breastfeeding « Back to Group Discussions

[springmum]

Any of the mamas want to share how it is going and swap tips or encouragement?

After nursing DS for 3yrs I thought it would be easy this time around (I experienced almost every major problem with him)

Although it is many ways, this babes latch got rough with engorgement - ouch!

Luckily I hired a LC ahead of time and she's already been here a couple of times and is available whenever I need her - it takes a load of worry off for sure.

I'm on the oversupply side of things, which I know sounds not too bad, but I got weekly mastitis infections w/ DS if he even so much as went an hour late for a session - so I really have to manage it.

Anyone elses babe like to cluster feed for an hour or more before their big poops? He does lot's of little poops that don't bother him, but about twice a day (10am & 10 pm coincidentally) he nurses/ stops/nurses/stops forever until he lets the big one go - he's not fussy/crying so I don't think I need to actually change anything...but he definitely needs time when he's working on it!

Also, anyone elses babe hard to burp? He's not swallowing a lot of air, but it's really hard to burp him.....

I'm just going to assume that we're all typing one handed from now on, so no worries about typos :)

[Angelorum]

Things are going pretty smoothly over here.  My nips are a little raw, but nothing terrible.  Baby just has a bad habit of slipping to this half-latch thing when the milk really starts flowing.  It's annoying because nearly my whole nipple pops in and out of his mouth when he's suckling this way.  Babe has a little sucking blister on his upper lip from it too. 

I had my 2 week appt today and had my midwife (she's also an IBCLC) take a look, she's pretty sure it's his way of trying to not drown in the flow of milk.  Makes sense, since he often lets a lot of milk leak out around his mouth when he's doing it.  I don't have a really overactive let down or anything, it's just a little fast for my little guy.  Her advice was just to unlatch him every time and reattach with a better latch.  Annoying, as I like to get him hooked up and then grab my knitting, but I suppose I want him to outgrow the habit sooner rather than later. 
 

[pregnova]

lol...one handed here!

nursing is great so far...hardly any soreness this time around. More spitting up though...only after she's done some cluster feeding, and she doesn"t seem too bothered by it. We are officially over birth weight...weighed her today quite a bit over 8lb, so i think we're doing alright!

Pooping seems to be right after a nap phase...but it does take her forever to get it all out!

[springmum]

Glad to hear things are going pretty well ladies!

Angel - I totally get the annoyed feeling about fixing the latches too. I got a little lazy yesterday and some of the cluster feeding resulted in a couple of fresh cuts (he likes to slip his latch and spit out the flow/nipple and is more interested in just suckling not feeding during these times) So I've learned my lesson to slow down and correct things now. 

Pregnova - yay or being over birth weight! We were just about there at day 5, so I'm sure we are now too :)

I will say that I really missed breastfeeding more than I thought - I just love the little squeaky, happy little grunts and noises that he makes, and that sleepy, milky face - it melts my heart! 

Anyone else get woken up at night by their grunting little one when they're ready to nurse? Older DS was more of fusser, crier when he was hungry - this one just grunts and attacks his hands furiously when he can't find the boob - it's so funny!

Vegan - how is nursing going now with your little one? Are things going better now after she got clipped? 

[dannic]

Breastfeeding is going super well here...he is a chomp champ.  I am still a bit sore; maybe the beginnings of thrush?  Hoping not.  Isaac actually lost a pound and two ounces, which is astonishing to me because my babes rarely lose, lol, and he is nursing all the time.  But he is happy and no jaundice as yet, yay! 

He is a super alert baby.  Very easy going, too.  We are def. spoiled.  He does have a lot of gas, and gets hiccups 3 or more times a day...I think he was super squished in there and we have an appt with the chiro on mon...soonest we could get in.  My babes have all benefitted digestively by a chiro visit.  I'm just so short to have such chunks, lol.

He does really well with my let down; my others have always choked or had to break their latch at first.  Not he.  He hunkers down with thid intent look on his face and suck, suck, sucks.  SO funny to watch--I'm such a proud mama, lol.

Anyone else's babies sneeze alot?  He is a sneezer.

K, so this isn't all brestfeeding, but once I started, I just kept going...

[Vegan Princess]

Dannic: We did a chiro/CST visit. Makes sense that it would help! I'm your size and can't imagine an almost 11 lb baby!! Go mama! Aria sneezed a lot at first too. Not quite as much anymore.

Nursing is going so much better over here! Latch doesn't hurt anymore. I had scabs on my nipples from the beginning - also from the tongue tie, I think. Plus with all the pumping I was doing, my nipples were really put through the ringer! I'm still trying to pump a few times/day to max out my supply, but mostly I'm too lazy and unmotivated since it isn't a necessity at this point anymore. Before I had to pump since she wasn't sucking well enough to transfer enough milk from me. Anyway, baby is more alert now and wakes herself to eat and she doesn't seem to be in any pain anymore from the snip, so no more tylenol. I rented a scale and she transfers a good amount each feed (I don't check every feed!). She went to the pediatrician on Thursday and they are happy with her weight gain.

I thought I was getting thrush when we went to the doc on thurs. Thankfully their free lactation consultant was there that morning. Turns out I had a milk blister on my nipple. it hurt!! But she told me how to get rid of it and it worked no problem. Phew! Felt better immediately. 

My supply is good so far. I can feed Aria and still pump 2-3 ounces after. I have 50 ounces in the freezer so far! I thought I would be using donor milk to supplement at this point - never imagined I'd be building my own stash! I have hundreds of ounces of donor milk in my deep freezer too. I'm not convinced I won't need it later but I may end up passing it on to someone else! Crazy!

Ok, baby crying..

[pregnova]

lol, springmum- You pretty much described my girl! lol the attacking the hand thing when she's hungry...the hiccups every day...and spitting out the flow when she's cluster feeding! She's a happy girl...has lots of awake periods, and seriously...nursing is going fabulously after my experience with the first weeks last time. I do notice that while cluster feeding, she gets a bit agitated...just in these past two days...because she really just can't take in all the milk that's available...I guess she just wants to comfort suck...so she spits out what she doesn't want, but then seems a bit overwhelmed. I find that putting her on my chest instead of nursing once she starts acting agitated actually seems to work really well. She usually finds her hand to suck and then drifts off to sleep. 

[dannic]

The thought of having thrush made me run to my store of chocolate, lol.  I have been SO GOOD with no sugar or even fruit for months.  I told dh I was eating whatever I wanted today and tomorrow and then go back to THE WAY THINGS WERE monday.  My friend made me a fabulous dinner, fajitas, beans, guacamole, the works and even took the time to find a recipe online and made a gf.cf dessert.  I just wanted to be able to eat some. 

Anyway, I'm not even sure i have thrush.  baby doesn't show signs.  I think he just oesn't always get the whole ariola in his mouth since I am big busted when nursing, so I am sore.  an d it's really only when he first latches that it's tender.  What do yuo think?

[forumyonly1]

I need help.. My baby was born yesterday and she nursed well all day... And then last night she wouldn't nurse all night and I got her to nurse in the morning fit like 2 hours straight and then she hang nursed for me since.. I.expressed colostrum and got her to lick it off but it was only a few drops.. I'm not sure what to do. We have tried different positions, skin to skin.. She just keeps burping and age latches on for one suck and starts screaming.. I'm not sure what to do

[springmum]

Forum - Do you think she's in pain? Tongue tie? Has she been pooping?

Keep hand expressing and putting those drops in her mouth - it will make a difference (I know from DS's blood sugar issues after he was born - 1/2 hour of colostrum one drop at a time raised his blood sugar significantly) Don't stop skin to skin either. Do you have an LC or midwife you can call on? Sorrry I'm not much help - I hope things get better soon!

[springmum]

Dannic - are your nips bright red and shiny? That's how mine were with thrush w/ older DS

I have a cut on one spot on my nip that doesn't crust over and is very hard to see, but when DS latches I could almost scream, then gets better. I don't remember what the the thrush pain was like though....

[forumyonly1]

springmum- good to know about the blood sugar! she took a big nap this afternoon and when she woke up she finally nursed again and has nursed twice since then so i'm not sure what was going on.. hoping it was just a fluke of some sort! i appreciate the quick response!

[sillymom44]

Forumy--  my baby hardly nursed on day 2 and the hospital staff said that was totally normal. Maybe she doesn't want to nurse and is very vocal about it?  I would call your midwife, pediatrician, etc... if it continues, but I would guess it's completely normal.  Others mommas have had success with chiro visits- maybe that would help??  Are you putting lanolin on your nipples?  Maybe it doesn't agree with her?  BTW-- love the name...my oldest is Isaac too :)

Dannic- I have been sore with all my babies initially.  I've never been pain free.  But, it only hurts with the iniital latch and then several suckles...then the pain fades.  The LC said that was normal- as long as the pain doesn't persist with the entire feeding.  What has helped-- constant use of lanolin, using different nursing positions, keeping my shirt off day and night b/c that toughens them apparently, AND....when I went on the LLL site I learned a way to latch that I had never heard of-- I always though I should center the nipple in the mouth and get as much of the areola in the mouth.  They recommend latching the baby on the bottom part of the areola (nipple pointing to the roof of their mouth).  You have to tilt baby's head back a little to achieve this.  Anyway...this helped me.  But, he is 8 days old and there is still some pain with the initial latch.  But, nipples aren't red anymore, so I assume it's normal.  He also nurses a lot (every 1 1/2- 21/2 hours around the clock).

Spring-- yes-- I LOVE the squeaks and grunts!!!!  He is easy going too-- doesn't scream or cry unless he has to wait too long-- I definitly get woken by the grunts and frantic hand sucking :)

Our co-sleeper has turned into a bedside table.... :)  I have been a very nervous co-sleeper in the past b/c our bed is only queen and DH is 6' tall and 250 lbs and tosses and turns-- I had caught him half laying on our 2nd baby :/  But, he begged me to co-sleep b/c we couldn't seem to keep the baby warm enough and he was waking every hour....  And, I realized that we're in a different bed now and it's a European queen, so it's wider.  :)  I just keep the baby really far away from him when he's in the middle.  Anyway-- he is sleeping much longer stretches now and everyone is getting way more sleep.

Preg-- I agree-- if baby wants to comfort suck I put him on my bare chest with his hands by his mouth and his suckles his hands happily.   

[dannic]

Originally Posted by springmum 

Dannic - are your nips bright red and shiny? That's how mine were with thrush w/ older DS

I have a cut on one spot on my nip that doesn't crust over and is very hard to see, but when DS latches I could almost scream, then gets better. I don't remember what the the thrush pain was like though....

not bright red and shiny.  but def. tender.  I'll hope it's just regular ol tenderness.  I've been airing them as much as I can and having my lamp light on them...with 5 kids it's just not really possible to get them in sunlight...I am taking probiotics and as soon as the dessert is gone I'm off all sugar again.  I'll keep my smoothies though.  I think we're all going off all sweets just to keep healthy.

[UnderTheOldOakTree]

Hows everyone doing with nursing now?  This little one had a good latch right away and is a marathon nurser (like nurses for 2 hours at a time).It's such a new experience to have a baby who actually nurses willingly and well.  My nipples are sore but we think it's from the nursing marathons since her latch looks really good.  Now if we could get her to stop trying to have up all night slumber parties with mama and daddy we'd be in great shape!

Really though I feel so fortunate that she is really nursing well and is just a generally happy content little girl.  I hope my supply keeps up as she get older.  With DS I had a major dip around 3 months, but he also was never a good nurser and we struggled from the very begining and it didn't ever really get much easier.

[Vegan Princess]

I keep thinking I have thrush and then it keeps ending up being milk blisters on my nipple. They are tiny but they make your whole breast hurt and latch really hurts. Thankfully they are much easier to deal with than thrush!!

Nursing is still a work in progress around here. I took Aria back to the pediatric ENT surgeon bc the lactation consultant said her tongue was still tight and she didn't gain enough weight this week. Though I can still pump milk after she is done nursing. So it turns out he didn't clip it far back enough. He reclipped it on Thursday. It def hurt her more this time. :-( She didn't nurse well after or yesterday so I was back to using the lactaid to make it easy for her and pumping at every feed. Today I am making her work for it and haven't used the lactaid at all. She seems to be nursing ok and transferring enough milk. I am still trying to pump after most feeds. I so can't wait for the pumping to be over with! I had actually sort of stopped pumping but I think my supply dropped bc she wasn't transferring the milk quite right. I'm hoping that now that her tongue is finally fixed she will get the hang of it for real and I won't need to pump anymore to maintain my supply. 

Cindy

[UnderTheOldOakTree]

What are you doing for the milk blisters?  I have one and it's really hurting.  My midwife  and doula both said to just use lanolin on it but I'm not seeing much difference.  The lanolin has helped keep the soreness on the other side from getting worse though.

Sorry you have the milk blisters too...so not fun.  

So sorry to hear that Aria had to have her tongue tie clipped again. Hopefully your pumping days will be limited now!

[springmum]

Vegan - you've been through a lot so far - you're an amazing mama for sticking through all of that for your little girl. I hope it's smooth sailing from here on!

I still have a good size crack in one of my nipples from a latching accident last week. It's not healing, but not getting worse. It's extremely painful when he latches on. I'm slathering on calendula and coconut in between feeds, but he nurses every 1-2 hours around the clock so it's not getting much rest. I may have to pump that side for a day to help it heal - but my other side isn't going to fill his belly and we haven't given any bottles yet (and don't want to until a few more weeks) I do have a LC who I've talked to about it and she suggested the pumping - she doesn't want thrush to set in or anything, but didn't have any more suggestions than what I was already doing.

Has anyone ever dealt with a large crack/cut in their nipple and successfully healed it? 

[Vegan Princess]

Spring: thanks for your kind words! I'm determined to make this work! I had cracks on both nipples where they met the areola from pumping. They've healed just by pumping less and turning down the suction. But yeah latching hurt so bad! You can finger feed with a syringe if you dont want to do bottles. A lc will have the right syringe to use.

Under: sorry you have a milk blister! You def have to treat it or it can go into mastitis! Use warm washcloths to soften of fill a bowl with hot water and then lean over it with you breast in it..then hand express like that. It will soften it and gravity may clear it. Ultimately I had to use my nail or a needle to pop it. Then I did the bowl and got out the clog. A lc is who told
Me to pop it. Your entire breast will feel better right away.

[sillymom44]

Spring-- Would using a breast shield help?? I've never used one before... Hand expressing and cup or syringe feeding would be a good option. -Also- leave your bra off and it will heal faster. I had a bad crsck with DS1 annd i can remember pounding my foot on the ground while nursing... i really feel for you.

We're on day 15 here...nips r still a little sore, but i know that is bc i am sometimes too lazy to get a good latch...