Friend having problems breastfeeding- any advice?

[bobblehead]

My friend seems to be having problems with feeding her 5 day old ds. It sounds like she is having difficulty with the latch as she is producing milk. I haven't seen her since the hospital but am visiting her today and wondering if there is any advice I can give her? I bf my dd but although it was painful and not easy we did get the hang of it by the time I was out of hospital. She has had HV round and baby is doing "ok" and is gaining weight, but she has been supplementing with formula (via a tube attatched to the nipple set up so he is still sucking her). She feels that being told what to do, then doing it herself are two totally different things and is very upset and hormonal atm.
Obviously everyone is different, but does anyone have any positive stories I can print off and show her, or what advice were you given that really helped?

[purplemonkeydishwasher]

The best advice I got was to try different positions. I couldn't get the hang of nursing in the 'normal' position, but one of the nurses in the hospital showed me how to do the rugby ball style (with pillows for support). once i got the hang of that we could work on other positions.
Also lying down is a good way to get latched on.
If there;s a breastfeeding support group in her area your friend would benefit from going to that.

[LIZS]

Perhaps she would benefit from having a Breastfeeding Counsellor (get a recommendation from a NCT or La Leche League helpline) observe her feed and advise about positions, latch etc. He's still very little and it will be a learning process for both of them so there is no shame in asking for such help, that is what they are trained for.

I found a big v-cushion helped keep them in a good position and made it more comfortable to sit there for long periods while they fed and dozed in between. Pick a comfortable chair and dedicate it to feeding so you have everything you may need while doing so (tv remote, phone, book, drink, cushions ) to hand, Also learning the rugby hold was a godsend to feeding in bed. ds was a sleepy jaundiced newborn and needed feeds every couple of hours with tickling, nappy change or undressing to keep him alert enough.

hth

[tiktok]

bobble, your friend is using a nursing supplementer, which is horribly fiddly. Unlikely that the baby truly needs formula at this stage, either.

I suppose what I am saying is that she needs to see someone who knows about breastfeeding and not about gadgets and gizmos and who will work out how to help the positinioning before resoting to formula.

It has to be the midwife at 5 days, surely? If it really is the HV, get her to see a midwife.

[bobblehead]

Thanks everyone. We are in Canada TikTok, so I think it is a health nurse, but not sure of qualifications. She has asked HN to come again today so she can help some more. Turns out she had a load of visitors when she came yesterday, so hard to relax with hundreds of friends and family looking at your nipples! Hopefully she will find it easier in a more relaxed setting. Her mum is over so I will leave them in peace and told her to call if she needs any help.

[aelita]

Five days is still early days. It took me a while to get the hang of things, so please reassure her! This site, breastfeeding.com might provide some help - it has useful videos of the latching-on process to guide the novice!

[muffinmum]

bobblehead, it took me and DD a good few weeks to become a good BF team. i remember thinking why did DD not know what to do, she prob thought the same.it is actually like the blind leading the partially sighted! i also had masses of visitors and a DH who always wants everything to be going fantastically so wanted me to BF in front of all. at end of 1st week was in tears and went off upstairs in dark and quiet and took lots of deep breaths and fed DD fine.too much noise made nosy DD not concentrate!

for me i always reverted to lying down feeding if couldnt get a good latch, it is much easier. also used lovely lansinoh lanolin boob cream EVERY time DD fed at beginning as boobs v.sore.