Hi all,
I have a DS who is 3, and breastfeeding was a fucking disaster. I’m now 32 weeks pregnant with baby 2.
Has anyone had a horrific time of it with their first and stopped, but had a better time with their second?
Background if necessary:
I fully intended to ebf DS1 until he self weaned, never give a bottle or formula. Attended the classes. Watched endless videos, read all the info, searched all the websites, interrogated my bfing friends etc.
I had a crash section, though this didn’t appear to affect my supply as milk came in on day 1 (midwives were astounded considering the birth). From the off baby would not latch at all - he had expressed milk from a syringe or cup to start with, then after a day or so we started with nipple shields - he would latch then, but would often pop off. It was like he was just shit at feeding! He was checked for TT 3 times all said none present. We couldn’t afford a private consultation at the time (I’m aware that they don’t always check properly in hospital)
He had a tiny teeny mouth and I have pretty flat nipples, so I don’t know if that made it harder for him. He was also a small baby at full term (born 40+4)
We ebf for 3 weeks while using shields. He was above birth weight by day 14, however I developed mastitis in both breasts at this time. Unfortunately it became severe and gave me sepsis. Unbeknown to me, it also killed my supply, though I was feeding constantly as knew to feed through it.
Unfortunately, despite being above birth weight at 7lb on day 14, by day 21, he had dropped to 5lb12 and was screaming constantly due to lack of milk. He was then admitted to hospital. We were offered several options, however I had understandably lost all confidence and opted for formula top ups. He was a different baby overnight on bottles and thrived.
I then moved to pumping to rebuild my supply, and continued trying to get him to latch (trying all the tricks, also had a lactation consultant and feeding team with me every day). He was largely fed a mix of breast and formula for a further 3 weeks, and we moved fully formula at 6 weeks (due to shit advice from dietician, rather than issues with pumping etc)
With baby 2, I am having a planned section - so aiming for a far calmer birth and not being put under GA and obviously far less drugs. Will get immediate skin to skin etc.
I have a loose plan of exclusively pumping and bottle feeding - I have no issues with bottle feeding and happy to pump.
However, I may decide to give direct feeding another go - I’m refusing to make a decision until he is here as not willing to pressure myself either way (bfing caused PTSD and severe PNA and I also had PND, I have a history of mental health issues anyway so have to be extremely cautious.)
I’m really looking for stories of those who have had an awful first go and gone fully bottles, but have tried again second time around - and how did that work out?
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Infant feeding
Good 2nd bfing experience after disastrous first experience??
7 replies
flappityflippers1 · 16/02/2021 20:18
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