breastfeeding thread - Page 3

[ctdoula]

Elena, I am so happy things are going better. I know that terror of thinking you might not be able to bf. It WILL get better!!!

Joy, please don't beat yourself up. Use the paci. It's not demon spawn, won't turn your baby into a serial killer..... but you may be able to have a bit of sanity Oh, and I think the inventor of the vibrating bouncy seat should get a Nobel Peace Prize, LOL. That silly seat lets me eat my toast with two hands... and sometimes I can even pee by MYSELF, ROFL. I think as mothers we make ourselves CRAZY trying to do everything the perfect way, the natural way, the best way. But, you know what? We all live in the real world & it's not perfect. We all have to do what is BEST for US. Your baby sucking on a plastic nipple for a few minutes a day is not going to wreck him for life. I didn't use one w/my dd (she didn't bf well at first, then wouldn't take one). But I remember at 5mo trying to get her to take one, LOL. This time, my ds will take one occasionally for a few mintues after nursing. Hey, if it makes him happy & his needs are met, why not?

[Mizelenius]

Thanks, Amy! Things aren't going as well as Monday . . .I ordered the Lact-Aid system today. My friend and I are going to experiment. Her let down is super strong, so we're going to let DD nurse from her and see if she'll get sucking consistently (it's that or be flooded). On the other hand, her son needs to suck all day and spits up tons. We need to switch babies!

[aprildawn]

hey everyone. i'm so glad to be able to come post here about our breastfeeding woes.

lydia is 6 weeks old yesterday. last week our doctor clippled her frenulum (that thing under your tongue) because she was tongue tied (at least she was really close to it). she'd been hurting me when nursing for those first 5 weeks despite seeing and calling a LC several times. well, things have gone from bad to worse. i hurt so bad. i had actually stopped taking advil every day for the pain, but last night started taking it again. i'm so tired of my nipples being this sore. it makes procrastinate feeding her when she's hungry because i just dread the pain so much. also, because i have to expose my whole breast when latching her on and she screams when i latch her on the right way because she doesn't like it i'm stuck either having to stay home or only going places where i'm comfortable getting half undressed to feed my baby!

what if it never gets better? rationally i know it will get better, but it sure doesn't feel that way right now. plus, i think she's hit her 6 week growth spurt and is nursing every hour or so. she did give me a 4 hour break from 11:30pm-3:30am, thankfully. but it wasn't long enough to heal my poor nipples.

my heart goes out to the rest of you with breastfeeding problems. it SUCKS!! (pun intended :LOL )

[speedknitter]

Owwwwww!!!

:

This morning when Julie was latching onto "Lefty Loosey" (as opposed to Righty Tighty) she evidently caught an extra piece of my areola in with the nipple and OH MY GOD did that hurt. I immediately de-latched her but I am still very sore hours later and there is a small bruise in that spot.

There is no way I could nurse her on that side right now, I'm thinking it might be a few feedings before I can go back to the left side without excruciating pain and stress. Is it OK to skip a few feedings on that side? Am I going to end up terribly lopsided? I'm expecting some engorgement on the left but think I can deal with that, I'm just afraid to upset the whole booby balance.

Any ideas??? And suggestions for keeping that from happening again?

TIA ladies,

[ctdoula]

Aprildawn - I'm sorry things have gotten worse. Have you met w/the LC since it was clipped? Have you tried soothing gel pads? I know Ameda makes some & there is another brand called Soothies. I've heard that they heal sore nipples even faster than Lansioh & air & bm. The Ameda ones (I think they're called Soothing Gel Pads or something like that) come 2 pairs to a package & are good for 6 days a pair. You can put them in the fridge while the baby is feeding & then they're nice & chilly when you put them on.

Susan - ack! I think you're fine skipping a feeding, but if you do more than that, you might want to pump that side because you'll probably be really uncomfortable & full. You'll only be temporarily lopsided unless you continually favor 1 breast. I'd try other positions w/that breast too.... maybe lay down or football.... Or even lay her down on her back on the bed & lean over her w/her bottom lip near your head. The bottom lip/jaw is where they suck the hardest. I'm not sure how to stop it from happening again, since it sounds like a freak breastfeeding accident, ROFL I hope it feels better soon... maybe some ice or a cool cloth would help.

[speedknitter]

ctdoula, thanks for the advice, yes it was a lower lip thing freak breastfeeding accident (funny) so I think trying football hold next time might work. I'm going to try to put some ice on it for a bit and maybe take some Advil, then give it a go at the next feeding.

[aprildawn]

Originally Posted by speedknitter

maybe take some Advil, then give it a go at the next feeding.

advil has been saving my life these days. i wish i could go a day w/o taking it. well, i did a few days after we had lydia's tongue clipped, but then things went downhill and started hurting again. i even have a serious blister on one side.

ctdoula -- thanks for the reminder about the cold packs. i used them the first few weeks but had forgotten about them. think i'll be running back out for more tomorrow.

[Mizelenius]

Aprildawn, so sorry about the pain! I remember having that with DD for 2 months. It was horrible! I LOVED Soothies back then!

Susan, I agree with Amy-- take a rest on that side but pump!

[natashaccat]

BFing is going well for me but I went through some major engourgement for the first week. I had to resort to cabage leaves and took a sudafed because I started to feel feaverish and was worried that I might be on the verge of mastitis.

It's better now but my boobs are way obscenely huge and I had to spend $100 on new bra's (34 G). I'm checking the mail daily because I feel like a freak going out in public with a tight fitting shirt (aka any normal sized t shirt)and boobs that are bulging out of my bra. Dh finds this all terribly amusing, lol.

Anyway none of this really is a big deal compared to what many of you are struggling with. I'm sending you good bfing vibes.

One thing that helped during my toddler nursing-sore nipple days is to take some high quality acidophilous.

[speedknitter]

Happy to report that the football hold worked GREAT to get her back on the left without any agony. It was a bit messy as she was leaking out the side of her mouth a bit, but hey not complaining!

This is an adventure every day! So glad to have you guys here to "talk" to about all this stuff!

[danaalex]

well, we aren't having any "real" issues. nothing like what some of you are having to figure out. hugs to everyone who is having real nursing issues.

my two biggies were/are: 1. dd is a spitter. my first two never spit up, ever. #3 on the otherhand spits constantly. after every single feeding. sometimes it just a little and sometimes it is a considerable amount that covers everything and never seems to end. sometimes it digested and sometimes it's not. she is growing so i am not too concerned, but it is driving me up the wall because of the mess. i pretty much stick to one boob per nursing session, i don't really know if it's making a difference though cause she is still spitting up, but maybe she's spitting less breastmilk up? who knows. i am definitely NOT going to buy any new clothes until she's a year old though LOL. and

2. i was having a really hard time at night, emotionally, getting her to fall asleep while i was falling asleep. i have been irriatable and sick and after she was done eatting she was sucking very lightly on my nipple and it was driving me nuts and actually causing a feeling of anger. so, this past week i stopped trying to fall asleep while she was nursing to sleep for the night. i have started our nighttime routine earlier and i nurse her to sleep or within seconds of sleep and then i put her down and then i fall asleep next to her. so, this week i am feeling much better and instead of falling asleep angry i am falling asleep peacefully

that's about it for us. i think dd#3 is going to be my fastest growing child. i'm not sure how much she weighs but i'd suspect she's gained at least 2 lbs and it took my other two MONTHS to gain 2 lbs LOL..............