help breastfeeding info

debs7

hi i am 7 months pregnant with baby number 7 and i cant decide if i should give breastfeeding a go i was the same with baby number 6 but when she was born i backed out of the whole breastfeeding thing and i regretted it the reason i am scared to try it is because i did try breastfeed baby number 4 and after 5 days i had to stop as directed by my doctor i had mastitis and a bad infection in both breasts it was so painful i used to dread each feed and after seen by the doctor i put the baby onto bottles but i was never shown how to breastfeed the baby in the hospital no nurse showed me how or what is the proper way to attach the baby so i did what i taught was right i wasn't aware there was certain ways to latch on a baby i used to feed him every 5/6 hrly and i suppose this resulted in my breasts becoming so sore when i see other mum's breastfeeding i feel i have missed out and would love to be able to do it has anyone any advice they can offer me?????

December2012

There is a thread all about breast feeding support on the parenting forum.

You could contact cuidiu or la leche league or friends of breast feeding Ireland.

They will be very happy to help you.

Quality

Heya I have 3 kids

First attempt breastfeeding wasn't a success but no 2 and 3 went great.

Tbh, I don't think your feeding the baby enough and that is why the mastitis developed. I would literally be feeding the baby all day long at the start. I don't know how practical that is for you with 7 of them. But the best thing for blocked ducts and sore boobs is for the baby to drain them for you.

iwantmydinner

Quality wrote: »

Heya I have 3 kids

First attempt breastfeeding wasn't a success but no 2 and 3 went great.

Tbh, I don't think your feeding the baby enough and that is why the mastitis developed. I would literally be feeding the baby all day long at the start. I don't know how practical that is for you with 7 of them. But the best thing for blocked ducts and sore boobs is for the baby to drain them for you.

I'm fairly certain you're not in a position to tell the OP why her mastitis developed.

Apart from that OP, I think you should head over to the breastfeeding thread in the parenting forum, as suggested by another poster.

Quality

iwantmydinner wrote: »

I'm fairly certain you're not in a position to tell the OP why her mastitis developed.

Apart from that OP, I think you should head over to the breastfeeding thread in the parenting forum, as suggested by another poster.

How are you so certain I am not in that position? I found that the best advice I got was from breastfeeding mothers, Not from doctors, nurses or the community health nurse. The women who were experienced at it knew best. A lot of women give up due to not having the support and being unsure.

I am more than happy to answer any questions and providing my expertise.

Mastitis can occur from blocked ducts. so feeding is the best way to clear it,

The Op stated she was only feeding her newborn every 5 to 6 hours which isnt enough.. Newborn babies need more constant feeding. this could have contributed to the ducts being blocked as milk production in the first few weeks is irregular until a proper pattern is established.

It is a lovely thing to do for your baby OP, but it is tough work at the start. Its not for everyone and sometimes it doesnt work out, It didnt for me first time but I went on to successfully feed for the best part of a year on my last two kids.

debs7

Quality wrote: »

How are you so certain I am not in that position? I found that the best advice I got was from breastfeeding mothers, Not from doctors, nurses or the community health nurse. The women who were experienced at it knew best. A lot of women give up due to not having the support and being unsure.

I am more than happy to answer any questions and providing my expertise.

Mastitis can occur from blocked ducts. so feeding is the best way to clear it,

The Op stated she was only feeding her newborn every 5 to 6 hours which isnt enough.. Newborn babies need more constant feeding. this could have contributed to the ducts being blocked as milk production in the first few weeks is irregular until a proper pattern is established.

It is a lovely thing to do for your baby OP, but it is tough work at the start. Its not for everyone and sometimes it doesnt work out, It didnt for me first time but I went on to successfully feed for the best part of a year on my last two kids.

hi i wanted to thank you for taking the time and replying to me and for all your advice i have looked into attending a local meeting regards with breastfeeding as i think your right when you say the best people to ask are mums who are breastfeeding and maybe i will find out a bit more on how to breastfeed the correct way fingers crossed anyway

Quality

debs7 wrote: »

hi i wanted to thank you for taking the time and replying to me and for all your advice i have looked into attending a local meeting regards with breastfeeding as i think your right when you say the best people to ask are mums who are breastfeeding and maybe i will find out a bit more on how to breastfeed the correct way fingers crossed anyway

Best of luck debs!! and fair play to you! 7 kids I am in awe.

Hobbitfeet

Going to a breastfeeding meeting while pregnant was one of the best things I did. It can be a little intimidating to go into any group of women to ask for advice, and when you've just had a baby it can make it even harder so going while pregnant was great it gave me a chance to get to know some of the women there and the women who runs the meetings so when I needed help it was much easier to ask for it.
Some great info here on mastitis, http://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/mother/mastitis/

Good luck with it

jdsk2006

I too agree you weren't feedin baby enough and so led to mastitis (ouch! iv been there)
Newborns feed relentlessly for the first 24 hours.....as in around the clock. Expect to feed every 90 mins or so from there!
I would urge you to join a support group if possible cos the only people that can help you on this is mothers who have breastfed, docs and midwives generally are clueless unless they are themselves breastfeeders. It is so wonderful and rewarding to do but it doesn't come naturally unfortunately.....its a learnt art!

Goodluck, I'm sorta even jealous of ya!!!

jdsk2006

I too agree you weren't feedin baby enough and so led to mastitis (ouch! iv been there)
Newborns feed relentlessly for the first 24 hours.....as in around the clock. Expect to feed every 90 mins or so from there!
I would urge you to join a support group if possible cos the only people that can help you on this is mothers who have breastfed, docs and midwives generally are clueless unless they are themselves breastfeeders. It is so wonderful and rewarding to do but it doesn't come naturally unfortunately.....its a learnt art!

Goodluck, I'm sorta even jealous of ya!!!

Rosy Posy

First of all congratulations on your pregnancy and well done for considering giving breastfeeding another go. I'm pregnant with my fourth and have breastfed my other three up to in and around a year. With the first two it was effortless but with my last one I suddenly realised why some women don't persist with it- the pain, and my nipples were in rags. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are two of you in it, the child needs to learn what to do as well and some children are naturally more persistent/impatient than others. So look at this baby as if you're starting with a blank slate- just because you struggled before doesn't mean it has to be that way this time. For me, once the baby is born, for the first week at least I see my entire job to be establishing breastfeeding- everything else is secondary. This could be hard to juggle with six other children but enlist your friends and family to help, sit in bed having cups of tea and snacks brought to you and dedicate the time to feeding your baby. I would literally sit in bed all day with a novel, feeding on demand (more or less all of the baby's waking hours) and forget that the world outside of the bedroom existed. To put a time frame on it- I usually work my way through the entire of Marian Keyes' published works (but I am quite a fast reader!). Also as another poster suggested there are support groups out there such as la leche league (but be aware that some attract zealots who can be quite judgemental), look into a professional lactation consultant, maybe try the book 'The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding' by Diana West. I don't know if it would help but our maternity hospital has posters all over it that say 'Tummy to Mummy, Nose to Nipple, Baby to Breast' which means position the baby with its tummy facing you, with baby's nose level with your nipple so they have to throw back their head to latch on, and bring the baby to your breast rather than trying to bend your back to bring the breast to the baby. Also I found cold cabbage leaves really soothing when my breasts got hot and tender.

Best of luck, op!

Femme_Fatale

Just on the topic of breastfeeding:

My friend was saying to me this evening that she was in a café the other day and a woman started breastfeeding her baby... to be met with stares and whispers from people (all women, my friend noted) nudging each other about it. I thought my friend was exaggerating - I didn't think that crap went on so much anymore. My friend swore it was true, and that it was a significant number of women, of all ages.

Fair enough if people prefer discretion being exercised - I'd go to great lengths to be discreet myself. But the breastfeeding woman's boob was completely covered by a muslin cloth so whatever sight those women were shocked by was all in their heads.

Maddening and depressing.

Rosy Posy

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

Just on the topic of breastfeeding:

My friend was saying to me this evening that she was in a café the other day and a woman started breastfeeding her baby... to be met with stares and whispers from people (all women, my friend noted) nudging each other about it. I thought my friend was exaggerating - I didn't think that crap went on so much anymore. My friend swore it was true, and that it was a significant number of women, of all ages.

Fair enough if people prefer discretion being exercised - I'd go to great lengths to be discreet myself. But the breastfeeding woman's boob was completely covered by a muslin cloth so whatever sight those women were shocked by was all in their heads.

Maddening and depressing.

I do think that that attitude is changing and it certainly shouldn't be a consideration when deciding whether to breastfeed or not. There are plenty of bfing friendly places to feed your baby in public. Also, I've found that babies in general get stares and whispers from women, usually saying what a dote they are, probably a legacy of our low birth rate culture.

Here in NZ bfing is strongly endorsed and I've seen the opposite occur- a woman takes out a bottle to feed her child and is met by stares and whispers of disapproval.

WHATTF is it about parenting decisions that makes perfectly rational people turn into dogmatic nazis? I've seen it with my own family when we've made different decisions to those that they have made. I wonder if some of the women who disapproved of the breastfeeding mother were in fact acting out of guilt over their own mothering? Parenting choices are emotive issues and some people feel the need to judge others on their choices in order to make themselves feel better about their own. This really bothered me with my first child. By my fourth I couldn't give a fiddlers. One of the most important qualities a mother can develop is a thick skin and I'd say with six little ones, op you've got that by now. The more people breastfeed in public and normalise it the more accepted it will become.

How Strange

Rosy Posy that's a great slogan. If only the HSE would get their act together and do a positive informative campaign like that.

Op the breastfeeding forum in newborn and toddkers is quite active as the moment as there's lots of new mums breastfeeding.

I'm shocked but not surprised that a doctor told you to stop breastfeeding when you had mastitis. I've had it on both babies and I know frequent feeding is essential to avoid getting abscesses. A newborn should be fed on demand so no clock watching. The la Leche league saw to turn your clocks to the wall so you can't tell when the baby was last fed and it's great advice.

Breastfeeding and breastmilk are so different to feeding with formula that I think going to a local la Leche or Cuidiu meeting before the baby comes would be great for you. It would help you to be prepared for what's normal when breastfeeding a newborn ie if you're in pain something is wrong and you need to get help.

The first 6 weeks are very intensive but once you get past that it gets easier by degrees until you realise that feeding is effortless.

Also start with realistic expectations and I say this as a mother who fed my son for a year. Take it one feed at a time at the start, don't think about tonight, tomorrow or next week. Also every breastfeed counts so if you decide to stop you haven't failed. It's not a test. The phrase 'and this too will pass' will become your mantra at the start when you're coping with a hungry baby.

There is always help out there. Cuidiu and friends of breastfeeding have contact details for counsellors and buddies who will talk to you, reassure you and advise you when you need it. You just have to pick up the phone and call them.

The best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy.