how long ?

[specialbump]

would i have to instantly have to bf? in hospital or if i got home say 2 days after birth could i then try if i didnt get to grips with it in hospital.i guess in just worrying they wont let me home if i bf and he doesnt latch on properly or doesnt feed off me? i am determined to give it a go but dont want to feel pressured my midwifes in hospital nor do i want them pokeing at my nips and watching me and me feeling pressured i just crumble if i feel pressured i guess as the weeks are drawing closer im a bit frightend

 

[Zazu]

It's going to be a lot harder for you to try and bf after 2 days than trying straight away. The midwives will help you, and if you can't get LO to latch on yourself, you wil be glad of them manhandling your boobs if it means LO can feed. I think you need to be more positive, bf might be really easy for you

 

[sallybee]

Tbh after giving birth and having all sorts of hands up me and everyone seeing my foof, I honestly didn't care if anyone saw my boobs lol! Hospital is genuinely the best place to be if you are struggling bf and the midwives are really helpful, we also had a lactation consultant coming around and watching a feed if we wanted to, or we could just close the curtains round our bed if we wanted to feed privately.
If you don't bf in hospital and stimulate your milk production I think it's likely your milk may not even come in at all and then you really would struggle. I'm not trying to put any pressure on you. As the PP said you may find it comes really naturally. Just remember the midwives/LCs are there to help you xx

 

[missyeovil]

I totally agree - you may find it is the most natural thing in the world! As soon as I had skin to skin LO was looking for the boob but she couldn't quite get on and I was feeling a bit poorly so we waited a couple of hours and tried again - a midwife told me to cup my boob and she held the babies head whilst I got sorted rather than her man-handling my boob and that was us sorted and we've never looked back! Don't stress about it, just see how you get on and the midwives will help you in whatever way they can. You will definitely find it easier and less stressful getting it sorted in the hospital with people to help than being at home with no one to ask.xx

 

[specialbump]

thanks ladies just nervour and everything is going through my mind atm x

 

[sallybee]

Don't put too much pressure on yourself hun, of course it has massive benefits for you and bub and its fantastic that you want to do it, but don't get yourself so stressed out that you don't enjoy your pregnancy and your baby! Xx

 

[mrswoody]

Firstly don't stress about it just now lovely.
When I had M she struggled to latch on and I had to syringe feed her for 2 days until she worked out how to latch on. I had mws in and out helping me get her to latch and ones were helping me hand express as well. I let them do the expressing as they got more out than I could.
I stayed in for 2 nights and to be honest I was glad as it meant when I went home I knew how to get M in the correct position for feeding etc
It is very unlikely they will send you home if you don't have bfing established as it is dangerous for baby.
The midwives are there to help you, not judge, so my advice would be to stay in until bfing is established and you are confident that when you are home you know baby will feed. Also if you are having problems in hospital press the buzzer, on my second night in a buzzed every time M cried as I had no idea what to do.
Good luck and pop back in here for any bfing help here are loads of lovely ladies with lots of good advice xx

 

[mirime]

Nobody is going to poke at you without your permission! My lo had to stay in scbu the first night and didn't get fed at all until the following afternoon when a mw hand expressed colostrum from me then later got him to latch on - in a very firm, no nonsense sort of way I never could have managed, but it worked as he then seemed to understand what to do. I never felt watched and was given a sheet to fill in myself to record feeds and nappy changes.

 

[tiggy85]

I wanted to breast feed but my little one wasn't interested in feeding for the first 24 hours so I had to stay an extra night to learn to breast feed. I was told that if i was formular feeding i could try this and more than likely go home that day. as i wanted to breast feed i had to hand express and syringe feed him for a few feeds. i asked for as much help as possible knowing that as soon as I went home I would not have help with latching and positioning etc.

It has definitely paid off as I went home confident that I could latch him and position him correctly, this has led to the long term survival of breast feeding 4 months and still going strong.

In my opinion unless you re a confident person and find it natural, breastfeeding is hard in the early days but its mostly down to confidence. I would not have been breast feeding now if I hadn't had stayed in another night and had loads of midwives to watch me feed, as I was convinced I was doing it wrong. But once I Had my confidence it was breeze. Of course there were are still are times where I would loose my confidence especially when little one goes through a growth spurt and I worry there is not enough milk for him, or he starts being fussy at the breast. But I wouldn't change it for the world!

Try to relax and go with the flow but be realistic that you may need some help to check technique and ensure your confident.