Concern

Cameron was my first child and I had always planned on nursing. However, with him having Down syndrome and a heart defect that didn't work out so well so I pumped. I HATED every minute of it but knew that I was providing my baby with the best milk possible.

Mitchell was my second child and was born healthy and "typical". I nursed him, only pumping while away at work. I still HATED pumping.

Having the third baby and no longer working I was SOOO looking forward to exclusively nursing her. BUT she, like Cameron, has Down syndrome and a heart defect.

Has anyone successfully nursed a newborn with Down syndrome AND a severe heart defect. I say severe because she WILL require surgery, it's not something that is going to fix itself.

I just remember with Cameron, it was a HUGE challenge to get him to even wake up to take a bottle. Then keeping him awake long enough to finish was challenging also. We had to set our alarm clock every two hours throughout the night to wake him up (taking off all his clothes and sometimes even having to put a little cool water on him to wake him up enough to eat). Repeating the process when he fell asleep before finishing.

Any success stories and/or tips would be GREATLY appreciated.