To be confused about breastfeeding advice...?

[Absofrigginlootly]

Our pfb is due end of October..... I feel pretty determined to BF exclusively for 6 months and then continue alongside weaning for the first year. I know it can be hard to master at first and you have to work though it, I feel I have fairly realistic expectations about BF.....

But I am a bit confused about 2 things....

1. I used to work in HV and saw lots of ladies who complained about how much BF hurt in the early days. I also have friends who have BF who said the first few weeks were quite painful/uncomfortable until everything settled down.

BF session with the midwives yesterday who were ADAMANT that BF only hurts if you have the attachment wrong. They said, yes your breast will be sore when the milk comes in, but your nipples etc shouldn't be sore at all unless you have the attachment wrong.

So can I ask, since I'm not sure which is the right answer.....will it hurt? Is that something I should be prepared for? Or if it hurts (beyond sore, engorged breasts) then that is not 'normal' and I should be seeking out some help to make sure the attachment is correct? What were your experiences??

1. The MW kept saying things like "if you are sore/full/have mastitis etc you can express some milk to help and store it in bottles etc". She must have mentioned it about 6-7 times for different scenarios where expressing into bottles would be helpful.....

Then when I said "so should I buy some bottles and sterlising equipment then for these sorts of situations - as I have no intention of giving expressed milk or FF - so wasn't going to get any of that equipment in 'just in case'?" And she said, "no don't by all that stuff as it could be a waste of money if you don't use it and you'll be too tempered to start giving bottles"

So now I am confused because she kept banging on about all these situs where expressing milk and storing it could be helpful, but then told me not to buy any bottles/sterlising stuff/expressing pumps.....

So what did you do? Did you buy any of these things in advance? Or wait and see? If you did buy things are there any products you specifically recommend?(e.g. Type of pump or bottles?)

Any help/advice/stories of your experiences with starting BF would be great to hear! Thank you in advance :)

Lots of air and lansinoh helps in the getting used to it stage. I also did the counting through toe curling let down. You do rend to gave an instinct for what is regular discomfort and what is more troublesome. Hand expressing into a medicine cup was a handy tactic for feeding an impatient baby while engorged as it calmed baby down, and softened the breast to improve the latch.

I bought back up supplies for DS1 as Christmas Day was in wk 40 of the pregnancy. I didn't want to risk having a feeding meltdown and panic just after the shops shut on Christmas Eve. I didn't use up all the cartons. DS2 had about an ounce on our first night home. I was too exhausted to sit, so asked DH to put a little formula in a cup. I've never needed it since, but for that one feed, it was the best way to meet both our needs. Hand expressing should get you to a point where you can judge if it's worth having a pump. I struggled to express first time so splashed out on a Medela. DS is a bottle refuser, but its been useful for managing my supply.

Good luck. Having your support in standby, and an awareness of what ciyld be ahead is a great starting point.

I must have numb boobs, mine didn't hurt from bf at any stage
Except for this morning because DD is teething and she clamped down on my nipple. That hurt.

BUT I was told you have to stick to bf exclusively at first and not bottle feed because of nipple confusion. When I did try to give a bottle she refused point blank! So I had no choice but to EBF...

One thing no one tells you is that EBF is relentless for the first few months. Get some box sets in...

1. I have breastfed 2 babies successfully for a long time and yes, for the first few weeks it does hurt. I had scabby bleeding agonising nipples. No, the attachment wasn't wrong. Literally everyone I know experienced this and panicked the latch was wrong, but that's ridiculous. If it hurts, just take paracetamol and persevere and it won't hurt for long. Babies suck very vigorously and for ages so if your nipple isn't used to it of course it will hurt to begin with
2. I expressed into bottles a few times for the following reason:

• to maintain supply and prevent engorgement when I was away from my baby for the afternoon/morning and also when my baby was ill and not eating much.I didn't actually give her the milk though as I could just breastfeed her! Expressing isn't necessary if you're willing to give your baby every feed yourself

I would say it was uncomfortable for a few weeks. However I fed on a bad latch once early on and it was painful and took a few days to heal.

I bought no formula but had bottles and a pump bought. I used them when I wanted to go out/sleep in from 6 weeks on. Maybe the HV was trying to say that expressing can be useful but it not helpful to do during the first few weeks. Because it isn't. I think adding expressing and bottles in the first few weeks is something to be avoided if possible. It only makes everything more difficult.

1 it will definitely feel funny and be hard to deal with because of the unaccustomed level of physical contact. do get the positioning right because that will save you a lot of pain/stop the pain instantly. four pillows on your lap, rest your arm and baby on them, baby should reach nipple without pulling. milk coming in/let down could be described as pain... or wonderful feelings. I loved them.

2 don't buy a pump. have a couple of small bottles in the house in case of emergencies. you can express by hand.

bfg and expressing are difficult until you get the hang of them and then you realise they were simple all along.

1. I think it is very difficult to have a perfect latch all the time when you are new to breastfeeding. I had some pain and used landinoh cream. A breastfeeding advisor popped round and it turned out that my latch had got sloppy since I left hospital. So I would recommend having lansinoh, but also having an expert check for problems if you have pain.

1. I got very engorged and expressed with a pump on day 6. I didn't store it, frankly I did not have the energy to sterilise! I could have also done it by hand. I think the problem with having bottles etc around is that it is tempting to give formula when you are tired, boobs sore, milk not come in. I was adamant we wouldn't do this, but I was def tempted! Now I am v glad I didn't as it may have damaged my supply.

Here's what I would recommend for a "just in case" scenario:

1. You don't need a sterilizer. You can sterilize a batch of equipment now by boiling in water. Forget how long but boil it, air dry on paper towel, store in plastic box with lid
2. I had a Medela harmony manual pump. Great little thing. Small, portable and about 20 pounds. I had an electric pump too for work but at home or on the go I would use the harmony
3. There are so many bottles! You could get the nipples that go onto the medela bottles as that would be less faffing about.
4. If you do plan to store BM then you could get storage bags or a set of containers. The smaller the better - at the beginning you may only pump 0.5-1.0oz of milk and pooling pumped milk can get confusing when you are dealing with a newborn.

For me it was agony for 11 weeks. Latch checked multiple times, nothing wrong. I had cracks, blisters, bleeding, you name it. 1 year on it's one of the hardest things I ever did, but I'm proud. Get nipple shields and lansinoh. I would recommend getting the lact specialist to show you practical positions so you don't develop dependency on loads of pillows or lsying down etc. I personally wouldn't pump again as I believe this contributed to a hyperlactstion problem for me which was an isdue for 7 months. I don't enjoy breastfeeding but it became painless after 16 weeks and I dropped the shields at 19 weeks. Good luck, I hope you find it as easy as some of the other posters.

I bought a medela swing from amazon while still in hospital. You'd need additional bottles for it to be of any practical use. My baby has had a combination of bottle and breast since day 4, no confusion issues. Only trouble was a day when we used tablets rather than steam to sterilise, baby didn't seem to like the taste.

I have found bf painful. All my friends said is was painful for the first 3-8 weeks. I'm at week 5 and need Painkillers. I've found that tongue tie diagnosis was rubbish and there's a lot of inconsistent advice from midwives.

Lansinoh(sp) saved my bf and ds is still going at 3 1/2! Some pain not awful and extra feeding on one side when got blocked ducts until the lump went - with massage and warm baths too. Nipple guards for when it's too much but it sorted itself out - got a Medela double electric when I went back to work and wished I'd got it sooner - v efficient and hands free - got a bottle in 20 mins and more comfortable than the tommee tippee one I got just incase.

Oh and the cute snuffly sound was worth the pain :)

the cute snuffly sound
yes!

Emigrated - If you weaned from shields at 19 weeks, I'd say the OP on this thread would be grateful for your advise.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding/2194239-We-are-having-a-feeding-meltdown

I've bf both mine. Both times it was sore for the first couple of weeks. It wasn't the latch it just seemed to take a few weeks for the nipples to toughen up a bit and get used to it. The second time was easier cos I knew the soreness wouldn't last. I never really had problems with supply either. If I felt engorged I just offered the baby a feed. Once or twice I felt a bit sore from engorgement and I used my electric pump to express some surplus milk but with feeding on demand I found my supply seemed to settle quite well. A warm bath and hand expresing would work just aswell if you don't want to spend the money on an electric pump. I hardly ever used mine.

abso it really does hurt, not matter how good your latch, until your nipples toughen up. Your midwives are treating you like an idiot, and are trying to avoid scaring you off breastfeeding by lying to you.
It hurts, so get some strategies to get through the pain. Painkillers, ice-cubes, gritting your teeth, gin and tonic is also great to numb the pain -- it doesn't last beyond a couple of weeks and then you will have nipples of steel! It wouldn't hurt to have a bottle or two and a few teats so you have go out and leave a bottle of expressed milk, but I never sterilised anything (I was in the US where the advice was to use the dishwasher) Good luck.

I got advised by one midwife that if it doesn't hurt at first you're not doing it right and then by a different midwife the same as you did, that it only hurts if latch is wrong.

In my opinion it's bound to hurt at first. Unless your partner is fond of regularly sucking on your nips they're not used to being sucked on for so many hours a day are they? It's going to take some getting used to, it's a very sensitive area with a lot of nerves.

Personally I wouldn't buy the equipment 'just in case' because in your head it sets you up already for negative thinking. When the times get tough and you're exhausted you know the back up is downstairs so are tempted by it and since BFing is something you really want to give a good go I just wouldn't advise it. It's easy enough to buy in a store if you feel like you need it when the time comes or order online next day delivery even.

Just thinking back on this, I found a really helpful diagram when I first started of how/why it shouldn't hurt - can't for the life of me remember where it was now, seems to be maybe in a DVD? Anyway, it showed an internal diagram of the babies mouth and the mothers nipple latched correctly and incorrectly. Basically if you are correctly latched, your nipple is up towards the back of the baby's mouth on the soft palate and the tongue goes underneath your nipple onto the areola and that's the bit that gets sucked. If you are wrongly latched, your nipple ends up at the front of the mouth on the hard palate and the tongue goes underneath and your nipple is the bit that gets sucked and that's painful.
It made a lot of sense to me, and I never had pain feeding.

As people are talking about engorgement I might just mention that cold cabbage leaves in your bra really do help .

lizzie you are the only person I have ever heard of who had painful let down! I did too, really intense but short pain, and I thought I was the only person, ever!

Thank goodness I had a friend who warned me it would hurt- but that I should persevere because it's worth it . And it hurt like hell with my first DS- but I carried on because I was determined to bf. - and it did get better , and it was worth it!! So good luck with the bf- don't let anyone talk you out of it!

My little one is 7 months now and I breastfed exclusively for 5.5 months, when I started weaning alongside.

My experience was that it did hurt at first, but only at the start of feeds - maybe the first couple of minutes, then it was fine. However I did struggle with latch and my nipples were pretty damaged by the end of the first week. I was really at my wit's end one day and on the point of giving up (after spending 7am till 12 noon trying to get her latched (in the meantime I expressed a bottle and fed it to her with a feeding syringe that the hospital gave me). Luckily I rang my lovely community midwife and she rushed round & sent my dh straight out to buy nipple shields. They worked instantly - she latched with no problem. I kept using them and was healed within days. My little girl only managed to latch without them when she was 4 months and now we no longer need them, but they saved breastfeeding for us. I definitely couldn't have managed without them! I recommend having some in your hospital bag, just in case. I found Medela and Nuk ones the best. Didn't like the Boots ones though.

Don't rule oout bottles - you might find you want a night off at some point, and if your baby never has one, you might find it very hard to get them to take one after a few months.

I love my electric Avent pump, but wish I'd bought the twin one to save time.

Good luck and congratulations in advance!

That old chestnut is one of the biggest myths around. Set me back weeks...It 'can' hurt when the latch is perfect. Particularly if the child concerned is a greedy little beggar.

It took me about a month to figure things out and it ALWAYS hurt for the first few seconds of every single feed, but it was soon over with - fed him for about 10 months. Second child, I was prepared for it and no pain at all after the first day or so.

down it makes me cringe even thinking about it, no idea why it happened only with the second baby and not with either of the other two! The worst was if DS latched and sucked enough to get letdown going but then didn't want to feed - it was agonising! Weird.

lizzie well at least there are two of us who are weird! I've never told anyone in RL.

I've been breastfeeding for 11months now and have never had any pain or discomfort besides the initial pinchy feeling at the start of a feed.

I brought bottles/steriliser/breast pump and didn't really use any of them, he has only fed from a bottle once or twice when he was first born. Breastfeeding is quite demanding though. DS would feed so often for so long that it felt like he was on my boobs constantly, it was at times like that where expressing would have come in handy so somebody else could take over and I could have a break but I couldn't be arsed to sterilise everything and then pump.