Baby Couldn't Suck?

So I guess the title explains it all. No, when my baby was born he didn't know how to suck. My husband and I would try to feed him and he would barely get 5 ml in a span of 30 minutes. I thought that babies were born having this skill.

I asked the nurses about it and they where having trouble feeding him as well. The told me that this is not common but some babies struggle with sucking.

Matthew didn't understand the sucking motion. He would push the nipple out of his mouth with his tongue. He was trying about it just wasn't working.

On top of his sucking problem; he was a very sleepy baby. It was really hard to keep him awake in order to feed him.

Since we were having so much trouble with feeding him, we had an Occupational Therapist work with him. She gave us some tips to help us feed him.

Here are a few of her tips:

1. Unwrap the swaddle the make the baby a little less cozy.
2. Sit the baby in an upright position.
3. Hold the bottle and the baby's lower jaw forcing the jaws to make a sucking motion.
4. If the baby seems to be uninterested, wiggle the bottle in his or her mouth to encourage sucking
5. Burp the baby in the middle of the feed.
6. If the baby has trouble burping rotate the baby's arms to encourage relaxation.
7. Try stretching the baby's legs.

These tips really help Matthew. The Occupational Therapist was able to feed him 30 ml during his first feed with her. 

It took my husband and I a while to get use to these techniques. However, when we finally got the hang of it he didn't need the techniques anymore. 

He now knows how to suck but he still is a slow eater.