour or more for him to finish a full bottle. One step at a time, some day he will do it well. 

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