The Breast Feeding Support Thread

0ctober · 23-08-2012 12:53am

Thanks lazygal, yeah I'm loving the breast feeding apart from the tiredness. I just love how handy it is and being able to be so close to my little girl

I think I was just having a bad night last night!
Do many of you express milk? I got a medela pump and have used it twice so far. I dont seem to get a huge amount expressed, maybe about 50 mls in total from both sides. It doesnt seem like much and she had it gone in seconds. I suppose my milk has only been in about a week so it might take a while before I'd be able to express a larger volume maybe?

dubstarr · 23-08-2012 7:48am

No i never bothered with a pump,i tried it once or twice.Like you i wasnt getting enough milk out so easier putting baby on boob.They are much more effeciant.
Some woman are able to pump no problem.
What age is bay as you are not really meant to express before 6 weeks as it might interrupt your supply.

annamcmahon · 23-08-2012 10:09am

lilmissdahamsta I found my daughter sitting beside me rather than on me the most comfortable when I was pregnant. I sat her on the couch or chair and turned my body so she could latch. If I was feeding lying down I put a cushion under my bump and she lay around it.
October congratulations and I'm so glad you're enjoying breastfeeding. However it's not recommended to start pumping before your supply has been established at 6 weeks because it can stimulate oversupply if you pump a lot or cause supply issues if you give the expressed milk from a bottle instead of directly from boob. How much you pump is no indication of how much you are producing because babies are much more efficient at getting milk out than the best pump and some women's boobs just don't respond well to the stimulation of a pump. Saying that 50mls is actually quite a lot if your milk only came a week ago. Your baby's stomach is only the size of fist so she's not taking much at each feed anyway.
Finally the rate at which your baby drink from a bottle is no indication of how hungry she is because the milk flows much faster and more freely than from your boob. This is the other reason that it's recommend to avoid bottles for the first 6 weeks or use a paced bottle feeding technique so that your baby doesn't develop a preference for the easy with which she gets milk from the bottle, let's face it we're all lazy by nature and baby's generally have to work to get milk from the boob. A lot of what is called nipple confusion is actually flow rate preference if that makes sense.

0ctober · 23-08-2012 4:26pm

Thanks very much, I wasn't aware you shouldn't pump til after 6 weeks. I'm still learning!

I was eager to express enough for maybe one bottle a day so I can have a break and so her daddy can enjoy the experience of feeding her. I'll hold off a while so. Thanks again!

theg81der · 23-08-2012 4:33pm

How long till your nipples don`t hurt?

implausible · 23-08-2012 4:48pm

0ctober wrote: »

Thanks very much, I wasn't aware you shouldn't pump til after 6 weeks. I'm still learning! I was eager to express enough for maybe one bottle a day so I can have a break and so her daddy can enjoy the experience of feeding her. I'll hold off a while so.

It varies. Some people's supply gets regularised pretty quickly. I did it from 5 weeks with my wee man. Got lazy with the little woman and didn't give her a bottle 'til she was 7/8 weeks and it was a major drawn-out struggle to get her to take it.

implausible · 23-08-2012 4:50pm

theg81der wrote: »

How long till your nipples don`t hurt?

On my first, I had 3 days of eye-watering pain about 2 weeks after he was born and then it was gone. I got no sore nipples with number 2 (much to my surprise!!).

wmpdd3 · 23-08-2012 11:23pm

theg81der wrote: »

How long till your nipples don`t hurt?

I know you're probably sick to the back teeth of people saying this: but your nipples shouldn't 'hurt'

Did you get someone to check your latch? maybe baby's bottom lip is a bit high?

Do you have a crack in your nipple? have you tried lanasho(sp) cream, its sort of thick cream that dulls the feeling of you nipples, great stuff!

dubstarr · 24-08-2012 12:31am

Im on my 5th baby and after everyone my nipples felt like they were ob
o.n fireBut after a few days they should settle down,if not La leche League or a reastfeeding councillar.Wouldnt normally reccomend health visitors cause usually they dont have a clue.

dubstarr · 24-08-2012 12:34am

0ctober wrote: »

Thanks very much, I wasn't aware you shouldn't pump til after 6 weeks. I'm still learning! I was eager to express enough for maybe one bottle a day so I can have a break and so her daddy can enjoy the experience of feeding her. I'll hold off a while so. Thanks again!

You are not really having a break if you have to steralise bottles and pump.You really are quicker putting baby on boob and getting our own routine establised so you can do things.

theg81der · 24-08-2012 9:52am

wmpdd3 wrote: »

I know you're probably sick to the back teeth of people saying this: but your nipples shouldn't 'hurt'

Did you get someone to check your latch? maybe baby's bottom lip is a bit high?

Do you have a crack in your nipple? have you tried lanasho(sp) cream, its sort of thick cream that dulls the feeling of you nipples, great stuff!

Latch checked and they said it`s fine. Yes i`ve used the cream. I have eczema could I just be have sensitive nipples?

wmpdd3 · 24-08-2012 11:32am

Oh god, it could be, my other half had that too and his lips and nipples are especially bad and of course you cant be using loads of steroid cream. Aveeno might help but i dont know if you can use it while baby is feeding. if it get too much you can use nipple shields while your healing. Breastmilk lightly rubbed over nipples and left to air dry works wonders! Does it feel like you nipple is sore or a pain deep in the boob?

littlemissfixit · 25-08-2012 11:22am

God bless Infacol!!! I should have got it earlier instead of spending the last week without more than 1h30 sleep at a time! He is back to sleeping 5 & half hours from 9pm so I get about 4hrs Im a new woman again!

theg81der · 26-08-2012 9:44am

Could my baby be over feeding? he`s getting sick after feeds and i think its cause he`s feeding when full. or could it be something i`m eating? he`s 2 weeks old

wmpdd3 · 26-08-2012 9:50am

I dont think so, but it could be fast let down, as in your milk spraying down his throat for the first few sucks. He could also be taking in air while getting latched on properly and bringing a little up while burping. Some babies do bring up after every feed too, as long as you have plenty wet nappies and a minimum of 1 dirty a day (i think).

implausible · 26-08-2012 9:52am

theg81der wrote: »

Could my baby be over feeding? he`s getting sick after feeds and i think its cause he`s feeding when full. or could it be something i`m eating? he`s 2 weeks old

Both of mine did this a fair bit. I have a fast letdown and it happened if I let them drink too much without burping them. Just take him off the breast mid-feed and burp him. This should help.

Emcm · 27-08-2012 3:23pm

Hi there

I have just recently discovered this thread and find it wonderful to share the highs and lows of breastfeeding with other mothers.

I am currently breastfeeding my fourth baby. He is 14 weeks and a big hungry boy weighing in at 16lbs !!!! I am thrilled as this is the first baby I have managed to exclusively breastfeed this far. I would have always supplemented with formula at this stage. I guess I finally got the hang of it on my last baby :P

My query is about starting the spoon. I find he is getting very hungry feeding a lot during the day. I do have a good supply but finding it exhausting so was thinking of a spoon feed. All my others I spoon feed between 14-16 weeks but they were formula and breastfed and I know there is this whole thing from World health organisation about not giving spoon till 6 months I really don't think we would last that long ?? I was thinking of starting at 16-18 weeks just wondered what your opinions or experiences are with this ?
Thanks

wmpdd3 · 27-08-2012 7:46pm

I think the who angle is that their intestines arent ready / a sensrive. There are a few Auto immune issues in our familys so we held off, but i know of plenty who started food around 16 weeks

dubstarr · 28-08-2012 9:20am

The guidelines state 6 months or older for weaning.I weaned my last 3 babies round 6 months and i could see the difference.No gagging and more willing to try new food.
My other 2 i weaned earlier cause they were the guidelines back then.
I think try hold out till at least 5 months if you can.

NextSteps · 28-08-2012 10:00pm

I offered solids at six months and skipped purées altogether. It worked for us.

ck83 · 28-08-2012 10:42pm

We started solids at five and a half months. Very stress free- well able to sit in a high chair, very little messing, managed it all very well from the get go, which I put down to holding off.
That said, I only had him to manage, and didn't really find him that hungry by day, so holding off was no great hassle! Apparently there's new evidence to say that starting earlier than six months is not detrimental, but that might be makey up evidence that was thrust at me by the anti-exclusive breastfeeders! Once they established I wasn't going to give in to the bullying and give the holy grail bottle of formula going to bed, they all started pushing solids. Thank god I ignored them!

lazygal · 28-08-2012 11:28pm

I plan on being led by baby. Mine is a very curious little thing and already has to be sitting on someone's knee during meal times, staring at whatever we're eating. I'm BF with one bottle (FF) a day, I don't see her lasting on milk alone until six months.

liliq · 29-08-2012 10:32am

I think it's the La Leche League guidelines that state "around the middle of the first year" for introducing solids.
6 months is a very defined age, and all babies being different etc, it means that some babies will be genuinely ready to start a little earlier, some will be ready at 6 months, and some won't be ready until a little later.
We started at I think 23 weeks, which was about 10 days before the 6 calender months. We did baby led weaning as well, working really well for us

fitzcoff · 29-08-2012 3:24pm

Just to update and say thanks for the words of encouragement a few weeks back. I was in and around the 6 week mark and it felt like I would never have any time to myself again ( you'd think I'd know better on number 3) .

She is now just gone the 10 week mark and a lot more settled and has a bit of a routine, of course it varies from day to day but it is not a constant feed in the evenings. I think that because she is now smiling and "chatting" it reminds me how lovely and rewarding breast feeding really is.

On another note I was called for jury duty for the end of Sept, so my plan was to reply and say that I am breast feeding and would not be able to attend. I rang them to say that I was saying this and including a birth cert as proof of having a baby, I was told that I need a letter from my GP saying that I am breast feeding. Thankfully I know the practice well enough to ring in and ask for a letter as I would not be too impressed if I had to pay to see the GP just for a letter.

lazygal · 29-08-2012 9:27pm

You could maybe have submitted a letter from the public health nurse too? Mine was great support for BF and would have helped out with something like that.

bauble1 · 29-08-2012 10:21pm

fitzcoff wrote: »

Just to update and say thanks for the words of encouragement a few weeks back. I was in and around the 6 week mark and it felt like I would never have any time to myself again ( you'd think I'd know better on number 3) .

She is now just gone the 10 week mark and a lot more settled and has a bit of a routine, of course it varies from day to day but it is not a constant feed in the evenings. I think that because she is now smiling and "chatting" it reminds me how lovely and rewarding breast feeding really is.

On another note I was called for jury duty for the end of Sept, so my plan was to reply and say that I am breast feeding and would not be able to attend. I rang them to say that I was saying this and including a birth cert as proof of having a baby, I was told that I need a letter from my GP saying that I am breast feeding. Thankfully I know the practice well enough to ring in and ask for a letter as I would not be too impressed if I had to pay to see the GP just for a letter.

I also got called for jury service a few months back when my LO was only a few weeks old. I just sent the summons back saying I could not attend as BF new baby born xyz.... they cancelled it without looking for further evidence.

Emcm · 30-08-2012 5:05pm

Thanks for all the advice it's great to hear other peoples experiences. I think my little monster man is going through a growth spurt. I am gonna hold him off as long as I can and try not to feel too guilty if I cave before the 26 weeks. I think I am just wiped out I have a teenager and a 4 and 3 year old so it's hard going breastfeeding a hungry baby!

I was that bad this morning I put 5 litres of petrol in my diesel car thank god I copped on before I filled it :eek:

wmpdd3 · 31-08-2012 12:10am

o no! bay brain.

I cant imagine how you work out b/feeding through a growth spurt with t 3 and 4 year old.

2xj3hplqgsbkym · 31-08-2012 9:38pm

Hi Ladies,
I wonder could anyone who has had a c- section advise me on the best sleeping arrangements for when you come out of hospital. So many women have told me that it is so painful getting up from the bed each time to pick up baby to feed.

My cot doesn't open so can't lower side to lift him out.

Also I am guessing that I will be better off feeding him lying down in bed?

I had vaginal birth with first so no problems feeding then. Any advice appreciated.

Neyite · 31-08-2012 9:44pm

Miya Dirty Thinker wrote: »

Hi Ladies,
I wonder could anyone who has had a c- section advise me on the best sleeping arrangements for when you come out of hospital. So many women have told me that it is so painful getting up from the bed each time to pick up baby to feed.

My cot doesn't open so can't lower side to lift him out.

Also I am guessing that I will be better off feeding him lying down in bed?

I had vaginal birth with first so no problems feeding then. Any advice appreciated.

I had a moses basket for the first few weeks right beside the bed. Can you borrow one? I used to roll on my side while curling up my legs and use my elbows /arms to push up to sitting instead of using the abdominal muscles. In hospital your bed should have the monkey bar for you to haul yourself up, if they dont, ask for one. I was able to feed him the ordinary way, if you have a cushion handy that will help too.

The Breast Feeding Support Thread

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