Breast feeding after C section

[Steelgoddess]

hello

My first time posting in this section hope i can type qwik enough lol!

Anyway, having a bit of trouble trying to breast feed, still moving really slow after c sect and finding it hard to get a good position for Hayden to latch onto me...

He has been having formula, it works well cause it comes out so quick and he knows hwat to do HOWEVER he has been on the breast a few times and fed.

The thing is i must be doing something wrong, the middy came today and showed me and he fed, but now hes not having a bar of it and I worry he's going hungry...

The other thing is my nipple is not large it smaller then a pea, think more petit pois is precise lol! I dont think this helps matters...

Im on feeding duty tonight so going to give it a go, just to give you an idea, ill try and he will try to suck for a bit and then he screams and i end up giving him a bottle...

Anyway advice appreciated...

xxx

 

[beanie]

Congrats on the arrival of baby Hayden. Will try and answer your q's but please excuse the sloppy typing and short answers as I am tired and should be sleeping (but ended up on here lol)

Anyway, having a bit of trouble trying to breast feed, still moving really slow after c sect and finding it hard to get a good position for Hayden to latch onto me...

He has been having formula, it works well cause it comes out so quick and he knows hwat to do HOWEVER he has been on the breast a few times and fed.

The thing is i must be doing something wrong, the middy came today and showed me and he fed, but now hes not having a bar of it and I worry he's going hungry...

the answer is in what you said, he finds the bottle a lot easier. Breastfeeding requires baby to use their muscles in their mouth to work the milk out (wehy its so good for jaw development and speech), ad like all hiumans if you can get the same result with less effort you are going to prefer that. There is also the possiblility he is getting nipple confusion. Why do you think he is going hungry?? Newborns feed little and often. Their tummies are teeny, and breastmilk is digested quickly so they ask for feeds loads. It is perfectly normal. Is his nappies wet, this is a more reliable way of judging if he is getting enough milk.

The other thing is my nipple is not large it smaller then a pea, think more petit pois is precise lol! I dont think this helps matters...

this is not a problem. I have quite small nipples but baby feeds from the breast. They should have a good mouthful of aerola (the dark area surrouding the nipple) to allow them to work the milk ducts and to make sure the nipple isn't rubbing against the hard palatte in their mouth (this causes soreness) so small nipples will make no difference to your ability to feed.

Im on feeding duty tonight so going to give it a go, just to give you an idea, ill try and he will try to suck for a bit and then he screams and i end up giving him a bottle...

sounds to me like he is getting frustrated because the milk is not coming out fast enough for him (like it does in a bottle) and it could be because of the nipple confusion. I personally would stop the formula and just stick him on the boob as much as he wants. Also get in touch with a local breastfeeding support group, or NCT/ La Leche League peer supporter as they will be able to help ensure your latch is good etc.

two good breastfeeding positions for c sections are the lyig down one and the clutch hold. This page has good tips about positions but again its something a peer supporter can help with.

 

[IsaB]

I second beanie's advice - not sure if the clutch position she mentioned is another name for the rugby ball hold? If they're different - the rugby hold is supposed to be good post-caesar as bubs isn't lying across the wound. BTW I would have thought if anything small nipples would make things easier (if anything) for a baby to get a good mouthful, so don't worry about that. Keep trying with the boobie - maybe try to get letdown going before you try latching (some good tips for that on another thread, I'll try and find it) Congratulations on the arrival of your little man!

edited to add: Here's the link - hope I've done this right... viewtopic.php?f=55&t=91836&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

 

[heles7]

Sharne its so lovely that everything went well for you - congratulations!

I had a C section and struggled to establish breast feeding but managed by being very stubborn. If you want to continue it then I think you might find it difficult by offering the bottle because as you've found already, that is so much easier than having to work for your milk. Also giving him bottles may mess up your supply; making it even harder for your milk supply to regulate itself and ultimately more difficult again for LO.

If you want to make a go of it and have any concerns, can you find out if there is an infant feeding co-ordinator in your area that you can talk to? I had a LOT of problems and have now settled into a pretty good pattern but I couldn't have done it without the help of the IFC. Doctors and health visitors were not my friends!!!

I also found that using one of those V shaped cushions really good in terms of getting comfortable. I'm now as happy feeding James whilst lying down as I am sitting up and I'm doing a lot of co-sleeping which really makes the nights a lot less exhausting than physically getting up and out of bed. I wish I'd had the confidence to try this in those early days when I was still healing!!

I hope being a bit anti-bottle doesn't sound too harsh but if anything I've learnt will help somebody else keep the BF going I'd be so happy! PM me anytime and Congratulations once again

Helen xx

 

[valentine]

Hi Sharne,

Congratulations again on the birth of baby Hayden!

I'm not trying to be anti-bottlefeeding, but if you do want to breastfeed, continuing with the formula at this stage may well lead you down a path you may not want to go on. I'm struggling with my phrasing here and don't want to offend, but you are at a crucial time in your feeding relationship with LO - breast milk works on supply and demand and without demand, there will be no supply - therefore mixed feeding is really not recommend for the first few weeks in order to help with supply and demand and also to help baby avoid nipple confusion. As your LO has been bottle fed for a few days, it is possible he may have a bit of nipple confusion and not want to work hard enough at the breast to get the milk out (bottle feeding is easier in this respect for babies). I can't stress enough what an effect what is happening now will have on how you feed LO in the future. I hope thats come out properly.

Its really up to you where you want to go from here - breastfeeding, formula feeding or mixed feeding (although normally it wouldn't be advised to mix feed until after 6 weeks). It depends what you really want to do in your heart and mentally and physically, particularly post-section, how much you feel you can put into it. I will say though that breastfeeding is well worth all the battles, tiredness, sleepless nights, giving your body up etc.

If you do want to establish breastfeeding in favour of bottles I'd strongly recommend a couple of days in bed, lots of skin to skin - just spend LOADS of time togther, no visitors, just take plenty of drinks and magazines and DVDs and make sure you have few interuptions. This will really help to stimulate your supply and encourage him to feed from you - just let him feed whenever and howevermuch he wants over this 48/72 hour period. It is a lot of work though and you will need to get used to feeding on demand and being really really dedicated and a milk machine for 24 hours a day! He may not like this and may scream to be fed, but if you do want to breastfeed, you'll have to help him understand that the breast is the only receptacle for food available to him and ditch the bottles for the moment. I don't mean that you should never use bottles or formula again, just that its early to be introducing it and hoping to breastfeed too.

I think other people have given you good info and advice regarding feeding positions and getting a feeding counsellor out to see you both pronto - I'd definitely advise this. Re. nipples, I have never really noticed if mine are large or small but I always kept in the back of my mind when I had self doubts, that my breasts were built to feed my babies and had that stubborn - it will work thing going on!

I hope my post is coming across correctly - there's absolutely nothing wrong with using bottles or formula if you want to - but if you want to breastfeed too, I'd recommend getting that established first and working hard at it. Its fairly easy to stop breastfeeding but very difficult to re-establish it and I've read so many sad stories on here that I want you to be 100% happy with how your eventually feed LO his milk.

Good luck and please keep posting.

Valentine Xxx

 

[Kimberly]

I think the others have given really good advice. I wanted to say that I really struggled with breastfeeding and I really think it was my stubbornness that kept me going. I gave August some formula the first week or so as he wasn't latching on due to being tongue tied. Once we had his tongue tie released it was really hard to get him back on the breast. Luckily he didn't seem to mind going back and forth between bottle and breast, but my supply was really affected despite me expressing as often as I could. Staying in bed having lots of skin to skin really did help us to increased my supply. Have you tried using nipple shields? I know they are not very popular and I would only use them as a last resort, but it was the only way August latched on to my nipples in the beginning. I thought I may have to use them forever, but I kept trying without them and after about six weeks we were able to ditch them.

I want to send you some I know how hard it is in the beginning. A friend of mine told me before I had my baby that things seem to just click around eight weeks. Once I started breastfeeding, I didn't believe it and I couldn't see a light at the end of the tunnel. It really felt as if he was attached to my boob all day ( and all night) long, but things did click with us around eight weeks and it has gotten so much easier.

Try and see if there is a breastfeeding support group in your area. My Health Centre has one every week and I have been going since August was 2 weeks old. It really helped keep my going in those early weeks!

Congratulations on the birth of your son!!

 

[purple13]

hi honey - congrats again on your beautiful baby

there's some v sound advice from the others above and i won't reitterate it here. these guys know what they're talking about and without them, i probably wouldn't have breastfed beyond a week.

its v unusual for a baby not to be able to latch on cos of small nipples - if you wait until his mouth is really wide, you should be able to get the nipple and areola right in. having said that, connor really struggled and would scream at me during every feed; i had painful nipple blanching where he was crushing me on his hard palette, rather than getting my nip back to his soft palette to suck. so i started using nipple shields - it was that or formula in the end. i still use shields now (mam ones are the best).

just another thought re small nipples - have you tried expressing a bit immediately before feeding? i found that the suction on my electric pump temporarily turned my nipples into enormous corks and i'd pump for a few seconds then put connor straight on my boob; the problem was that he couldn't maintain the same amount of suction, but it might be worth a try for you??

 

[Steelgoddess]

Hey everybody...

I had a good long, think about things yesterday and today and normally when i have a problem I weigh up all of the pros and cons...

I've realised the breast feeding thing has been getting me really down (it was also triggering me to think about the c section etc) and thought either I really go for it or don't do it...

So after speaking with my Mum and partner about my feelings I've decided to bottle feed, i don't feel like im giving up because if Im honest with myself maybe my heart was not in it all the way...

I also still have some issues with regards to the way he was born that have been making me feel pretty down and whilst I have no control over that, this is something i do have control over...

Thanks again for all the support its nothing short of what I would expect from you lovely ladies...

 

[Tadpole]

Hey everybody...

I had a good long, think about things yesterday and today and normally when i have a problem I weigh up all of the pros and cons...

I've realised the breast feeding thing has been getting me really down (it was also triggering me to think about the c section etc) and thought either I really go for it or don't do it...

So after speaking with my Mum and partner about my feelings I've decided to bottle feed, i don't feel like im giving up because if Im honest with myself maybe my heart was not in it all the way...

I also still have some issues with regards to the way he was born that have been making me feel pretty down and whilst I have no control over that, this is something i do have control over...

Thanks again for all the support its nothing short of what I would expect from you lovely ladies...

No matter which way you feed at the end of the day: Happy Mummy = Happy Baby.

 

[valentine]

Hey Sharne,

I'm glad you've made the decison that's right for you and Hayden.

I hope you feel better about things soon re. his birth, it helps to talk remember.

I've been thinking about you, its good to read your update tonight

Valentine Xxx

 

[Steelgoddess]

Thanks everyone.

I don't think sometimes you all understand how precious support is It's what helped me get my beatiful son
xxxxxx

 

[mrs_tommo22]

hey sharne! well done for making a desison and you and hayden can get on now with no tears or frustration and you can concentrate on him - i bottle fed both of my kids and there grand and rarely poorly.

Congrats again on hayden, it was terrible to see you struggle i the past - you make a beautiful mummy by theway and look very serene in your picture

 

[heles7]

I can completely understand what it is like feeling down after a section. I realised a few days ago though that in the last month or so I've not been troubled by it so much and have been a lot happier focusing on the mundane aspects of getting little one to bed. Glad you've got a good mum you can chat with, it does help to talk it through