Investing in breastfeeding

onlyroz

Well I found the midwives and healthvisitors to be very helpful when it came to breastfeeding advice - I was also directed towards a free breastfeeding clinic as well so it seems odd that you'd have to pay. Regarding cost, all you should need is some nipple cream, a few nursing bras and a stack of breast-pads (you can make these yourself by cutting up some old towels). For advice, try La Leche League, or the NCT.

got-it-spend-it

lauren_1 wrote: »

A lot of new mums really do underestimate the astonishing amount of times a breastfed baby will feed in one day, even 12+ times in 24 hours is considered normal although your nipples might not be so happy about it:eek:

In the early days I found cabbage leaves a godsend (chilled and crushed savoy leaves)

I totally agree with this. I only wish health professionals were more honest about that fact that it is totally normal for a young baby to breast feed every 2 hours or less.

Jet wrote: »

There really is no need to invest in anything other than some nipple cream (Kamilosan was my favoured one) to start off with.

I breast fed forr a year and never expresse :rotfl:d (reminded me too much of my childhood on a dairy farm!).

The thing that will get you through it will be your own determination unless there is any medical reason why you can't breastfeed. You know your baby and your own body better than anyone else, so go with your own instincts.

That is a great way to put it!


I really hope you are able to access the right help, OP. As Pigpen said there is a great deal of BF knowledge on the Parents Thread on here so you can always pop on there with any questions.

skintchick

I didn;t spend any money on anything to do with BFing, and am still doing it over 12 months later despite some issues, so here are my thoughts.

1 - the helpline numbers given above are a godsend. Call them whenever you need help and also see if there is a breastfeeding cafe near you where you can go for help and support. ours is weekly, hence hte need for phoning LLL and the like for help in between.

2 - babies feed a lot. Mine fed hourly for 40 mins each time in the day (so only off the breast for 20 mins) and similar overnight for aaaages. She is still having one nightly feed at a year old. Don;t let htis put you off though! But be prepared for spending the first 6-8 weeks just feeding.

3 - eat and drink a lot when feeding as it is hungry and thirsty work. Forget the housework, etc., and get people to wait on you as much as possible

4 - if you're having problems, try a 24-hour skin-to-skin time with baby where you stay in bed from 2pm one day to 2pm the next, with OH or whoever bringing you drinks, meals, magazines, computer. worked wonders for me.

5 - if you have problems gets help that day. Don't hope it will get better, just speak to someone.

6 - Lansinoh is marvellous stuff. Makes the world of difference for painful nipples, and savoy cabbage leaves are great for engorgement and mastitis.

That's all I can think of right now. But I#ll pop back if anything else comes to mind.

money_saving_diva

I also had problems feeding my first. I only had help from one mw and with hindsight I can see she was useless but I didn't know that at the time.
I had my second baby 9 weeks ago and I have managed to breast feed her and it is going well. This time I told my mw I was worried about breastffeding and she gave me extra visits to support me. I spoke to my friends who all assured me pain I was feeling was normal and would go at around 4-6weeks. I went to a breast feeding support group at my surestart centre. I visited my gp twice (I have had mastitis)......basically I asked for help this time .... And I have worried that I have bothered people about silly worries I have but I don't care because feeding my baby and me being happy is the most important thing.
I was very depressed (and it still depresses me) that I didn't feed ds for long - I was determined to ask for help so I don't go through that again. But i was also ready to fail again - I think that was important.

I got an electric breast pump and it has been helpful when I've been painfully engorged.

Good luck xx

I really wish health professionals would tell you how hard bf'ing is but how quickly it becomes easy.

BeenieCat

Letting your baby suckle as much as possible in the first few days will help with engorgement.

I thought my baby was just a sucky baby and needed a dummy, the mw said to go with it, and that her constant feeding would help when the milk came in. She was right, i stuck at it for those 3 or 4 days and when my milk came in there was no tenderness and they were never really too full unless i used the wrong side for a feed or something.

It's those few days that are the killer, at the time you can't see a way past it but it does decrease and i am still BF'ing at 7.5m and it's sooooo easy. (Although i give formula on a night now, just helps her settle better and sleep through).

pigpen

money_saving_diva wrote: »

I really wish health professionals would tell you how hard bf'ing is but how quickly it becomes easy.

And how suddenly..

You can struggle for the first few weeks then you wake up one day and it has all slipped into place and it becomes a painfree, lovely experience.. .. until they get a cold and you are picking nose frogs off your boobs

Frith

1) Lansinoh! (Its marvellous and much better than letting any sore bits "dry out").

2) Washable breast pads. Mine were Avent but I am sure there must be other makes.

3) Is there another hospital that has a breastfeeding counsellor? My children weren't born in hospital but there is a counsellor who comes once a week to a clinic not too far away so I went to see her twice with my 2nd son. There must be someone, somewhere, even if it is a bit of a trek!

I didn't need anything else. I never bothered with expressing milk.

lauren_1

I found a lot of the breastfeeding info I was given was very much sugar coated, i am not surprised there is still a fairly low breastfeeding rate due to a lot of information not being made public.

It is drilled in to us that if it hurts, then the latch is not correct....a correct latch should not hurt etc etc which is fine and all completely valid but what isnt making it is that your nipples at one point or another will either bleed, chafe, crack, chap or just feel very very sore and a lot of women are mistaking it for incorrect latching and giving up after a few days thinking they are not getting it right.

heretolearn_2

Just keep on trying - it took me about 8 weeks to really get good at it!

Something I had to do that goes against all the 'instructions' is stick to a two-handed technique otherwise my baby also had problems hanging on in the right position (big boobs). I never got to the point where I could just cradle babe and let him get on with it, I always had to hold my boob with my other hand, I used to put my hand across the top of it and pull up a bit (like I was trying to give myself a mini boob lift) and that kept it in a good position for him.

kimmi_b

Hi Nitha

Some great suggestions here - I struggled with my first and ended up expressing pretty much as soon as the milk had come in - pumped and bottle-fed her Mummy Milk for 3 months till I dried up.

Second time round I was determined to make it work - again it was a struggle at first but the midwives in hospital were great, I called the NCT breastfeeding helpline a few times and also there was a breastfeeding support group at my local SureStart centre. I'd have thought your HV will be able to point you in the right direction.

I had to bf lying down for the first 2 weeks as I had suffered a dural puncture and couldn't sit up, I found this much easier than sitting up and trying to feed so ask the midwives in hosp to show you! Also, I found that first time round the midwives would just latch baby on for me rather than talk me through how best to do it - at the time I thought that was great but of course when I got home I couldn't do it myself.

I'd say it took about 2/3 weeks for me to be fully comfortable with feeding an d for baby to be strong enough to latch himself on and not let go

Good luck!