Breastfedding Newbie

[hollymckee]

I am due in Feb with a little girl.

This is my 3rd pregnancy. My 1st child, I attempted to breast feed but got discouraged, and gave up. I didn't even try with my 2nd.

My question is, should I try even though this is my 3rd? I've heard so many good things about it. And really want to give it a try.

Any suggestions or tips anyone could give me? Pumps?

Thanks girls!

[Llyra]

Yes!!!! Welcome, and congratulations! I also quit breastfeeding with my first, after experiencing some problems early on. I went on to breastfeed my other two into toddlerhood, and yes-- give it a try. It's so worth it. Breastfeeding can be a bit more challenging in the early newborn period, but once you get going, it's so much easier than bottlefeeding.

The best thing, I found, was to arm myself with as much information and resources as possible beforehand. I got the phone number of a good lactation consultant, and went to some La Leche League meetings, and spent a lot of time lurking on here. After baby is born, you're overwhelmed with caring for yourself and baby and the rest of your family, and it's easy to go back to bottlefeeding when things get tough. I wanted to make sure I had all the help lined up ahead of time, so that if problems came up, I would be ready.

[MamitaM]

I'm so glad you're wanting to give breast feeding another chance!

I had trouble at first and was so afraid it wouldn't work for us,but I was patient and told my son that we were both just learning and that we would get it right soon enough.

One thing I had problems with was being to full and to engourged and it hurt and he couldn't get his little mouth to open wide enough for my big boobie! So I went to the bathroom and and hand expressed a few drops so he could get his mouth around my breast and latch on.

If you do feel that you have a clogged duct you can put some heat on your breast and massage it a little then try and breast feed after. I often massage my breast when I pump.

[HonkyTonka]

I watched lots of videos which I found really useful:
http://www.nbci.ca/index.php?option=...id=6&Itemid=13

You'll do great!