How is breastfeeding for everyone?

[De-lovely]

Just checkin in on everyone and bf'ing! I am having a time with some sore nipples as I think I have a tongue sucker in my hands...I often think too that my nipples are large and his mouth is so tiny its a wonder he can ever get any aereola in his mouth. Thoughts?

[boingo82]

I had a ton of troubles and soreness with DS1, but this time, soreness lasted only 2 days and it's all been pretty easy. The only problem is I'm on my 2nd plugged duct today, after having one last week.

[kathteach]

Breastfeeding is going horrible for me and I've just started pumping and feeding him the breastmilk in a bottle. I feel like crying every time I give him the bottle but at least he's getting breastmilk.

[Peppamint]

Things are going well for us... like you Nicole, my babe doesn't always open her mouth as wide as she should so sometimes I am a bit sore but nothing too terrible.

To my surprise, I'm less engorged this time and my over-active letdown isn't as bad as it was the first two times. I'm not sure if my body is just remembering and getting down to business or if I just am unconsciously applying the tricks to manage oversupply and OAL.

Emily- bummer on the plugged ducts, those are no fun!

kathteach- is there anyway that we can help you troubleshoot?

[De-lovely]

Michelle- I have to admit my over active letdown is in full effect-poor little guy sometimes even gets a shot in the face.... The soreness isnt too terrible here either but definetly present.I am just hoping as he grows so does how wide he opens his mouth.

Kathteach-let us know what we can do!!

[boingo82]

Originally Posted by busybusymomma

..
To my surprise, I'm less engorged this time and my over-active letdown isn't as bad as it was the first two times. I'm not sure if my body is just remembering and getting down to business or if I just am unconsciously applying the tricks to manage oversupply and OAL. ..

Maybe it hasn't turned on yet? I had overactive letdown last time, but this time it took 4 or 5 days after my milk came in before I was spraying all over my poor babe's face.

[ecoteat]

I had some soreness the first few days, but now that she knows what she's doing, that's much better. My milk came in Tuesday night and I haven't had any engorgement or excessive leaking or squirting or anything. Will the milk flow get stronger or should I just be thankful I don't have to deal with it getting all over everything?

[Marylizah]

nak

Things are going pretty well-- I had some major soreness and some cracked nipples the first week, but we figured out some positioning stuff and things have gotten much, much better. I was expecting to leak, but really haven't at all-- and I'm still not sure what letdown is supposed to feel like. This makes me a little concerned about supply, but the kid seems happy and when he rolls off a boob with a blissed-out look and milk dribbling down his cheek, I figure things are ok!

to kathteach-- it's hard stuff, breastfeeding. Lots of positive vibes coming your way. I'd offer troubleshooting, too, but I'm such a newbie to all this it'd be worse than useless!

Question for the pros: do y'all have foods you avoid to prevent gassiness in your babes? Do you drink caffeine?

[Sydnee]

Breastfeeding is going great! The first week and a half I was a little sore when she would first latch on, but nothing too bad. I remember being much more sore with the other two, so I'm super happy this time!! My boobs are waaay bigger this time, which is fun, as I am normally a 34A

Kathteach- I am in the process of becoming a LLL Leader, so let me know if there is anything I can do to help you, I have a Breastfeeding Answer Book, that is a great resource for me. Please let me know if I can help!

[Sadiebug]

Breastfeeding is going great for me. I was engorged for two days but it has gone down a lot. From day 1 Addison has latched on great.

Mary- I avoid orange juice because that has always made my babies gassy. i do drink caffine, but it doesn't seem to bother her. i think it has to do with how you're body processes what you eat to what will make a baby gassy. I don't really avoid foods, I just try to perportion right.

Good luck to all you mommies who are still trying to get the hang of everything. My first dd I gave up after 4 weeks of nursing so it does get better though.

[dharmama]

kathteach ~

Breastfeeding my newborn is going very well. Tandem nursing my 2 year old.....let's just say it's much harder than I expected it would be. I just spent almost 45 minutes trying to get her down for a nap. She kept falling asleep nursing but everytime I tried to unlatch she would wake up SCREAMING. Poor DS has been in his bassinet waaaaaay more than I would like him to be but she is so demanding and he is so easy-going that it just happens.

I don't really have a lot of support (well except for my awesome DH and LLL friends) but my mother, aunts, grandmother etc. think that I'm making my life much harder by nursing DD. So...when we are having a tough time I can't talk to them without hearing that I should just wean her. :

I feel like I need a tandem nursing mentor to cheer me on.

[Snowdrift]

I'm also having a difficult time, although we've reached a point of compromise where we will stay for a few weeks while we relax and get comfortable. We're nursing great, but we need to use a nipple shield.

Ellie was posterior and asynclitic and she was subjected to about 15 or 16 hours of very intense hard labor. She didn't latch at birth and continued to not latch for the first 24 hours--just not really at all. She'd cry and get her hands in the way--she would suck on a finger but not at the breast. By the end of her first day we took her in for cranial-sacral work and that got her to latch well for the first time, but apparently my nipples are flattish--not entirely flat, which is why I didn't really realize this til after the birth but it made things harder.

After the cranial sacral work she was able to latch but still wouldn't do it well and she was also so sleepy from the difficult labor that she wasnt' interested in trying nearly often enough--maybe every three to five hours, and then she mostly got drops I dripped into her mouth as she cried. We finally started pumping and finger-feeding with a syringe.

Took her to the dr for her newborn exam and we discivered she'd lost nearly 10% of her birth weight and he started pushing supplementing with formula. This really ticked us off since I have plenty of milk. Definitely no supply issues here--I've been pumping twice a day (now we're down to once) and already have about 30 oz in the freezer. So formula was not an issue. We nodded and smiled and went home and called the lactation consultant as my backup hospital. I'd already met her, and even bought my pump from their office, so felt pretty good about setting up a meeting with her.

Well, first thing she did was tell us all about forumla and whihc ones we should get and why (premixed hypoallergic stuff). She was very concenred that we give formula to combat her "low blood sugar". I suggested that getting her to ingest breastmilk was just as easy or difficult as getting her to ingest forumla and "shouldn't we perhaps diagnose her alleged low blood sugar before we start treating it wiht something that could give her allergies her whole life?" She was utterly mystified as to why I'd even care.

Thankfully this was all over the phone. I set the appointment but set out to find another LC. Found soemone who was able to come to the house, and she helped us latch but also suggested the nipple shields. We tried those and it worked spectalarly. So now Ellie is making us for lost time, nursing at least every two hours, but often she'll nurse on and off for a couple hours at a time. It's so wonderful!

Eventually we'll have to wean off of the nipple shield, but for now it;s just wonderful to be able to nurse her without worrying and without a struggle. We had a bit of a problem too with greenish diapers once she first started wetting and dirtying on a regular basis, but we took care of that just by pumping a bit before nursing in the morning and as she gets more comfortable with nursing she's staying on for longer and that problem went away within a day.

Ironically, I'm so much better rested now that I'm up nursing every two hours than when she didn't to eat for four hours at a time.

[brown eyed girls]

it's going as well as I can expect I guess.

Baby latched on pretty well after the first hour... The first day we just b'fed. The 2nd day I started using my Lact-aid and supplementing almost 1/2 oz of donated breastmilk (and it was transitional milk from a new mommy). She took about 90-100ml of supplement that day and had all the pees and poops plus more. On Saturday at about 48 hours old we weighed her, she was 7 lbs 6 oz so she'd lost about 10%. Saturday she had about 200ml of donor milk plus nursing... my milk started coming in Saturday night. All day Sunday we nursed all day long as she like hit her first growth spurt.... she woke up this a.m. with a super saturated cloth diaper, and during the night I had changed a huge poopy that was finally yellow and had seeds-- despite the fact that yesterday she only took about 90ml of supplement!!! I have no allusions that I'll have a full milk supply this time, but still I was encouraged.

I will probably weigh her tomorrow, at 5 days old, and see how she's doing. So far today she's only had like 30-40ml of donor milk but she's nursed a lot and I've changed 2 more saturated diapers since the one this a.m. (Plus one more damp diaper.)

Just the last few feedings, my nips have hurt when she first latches on... but then it stops hurting... despite being a lactation educator I can't remember what that means so I'm calling my LC.

[Peppamint]

[QUOTE-De-lovely]Michelle- I have to admit my over active letdown is in full effect-poor little guy sometimes even gets a shot in the face.... The soreness isnt too terrible here either but definetly present.I am just hoping as he grows so does how wide he opens his mouth.[/QUOTE]

Poor babies, my first two would turn their heads trying to get away from it until I learned to keep a burp rag or prefold handy...

Originally Posted by boingo82

Maybe it hasn't turned on yet? I had overactive letdown last time, but this time it took 4 or 5 days after my milk came in before I was spraying all over my poor babe's face.

I hope not! We're at day six now and so far so good. I did spray her once, but the engorgement has been minimal compared to my first two babies who get showered in breastmilk until they smelled like sour milk.

Originally Posted by ecoteat

Will the milk flow get stronger or should I just be thankful I don't have to deal with it getting all over everything?

Not everyone deals with it... I have a friend who nursed two children to around age 2 and never leaked or dripped at all. Enjoy it!

Originally Posted by Marylizah

Question for the pros: do y'all have foods you avoid to prevent gassiness in your babes? Do you drink caffeine?

I remember a bit of gassiness with DD1, but nothing with ds or dd2 so far.

Sydnee- enjoy the boobies!

Sadiebug- glad to hear the engorgement is better, what a relief huh?

Erin- I wish I could offer some tandem nursing advise and commiseration but both of my kids weaned during pg. I hope things get better for you soon- hang in there!

tie-dyed- I used a nipple shield for a couple of weeks with dd1 too, I don't regret it! We weaned off after a bit and she nursed until 20 months. She was induced early and a lazy, sleepy nurser and I was majorly engorged. The nipple shield made it possible for me to nurse her without needing to bottle feed and pump so it was worth it!

beg- Glad to hear your dd is doing well... good to hear you have donor milk for supplementing!

Gotta go, Audrey is awake and hungry!

[zaksma]

Bfing is going great here too- we had some pain and soreness in the beginning and I had a wicked case of mastitis a week and a half ago (thank God that is over- that was horrible) and now we are back on track. I am so glad that it worked out so well this time and am sad that I didn't try harder with Zachary and Alden.

[L'lee]

Things are going pretty well here, we had a rocky time at first, but my student midwife came over (she's almost done with her Lactation Consulting certification degree as well) and she was REALLY helpful:

- I hadn't realized that I needed to wake him up to feed him on BOTH sides at each feeding, and my breasts were really engorged and he was cranky! Well, waking him up has really helped with that! He's got a full, chubby belly after he eats, now! I would say that this was the KEY to our mutual happiness with breastfeeding.

- She also said to aim his nose for the nipple, rather than his mouth, because then he can breathe easier. Makes a LOT of sense!

- Make sure that his body and head are well supported and that you aren't pushing the back of his head toward the breast (there's a reflex to resist such pushing).

- Then the seemingly obvious, but not always easy: make sure that his latch is good.

Once in a while (mostly at night) I have had to pump a little and DH would give DS the expressed milk from a cup/spoon/finger while I hand expressed for the next session. Then, DS was calm enough (and the nipple was in the right "shape") to latch on and eat happily.

I was hoping (really looking forward) to go to a LLL meeting when Emerson was 6 days old, but he cried when we tried to dress him and wouldn't calm down until it was too late... maybe next time around!

[~*max*~]

Hi all. BFing is going well here too. Chloe has really gotten the hang of it and is nursing up a storm. So much so, that as soon as I talk to her she opens her mouth and turns her head, rooting around. It is very cute.

MaryLizah, are you having trouble w/gassiness now, or just trying to prevent it? I don't restrict what I eat, figuring that if I notice a problem then I will address it. I also drink coffee, w/the same philosophy, and have never had a problem. If you are having a problem w/gassiness, I'd start by keeping a food/behavior journal, writing down everything you have ingested and baby's behavior throughout the day. That can help you pinpoint troublespots. Then you can try eliminating foods one at a time and monitor the results. Some babies are also just particularly gassy/fussy at certain times of the day. Dinnertime through midnight has always been a tough time for my kids.

[Hevyne]

I feel frustrated right now. I have been bfing every 2 hours round the clock but he starts screaming to be fed after an hour has gone by...I also am counting from the time he starts feeding, not when he finishes...is that right? I get so frustrated b/c he cries so much to be fed but people keep telling me do not feed on demand...and no more then every 2 hours. Is that 2 hours after he finishes??? If so then I am really going to have trouble b/c he demands feedings every hour to hour and a half (from the time he starts eating). Maybe I don't have enough milk?? I tried pumping...OUCH....and I get like an ounce from my right but only at most 1/4 oz from my left. He has plenty of wet diapers, doesn't poop that much (1-2x a day), and just CRIES to be fed ALL the time. What am I doing wrong??

[boingo82]

Originally Posted by Hevyne

I feel frustrated right now. I have been bfing every 2 hours round the clock but he starts screaming to be fed after an hour has gone by...I also am counting from the time he starts feeding, not when he finishes...is that right? I get so frustrated b/c he cries so much to be fed but people keep telling me do not feed on demand...and no more then every 2 hours. Is that 2 hours after he finishes??? If so then I am really going to have trouble b/c he demands feedings every hour to hour and a half (from the time he starts eating). Maybe I don't have enough milk?? I tried pumping...OUCH....and I get like an ounce from my right but only at most 1/4 oz from my left. He has plenty of wet diapers, doesn't poop that much (1-2x a day), and just CRIES to be fed ALL the time. What am I doing wrong??

Don't listen to them! Feed your baby when he wants to be fed. There is no reason NOT to feed on demand.

[flowmom]

Hello Hevyne,

It sounds like you're getting terrible breastfeeding advice! Some babies need to nurse much more often than every two hours - your baby knows what he needs! Please read some reliable info about when to feed your baby...