The Breast Feeding Support Thread

kastasia

I was actually thinking I'd wasted my money on the silver angels, as hadn't really got the hang of them before all my issues cleared up and everything has been ok since week 1, but sounds like I might need them later on!
How is everyone getting on breastfeeding in public? I was so nervous at first, especially when I was on a crowded train but now it doesn't bother me at all.

catrionanic

kastasia wrote: »

I was actually thinking I'd wasted my money on the silver angels, as hadn't really got the hang of them before all my issues cleared up and everything has been ok since week 1, but sounds like I might need them later on!
How is everyone getting on breastfeeding in public? I was so nervous at first, especially when I was on a crowded train but now it doesn't bother me at all.

Good woman! I love seeing women feed in public as it's the only way to normalise it.

I found it very nerve-wracking at first but before long was flying. Have stopped now as I'm pregnant, but looking forward to doing my bit for public feeding again in the autumn!

bee06

catrionanic wrote: »

Good woman! I love seeing women feed in public as it's the only way to normalise it.

I’m the same. I always want to give a smile or thumbs up or something but don’t want to look like a lunatic! I can’t feed my little fella in public anymore. He’s too nosey. I can’t even watch tv or sit in a room with other people at home!

Anne_cordelia

bee06 wrote: »

I’m the same. I always want to give a smile or thumbs up or something but don’t want to look like a lunatic! I can’t feed my little fella in public anymore. He’s too nosey. I can’t even watch tv or sit in a room with other people at home!

We are just about coming out of this phase now at 10 months. It’s been going on since 5 months. Pain in the backside. Especially when you are out and about for the day and they make up for not feeding by feeding all night!! Best tip I can give you is to try feeding in the sling. My baby would only feed in a quiet dark room or the sling so sling was a lifesaver.

catrionanic

I usually just smile and say something like, "keep up the good work" as I pass by

waterfaerie

I never had any worries about feeding in public until my baby got a bit older. I've noticed a few disapproving looks now that she's so big. She's 15 months but off the charts for height so she looks over 2.

I'm getting used to it now, though, and I'm less inclined to care what people think. Some of the mums in my breastfeeding group with toddlers only feed them at home and it's so sad that they feel they need to do that. I think it's really important to normalise breastfeeding toddlers and young children so I'm going to be brave and keep doing it. I'm planning to let her self wean and hoping she'll keep breastfeeding for as long as possible, really!

jlm29

My local Sam McCauleys makes it up, but they charge €60. There’s a pharmacy in Waterford that posts it if you fax the prescription

bee06

Anne_cordelia wrote: »

We are just about coming out of this phase now at 10 months. It’s been going on since 5 months. Pain in the backside. Especially when you are out and about for the day and they make up for not feeding by feeding all night!! Best tip I can give you is to try feeding in the sling. My baby would only feed in a quiet dark room or the sling so sling was a lifesaver.

Good point, I have to practice this. We’ll be going on holidays soon so don’t want to be stuck by myself all day!

flo09

I have to admit I'm always a bit cautious bf in public. I don't let it stop me me but I'm always fearful of someone having something to say. I'm very discreet to the point where someone carried a tray of hot tea over my head while trying to get by me in a cafe. There's a little cafe I go to and the woman who runs it always brings me over a glass of water as soon as she sees me feeding. I didnt even ask. There is great appreciation out there for breastfeeding but like everything else there's always 1!

Millem

I feed in public much to the embarrassment of everyone in my family bar my own kids!!!!
My mother tries to make me go down to a bedroom in her house.

fits

I didn’t give a hoot until a year. But am a bit self conscious avout feeding in public now at 18 months. I don’t need to do it very often either which is part of it. They can go without now.

lazygal

I never got a bad comment in public ever. Only compliments and smiles.

scarepanda

Iv never had any negative comments. Only negative thing i can remember is an older woman getting up and leaving when my girl was upset and gave me some daggers as she walked by and I was Popping out the boob, baby was about 4 months old at the time. It was one of those occasions where it was a process of elimination as to what was wrong because she wasn't really due a feed. But boobs solve most things!
From about 12/13 months my girl was down to two feeds a day most days, morning and evening, so it was never an issue for me. But I wouldn't give a hoot nursing in public even now. I find I get the weird looks from people who ask if I'm still nursing, and they are usually from family.
I very rarely ever say anything to anyone that I see out and about nursing. But i always love seeing it, and if we do catch eyes I'll give a nod or a smile. Unfortunately I don't see it very often.

kat939

Thanks all for comments - after a bit of research and a chat with pharmacist i decided to try a mild OTC hydrocortisone cream (since i already had the antibacterial) and it's definitely helping:) I'll use that digital doctor in the future though, thanks Millem! I'm registered for it and all and didn't even realise *lol*

In terms of feeding in public, I genuinely don't think anybody ever noticed me feeding! Maybe it would stand out more now that he's older but he only feeds at bedtime and during the night so it never comes up...

Mondo123

Hi all, just wondering if anyone had some advice for me... I've an 8 day old little boy whom I'm breast feeding. He's feeding well but my prob arises when I finish feeding and go to out him down. If I do put him down he will wake within 5 min but if I sit holding him he could sleep for an hour and half.
It's frustrating and tiring, anyone any advice?

bee06

Mondo123 wrote: »

Hi all, just wondering if anyone had some advice for me... I've an 8 day old little boy whom I'm breast feeding. He's feeding well but my prob arises when I finish feeding and go to out him down. If I do put him down he will wake within 5 min but if I sit holding him he could sleep for an hour and half.
It's frustrating and tiring, anyone any advice?

It’s exhausting but completely normal. The below link is a good explanation of why. I was able to put my little boy down at night if I waited a length of time so he was in a deeper sleep. It took a while to figure out how long to wait though. In the end it was 15 mins but it was a lot of trial and error. He’s 6 months now and I still have to wait 15 mins before I put him down. It never worked during the day.

https://sarahockwell-smith.com/2012/11/04/the-fourth-trimester-aka-why-your-newborn-baby-is-only-happy-in-your-arms/amp/

scarepanda

Completely normal. My girl was like that as well and I remember asking on here about it. Someone told me that their baby was an up-in-arms baby until they were about 5 months old and my girl was similar, but there was a big change around 3 months. Have you ever heard of the 4th trimester?

It's so frustrating when you know that you could be doing something while they are sleeping. Something I wish I had used a lot earlier is a carrier. For me a ring sling in particular would have been the job.

fits

I gave up trying to put them down for a while when my twins were very young. Just let them sleep on the feeding cushion. Eventually they allowed me to transfer them to their cribs.

Pocos

Mondo123 wrote: »

Hi all, just wondering if anyone had some advice for me... I've an 8 day old little boy whom I'm breast feeding. He's feeding well but my prob arises when I finish feeding and go to out him down. If I do put him down he will wake within 5 min but if I sit holding him he could sleep for an hour and half.
It's frustrating and tiring, anyone any advice?

As other posters have said its to do with the 4th trimester thing! But I do understand your frustration. Same with my LO I had to wait for a certain amount of time 10-15 mins and then she will go down ok even now at 6 months!

We also bought a sleepy head and let her sleep in that! Found it helped make her super cosy in bed and she still uses it now at 6 months! We also had a Ewan the sheep and it played white noise which I thought was good!

Also as someone else said I just let her sleep on me! Once every 2-3 weeks even now at 6 months she just won’t go to her cot so I put a aside an hour watch tv and let her sleep on me! Now easier at 6 months as they only nap 2-3 times a day and as I said it’s not too frequent! But sometimes they just need us for what ever reason development, growth spurts etc!

Try and enjoy it as much as possible but hard to do when you are exhausted! Maybe let her sleep on someone else??! Best of luck with it!

Sausage dog

Can anyone recommend a breast pump? Baby is 10 weeks old and has been breast fed so far. I'd like to begin to express some milk for one feed a day or if I needed to be away for a few hours. Is there much difference between different brands? Thanks for any tips/recommendations.

kastasia

I'm just using the Haakaa most mornings. I have a little stash, just finding it difficult to get it fed back to him!

jlm29

I have a medela swing, it’s a great little pump, but I don’t think I’d buy another. It’s an open system, I would buy a closed system if I had my time back! A friend has the spectra s something or other and recommends!)

Millem

I have a spectra 3 which is cheapest closed system I could find. £50 on amazon. I paid £45 at time.
It’s great. I bought double kit recently but haven’t used it yet.

bee06

Millem wrote: »

I have a spectra 3 which is cheapest closed system I could find. £50 on amazon. I paid £45 at time.
It’s great. I bought double kit recently but haven’t used it yet.

I never heard of the Spectra S3! That’s a great price. I had been toying with buying the S1 or S2 but I don’t pump at all at the moment so don’t think I’d get the use for the cost of those but £50 is reasonable especially for a closed system.

tea_and_cake

I have a spectra and it's great. It's a double or single and it's a closed system. It's hospital grade. It's about €150 so it's expensive. The haakaa is a good alternative and on offer with the stopper for €33 on inhealth. I don't have one but people rave about them.

bee06

tea_and_cake wrote: »

I have a spectra and it's great. It's a double or single and it's a closed system. It's hospital grade. It's about €150 so it's expensive. The haakaa is a good alternative and on offer with the stopper for €33 on inhealth. I don't have one but people rave about them.

I have the haakaa and don’t find it great. It’s really awkward to use with a wriggly 6 month old and I don’t really have a visible/strong let down so don’t get much as a result. However, if you were a person who has a strong let down I think it would be great.

catrionanic

Big fan of the spectra s1. Open system, double electric pump. Battery powered so not tied to a socket. Night light for late-night pumping. Fast and easy to use, with lots of different settings. I highly recommend a double pump.

Previously I had used a single Avent manual and electric pump, but it would take three times as long to pump and I would only get about two thirds of what I got on the spectra. I also have a haakaa. Everyone seems to rave about it but I never managed to get more than an ounce or so. I used it as per instructions so maybe it's just me - I've never once leaked milk, and the other boob stays dry when I'm feeding from the opposite side, so maybe my milk just doesn't flow for me.

Millem

bee06 wrote: »

I never heard of the Spectra S3! That’s a great price. I had been toying with buying the S1 or S2 but I don’t pump at all at the moment so don’t think I’d get the use for the cost of those but £50 is reasonable especially for a closed system.

Yeah it’s great. You can buy extra expression set for £10 on amazon to turn it into a double.

I don’t pump every day......only if I have to like when I had to work Great gadget! You can buy from amazon or ana wiz. Prime day on monday so might be cheaper on amazon?
I bought second expression set and spare valves from ana wiz and used address pal....it was cheaper.

Ana wiz also sells ex hospital rental pumps too!

Sausage dog

Thanks Millem, I'd never heard of that one. Will look it up.

Toots

The haakaa is grand to collect milk when both your boobs let down, but in terms of actually pumping a full feed I wouldn't find it strong enough. I use it in the morning first thing, because the baba sleeps through so when I wake up I'm really full and it would be like trying to feed the poor child with a power hose

I'd stick the haakaa on each boob (I bought a second so now so both at the same time) for about 10 mins while I'm eating my breakfast and would probably get about 60ml each side. It only works first thing in the morning though. If I stick one on while feeding any other time of the day I'd be lucky to get 20ml.

I've the Lansinoh electric double pump and I really like it. AFAIK it's a closed system - it says in the manual that the pump can be used by different women. I had a medela swing for my eldest and didn't like how milk would sometimes get sucked into the tubing and then the motor burnt out.

I got my pump on Amazon and I think it was on offer so it was about £80. Also if you've a fuller bust, sometimes it can be awkward to use the flange things that come with the pump - I always found I had to pump leaning forward otherwise the milk would leak back out. The lactation consultant recommended a thing called "Pumpin pals" which are a slightly different flange that fit most breast pumps and stop that happening. One thing I'd recommend is DO NOT buy them directly from the Pumpin pals website - it was a total rip off! They're not cheap, but mother of god, I think they wanted something like $50 for basic shipping!! Cheapest way I found was to use their website to work out which size I needed and then ordered them on Amazon.com and used address pal to get them delivered to Ireland.