The Breast Feeding Support Thread

Neyite · 03-10-2014 1:56pm

cyning wrote: »

... but if I was feeding my fil would suddenly have to go look at a cow. My mother was dying to give a bottle, as was my mil. But they all got over it: they really distrusted breastfeeding and it's a real cultural thing here in Ireland.

go look at a cow. :pac: I wonder what reminded him of his cows lol.

Its mad how so many of that generation distrusted breastfeeding. You have to wonder what on earth doctors were saying to women to put them off. I think it might have religious influences too. My mum says that she'd never look at her body when getting undressed as a young woman, that it was drummed into them that it was immodest and sinful. Even now, she is fascinated with her daughters breastfeeding - she does think that we were amazing to all breastfeed to at least 6 months or longer, but says that in her day not one other mother that she knew breastfed, and she would have been too embarassed to breastfeed, and absolutely would not breastfeed in public so I'd imagine that almost certainly she would have been effectively housebound until her babies weaned if she had chose to.

cyning · 03-10-2014 2:34pm

Those 6 cows got more tending to every time we visited

Although I was feeding in my granny in laws house during the summer and in traipsed 2aunts, an uncle, father and 3 cousins in law. All chatting away happy out until they realised I was feeding (10 minutes later!) you have never seen a room empty so fast I thought I'd cry laughing!

Morebabies honestly ignore them. I had it to: it wasn't easy. By 5 months my first weighed 20lb 5oz. And still they thought she was starving: if it's not about breastfeeding it will be something else. My mil cannot understand why I won't let her wipe my two year olds face with a dishcloth. My mother thinks I'm nuts because I don't let her drink tea: thick skin and deaf ears are needed with parenting

Isolt · 07-10-2014 12:01am

My baby was born on Tuesday after a very scary turn of events. She was taken immediately into intensive care so all of my birth preferences for skin to skin and breastfeeeding within the first hour went out the window. She was fed formula and the fluid she was taking in and putting out was all measured along with blood sugar testing every 3 hours. Obviously this meant my plans for breastfeeding never had a chance.

One midwife suggested I get some help expressing colostrum to add into her bottles in the ICU but it never happened, the midwives were far too busy (not their fault at all!) to help me and the ICU nurse wasn't very big on me and her daddy spending too much time in there.

In all honesty, is it too late now? I presume it is but I only ask because I have become huge and rock hard since last night. My baby feeds a lot, she is always hungry so when I did try to latch her on myself she seemed very frustrated, I guess because she's used to the fast and plentiful flow of a bottle. Granted, I didn't really know what I was doing.
Anybody?

banbhaaifric · 07-10-2014 12:34am

Isolt, no it's not too late at all! Tomorrow phone one of the cuidiu or la leche league counsellors and they will give you all the advice you need to get back on track. They are all over the country and have the mobile numbers of the counsellors on their websites.

For tonight, make sure you get loads of skin to skin with your little girl. Maybe express a little to relieve any engorgement and that will make it easier for her to latch. Try her when she is not too hungry, express a little onto your nipple and rub your nipple on her lips, she might naturally latch for you. I'll find some links for you if I can. Did they show you how to latch her on at the hospital? There are some good videos online. I think Dr Jack Newman has some on his site.
Keep offering the breast anyway, and express if you can. Have you a pump or do you know how to hand express?

I'll hang around for a bit in case you see this and have any questions.

And you are amazing! Your little girl is lucky to have you

banbhaaifric · 07-10-2014 1:02am

http://kellymom.com/bf/got-milk/relactation/
http://kellymom.com/bf/concerns/child/back-to-breast/

And try the extended breastfeeding group on Facebook too. There a a good few mums there who have relactated I think.

Good luck. And congratulations on your baby

Jerrica · 07-10-2014 7:27am

Isolt it's not too late at all, and congratulations on your new arrival

Are you able to express some milk? That'll help to relieve any discomfort from the swollen books. When they're that big it can be hard for a little mouth to latch onto, so if you express enough to to deflate them it'll make it much easier. Do try and contact a ciudiu counsellor or a lactation consultant to give you some help, it can take some practice at first but once you get the hang of things you'll be flying!

Neyite · 07-10-2014 10:56am

Isolt, for different reasons, I had to give an ounce in a bottle of expressed milk to add colic drops to it. That would satisfy the initial hunger flurry, and I'd latch him on right after. It worked perfectly and I breastfed to 11 months until he self-weaned.

Oh, and congratulations!! Its scary when they bring them to NICU but reassuring in a way to see that they take no chances with little ones. Glad though that you both are ok.

madeinamerica · 07-10-2014 11:40am

Isolt, sorry to hear about the issues, well done on getting through it all and starting bf.

Re the boobs, I'm no expert but from my experience, the massive hard boobs are kind of normal about a week after birth. They give both mum and baby an awful, awful time for feeding for a few days but it gets better and baby can feed easier after a few more days.

I had a similar boob problem, I had a good bf start, good latch, milk came in OK, no pain for first few days but about 4 days after birth the breast feedingv turned into a nightmare. Boobs got even more massive and rock hard, seemed to change niople shape. he had awful trouble latching on then and was getting very agitated when trying to feed was awful to watch. My nips were in bits, layers of skin gone and he was squashing then with the new incorrect latch on the massive hard boobs, nips went white a lot. I spent about 5 days straight in bits and in tears, the pain was so much and the frustration and doubt were nearly worse than the pain. Hand expressing was hard to do and they didn't reduce by much but it took the edge off a bit. The main thing that got me through was knowing it might happen. a friend of mine had told me months ago 'about day 4 to 8 will be the worst days for breast feeding but it gets better', so I was expecting it and expecting it to go away. it would have been so much harder to deal with otherwise.

So, like I said I'm no expert but the bf issues you're having may be a common but tempoaray awfulness of bf (massive rock-boobs, nips hard for bubs to latch etc) that will get better in a while. You're doing great so far, it is so hard when it all hurts and everything seems wrong but hang in there, you ARE doing great. Do contact the lactation people listed by others here, I wish I had as it might have made my return to normal bf quicker. Best of luck isolt, sending you some non-boob-squashing hugs

Best if luck.

clare82 · 07-10-2014 1:18pm

Best of luck islot hope it works out well for you mammy

ncmc · 07-10-2014 3:50pm

Can't add to what the others have said Isolt, but just wanted to add my congratulations. I remember your very early posts and how worried you were early on, hard to believe that was 8 months ago. Delighted you have welcomed a healthy baby girl. I find it very sad that you've received such little support with regards to BF. No wonder we've such poor levels of breast feeding if there's not enough midwives to help new mums. I think calling a LLL leader is a great idea, there's all sorts of ways to re lactate a baby and it sounds like you have the right attitude. If funds allow, there are lactation consultants who pay home visits too. Hope you get sorted. Congrats again.

ncmc · 09-10-2014 9:18am

Hi girls, you may remember I posted last week about my four month old fussing on the breast and not feeding as well as usual. Well it's still going on and we're in the heat of the algarve so I'm worried about dehydration. Basically she feeds for about 5 mins and then starts fussing, pulling off etc. Could she be getting what she needs in those 5 mins? She is in great form and has wet nappies, but maybe less than usual and very small poos. We're home on Saturday so hoping she'll improve once we're back in the home routine. I feel my supply has really dropped, haven't been taking my porridge and fennel tea! Is this irreparable or can I work on boosting my supply next week?

happywithlife · 09-10-2014 11:12am

ncmc wrote: »

Hi girls, you may remember I posted last week about my four month old fussing on the breast and not feeding as well as usual. Well it's still going on and we're in the heat of the algarve so I'm worried about dehydration. Basically she feeds for about 5 mins and then starts fussing, pulling off etc. Could she be getting what she needs in those 5 mins? She is in great form and has wet nappies, but maybe less than usual and very small poos. We're home on Saturday so hoping she'll improve once we're back in the home routine. I feel my supply has really dropped, haven't been taking my porridge and fennel tea! Is this irreparable or can I work on boosting my supply next week?

Can you top her up with cooled boiled water if worried about dehydration? Once she's having wet nappies and taking something I'd be reassured.
I'd imagine once you're back in your routine next week your supply will pick up again

How Strange · 09-10-2014 1:41pm

ncmc wrote: »

Hi girls, you may remember I posted last week about my four month old fussing on the breast and not feeding as well as usual. Well it's still going on and we're in the heat of the algarve so I'm worried about dehydration. Basically she feeds for about 5 mins and then starts fussing, pulling off etc. Could she be getting what she needs in those 5 mins? She is in great form and has wet nappies, but maybe less than usual and very small poos. We're home on Saturday so hoping she'll improve once we're back in the home routine. I feel my supply has really dropped, haven't been taking my porridge and fennel tea! Is this irreparable or can I work on boosting my supply next week?

If her nappies are wet and she's generally happy and well in herself then she's getting all she needs.

I'd be reluctant to give cooled boiled water as it could give her an upset tummy. Breast milk changes it's consistency depending on the environment so in hot weather it's more watery to make sure babies stay hydrated.

We want on holidays last year in hot weather when my daughter was 4 months and she was the same with feeding; a few quick sips and bobbing on and off. I just let her be as she had wet nappies and was in great form and trusted she'd drink more if/when she wanted it.

livinsane · 09-10-2014 3:50pm

My son is a year on Sunday and up to now I have been leaving 5 ounces of expressed milk when I'm at work (three days a week). I know I can give him cows milk now but he's not too gone on it. I'll keep trying but for now, do you think I could leave him go without milk when I'm at work? I pump at work during lunch time and want to stop as soon as I can. He eats very well and drinks plenty water.

Kaylami · 09-10-2014 6:26pm

Ladies quick question can a shock and stress affect your milk levels?

We were involved in a accident on Tuesday and my baby seems unsettled since I don't feel I'm producing enough compared to before the accident

We all got checked out and medically fine.

Sligo1 · 09-10-2014 7:00pm

Stress can definitely definitely negatively affect your milk production! Hope you are all ok.

Bagheera · 09-10-2014 9:10pm

livinsane wrote: »

My son is a year on Sunday and up to now I have been leaving 5 ounces of expressed milk when I'm at work (three days a week). I know I can give him cows milk now but he's not too gone on it. I'll keep trying but for now, do you think I could leave him go without milk when I'm at work? I pump at work during lunch time and want to stop as soon as I can. He eats very well and drinks plenty water.

I would think at this stage he'd be fine with a feed before you go and when you come back. My first was on bottles at that stage and he only had one in the morning and at bedtime as he wouldn't take one from the crèche staff and he was fine!

How Strange · 09-10-2014 10:13pm

livinsane wrote: »

My son is a year on Sunday and up to now I have been leaving 5 ounces of expressed milk when I'm at work (three days a week). I know I can give him cows milk now but he's not too gone on it. I'll keep trying but for now, do you think I could leave him go without milk when I'm at work? I pump at work during lunch time and want to stop as soon as I can. He eats very well and drinks plenty water.

I did this with both of mine from 6.5-7 months and they were absolutely fine with it. I just fed on demand when we were together.

shortstuff! · 10-10-2014 5:28am

Just wondering how long the 6week cluster feeding lasts for?

How Strange · 10-10-2014 2:26pm

From 2-4 days. My son fed nonstop for 6 hours. I was passing out with tiredness and he was screaming hysterically but thankfully he took a little bit of expressed milk in a bottle. He was fine for another day and then we had another 6 hour feeding frenzy. My daughter fed calmly but constantly for 2 days.

shortstuff! · 10-10-2014 7:57pm

Thanks, we've 2days & nights done, glad to hear there's an end in sight! The other growth spurts weren't like this:)

How Strange · 10-10-2014 10:20pm

I found this one the absolute worst on both but the good news is that it gets easier by degrees once it's over and you'll be coasting along by 12 weeks.

shortstuff! · 11-10-2014 8:25pm

Sounds good how strange! going to start expressing for a wedding in 2weeks time, hopefully I'll have enough for a feed or two. Thought I'd do it this week but had underestimated this growth spurt:)

Bagheera · 11-10-2014 9:47pm

shortstuff! wrote: »

Sounds good how strange! going to start expressing for a wedding in 2weeks time, hopefully I'll have enough for a feed or two. Thought I'd do it this week but had underestimated this growth spurt:)

I always find after a growth spurt that my supply increases significantly so that should be good for you trying to express!

73trix · 11-10-2014 10:15pm

Tortured. Please tell me it's worth persevering. Last nite was ready to throw on the Bfing towel after yet another sleepless nite but the worst so far as my 9 day old was literally feeding for 5+ hours solid. My friend gave me a lifeline by suggesting a hand pump. Duely bought one today but I barely get the time to express as babs feeds so regularly. Had to abandon this eve as baby wanted to feed. So far have managed 30ml. But I had to stop so that means washing and sterilising the pump yet again til next effort...whenever I get a chance. Dreading tonite now. Cried in desperation about 4 am but still could not bring myself to buy formula today. Think I'll be regretting it later.

Soooky · 11-10-2014 10:25pm

73trix wrote: »

Tortured. Please tell me it's worth persevering. Last nite was ready to throw on the Bfing towel after yet another sleepless nite but the worst so far as my 9 day old was literally feeding for 5+ hours solid. My friend gave me a lifeline by suggesting a hand pump. Duely bought one today but I barely get the time to express as babs feeds so regularly. Had to abandon this eve as baby wanted to feed. So far have managed 30ml. But I had to stop so that means washing and sterilising the pump yet again til next effort...whenever I get a chance. Dreading tonite now. Cried in desperation about 4 am but still could not bring myself to buy formula today. Think I'll be regretting it later.

Oh poor you! Sounds like a growth spurt. It will pass soon enough and it does get easier! Have you tried laid back feeding - if not google it to see! I often fell asleep feeding baba like this during growth spurts. Is it possible for you to stay in bed with baba for the few days (maybe not possible if you have other smallies at home) and get plenty of rest. Get family to feed you and give you lots of peace and quiet. I remember the first growth spurt I spent 2 nights crying as I thought it would never end! It gets so much easier (10 months here!). Hang on in there and be kind to yourself

cyning · 11-10-2014 10:49pm

73trix wrote: »

Tortured. Please tell me it's worth persevering. Last nite was ready to throw on the Bfing towel after yet another sleepless nite but the worst so far as my 9 day old was literally feeding for 5+ hours solid. My friend gave me a lifeline by suggesting a hand pump. Duely bought one today but I barely get the time to express as babs feeds so regularly. Had to abandon this eve as baby wanted to feed. So far have managed 30ml. But I had to stop so that means washing and sterilising the pump yet again til next effort...whenever I get a chance. Dreading tonite now. Cried in desperation about 4 am but still could not bring myself to buy formula today. Think I'll be regretting it later.

Congratulations on baby

You don't need to keep sterilising the pump. Or at all. If your donating to the milk bank (so the most up to date info possible because that milk goes to sick preemies), they reccomend you wash in hot soapy water, dry with kitchen paper and pop in fridge if you'll be using it again. Breast milk is sterile so doesn't have any of the dangers of formula which is why sterilising isn't as important.

Babs is only 9 days old. You'll see after two weeks, there's a massive improvement, again at 6 weeks. It is a major undertaking but it gets so so much easier, so don't throw in the towel. Your supply is still only establishing, baby is feeding non stop to increase your supply. Can you have a duvet day with baby tomorrow? Take to bed do loads of skin to skin etc? You might get more rest that way.

My first fed like that non stop for hours, and hours and hours. It nearly broke me. I gave a soother: when I needed a bit of a break I gave her one. You need to be careful in the early days not to give it too much, but it was honestly a lifesaver for me.

There are just so many reasons to keep going, do hang in there if you can x it will get so much easier.

shortstuff! · 12-10-2014 12:25pm

73trix I'm just coming out the other side of the 6week growth spurt so know a bit about how you feel. I'd also recommend laid back feeding & keeping baby in bed with you. Forget about the housework etc & get your other half to look after you, warn him that you'll be on the couch/bed for the day, have everything you may need at hand -water, remote, phones etc. Sleep when baby does, an hour sleep helped me loads in the early days. This too will pass!

73trix · 12-10-2014 12:47pm

shortstuff! wrote: »

73trix I'm just coming out the other side of the 6week growth spurt so know a bit about how you feel. I'd also recommend laid back feeding & keeping baby in bed with you. Forget about the housework etc & get your other half to look after you, warn him that you'll be on the couch/bed for the day, have everything you may need at hand -water, remote, phones etc. Sleep when baby does, an hour sleep helped me loads in the early days. This too will pass!

Thanks but we had another awful nite last nite. He will not sleep at nite time. Seriously consider ing combined feeding now at nite time out of desperation
Amy advice on this? Will a formula bottle at nite help him sleep. I hope it doesn't mes s with the Bfing. Baby is 10 days old now

madeinamerica · 12-10-2014 1:13pm

Hang in there 73trix! It is hell for a while but you'll get through it. I've heard that formula can be hit and miss with sleep, doesn't guarantee more sleep.

Just a point to remember that babies aren't born with a daily clock like we have, it takes a while to mature so they've no idea what day or night is for a while, they are just awake whenever they feel like it. I think the sleep hormone melatonin that is produce by your brain at night can pass through breast milk so the bf might help him a bit. Keep the lights low at night too. Best wishes to you both.

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