Question
Are all disabled babies difficult to breastfeed, and how? My baby seems to have difficulty breastfeeding as well. When she was born, she started crying as soon as her mouth touched the nipple, and she wouldn’t suckle until she was comforted. Now that we’re home, the milk isn’t enough for her to drink from the bottle, and it’s also hard for her to suck. Is this considered a difficulty in breastfeeding? Could it be due to disability? Absolutely not, I wouldn’t think it’s due to disability.
Answer
For children with congenital intellectual disability who have feeding difficulties, it means they are unaware of eating and have poor suckling abilities. Therefore, for the situation you described, it is necessary to rule out the possibility of Down syndrome. Normal children have an instinctive desire to seek food; when they are hungry, they will suckle at the bottle, and they will not stop eating. Your child’s ability to suckle breast milk before was normal; it’s just that she is not adapting to the new bottle. This is a common issue and should be considered a normal phenomenon. Generally, you need to express breast milk into the bottle and observe how stable it is. It does not necessarily indicate intellectual disability. It is very harmful to the child, so if family members notice any symptoms, they should take the child to a regular hospital for a diagnosis immediately and pay more attention to the child’s dietary issues.