Breastfeeding DC2 after having problems breastfeeding DC1

[Fedupofplaystation]

I had a horrendous time feeding DC1. She never latched so we managed with nipple shields for a while then she refused them so was exclusively expressing.

This ended after 5 months with repeated bouts of mastitis, constant expressing, an unhappy baby and PND when I just couldn't go on any longer.

I'm still upset about it nearly 3 years on.

DC2 is due in November and I'd really like breastfeeding to go well this time, but am terrified I will have the same experience.

Any hints/tips about going into this for a second time? Any positive stories about feeding DC2 after a bad time with DC1?

Any advice appreciated.

[Namelessonsie]

Dd1 had un diagnosed (until 5 months!) posterior tongue tie, cmpi and mangled my nipples regularly.

Dd2 came out just knowing how to feed and has been a dream with absolutely no discomfort from day 1.

Different children.

[Ludways]

I had awful trouble with dc1. I struggled for a week then tried nipple shields which helped a little, after another week he started to lose weight quickly and I switched to bottles, initially with ebf but as my milk dried up I had to switch to formula.

Dc2, like a duck to water, she took to it easily, I did have one bout of mastitis but it cleared up fairly quickly. I fed her for 26 months.

Good luck

[summerlovingliz]

My friend had terrible troubles feeding dd 1, wouldn't latch on, lots of expressing etc and had to give up in the end after a few weeks.. With her dd2 she latched on like a dream, never had any probs and fed until 15 months , good luck

[PrincessTheresaofLiechtenstein]

I am another with a great experience second time around after a struggle with my first, but I do think that going over what happened first time with a breastfeeding counsellor was very helpful for me - I went to a baby cafe towards the end of my pregnancy with dc2 to talk about my worries.

[Ihateparties]

Yep, positive stories here too, ds was a nightmare, I don't know why, don't think think he has/had a tongue tie or anything. Thrush might have been an issue. Who knows, anyway, failure. When dd1 was born I got solid advice from one midwife (thus ignored all the rest who offered different advice) and it was plain sailing, literally no problems fed her well into pregnancy with dd2. Dd2 was as easy to feed as dd1 and fed for 19m when I chose to stop.

I second the above comment, different children.

[PictureFrames]

I had exactly this. had to mixed feed dc1 because it was just too painful to breast feed exclusively. was emotional whenever I thought about it and scared about it happening again. but I had no problems second time.

I have to say though - I always intended to give dc2 the occasional bottle of expressed milk from early on just so i knew I'd be able to leave her from time to time, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it for ages -just because of an emotional reaction linked to all the emotions I felt about the difficulty bfing dc1. as a result she became a bottle refuser which did cause us some problems when I had to leave her to go for a wedding. I know this was just me

[PictureFrames]

sent too soon. ignore the last half sentence! last paragraph was just something to bear in mind. good luck!

[findingherfeet]

I found BF less agonising second time around but I'm afraid whilst the mechanics of feeding we're easier I found it so hard to manage DS wanting to feed for hours/what felt like constantly whilst caring for DD1

Was pretty much on my own from day one due to husbands work and I found demands of BF while cooking/supervising older child/early morning nursery runs/bath and bed time routine etc too much and stopped at six weeks.

If you have a support network utilise it and be kind on yourself it can be difficult. I feel a bit disappointed that I'm not BF this time as feeding my DD was quite nice and very convenient after shaky start but it wasn't to be for me and DS.

[Zara8]

Hi OP

I'm in the same boat as you - pregnant with DC2 (due October) after mega disaster breastfeeding DC1.

I posted this thread recently which might be relevant to you.

One of the posters said "plan for the worst, hope for the best" which is what I'm doing!

A friend who had a similar experience first time round recently had her second and bf has been no problem for her since the get go. It's been great for me to see this - finally hammered it home how much is to do with the baby and their ability/willingness to breastfeed. That combined with the lovely replies I got to my MN thread, I feel a lot better about it all. I am tentatively hopeful that things will be better, but I also don't feel so scared about having similar difficulties with this baby - I'll give it my very best shot but I'll use formula if without heartache if it's not working.

Best of luck to you - I hope we both have a much better experience this time! Are you listening in there?!

[PourMeSomethingStronger]

I too had a terrible time trying to feed ds1. Ended up with awful mastitis and a breast abscess and back on the postnatal ward for a week. turned out he was tongue tied. it affected me so much that we put off ttc for a year longer than planned.

With ds2 it was completely different and he latched easily from the start. I think ds1 may have done some of the hard work drawing my nipples out as they were previously quite flat.

I got really caught up in it all with ds1 and put a lot of pressure on myself. I could barely admit it was a relief to switch to formula at 6 months. so with ds2 I made a deal with myself that I would give it 6 weeks and if it wasn't working I could stop giilt free knowing I had tried my best. that took the pressure off and made it much easier. and here I am still feeding him at 10 months and no plans to stop.

Good luck! Xx