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Infant feeding

How to breast feed??

17 replies

micegg · 11/03/2008 20:23

Right I am on a mission and need your help MNs! I am 37 weeks with DC2. I attempted to breastfeed DD but it was a disaster. I dont want to go into it all but suffice to say I wasn't given support and its taken until now for me to get my head round it. In fact it was the most stressful part of having a baby for me. I have had a look at some NHS info on the net and now have some idea how to get the baby latched (DD never did this). Can I just check I have this right:

Baby facing you tummy to tummy
Bring baby to your nipple height
Encourage baby to open mouth taking in nipple and as much aerola (sp?) as possible from below nipple (his bit is key for me. I thought the baby was meant to have the whole nipple and aerola in its mouth which may explain why DD struggles ).

How do you hold the baby because they need some room for neck movement. I was thinking of cradling in one arm so their head is in the crrok of my arm with my arm supporting their back and hand on their bottom/legs. I am going to use pillows but is it worth me getting one of those bendy feeding pillows as well?

Do you just wait for them to finish and then try them on the other side or do you feed on one side to start with and then from the other side the next time?

How long can I expect a newborn to stay on the breast and how frequently?

With DD she never actually latched on even in the labour room. I was taken to the ward at about 10pm and didnt try and feed her again overnight as she didnt cry and I was (TBH) scared . Do you just wait for baby to cry or do you keep offering them the breast every couple of hours or so to get them started? The thing I found the most stressful with DD was as she wouldnt latch on she didnt actually feed for the first 36 hours (after which I dischardged myself and BF her).

I really need to get all this sorted before I have the baby as last time I was so unprepared and I cant rely on the staff at the hospital to help me as last time they were useless.

Thanks

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Monkeybird · 11/03/2008 20:30

you might want to ring a breast feeding counsellor to talk through some of these questions but...

  • you'd often be advised to use the 'cross cradle hold' with a newborn - eg when feeding on left side, use right hand behind neck, sort of just below ears - ie enough to support but not so much as to hold their head too firm. bendy feeding pillows v good to help hold their weight


  • you would also be advised to offer both sides - ie when baby seems to have finished one (that can be difficult to tell though - takes time and practice), then always offer the second side. They should let you know if not interested


-new borns need to feed frequently to build up your supply mostly, even if it seems they're not getting much milk. IME this was little for first 24 hrs - sucked for about an hour straight after birth, then slept for long stretches (but I always offered breast when they woke up); then on day 2, my babies cluster fed like mad for 24 hours, ie they fed for 10-20 mins every hour. This is common and necessary and will not last (not all babies do this however)

You might want to try and see someone who knows about BF face to face before your baby is born to help out and advise you (local BF group or counsellor?) and of course, we will help you ALL THE WAY if you want us to!
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Monkeybird · 11/03/2008 20:31

have a look at www.drjacknewman.com for latching advice - some v good diagrams and even videos on there I think

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micegg · 11/03/2008 20:35

Thanks MB!

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calsworld · 11/03/2008 20:47

I don't know if its good advice or not, but I when I told mw that I was determined to BF she suggested I started to try to express before the birth. I'm convinced this made life a lot easier.

I just tried in the shower each morning and with a little practice, was able to express a couple of drops and sometimes even a jet.

When DS was born I had terrible problems getting him latched on - I think the staff weren't very good as they all told me something different. I have very big norks (38H at the time) and my nipple doesn't stand out very much at all. Anyway, all the pre-practicing meant that when it got tough on the ward after he was born, I was easily able to express a little mikl which could then be fed to DS from a little cup, this meant that DS could be calmed, I wasn't so stressed about him being hungry, and we all perservered. I also INSISTED that I wasn't going to leave without seeing the BF counsellor...we spent about three hours with her and she was brilliant - maybe if you push hard and express your disappointment last time around you could get better support this time.

I wish you all the very best - but if it doesn't work out, don't be disappointed, just know you tried your hardest.

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smallwhitecat · 11/03/2008 20:55

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smallwhitecat · 11/03/2008 20:56

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cupsoftea · 11/03/2008 20:57

loads of info on how to bf www.babyfriendly.org.uk/page.asp?page=95. Good luck xxx

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StarlightMcKenzie · 11/03/2008 20:57

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WinkyWinkola · 11/03/2008 20:58

I always found it the most relaxing lying down on the bed on my side with baby facing me on their side. My arm would be over their head, if that makes sense?

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bexnboo · 11/03/2008 21:02

Can I ask you a silly question..... Is it really important for you to breastfeed?
It was so important for me but i gave up simply because it wasn't working. My daughter just wasn't satisfied. Don't feel guilty about giving babies bottles. As long as they drink, that's what's important. Go with it.... if it isn't working for you and your baby once you start then give them a bottle. A bottle is not everybody's first choice obviously but it's better than baby getting hungry, you getting tired, depressed and totally miserable. I felt like such a failure but i'm glad i did it now!!!

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StarlightMcKenzie · 11/03/2008 21:04

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sparklyshoos · 11/03/2008 21:06

I know you say the staff in hospital weren't helpful last time - but you deserve help and support for this, so do make it clear to your midwife delivering you that you want help with BF straight away - ask for baby to be placed straight onto your tummy, he/she will hopefully root around straight away anyway - sooner the better . Also get DH on the case, make sure he knows to keep telling your MW you want help with it too, as much skin-to-skin in the first couple of days will really help get it off to a great start. - do you get on with your ante-natal midwife now? can you explain to her what happened last time and ask for her advice and keep raising it during your 10 day visits post-delivery.

sorry have had a delay whilst posting this (DS woke up!) so will post and see other messages as am sure people will have posted the other stuff I could write by now!

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Monkeybird · 11/03/2008 21:10

Micegg, I think your message is suggesting that it is important to you to BF and while Bexnboo is right that giving bottles is a last option, there's a couple of stages in between 'having difficulties' and 'giving formula', and the most important is getting good help from people who know how BF works and can help you with it. A trained BF counsellor (at the hospital, on here, at a group meeting, on a BF helpline) is the best person to help you, and experienced non-trained BFers are the next best people. IMHO. And even if you do give formula/bottles to keep you going through difficult times if you have to, it also doesn't have to mean the end of BF.

Good luck with it and please post here if you need help.

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smallwhitecat · 11/03/2008 21:12

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Monkeybird · 11/03/2008 21:12

Yeah, skin to skin good. Somewhere there's a website about natural attachment and breastcrawl (put fresh new naked baby on your naked tummy just after birth; baby 'crawls' to nipple and latches itself on...) Gotta be worth a try (I never did - 3 c-sections!)

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sparklyshoos · 11/03/2008 21:14

Oh, and make sure you've got lots of support at home in the first week or so, whilst you build up your supply and bond with your baby, easy meals - ready meals, takeaways, whatever makes your life easy to begin with - all the stuff you'll already know from last time i know, but you really do need to be rested in the early days to build up a good supply of milk, let DC latch on as much as needed to build your supply. A bath together is really good to help BF - rebirthing think they call it - but appreciate this might not be practical as you need help off DH when DC is so young and he will prob be with your other LO, but basically as much skin to skin as you can do will help DC root around.

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EffiePerine · 11/03/2008 21:18

www.kellymom.com

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