Feeding babies

full-time-mum

super41 wrote:

PS if you get sore whilst breastfeeding try Lansinoh cream its brilliant stuff.

... and get some good advice on latching on and positioning. It can be a bit painful whilst you get used to feeding but breastfeeding is not a painful activity and if you are in a lot of pain, you are probably not latching on properly.
The baby should have the entire nipple and not just the tip it its mouth - impossible to describe but there are lots of books with picutres and lots of support from NCT, La Leche etc.

If you have a friend who breastfed successfully then seek out their support - nothing better than knowing that someone has been there done that and got the milk stained t-shirt to prove it.

PS: Would be more than happy to lend a sympathetic ear to/visit anyone who is struggling in Wellingborough area

full-time-mum

super41 wrote:

Yes, have you noticed that no-one in TV soaps breastfeeds?

I did once complain to the BBC about it but didn't get a satisfactory answer.

Mrs_Pepperpot_2

Hi,

Don't know if this helps but I breastfed our son happily but found that in the evenings he seemed hungry and I didn't seem to have enough milk.

In the end we gave him a bottle feed at 10pm every night. We used Tommee tipee breast feeding bottles which has a teet that he had to massage rather than suck like a straw. This never interfered with him latching on and also gave me a break sometimes when I really needed some sleep.

We never looked back!

super41

ailuro2 wrote:

Sometimes I think it's easier for hospitals to hand out bottles than it is to have time to support bfeeding mums having a hard time. Just my tuppence!

I have to say the opposite was true in my recent experience. I was really impressed by the midwives who spent an awful lot of time with some women/babies who were struggling with b/feeding and giving them lots of support. I think its when you leave hospital and get home and there isn't that support that things can go downhill.

jellyhead

i saw some info about my local NCT running a breastfeeding drop-in once a week in my town centre. volunteers will be able to help and advise, or just offer a place to feed in the town centre for mums who can't find anywhere else to feed or feel judged for feeding in public.

i was told that each hospital has a breastfeeding counsellor - whether you are aware of it on the ward or not is a different matter. but once discharged from hospital you have a midwife visiting you for ten days, then a health visitor visits you, or you can go to the clionic. midwife or health visitor should be able to give you the number for the hospital's advisor and she (or he?) can give you a long phone call or could do a home visit. the NCT helpline was fab too, you don't need to be a member of the NCT.

sorry this is off topic lol!

i know it's not the done thing but almost every breastfeeding mother i know gives one bottle at night, whether formula or expressed. sometimes they want baby to get used to a teat so that babysitters or childcare staff can feed them, sometimes so daddy can feed while exhausted mum goes to bed early, and sometimes formula because baby does nothing but feed at night and there are other children needing attention and putting to bed. some of them found supply wasn't affected but some found they didn't have a supply at the time they would normally bottle feed, but if they planned to bottle feed at the same timne every day it didn't bother them.

bumpybecky

Mrs_Pepperpot wrote:

Hi,

Don't know if this helps but I breastfed our son happily but found that in the evenings he seemed hungry and I didn't seem to have enough milk.

I suspect you probably did have enough milk - this pattern of behaviour is completely normal it's called cluster feeding and is absolutely typical of evening feeding, see...

http://www.kellymom.com/babyconcerns/fussy-evening.html

Savvy_Sue

Well, I breastfed three boys, and trust me, DH did plenty of bonding! :rotfl: Yes, we have the obligatory pictures of dad and baby spark out on the settee. Even now, DH can't stand still - he tends to 'rock' - and DS3 is 14!

Also Becles, not all babies will take a bottle. DS1 wouldn't. He preferred starvation. It's not even as if I was offering formula - you could have milked me for England, and I used breast shells to collect the excess (and to avoid getting soaked from the breast not currently in use!)

I think the idea of getting DH to learn babymassage sounds fab, btw!

Gingham_Ribbon

Becles, feeding my son was the only thing I COULD do for him for the first few weeks as I couldn't lift him due to back problems. My husband did everything else. I can honestly say that he had the closer bond with him, without ever feeding him. Simply because feeding is not the only way to bond with a child. Also for the first couple of months, my son would see me and instantly start rooting. Even when he wasn't hungry and he was just being given to me for a cuddle.

He can't feed the baby so there's no point in focusing on that part of bonding. There will be time enough to get involved in feeding when he/she is being weaned. But there are so many other things to do that will bring them so close together I'm sure your husband will stop focusing on one particular part.

If he's not used to being around babies he won't realise how MUCH there is to do for and with them. He'll learn quick!

x