How Successful Were You Breastfeeding?

[Full of hope!]

I had flat nipples (didn't know until the midwifes told me) which made it a complete mission because Ryan had nothing to latch onto. I fed him for 7 and a bit months, after discovering nipple shields. So for me that was a good achievement Only stopped because he was too ill to do it and it seemed a convenient time as I was shortly returning to work.

I have flat nips too and Jacob couldn't latch on very well at all and when he did manage it he broke off within a minute. It was very stressful and I decided it was best for both of us to put him on formula, he was really hungry bless him!

Nobody mentioned to me about nipple sheilds Maybe I would have tried them. Well done Leckershell for sticking at it I know how hard it is with flatties

 

[purple13]

it was soooo hard at first, but i've put very successful cos here we are 2 months later and pretty much exclusively bf-ing (every 2 hours at the moment!)

we struggled big-time at first - connor wouldn't suck despite latching on, then was extremely slow to gain weight (was 1oz less than birth weight at 1 month old). and although we resorted to formula on a couple of occasions, we've persevered with breast feeding.

and now i love it i'd have probably given up if it wasn't for nipple shields though.

 

[Bagpuss17]

"Not as successful as I'd liked"

My son had to be tube/cup fed for a week following the birth, we tried to bf during that time but he couldn't latch on and wasn't interested at all.

It got to the point where I was an emotional wreck because I just wanted my baby to feed I didn't care whether it was formula or not.

I expressed for a few weeks but I was barely producing any milk, my milk just never came in. I still perservered and tried to bf but he just wasn't interested in it.

I'm not going to breast feed this time, we're going straight to the bottle.

 

[poppy160]

Not as successful as I'd liked.

I'd planned to breastfeed as soon as I found out I was pregnant and she was really good at latching on. She did so as soon as she was born but then she got oral thrush, which I got on my nipples and it was too sore to feed/express.

Although I think if I persevered I would still be breastfeeding now, I think I gave up a little to easily to be honest. But I fed exclusively for 6 weeks and I'm proud of that

 

[Bee]

I picked very successful but it has been hard - esp just now as he is demanding a feed ever hour and feeds for ages

It is worth it - but if u try and u can't manage it then don't let other people put u down.

Its not easy but stick to it if u can

 

[Bee]

Another question, did you find your baby's were more for you than anyone else as you were providing their feeds? xx

Just saw this

my answer is no - He only wants me for food He will happily lie with other people and prefers it I think

 

[valentine]

Very successful. I've been really lucky. Although it was very sore on my nipples to begin with (before they toughened up and before I had a good latch sorted), on the whole I had no real problems - once my milk came in I had an abundant supply and she gained weight well.

Don't get me wrong, its bl**dy hard work and there's been times when I've desperately wanted someone else to be responsible for nurturing her or getting up in the night but I'll have been breastfeeding exclusively (no formula) for 9 months tomorrow and damn it, I'm chuffed and proud of myself!

Another question, did you find your baby's were more for you than anyone else as you were providing their feeds? xx

Nope, DD has always been delighted to see my boobs, but happily settles with anyone. She's never had any attachment issues, she's happy to be left with anyone, doesn't cry when I leave the room or her sight. She's happy and secure with anyone.

Good luck Dannii!

Valentine Xxx

 

[lea m]

I answered not successful at all!!
I was devasted went the realisation came that it just wasnt working!
My son (1st) must have been starving and the relief I felt when I gave him his first bottle and saw him content was amazing!
I was made to feel bad and now, even with my 4th, Im scared of trying to breastfeed!? Sounds crazy I know but it really affected me feeling that I couldnt feed my baby and he was starving!
I will try again this time, but I will not let people make me feel guilty if I have to bottle feed!
I have 3 children and so far, the 2 eldest are both on the gifted and talented register so the formula didnt do them any harm!

 

[trixipaws]

i was very successful im proud 2 say! i was very determined so i didnt buy any bottle-feeding equipment in until melissa was about 2 months- i made it so i couldnt give up! and u kno what i probably wouldve given up if i hadnt done that. its challenging at first!
but its SOOOO rewarding, as im sure youv heard b4.

i exclusively BF for 6 months, then i supplemented solids and the occasional bottle of formula until millie was 8 months old, when i decided to stop for a number of reasons- and i was amazed at how much i missed it! i hadnt expected such a withdrawal, lol! i dont miss it so much now, but im so glad i did 8 months its such an achievement.

i cant take all the credit tho, one of the first things the MW said just after millie was born was, "ooh, she's a good feeder!" so maybe i was lucky too? and i had lots of support from my mum and my aunts.

good luck, if ur heart's set on it and u have support its highly likely that u will succeed- and theres plenty of ladies on here (including me!) who will be delighted to help u.

 

[Fly]

As a positive affirmation to myself I ticked very successful. I only managed to feed my son myself from him being about a week old to four weeks old. He was 6 weeks early and only just over 4 pounds in weight so for the first week i expressed my milk and fed him first through a tube, then from a tiny medicine cup and then finally i got him to latch on.. it was the most beautiful and emotional three weeks of my life... he began not to thrive so i made a painful decision to stop feeding him myself - the stress of everything was just too much and my breast milk wasn't giving him the calories he needed to have the energy to suckle even a few months ago i would have answered that I failed but I know I didn't - I did the very best I possibly could
I am aiming to breastfeed this little one

 

[Strangeness]

I fed Aaron for 3 days before I gave up. I had an amazing supply of colostrum but my milk never came in, not a drop! I never had the swollen boobs etc everyone talks about it just never happened so I'm glad we switched to formula because I had nothing to feed him on and he was losing weight. I liked the fact I gave him that first lot of good stuff though. I will hopefully try again this time depending on how the birth goes and how I feel about it but I'm not setting my heart on it. I was so upset with myself for not being able to feed Aaron. I have G cup boobs as well so don't think it's very easy for me to feed a baby, I had the most silly positions to feed Aaron because otherwise I would have suffocated the poor boy

 

[Fly]

strangeness i am so glad you have brought that up about big boobies cos tis hard bloomin work int it honey sounds like you did a grand job with the colustrum hun - my mum always says if you can give the baby them first few feeds of the good strong sticky stuff then anyting else is a bonus she's breastfeeding queen like - stood up strong n proud in the 70's when it was highly unfashionable to breastfeed lol but yeah there is an awful lot of pressure put on some women to breastfeed and its NOT always breast is best xxxx

 

[Tasha20]

I put very successful

I was very lucky, it was very hard and didn't know what the heck was going on and only planned to feed her for 6 weeks

13 months later she self weaned and that was that.

Will defo be doing it again, I loved it

I can't stress enough though, make sure you are prepared and look for breastfeeding support on the net, plenty of places to help you prepare and get ready, read everything you can.

Find local breastfeeding groups in your area and ask you midwife now to help you get ready for it.

If you really want to do it I am sure you will hun, just do as much as you can before hand good luck

 

[dannii87]

Thank you all for replying! I'm glad this thread has had so many replies, it's great to hear how some of you perservered despite everything and to know that some of you tried really hard but just couldn't do it for whatever reason.

If I fail, I fail, alhough I really hope to try!! I have a way off to read up about it. I think too many people assume breastfeeding is easy because our boobies are there for that reason, it's definitely highlighted some good points for me review before Evie arrives!!

(Did you lose your boobs though once you'd stopped BF?!)

 

[Fly]

Just another little tip for any first time mums out there... I never realised cos nobody ever told me but my left nipple is inverted and that caused me problems in itself cos nipple never got big enough for little man to suckle on... so i have blown £30 on the avent nipple extractor thingies lol basically plastic thimbles that you vaccuum with a syringe - Definatley worth investing in if you plan on breastfeeding - you can use them all the time up to about 5 months pregnant and then after pregnancy you can use them to draw your nipple out to a good size so baby can latch on

 

[sazzylou]

i voted 'Not successful at all'

When i had beth, i had a ventous delivery, and afterwards, despite the MW's help and lots of skin to skin, she just wouldnt latch on. The MW's said maybe it was because of the type of birth (bit traumatic for her) and maybe she'd latch on later on. I was in hospital for 4 days with her, and the BF specialist tried to help me but it didnt work. She had me feeding her colostrum off a spoon, then Beth got jaundice and they said it would get worse cos she wasnt feeding, but they more or less told me i wasnt allowed to give her a bottle (they really bullied me about BF ) anyway, al the stress put me off doing it (the MW's really upset me with all the breast is best stuff, made me feel like a faliure) in the end, so i expressed for 3 weeks instead.

this time i was sooooooooo looking forward to BF!! But after giving birth i had to go to theatre to have my placenta removed, didnt see Izzie for 3 hours after the birth and had no skin to skin. I managed to get her to latch on a bit in hospital, but it really hurt. After a couple of days of trying to BF my nipples had totally cracked open and there was no milk coming out, just blood We then found out she had a tongue tie, which was why she couldnt latch on, and the anti biotics they put me on were making my milk go sour

Now she's been on bottles for ages and if i try her on my boob she chews me and crys Im expressing....again.........

 

[Fly]

Sazzy my heart goes out to you babe - its awful you felt bullied - i can totally relate - i should've been advised when we were still in scbu to go onto formula but they made me feel so guilty for even suggesting it... there was no bf specialist to help me either - i managed on my own with my mum helpin me and that was that - the special care midwife who visited us at home afterwards told me the day i give up n went onto bottles how relieved she was cos she had been wanting to advise me to do that all week but she would have risked her professional reputation and her job by advising me against breast...we both cried that morning when i finally gave up - she'd been going home to her husband crying on my behalf because it was such a struggle towards the end.
I'm sorry you had such an awful experience loadsa love Sarah xxx

 

[Squiglet]

i boob fed Tia until she was 8 months old and got really ill.. and I had to move her onto lactose free foods and formula. There were no Bfing advisors, special cafés at the time, so all my bfing queries were done through my mum who had bf'd me till 6 months.

I'm much prouder with my bfing achievement with Serena...because I was bullied so much into giving formula.

Sazzy my heart goes out to you babe - its awful you felt bullied - i can totally relate - i should've been advised when we were still in scbu to go onto formula but they made me feel so guilty for even suggesting it... there was no bf specialist to help me either - i managed on my own with my mum helpin me and that was that - the special care midwife who visited us at home afterwards told me the day i give up n went onto bottles how relieved she was cos she had been wanting to advise me to do that all week but she would have risked her professional reputation and her job by advising me against breast...we both cried that morning when i finally gave up - she'd been going home to her husband crying on my behalf because it was such a struggle towards the end.
I'm sorry you had such an awful experience loadsa love Sarah xxx

I had the complete opposite... I was advised by the SCBU staff to put lil miss on formula and persevering with boob was just plain selfish. Formula was as good as breast now, much more hygienic and meant the babies put on weight better, and as lil miss was such a hungry baby and had lost weight, my continuation with boob was just evil in their eyes... I was even given tablets to dry up my milk supply before I was discharged.

I refused, carried on and eliminated the formula in a few weeks, and we are still happily bfing now.

It doesn't work for everyone, not everyone is successful... and in my eyes I think you should choose the feeding method that suits you and your baby the best and gives you the most enjoyable time with your newb, because the time is just too short... and bfing may give benefits but these can be totally undone by poor teaching concerning healthy eating habits... Its how we teach them to make their own decisions when we aren't there which is the most important...

 

[Tasha20]

(Did you lose your boobs though once you'd stopped BF?!)

Mine have statyed a cup size bigger than before pregnancy.

Pregnancy changes your breasts, not breastfeeding, for me breastfeeding gave me a chance to have big boobies for a year

After they proberly will go abit deflated but they proberly would of anyway, breastfeeding or not.

I cant wait to have my milk jugs back!

 

[sazzylou]

Sazzy my heart goes out to you babe - its awful you felt bullied - i can totally relate - i should've been advised when we were still in scbu to go onto formula but they made me feel so guilty for even suggesting it... there was no bf specialist to help me either - i managed on my own with my mum helpin me and that was that - the special care midwife who visited us at home afterwards told me the day i give up n went onto bottles how relieved she was cos she had been wanting to advise me to do that all week but she would have risked her professional reputation and her job by advising me against breast...we both cried that morning when i finally gave up - she'd been going home to her husband crying on my behalf because it was such a struggle towards the end.
I'm sorry you had such an awful experience loadsa love Sarah xxx

thanks

Theyve been much more supportive this time thank goodness... It was just when i had Beth, i was quite young, totally clueless about BF and they made me feel like i was going to make her ill, or somehow fail her as a mother by not BF-ing. They quite happily reeled off all the things she could get ill with if i didnt give her breast milk which made me feel terrible I spent most of the time while i was in hospital in tears. Then when she had the jaundice they kept ranting about regular feeds, but i couldnt feed her so i felt it was my fault she had jaundice....all this terrible guilt just after you have a baby is noooooooo good at all I was so much happier when i got hime, and my HV was fantastic and supported me whatever i did.

I would just say to people that breast feeding is fantastic, but its not suited to everyone and dont feel guilty if you cant! and certainly dont let anyone bully you if you cant or dont want to BF.

Im just going to carry on expressing for as long as i can, and when i stop at least i'll know i tried my best for as long as i could. I dont feel guilty a all this time