A breastfeeding guide to newmums and mums to be!!!!!!!!!!

[dannii87]

I'm so glad you posted this!!

I was a bit naiive to be honest and thought they fed for 5-10 mins and then were fine and dandy until a few hours later for their next lot... Very naiive!

That's a great help for what to expect - although that little nipper on the boob was a bit scary!! I don't know if my nips could handle that!! Big ol' boobs too! Even more reason to BF

Cheers for that Midna, it's definitely helped me open my eyes to it!

Oh... and I'm still planning on BFing xx

 

[Squiglet]

omg the fussing...



Just thought I'd say... that the first 6 weeks are the hardest but once you get over that hump its gets easier and actually easier than bottle feeding. Its a marker... If you can get beyond those first 6 weeks you have a really good chance of continuing.

But I remember the last 6 weeks of pregnancy and labour being far harder in terms of pain and energy and tiredness than the first 6 weeks of breastfeeding. At least you get a few minutes rest in between feeds where they whole pregnancy thing is constant..

Good luck to all those that choose to breastfeed... I have never enjoyed anything so much in my life... but remember you do run the risk of ending up an emotional wreak when your LO's get big enough to wean..

And Midna is the Guru..

 

[bunnymom1980]

I wish I'd read something like this 10 years ago, I might have managed to breastfeed more than 3 days!!

Thankyou for writing this, I'll hopefully be more prepared this time and persevere!!

 

[SarahH]

Can I add another aspect to breast feeding...

Arianna wouldnt feed direct off me, after the HV/MW and breast feeding counsellors sat with me for literally hours, I was told by them to give up and bottle feed.... I said NO and exclusively expressed fed her for 17-18wks.

It is hard, but I was determained to give her breast milk for as long as I could.

Just another option for you.... you can PM me if you want help or info

Best of luck with your feeding tho... hopefully it will go smoother than mine did

 

[Steelgoddess]

Bit embarassing but my nipples are not the biggest, does this matter?

Thanks for posting I don't have a clue but really want to booby feed...

 

[dannii87]

Bit embarassing but my nipples are not the biggest, does this matter?

Mine are HUGE... Horrible big. TOO big. They're disgusting I sometimes wonder if I can breastfeed because unless she has a huge gob, there's no way she'll get her mouth around them x

 

[dannii87]

Nipple size isnt important as they latch on to the areola (sp) bit around the nips. xx ..my nips are tiny

That's the bit that's HUGE on me!! x

 

[purple13]

my nips are small too... we struggled A LOT with feeding in the early days, until i went against advice and started using nipple shields. i wouldn't be so keen to recommend them if its just for sore/cracked nipples but they were our lifeline - i've now been feeding with them for 5.5 months. connor really struggled to latch and each feed was a battle with me in tears and him screaming; i was very close to giving up and moving on to formula. but i got shields as a last resort and he latched on to them straight away; we've never looked back

 

[DebbieM]

I agree that the first 6 weeks are a nightmare. Don't be fooled into thinking it is easy, it's not, as Midna said. Breastfeeding is the hardest thing I have EVER had to do in my entire life and now I see it as my biggest achievement! i loathed the idea of it for ages and never thought I would do it. Before I got pg I swore I wouldn't and then when I found out what a nightmare it was I was going to give up but my own pig-headedness kept me going, as did the girls on this forum.

It's harm it hurts and it is tiring but it is the BEST thing in the world once you get over the 100 hurdles you have to jump

 

[keli]

I love breast feeding, it's so easy just to pop your boob out and feed your LO, yes it does hurt in them first few wks but it's sooooooo worth it i know i'll be gutted when i have to stop.. but hopefully i've got at least another 10 mths to go! lol. xx

 

[Kylie1007]

Hurrah for breastfeeding.

A doctor up north somewhere upped the breastfeeding rates but quite a high percentage by asking new mums whether they intended to feed naturally or artificially. I personally (as a breastfeeder) think that is a great way to promote breastfeeding.

Midna's right - there is loads of support available. I joined a group called BIBS (Breast is best support) when Finn was about 4 weeks old and got so much help from my community nursery nurse who runs it. She even asked me if I wanted to train as a BF peer supporter to help support mums who are new to breastfeeding and the course was the most interesting thing ever!

I just thought of some issues that might be a thing for new bf mums - the issue of bf in public. Personally I thought I would never bf in public or would be too embarrassed to do it in front of other people but when you have got a screaming baby who wants feeding NOW, you soon get over your shyness!!! However...there are a few things you can do to feed more discretely if you feel uncomfortable - specialist bf tops (costly though!), specialist bf shawls and poncho type things, belly bump bands (hides your middle while you hoik your top up!), loose tops (How I did it), scarves/pashminas/muslin squares.

Mastitis - I never suffered from it but the cure is to feed though the pain!!! It sounds horrid but you need to empty those block ducts that cause it and take paracetamol. Cabbage leaves can also help - the greener the better - and wear them in your bra. The chlorophyll (?!) in them has a healing effect! (also can draw out splinters!)

Pressure from family/friends/OH's - your family might say that they will feed the baby and sometimes your OH can be quite put out that he can't feed the baby and feels left out. There are other ways that they can get involved such as nappy changing, bathing, playing with the baby. You cannot give your baby a better start to life than breastfeeding. Imagine the satisfaction when you get to 4/5/6 months and start weaning your baby, knowing that you alone have nourished and raised a healthy happy baby. Your family and friends might also get to a stage where they start saying things like "ooh baby's got teeth now, that's the end of breastfeeding!" Is it? Do you really want to give up?

I cannot recommend it enough for so many reasons - here are some! http://www.promom.org/101/

 

[trixipaws]

YAY big up BFing mummies

i miss it

 

[floppit]

This is a great thread!!

Everyone is different, I wanted to be left alone to suss things out and I wanted Freya to play around a little at first, especially as she'd fed well straight afteer birth - I figured she'd learn through it! There was a midwife at the hospital (I was kept in the first night) who didn't undrstand I was letting her nuzzle me and she kept taking her off me telling me she wasn't latched on. Her 'play' wasn't hurting me or distressing her so I stuck to my guns and pretty much demanded Freya back! Through that night we got the hang of it. For me personally I'm glad I didn't get over stressed about 'The Latch' - I cope and think much better chilled and sure enough it came. Later on I got more advice to change LO's position so that her face was more free of my breast, but LO had her own ideas and we always wound up face plant style!! The thing is it was working for us - she gained almost a pound in the first week face plant style!

I guess all I'm saying is that I think it's ok to say no to support even as a first time Mum if you feel confident and want to try.

I so love breast feeding, I don't worry about what top I'm wearing anymore (I can get into nearly anything when needed!), I don't worry about how or where when I'm out - there's always somewhere, and I'm not bothered if we do it our own funny way sometimes!

***Fussing is a pain in the butt though - but I've heard it happens with bottles too...***

 

[Chelle]

Great thread Thanks for posting all your advice.
I really want to breastfeed but am nervous about it not working or getting it wrong. This thread has really helped, and i'm definately going to perservere with it and hope for the best!
Hurah for b'feeding!

 

[Mik]

A tip a wonderful midwife gave me when we were having some trouble with my eldest. I have rather big boobs and while baby was trying to feed the weight of them was changing position and he was "falling off". So when my kids were still small I used my free hand to support under the boob that was being used this helped enormously until the baby was big enough for it not to be a problem.

 

[flowergirl]

A tip a wonderful midwife gave me when we were having some trouble with my eldest. I have rather big boobs and while baby was trying to feed the weight of them was changing position and he was "falling off". So when my kids were still small I used my free hand to support under the boob that was being used this helped enormously until the baby was big enough for it not to be a problem.

I think Kathryn will be 5 before this isn't a problem! It's a two handed effort every time for us!
(.) (.) x massive!

 

[Spritzer]

wish i had read this BEFORE i had Niamh as it might of prepared me slightly, i was def nieve and thought i didnt need to 'learn' how to feed and it would just come naturally silly silly me!

day 1 was difficult, having to try for ages before i got her on each feed
day 2 was soooo sore after all the stopping and starting the day before
but day 3 onwards it got easier, worked through the pain and we are doing great now 9days on

 

[Quill]

I also wish I had read this before Elijah was born! Somehow we muddled through. I just wanted to say it got much, much easier at 4+ weeks!

For cracked and sore nipples, can I recommend Lansinoh? It really helped me in the first few weeks. It's expensive though.

It really does get a lot better as time goes on and baby and you learn the skill of breastfeeding. It seems like there is no help out there sometimes (even as much as midwives push breastfeeding) and I know it can be very hard at 4am when the screaming baby is having a hard time latching on and you are crying yourself.

Now I just need to suss out breastfeeding in public Maybe I'll just buy a small portable tent...

 

[NickyB]

I missed this thread, thank god I saw it now. I'm finding it so hard, especially when I'm tired. I agree, it is the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but admittedly, not as painful as labour.

Taking faith in setting targets, gotta get to six weeks at least!

 

[Cixes]

Great thread! Although i have to say that i think that it can be a sad time if you just can't do it. With all of my boys i tried for a few days and gave up because i would just cry when i knew it was feed time due to the pain in my nipples. I thought that it was better just to give my baby a bottle than have a mummy in floods of tears and feeling not only guilty but resentful to feed. Infact with my last son i had no milk! I tried to express with a pump for over 30mins and i got one tiny drop of milk, my boobs didn't even hurt when i stopped trying to feed so i knew that something had gone wrong.

I will try to breast feed again but if i start to get distressed i will give my baby a bottle and not feel like a failure because of it.
No matter what its just as lovely snuggling your baby close, looking at its beautiful face and feeding it formula , so if you can't cope don't worry...but the advice given here about breast feeding is brilliant and really prepares you for the REAL side of breast feeding your buba...

I hope everyone gets through the bad bit and into the lovely bit!