The Breast Feeding Support Thread

Blingy · 26-08-2015 10:12am

I have penny's nursing bras which I use. Also use the lansinoh pads to stop the leaking. Tried the Johnson and Johnson ones recently as I had run out but found them awful.

Dobbit · 27-08-2015 12:48am

+1 to the lanisoh pads, they hold a huge amount of liquid! They are also on special in boots right now. I wear nursing bras from m&s all day and night. They are more like sports bras but very comfy.

Dobbit · 27-08-2015 12:46pm

Any recommended apps for tracking breastfeeding? I'm so forgetful these days I can barely remember what happened 2 hours ago! Would be good to be able to keep track easily.

Blingy · 27-08-2015 1:04pm

Dobbit wrote: »

Any recommended apps for tracking breastfeeding? I'm so forgetful these days I can barely remember what happened 2 hours ago! Would be good to be able to keep track easily.

I use mammababy which I find really good

tinkerbell · 27-08-2015 5:35pm

Baby Feed by Fehners - it tracks everything! Each boob, nappies, solids, reminders, etc etc. I still use it for each feed

John Mason · 28-08-2015 9:53am

Dobbit wrote: »

Any recommended apps for tracking breastfeeding? I'm so forgetful these days I can barely remember what happened 2 hours ago! Would be good to be able to keep track easily.

find feed baby great. especially as I can track medicines and growth etc.

Elliottsmum79 · 01-09-2015 12:33am

Nead21 wrote: »

Oh god I think I've got mastitis. Really sore swollen boob with a lump and feeling sore all over and shivering. I'm applying heat to the affect boob at the minute. Really hate going to the doctor but I've heard it needs an antibiotic. Is this correct?

Baby has just finished feeding from that side now. Doesn't feel full but do I need to pump as well?

Janey, I feel your pain, Was hospitalised with really bad mastitis and terrible fever and yep, fed through it, really tough but it works. Paracetamol too and heat....Genuinely, cabbage leaves worked a treat on a few occasions, apparrently its the sulphur content,despite being a weird one........I also blasted myself with and massaged any mastitis lumps under a hot shower, that always helped too. But if you're getting shivery, its time for the doc. May just be a blocked duct too...but unlikely........HOpe you are feeling better v soon and remember an antibiotic isn't the worst thing ( I had loads when breastfeeding). Never bothered babs.......

RentDayBlues · 01-09-2015 7:28am

Elliottsmum79 wrote: »

Genuinely, cabbage leaves worked a treat on a few occasions, apparrently its the sulphur content,despite being a weird one........

I thought cabbage leaves are a no no if you want to continue breastfeeding as they can dry up your milk

fro9etb8j5qsl2 · 13-09-2015 9:58am

Ugh woke up this morning with a bad dose of mastitis. I've had mild doses of it before but feeding always does the trick so when I felt it coming on last night I didn't think much of it. But typical sods law, the baby slept right through last night for the first time ever and so did I because I was knackered so woke up this morning twice as bad with a mild temperature. Gonna keep feeding and try blasting with hot water in the shower. Is there anything else I can do? Will cabbage leaves dry up my milk? Is it better to take paracetamol or ibuprofen for it?

Marz66 · 13-09-2015 11:47am

Bella Most Rubble wrote: »

Ugh woke up this morning with a bad dose of mastitis. I've had mild doses of it before but feeding always does the trick so when I felt it coming on last night I didn't think much of it. But typical sods law, the baby slept right through last night for the first time ever and so did I because I was knackered so woke up this morning twice as bad with a mild temperature. Gonna keep feeding and try blasting with hot water in the shower. Is there anything else I can do? Will cabbage leaves dry up my milk? Is it better to take paracetamol or ibuprofen for it?

Ibuprofen (eg neurofen) because it reduces the swelling. Keep an eye on it. If it gets worse and not better then u should probably go to a doctor cos u might need an antibiotic. Feed and hand express as much as u can. Apply heat and massage before u feed to get the milk flowing. But after u feed, keep the area cold so that the boobs aren't stimulated to make more milk.

fro9etb8j5qsl2 · 13-09-2015 11:52am

Thanks marz. I ended up going to the out of hours doctor because my temparute was high and I started getting the shivers

He prescribed augmentin and difene but I've just googled it now and seen that difene usually isn't recommended while breastfeeding (even though you get it in the maternity postpartum

) I've never heard of it given for mastitis before, has anyone else had it?

Marz66 · 13-09-2015 11:58am

Bella Most Rubble wrote: »

Thanks marz. I ended up going to the out of hours doctor because my temparute was high and I started getting the shivers He prescribed augmentin and difene but I've just googled it now and seen that difene usually isn't recommended while breastfeeding (even though you get it in the maternity postpartum ) I've never heard of it given for mastitis before, has anyone else had it?

I haven't had difene for mastitis. Maybe someone else can advise if they did. You'd like to think the doctor wouldn't have given it if it wasn't suitable for BF cos he obviously knows you are BF.

I took difene post c section and my LC said ok if I need it cos of pain but as soon as I think that id manage with paracetamol to stop taking the difene. So maybe difene is ok for a short time period especially if u need it.

fro9etb8j5qsl2 · 13-09-2015 12:05pm

Yeah I asked him a few times if it was ok and he said yes because women get it routinely after childbirth. He was more worried about the swelling turning into an abcess than the pain. Sure I'll give them a go anyway, hopefully they will work.

Sligo1 · 13-09-2015 1:32pm

Bella Most Rubble wrote: »

Yeah I asked him a few times if it was ok and he said yes because women get it routinely after childbirth. He was more worried about the swelling turning into an abcess than the pain. Sure I'll give them a go anyway, hopefully they will work.

Hope you are ok Bella Most Rubble? Difene is ok whilst breastfeeding as far as I know. I didn't think augmentin was the first line antibiotic treatment for mastitis tho? But I'm not a doc and I know there's the no medical advice rule here. I always thought it was fluclox was the first line treatment for mastitis (unless you're allergic) and then clindamycin if you're allergic to flucloxacillin. Maybe this has changed tho in recent times. Augmentin is broad spectrum. Double check this with your GP tomorrow. As I could be wrong.

Anyways, keep up with baths/showers and massaging and feeding. You poor thing. Mastitis isn't nice

Sligo1 · 13-09-2015 1:37pm

According to www.medicines.ie

Lactation
Like other NSAIDs, diclofenac passes into the breast milk in small amounts. Therefore, diclofenac should not be administered during breast feeding in order to avoid undesirable effects in the infant.

I know I was prescribed difene whilst breastfeeding however.... If I were you I'd give your GP a call tomorrow or your maternity hospital a call today to clarify all the info you have been given. Your maternity hospital will have a special list of medicines that are contraindicated during lactation. So the midwife there will be able to give you the answer straight away

. Hope this helps x

fro9etb8j5qsl2 · 13-09-2015 2:15pm

Thanks sligo

AFAIK, the out of hours doc I went to always prescribes a strong broad spectrum antibiotic for all infections. Maybe it has something to do with allergies and not knowing the patients full medical history? I will call my gp tomorrow to confirm. I started the tablets anyway and managed to feed the baby on the sore side (a horrific experience :eek: ) and thankfully it has relieved some of the swelling and pressure and my temperature has come down a bit. Kids are gone for their nap now so I've gone back to bed with a giant mug of tea. Hopefully I'll be over the worst tomorrow.

Sligo1 · 13-09-2015 2:22pm

Bella Most Rubble wrote: »

Thanks sligo AFAIK, the out of hours doc I went to always prescribes a strong broad spectrum antibiotic for all infections. Maybe it has something to do with allergies and not knowing the patients full medical history? I will call my gp tomorrow to confirm. I started the tablets anyway and managed to feed the baby on the sore side (a horrific experience :eek: ) and thankfully it has relieved some of the swelling and pressure and my temperature has come down a bit. Kids are gone for their nap now so I've gone back to bed with a giant mug of tea. Hopefully I'll be over the worst tomorrow.

Aw you poor thing. I hope they sleep well for you so can get some rest yourself. As far as I can remember I took difene when is as breastfeeding. Mastitis is so painful. Hope you have some help around the house aswell

x

Fagashlil · 13-09-2015 5:32pm

http://www.breastfeeding-and-medication.co.uk

This lady is the go-to reference for breastfeeding mothers and medication, she's amazing, and also ha written and complied all this voluntarily.

Nead21 · 14-09-2015 3:26pm

Hugs Mrspostman. Had mastitis last month and it's not easy when you have older kids too to mind. Took me about a week to recover with antibiotic. Try and sit down as much as possible during the day and lie down when you can. You're sick so behave that way and anything that doesn't need to be done can wait.

fro9etb8j5qsl2 · 15-09-2015 8:35am

Thanks ladies I'm a lot better today, the fluey feeling is gone but I'm still fairly sore, I suppose it'll just take time. It's an awful dose, I never realised how bad it could get so quickly. Thankfully the baby is still feeding away on it and my OH is being great with doing stuff for me so not much more I can do except wait for it to heal

madeinamerica · 15-09-2015 7:07pm

glad to hear you are on the mend, mrspostman. I had it in June. It came on within a few hours and really knocked me out for a couple of days. I was just on antibiotics and paracetamol but it went. Great that your baby is feeding from it. If baby stops - this is probably TMI but I found it helped - my baby wouldn't feed from the infected side at all and pumping was only getting a tiny bit despite engorgement, so I hand expressed to relieve it. What i can only describe as custard came out. It was the most repulsive thing to do, but I managed to hand express it over the course of a few days until it was back to just milk.

fro9etb8j5qsl2 · 16-09-2015 12:07am

Thanks I'm nearly back to normal now

I was shocked how quickly it got worse. I knew Saturday evening that I had a mild dose of it but I've had it like that a good few times and it always clears up on it's own. I went from feeling dodgy at 10am Sunday to shivering and feeling like death an hour later :eek: It's strange, normally if I have a mild dose, the baby is reluctant to feed but the last few days, she has been feeding more often and wanting the sore side more, it's instinct I guess. The pain wouldn't bother me too much but I cannot stand feeling feverish and sicky

I'll definitely be paying more attention in future.

God madeinamerica that sounds awful you poor thing

I've found hand expressing to be much more effective than pumping if I'm engorged too.

Blingy · 19-09-2015 4:17am

For anyone that is breastfeeding and using Colief can you tell me how you prepare it. Just read that it's meant to be prepared about 30 mins in advance of a feed is this right? Lo finding it v hard to get wind up have tried infacol and gripe water. (Aware Colief is more for lactose intolerance)
Thanks

nettie1 · 19-09-2015 5:21am

Hi ladies, first time mum here. Need a bit of advice. My 9 week old had a terrible bout of diarrhoea yesterday morning followed by a normal nappy, a runny nappy and a few wettish nappies. She hasn't had a dirty nappy in about 12 hours now. This is about 6 hours longer than her record and she only did that once. I'd be dancing jigs but for the diarrhoea. Now she had to be woken after 5 hours for a feed and only fed for about 7 minutes, very half heartedly and will not wake up for more. She usually feeds at least twenty minutes with gusto. I was reminded to look at the colour of her poo but I had only been paying attention to quantity and was happy that she was taking in more than she was losing. There might have been a green tinge. I haven't seen a dirty nappy since.
Am I overreacting or should I call the doctor?? Can't sleep now!!

RentDayBlues · 19-09-2015 8:13am

If she's exclusively bf then green and runny tends to mean too much fore milk, so she's not feeding for long enough to get the hind milk

bovril · 21-09-2015 6:40pm

Hi, looking for a bit of advice. I'm heading away overnight this weekend. Leaving the baby Saturday morning and will be back Sunday evening. Baby is 10.5 months. I've got expressed milk frozen and she takes a bottle of expressed milk from Daddy no problem. I'm just wondering what I should do with regard to expressing while I'm away. I won't have access to a fridge and traveling by air so don't want to go through hassle in security. Should I just express a small bit every so often to ease comfort or should i be emptying the boob each time I express? Thanks in advance.

RentDayBlues · 21-09-2015 8:10pm

bovril wrote: »

Hi, looking for a bit of advice. I'm heading away overnight this weekend. Leaving the baby Saturday morning and will be back Sunday evening. Baby is 10.5 months. I've got expressed milk frozen and she takes a bottle of expressed milk from Daddy no problem. I'm just wondering what I should do with regard to expressing while I'm away. I won't have access to a fridge and traveling by air so don't want to go through hassle in security. Should I just express a small bit every so often to ease comfort or should i be emptying the boob each time I express? Thanks in advance.

I'd bring a manual pump if you can, you want to keep your supply up and you will definitely feel engorged, but it depends on how often your little one feeds.

I went away at 7 months on my first and didn't bring a pump, was less than 24 hours and I was in agony, hand expressing did nothing! Went away on second at 7 months also and brought manual. Used it first thing in the morning and it was a godsend

Enjoy your time off!

bovril · 21-09-2015 8:23pm

RentDayBlues wrote:

I'd bring a manual pump if you can, you want to keep your supply up and you will definitely feel engorged, but it depends on how often your little one feeds.

Thanks. I'll bring a pump so. Thought I might manage hand expressing but I'll go with your advice. She doesn't feed much during the day as weekdays I'm in work. She feeds most in the evening. Some days she sleeps through so just thinking about it and what you said I might try to pump early evening and then in the morning. I'll play it by ear!

madeinamerica · 24-09-2015 3:33pm

nettie1 wrote: »

Hi ladies, first time mum here. Need a bit of advice. My 9 week old had a terrible bout of diarrhoea yesterday morning followed by a normal nappy, a runny nappy and a few wettish nappies. She hasn't had a dirty nappy in about 12 hours now. This is about 6 hours longer than her record and she only did that once. I'd be dancing jigs but for the diarrhoea. Now she had to be woken after 5 hours for a feed and only fed for about 7 minutes, very half heartedly and will not wake up for more. She usually feeds at least twenty minutes with gusto. I was reminded to look at the colour of her poo but I had only been paying attention to quantity and was happy that she was taking in more than she was losing. There might have been a green tinge. I haven't seen a dirty nappy since.
Am I overreacting or should I call the doctor?? Can't sleep now!!

hi nettie, how is your little one now? sorry this is a few days late but i only saw your post. no one can give any medical advice here, so if you are concerned then it is best to contact your doctor or a nurse or a pharmacist, they can give you better info. i hope all is well

fro9etb8j5qsl2 · 02-10-2015 3:40pm

A friend of mine in england was telling me that her health visitor advised her to give an iron supplement to her baby once she got to 6 months because she was exclusively breast fed. Does anyone know if this is advised here? It's the first I've heard of it

bovril · 02-10-2015 3:46pm

Bella Most Rubble wrote: »

A friend of mine in england was telling me that her health visitor advised her to give an iron supplement to her baby once she got to 6 months because she was exclusively breast fed. Does anyone know if this is advised here? It's the first I've heard of it

I've never heard of this in Ireland. I was attending my local bf support group which was run by the area PHNs up until my baby was 9 months. Some of these PHNs were doing the lactation consultants course so perhaps PHNs which have more up to date knowledge on breastfeeding are not being told to give this advice.

moving_home · 02-10-2015 4:18pm

God the iron thing is head wrecking isn't it....I've read research that says lower iron after 6 months is a natural protection for the baby as iron is needed for bacteria growth. http://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron/

clartharlear · 02-10-2015 5:04pm

I think whether you had a delayed cord clamping affects iron stores too. I decided to start giving multi vits and iron from six months, but I am not bothered if I forget sometimes.

Especially when you think about bio availability

cyning · 02-10-2015 6:49pm

Unless your baby is confirmed by a blood test that they are anaemic I definitely wouldn't. Both my girls have been anaemic and it's so hard on their little bellies... There is absolutely no reason that a breastfed baby will be anaemic. Some nurses and doctors let personal views cloud facts and it is infuriating!

clartharlear · 02-10-2015 10:06pm

I just checked the NHS website, and it says to supplement with some vitamins, but doesn't mention iron at all!
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/vitamins-for-children.aspx

madeinamerica · 02-10-2015 10:12pm

I've heard that line about bf babies needing more iron after 6 months from a friend but from a bit of reading it doesn't seem to hold water. My guy is still bf and on solids since about 6.5 months with no supplementation and his 1 yr blood tests were all good.

fro9etb8j5qsl2 · 02-10-2015 10:17pm

Are blood tests standard at 1 year? My fella didn't get any

madeinamerica · 02-10-2015 10:21pm

Bella Most Rubble wrote: »

Are blood tests standard at 1 year? My fella didn't get any

I live in the US, sorry I should have said that. I don't know the schedule for tests in Ireland.

clartharlear · 02-10-2015 10:49pm

Inspired by this, I'm going to switch to vitamins only!

Fagashlil · 02-10-2015 11:12pm

It's a load of crap marketed by various formula companies. A baby's natural iron store begins to deplete after 6 months, breastfed babies still get iron from breastmilk, and food sources. My little man has spinach, green veg and red meat daily. Follow on milk, for which there's no real advantage over first stage formula, is marketed with added iron, to make people think they need it.

As said above, unless the child is anaemic, there's no need for extra iron supplements.

cyning · 03-10-2015 12:58am

Bella Most Rubble wrote: »

Are blood tests standard at 1 year? My fella didn't get any

Definitely not! My first little girl had a febrile seizure at ten months and a heart murmur was picked up on at docs so we were admitted to hosp: completely innocent nothing to worry about.

My second is just in and out of the hosp and is always sick.

It's the one thing that really upsets me: with my first I was so upset being admitted and a nurse came up to me on the corridor to tell me. Then later on at supper time when I had been offered waffles sausage/nuggets/fish fingers or a sandwich for a 10 month old I had picked the waffles and sausages, the same nurse came up and told me there was no iron in sausages: her first time eating them. Then told me we all breastfeed for 6 months and then move onto formula. There was iron in formula. They also suggested she was too dependent on me, and I needed to leave her for a weekend and wean her.

I did complain and got an apology but ever since the subject of iron and breastfeeding and doctors/nurses riles me up

tinkerbell · 03-10-2015 6:08pm

Ugh. I am sick of these stupid health nurses spouting this incorrect nonsense. The iron in breastmilk is FAR easier absorbed than the truckload of iron they put into formula. They have to put so much into formula because it's not easily digested at all.

As an aside, I'm breastfeeding well over a year now. Yay.

How Strange · 04-10-2015 8:22am

I think the formula companies sponsor a lot of training for hcps where they imply that breastfed babies don't get the same amount of iron as babies who are out on follow on milk which has enough iron to knock an elephant over. That follow on stuff and the ridiculous TV ads drive me crazy. Just ask my husband!

Surely babies ingesting that much iron just poo it out. We can only absorb a certain amount of iron and we get rid of the rest.

By 6 months a baby can pretty much eat anything so even sucking on a piece of red meat and spitting out the meat itself will give enough iron. You can make things like spaghetti bolognaise, meatballs etc to encourage them to eat iron rich foods. Give them steamed broccoli florets to suck on. At 6 months they only need a small amount of food so think about quality over quantity.

fro9etb8j5qsl2 · 04-10-2015 11:42am

We don't eat red meat aside from the odd bit of mince or meatballs that I buy especially to give the kids but we do eat loads of chicken and iron rich veg and grains. We did buy into the formula company mass hysteria with our first and gave him the follow on milk after 6 months but I wasn't even entirely happy about that because it tasted ridiculously sugary. I just assumed this time around that breastmilk would have all the nutrients a baby would need. Ugh I have the 7 month check up this week and I'm dreading trying to explain the breastfeeding/baby led weaning

tinkerbell · 04-10-2015 12:14pm

Just let the 7-month visit go straight over your head mrspostman. My PHN was a right idiot - she scoffed at BLW and said I needed to purée meat. She also claimed she had done a lactation course and tried to convince me that I needed to offer solids first, then breastmilk. I told her that was incorrect advice and it was breast first, then solids otherwise it encourages early weaning off the breast (I confirmed this with an actual qualified lactation consultant). Then she started to get a bit thick with me. She also ran a breastfeeding morning every week - I feel sorry for the poor mothers who were subjected to her crappy advice.

lazygal · 04-10-2015 3:32pm

I've yet to hear first hand of any PHN giving actual proper accurate advice. I've heard all the rubbish about iron and how people start giving up bf at six months and to start on baby rice at four months if they're not sleeping through the night. If and when we have a third I will more than likely tell them to sod off and leave them out altogether.

Tell her you've heard about two children who did BLW and are hale and hearty, one of whom is still bf at over two years of age. Or tell her she needs to upskill given the WHO recommended ways to feed babies and infants.

Happydippy · 05-10-2015 9:58pm

After hearing lots of stories of unhelpful PHN's, I feel very lucky as the 2 PHN's in my area are very supportive and knowledgeble. This might be because they breastfed their own children rather than any HSE training they had.

cyning · 05-10-2015 10:21pm

The Phn I had on my first was amazing: encouraged co sleeping safely (sure how else would you feed all night long!), told me to stop looking at the scales look at the baby, told me every growth spurt would pass, told me about baby carriers (now she tells everyone about slings

) even when there was a major issue from the hospital about her weight (thanks to her weight having been changed from 3.6 to 3.9kg born) didn't care... I did! I wish i had been more relaxed.

Had a different one this time round: not that she's not nice but I far prefer that PHN. She's just fab.

Leinster1980 · 06-10-2015 8:27pm

Hi all,

Just looking for some advice, my son is nearly 6 months old and within the last 3 weeks I've weaned him onto bottles. It was a hard decision for me but I was happy that I lasted way longer then the initial time frame that I had given myself. The last week or so I've been suffering night sweats and my period has stopped, it had returned for two cycles previous to me stopping breastfeeding. Would this be because my hormones are settling back down? I'm still lactating slightly. Thanks in advice for any advice.

gracielooks · 16-10-2015 12:31am

tinkerbell wrote: »

Ugh. I am sick of these stupid health nurses spouting this incorrect nonsense. The iron in breastmilk is FAR easier absorbed than the truckload of iron they put into formula. They have to put so much into formula because it's not easily digested at all.

As an aside, I'm breastfeeding well over a year now. Yay.

Yay! Amazing. 15 weeks in here, starting to wonder about going past 6 months & what that might be like with work & crèche.

The Breast Feeding Support Thread

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