Breastfeeding Difficulties... Anyone Else? - Page 2

[boingo82]

Kerri, with DS #1 we had a really tough time getting nursing going. He simply wouldn't latch, he only sucked his own tongue. We had to use the nipple shields, and it's as awkward as you describe. I'd highly recommend getting a second just so it's easier to find one when you need to nurse. Target has them in the feeding supplies section for about $5.
After about 8 weeks, Blake figured out how to nurse without the shield. After that, he was a champ, no problems at all.
I know it sucks right now, but your baby will be able to wean off the shield eventually.

[Stayathomemommy]

for thrush with my last three nursers i used gentin violet (sp?) it works good but it stains everything dark purple.

i have forceful letdown and my baby hardly ever gets hindmilk because i am usually still really full when he is done eating. although its getting better and i think my body is starting to get that it doesnt have to produce enough for twins this time around!!! but anyway my ds poop is yellow breastmilky poop. what research about forceful letdown led you the conclusion that its causing the green poop?? i want to know for the future and i havent found links about oversupply and forceful letdown and would love to read all that stuff too if you could pass it along??

and my little guy has an OK latch but sometimes it just not good enough so i detach him and make him open up and then shove as much boob into his mouth as i can! seems to work. i think they get lazy so i sometimes i have to really tease him with my nipple for a minute or so to open bigger.

[jenny-g]

BF problems?

Oh, my gosh. I have them all. Well, most of them. Mostly, I have an honest-to-goodness low milk supply. It has been hell figuring this out, and if I read in one more place that "it's rare, don't worry about it, it's definitely not that", I will SCREAM. I post a lot in the thread in the BF forum about low milk supply.

This has made it much more difficult to nurse, as she gets very upset and frustrated at not getting any milk. At thsi point, I'm on a maximum pumping schedule, taking domperidone (max dosage), increased thyroid medication, continuing low dosage metformin (I have PCOS and am hypothyroid.. no wonder I have low supply!), and now.. I'm on TWO WEEKS of diflucan for a milk duct yeast infection. Good lord, it hurts. Take this seriously, women, because if you get it in the ducts, you will be reminded of labor pain. I'm serious. I can't believe how much this hurts. I now realize I had the infection on the nipple of that breast for a long time (well, I'm at six weeks now about), but just thought it was poor latching. Um, nope. (we do have latching problems but those cause different pains!)

Anyway, so we have all the latching problems described by others here. I don't use a shield, but what I do now is try to be more relaxed about the whole thing. I don't force nursing, and we use bottles all the time (she gets about half formula now, even with everything I'm doing). She gets mostly pumped breast milk other than that, but at least once a day I strive to have an actual nursing event happen. This happens best when she is not very hungry, and I'm late for a pumping session and therefore as full as I"ll get. If she's very hungry it is a FREAKING DISASTER trying to nurse her. Relaxing and not trying to force it, for us, has really helped.

This is close to the opposite BF relationship I had hoped and dreamed of, between the pumping, the forumula, and all the medications I'm taking. We all just do our best. I wish I had known that low supply does happen, it's a real risk, and my medications during pregnancy could have been adjusted to help prevent this from happening. OH well. -j

[aprilushka]

Originally Posted by Sydnee

Hang in there, Kerri, it WILL get better! My first DD was a sinch to nurse, so when DD#2 came along, I thought I knew it all, boy was I wrong! I had a hard time getting her to latch on, got plugged ducts, mastitis, etc. But, what really got her going good, was to point my nipple to the roof of her mouth, and she seemed to get thte hang of it! Good luck mama, it's so hard to try and rest from the birth, and then getting them to breastfeed, it's all so emotional!!! Just remember, it does get better!!!

Yeah, that's what I meant by assymetrical latch-- have to do it with this one too to get both the bottom and top lips out the right way.

[eilonwy]

Bella was born a) with a tongue tie and b) much smaller than I expected. She was too small to open her mouth wide enough at first, then the tongue tie continued to cause us problems. Now that I've clipped the tie, she still has a bad habit of letting her tongue slide back behind her gums when she nurses, causing pain (nothing like the pain before, though!) and causing her to break suction, so she "clicks" when she nurses and doesn't always get as much milk as she wants. It's a real PITA, and I have no idea how to teach her to keep her tongue over gums when she nurses.

Then of course, there's the reflux-- Bella is constantly puking, and she often screams in pain after she nurses. Her burps are always gurgly, and she sneezes partially digest milk all the time. Removing dairy from my diet didn't help, and left me depressed that I wasn't eating any ice cream. Anyway, Bella does not sleep well when she's not in a semi-upright position. It's definately a nursing issue, and I'm losing my mind.

On the up side, she's growing very well, and looks gigantic to me. She's almost nine pounds!

[Titus2fam]

I've been struggling with mastitis already~it's just who I am, and as my darling would say, it's "how I roll". LOL! Thankfully my midwife gave me good advice long ago on getting rid of it, but OY! NO FUN! The fevers, the ache, the UGH factor.... (((((HUGS))))) sandi

[KerriAZ]

Thanks again for the support, ladies! Things are still rough going. I have tried a couple of times to do the nipple flip thing and to do something I read about in one of my magazines (position the nipple at baby's nose level to make him lift his head up for that assymetrical latch) but it doesn't really help... I think he's just too small yet and my boobs are just too big! (I am wearing a 40 E bra! YIKES!!!!!) But I am continuing to try! I REFUSE to give up! I am determined! I was the same with my DD and it took her a while to get it, so I am keeping faith that my DS will get it, too! And if not, well, then I will just go get a good breast pump (I have a manual now) and just pump all his bottles and then just use the nipple shield when we are at home. The nipple shiel may be a HUGE PITA, but at least I have the comfort that he IS nursing with it and that he is getting the good breast milk, it is giving ME the benefits of the nursing as well, PLUS it is relaxing, to me, to have a baby nursing, shield or not! So I will keep pluggni away with it!!

So, here's to all of us! Best of luck to us all and here's to hoping our little ones "get it" soon!!

Kerri

PS Jenny-g, have you tried Mother's Milk Tea? I had a much lower supply with DD than this time around and I tried it and it really helped! I dunno if you can drink it with your meds, But I guess it would be worth looking into! Best of luck, honey!

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by KerriAZ

I think he's just too small yet and my boobs are just too big! (I am wearing a 40 E bra! YIKES!!!!!)

40E?! That's too big? I'm in a 36 J right now...

[KerriAZ]

LOL Okay, so you've got me beat! But when my baby is only 6 lbs 9 oz... 40E seems HUGE! My boob is bigger than his head! :

[eilonwy]

Welcome to my life!

BeanBean-- 7 lbs 8 oz, me-- 38 K/L
BooBah-- 6 lbs 13 oz, me-- 40 I/J
Bella-- 6 lbs 1 oz, me-- 36 J/K

So there you have it-- my kids' heads weren't anywhere near the size of my boobs until a minimum of 6 months. Poor Bella, my boob was bigger than her entire body-- it's no wonder that she couldn't latch on, when you think about it.

[AdinaL]

I have no idea what size the breasts are right now....but even with an 8 pound baby (now upwards of nine) the boobs are still bigger than her head! And the worst part - we start the feeding in one position, and then as the boob deflates...we end up having to relatch because all of a sudden the nipple is in a totally different place!

Green poops seem to have subsided...unless she is in a snacky mood - otherwise we are back to yellow poops...nursing several times on each side. Thank goodness that worked. Now I just want her to get bigger so that she can deal with the letdown/fast flow a bit better. But for now - we are doing well. Midwives' appt. tomorrow - so I will know how much she wieghs. Which is strangely reassuring...

[adtake]

Originally Posted by KerriAZ

So I will keep pluggni away with it!!

So, here's to all of us! Best of luck to us all and here's to hoping our little ones "get it" soon!!

Kerri

Kerri..do you have a LLL group near you? A great place to get hands on help and always huge support...

I think I would be crazy w/o my group! Meeting is rgis thursday..first time i get to show little one off!!

s

[surfmamato3]

I am a 36JJJ

[boovert]

Well, I had trouble from the start. Morgan refuses to suck from me. Talked to the doctor and she said that some babies are just that way. SO I now have to pump my boobs and feed him that way besides giving him soy formula. I'm so tired of this. But am tring to hang in for at least a month and then he can get formula instead.

I'm sort of freaking because one of my boobs is bigger then the other! Anyone else have this problem?

boovert

[Wittyone]

Originally Posted by eilonwy

Bella was born a) with a tongue tie and b) much smaller than I expected. She was too small to open her mouth wide enough at first, then the tongue tie continued to cause us problems. Now that I've clipped the tie, she still has a bad habit of letting her tongue slide back behind her gums when she nurses, causing pain (nothing like the pain before, though!) and causing her to break suction, so she "clicks" when she nurses and doesn't always get as much milk as she wants. It's a real PITA, and I have no idea how to teach her to keep her tongue over gums when she nurses.

Rynna~
Clipping the tongue tie can def. help but if she nursed a certain way for several weeks it can take a bit to "retrain" her. Something we did that was helpful was suck training before *each* feed for a while (actually did this prior to clipping the frenulum just to try to relieve some of my discomfort until the dr appt).

If you haven't seen this done...use a finger that is similar size to your nipple, have her root and take in your finger (nail side down against her tongue) up to her suck spot on her palate (usually pretty far back, at the junction of hard and soft). Taking care not to gag her have her suck properly for a little while (you should not feel her lower gum on your finger). If she draws her tongue back you can lightly put pressue on the back of her tongue to encourage her to bring it forward again (just a quick downward pressure with your finger). If she's sucking well switch her to the breast...babies are smart, she'll get the hang of it, esp when she realizes she gets more milk that way.

Of course, switching to a crappy latch can also be a way of controlling an overwhelming flow of milk...my little rug rat does this!



Boovert~
Oh girl, is there anyone who is more bf friendly or knowledgable that you could see? It doesn't sound like your doc is up on bf info...any lactation consultants or LLL groups? Way to go on the pumping for your babe - that is so much work! Unfortunately some babies do have latching difficulties in the beginning (as in they refuse to do it), but this can generally be overcome if you would like to try. You *will* need someone who can give you a better answer than 'that's just how it is' - it would take someone with some knowledge, a few tricks, and who will be supportive. But, you could totally do it and it would be so worth it for you and your little one! And yup, totally normal to have asymmetrical breasts Most women do to a certain degree

[2 in August]

Not in your ddc but I struggled with nursing dd and now I'm doing as much research as I can in case I have problems with ds who is due in Aug. Anyway, about getting them to open up wide, if you gently squeeze the base of the baby's thumb (the fleshy part) it triggers a reflex that makes them open their mouths wide. My friend tried it with her baby after I read it and it did work. Hope that helps somebody.

[jenny-g]

Someone asked if I was taking the mother's milk tea- yup, along with everything else. High doses of fenugreek made me ill and didn't work, however, and is a peanut allergy sensitizer (which I didn't know about, growl).

If anyone has trouble pumping, I have some hints and tricks, most of which I got from kellymom, which have made my life MUCH easier. One is to put all the equipment in the fridge between pumping, then you only have to clean it once a day. (Well, with the thrush I'm cleaning it more often, but normally, it helps soo much to do it that way). Handsfree also helps a lot, with the ponytail holder trick.

Bra size? I think I"m probably like 46 G or something. IT's sick. -j

[AdinaL]

Oh boovert! It sounds like you are having a rough time.

I agree - find someone who is more BF friendly, and can give you some pointers. A doc saying some babies just won't nurse - is kind of silly really...I mean, a baby who won't nurse wouldn't have lasted long prior to formula being available right? It sounds like you are having a tough time, and need some input on how to make things work a little better. Supportive guidance makes all the difference in the world!

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by Wittyone

If you haven't seen this done...use a finger that is similar size to your nipple, have her root and take in your finger (nail side down against her tongue) up to her suck spot on her palate (usually pretty far back, at the junction of hard and soft). Taking care not to gag her have her suck properly for a little while (you should not feel her lower gum on your finger). If she draws her tongue back you can lightly put pressue on the back of her tongue to encourage her to bring it forward again (just a quick downward pressure with your finger). If she's sucking well switch her to the breast...babies are smart, she'll get the hang of it, esp when she realizes she gets more milk that way.

Of course, switching to a crappy latch can also be a way of controlling an overwhelming flow of milk...my little rug rat does this!

I tried this yesterday, and it didn't work; putting pressure on her tongue didn't cause her to move it back over her gums. She just sucked harder and then when my finger was all the way back, she used the back of her tongue to keep it there. Shortly thereafter, she began shrieking for milk.

I don't think she's doing it to control my letdown; the milk comes pretty quickly but when it does, she drinks as fast as she can. I just feel like she's hungry all the time, unless I offer her a bottle of pumped milk after she nurses; then she takes anywhere from 1 to 6 ounces and falls asleep, calm and happy.

[Wittyone]

Rynna! Does your WIC have LCs that you could see? Sounds like she's learned some funky tongue moves and that's got to be murder on your nipples!! I wish I had more tricks for you...someone posted about playing sticking out the tongue games with her when she's awake - will she play? Matthew still can't stick his tongue all the way out but he works so hard to mimic us, it's so cute!